TEAM PRINCIPALS: Norbert HAUG (Mercedes), Vijay MALLYA (Force India), Mario THEISSEN (BMW Sauber), Frank WILLIAMS (Williams).
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q. A question to you all. What are your feelings about the new regulations for this year? How they've worked, whether they've worked. Are they good or bad? Have they done what they were supposed to do?
Mario THEISSEN: My personal feeling is that they have not done what they ought to do. From the fans perspective it is certainly an exciting championship. We have a fresh pecking order, unexpectedly. But even more important the field has come very close together, just the opposite of what most people expected with the new regulations. If you look back in Bahrain, (Jarno) Trulli dominated qualifying, in Barcelona he just slipped in as P15 into Q2 with a gap of only 0.7 of a second behind the first, so that means nobody is safe. It is very exciting for the spectator and for us, sometimes too exciting.
You see that almost every team goes out on two sets of fresh options even in first qualifying in order to make it into the second run. That is a scenario which no-one expected and which we haven't seen in the past 10 years, so I think that is the upside. On overtaking maybe we had expected a bit more from the new regulations and on cost saving I think it has met about the expectations. The aero restrictions we currently have are not as tight as we thought they would be, so I think we could do more at this end.
Vijay MALLYA: I agree with what Mario said in terms of the racing being a lot more competitive, far more spectator-friendly from that point of view. For the smaller teams we have had a chance to close the gap quite significantly compared to previous years. I saw a couple of drivers who were actually quicker this year than last year which perhaps was not quite the intention. But having said that I think the 2009 regulations provided a good platform and base. As you well know there are further discussions continuing on how to deal with 2010 and beyond.
Norbert HAUG: I think it was fine so far. I think the chances and circumstances have been the same for everybody. Obviously some teams have been more busy towards the end of the year than during the season but this is not an excuse, it just explains a little bit that some cars on the track right now put more effort in but that is fair enough, that is how it is. We all need to play a little bit catch-up and I think lots of people have been surprised by the high level of the competitiveness of the new cars as Mario pointed out already and Vijay as well.
The order is mixed. I think there were no presents made. Of course there were a lot of discussions about the diffuser but at the end of the day this is behind us. I think we saw some exciting races. The last one, Barcelona, was never a very interesting race in history. This is how things are. It is a challenging track and very demanding for the cars, especially for the aerodynamic of the cars and a mixture of everything. But it tends to be very boring around there and the last race was very similar, let's say. But generally speaking I think we have seen more overtaking manoeuvres. I saw a statistic, so it is heading in the right direction. In fairness we have to admit that none of the KERS cars is currently in a position to win races and I think if that would be the case, or if you would think about a combination of very good car with very good KERS then that would probably be a different story.
I hope obviously that we will be the ones that can move quickly in that direction, but catching up is a difficult process and certainly not achievable in a couple of weeks. It is rather months than weeks, so we need to be patient. Looking now at the results I think this is not a typical race track. We have always been quite good and quite strong around here, won quite a few races in the last years. But this is not a typical race track, so I think the order will be very much the same in the next couple of races. But I would say I like it and I hope that with the political front we can come to a conclusion and then we will go back to the sport and concentrate on the sport and I think we have a great Formula basically.
Frank WILLIAMS: I share the same view as everyone else on this rostrum. The regulations have changed some of the order and KERS has made it easy for some and more difficult for others, nothing wrong with that. I think the two wet races also made a good contribution to the excitement that the television viewers have seen and more of the same please.
Q. A question to you all again. Your feelings about the cost cap that has been imposed? Should it be more, should it be less?
MT: For us it is not so much a question of one figure to be put on the table. We think the issue is much more complex and needs good thought. It needs to be thought through well. It is about getting teams who come from very different angles and very different starting positions and getting them together on one cost down slope, give them enough time to arrive finally at the same position without losing either the smallest or the biggest team, so it is quite challenging and what we currently have is a budget cap being linked to a certain set of regulations which makes it even more difficult. I think this has to be sorted out. We are working on that and I hope we can come to a conclusion which satisfies all the stakeholders in Formula One.
VM: Every single business perhaps in the world under the current economic circumstances is being re-engineered and restructured and the focus is to reduce costs. Why should Formula One be an exception, so Force India is certainly well in favour in reducing the costs to levels that are affordable and whether it is in the form of a cap, what that cap should be or whether there are progressive initiatives as Mario just mentioned to arrive at an acceptable figure for all teams and the FIA is something we are currently working on. But clearly as far as Force India is concerned, whether you call it a budget cap or call it a targeted amount to be spent, that is very, very essential or else the small independent teams will never be able to compete with those who have, in comparison, extraordinary budgets.
NH: I don't want to repeat all of that. It was discussed a long time before and I think hopefully there is some time over the weekend. There is a Friday off, tomorrow at least no racing, no testing. Some meetings are on the schedule and I just hope that we can together make a step forward and then discuss it afterwards. There are possibilities but I think it needs to be a well thought through compromise and we are open for it.
Q. Frank, it does sound as if you are coming from a long way back and there is still a long way to go.
FW: Well, we are clearly wholly in support of it. It suits us. I would qualify what I said that we support it. It was a remark that to expect a major manufacturer to slash its spending by 300 per cent in four months is a very tall fiscal order and they may need some sort of glide path once the rule is finally agreed. But I repeat we need it.
Q. Mario, I don't know if other people have gone forward or you have gone backwards but you seem to have started off the season better than you did in the last two or three races.
MT: Well, it has been different pictures in the past three races. Certainly in Bahrain that was clearly not the performance we can show and we have to show. Barcelona was quite okay given the short time we had to adapt to the new package and today I was not satisfied. Obviously we lost a lot of track time but then the performance of the car was not as it should be, so we have some work to do for Saturday. As Norbert said before this is not a typical track, the characteristics are quite different and you never know what to expect when you come here based on the previous races, so it is a special situation and I hope we can cope with it for the weekend.
Q. Vijay, this year you have taken on the role of Team Principal. How has that changed for you in comparison to your previous role as team owner?
VM: I don't think anything has changed. I was equally involved last year as I am this year, so the title change hasn't meant any definitive change in role or responsibility. Having said that we have reorganised the team significantly and made some top management changes. We have developed a car in a record period of just 120 days because we signed up with McLaren Mercedes in early November and produced the car that is reliable and has a good mechanical platform. In all we need to develop more on the aero front. We have not really had too much time to do either the development or of course testing following the in-season ban on testing. But we are certainly a lot more competitive than we have ever been in the last couple of years. We showed it in Shanghai, we showed it in Australia and I am optimistic that we are gradually getting there.
Q. Norbert, you are supplying three teams which in fact are across the board. How much of an advantage is that for Mercedes to be supplying three different teams?
NH: Well, it helps us to recover some costs. I think first of all you need to be in a position and obviously as Vijay pointed out we have a partnership with Force India on both chassis and engine and it was not the basic plan to supply another team. We only learned on the 5th of December that Brawn were looking for engines and as we all know we were not quite sure whether they would make it until the end of March. But I think the guys together form High Performance Engines and Brawn did a remarkable job in building and putting this engine in a car and the specialists here know what that means. It is not just like putting an engine in the car and pushing the starter and there you go. It's a big achievement in a three month period. It is not easy but I think there was a lot of confidence involved.
But still there is still some compromise, it is not the ideal fit yet but the car immediately was impressive and winning races. Of course this is very positive for the guys who are building the engines. Of course it is positive that we have won the world championship with the engine last year, so on that side it is very positive and we are very happy that we, so far, could deliver a good job to our customers and this is very important to us. But, knock on wood, there is always something that can happen, you never know. But we have lots of engines now and we have the experience but I think the logistics are in place and it is not too long a time ago when we were not on that level. If you remember 2004 in Bahrain for example, five years ago, in 2005 we probably lost the world championship because we needed to change the engine frequently then and as a result were put back 10 places on the grid. That has improved and I think that is very pleasing.
I can just say thank you to the guys who worked very hard, so this is a positive side of the story. But of course we are very much focussed on getting the job done with McLaren. We are a 40 per cent shareholder, the biggest shareholder in the group. Lots of people are still thinking it is only a partnership but we are in the middle of it, so it is important for us to come back to where we used to be in the last couple of years. We are working very hard but as I said before it is a question of time. But so far on the engine side and KERS side we could be pleased I would say, very pleased.
Q. Frank, we have seen the two drivers being very competitive on Friday and Saturday mornings. Is there a certain frustration that those performances are not being translated into results on Sunday?
FW: Yeah, the word is showboating perhaps.
Q. I didn't say that.
FW: Bit too much of that probably. Formula One always finds out the truth pretty quickly. If you are quick the race will tell you that you are quick or the public. In practice, you can fool people including yourself.
Q. Would you say your position is seventh and eighth places in the race on Sunday?
FW: That's just unpredictable. The best was to review anything like that is to look at the results after each and every race, that's why we are here.
Q. But there is a satisfaction. You are quite happy with it?
FW: I think I have just said I am not in those words.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q. (Alan Baldwin - Reuters) Norbert, you said earlier that none of the cars with KERS were in a position to win races yet but looking at the times in practice, you would think that Lewis might have quite a good chance on Sunday. Do you think Lewis does have a chance?
NH: I hope so but I would not see us as the favourites currently. I've been to Monaco quite a few times and I think it's always a good sign if a car goes out and it's immediately amongst the fastest. This is basically the same on every race track, if you can achieve that that's good but it's even more important here because that shows that you have the right confidence and Lewis is not completely happy with the car and nor is Heikki but it was quite a good start. I think the team has a lot of competence in terms of the Monaco-type of race track but I wouldn't make a prediction now. It's so tight, 12 cars have been in one second, some used the option, some used two sets of option, some had higher fuel loads, some lower fuel loads. I think we will see a different order. Ferrari will be strong, that's for sure. Brawn will be strong, Red Bull will be stronger than they have been and I think Renault, probably Toyota... it's a handful and I think Williams will be seriously strong here. Not showboating but seriously strong!
Q. (Richard Williams – The Guardian) Question to Frank and Mario: in the recent days it's emerged that Ferrari have appeared to have a right of unilateral veto over changes to the technical regulations in Formula One. Was this a surprise to either of you, had you known about it all along, do you think it's the right thing to happen, that a team should be granted such rights?
FW: I'll listen to Mario's answer first.
MT: When FOTA was founded, we very quickly touched on the issue of the different positions of the individual teams. It was clear that the individual teams have different contracts with the FOA and we all accepted that. We knew about it and we said that everything that is in place is as it is and we deal with it and accept it as it is. In my view what Ferrari does now is in the interest of FOTA because they use the possibility to make the position of FOTA clear.
FW: Well, it's a difficult subject to answer because a lawyer might say that this is a question that goes above the FIA to another international body but keeping it within the sport is probably not the best of the events. I think many of us thought it mainly made a commercial advantage and that would be what they deserve but given Ferrari's longevity in the sport and being its backbone, it hasn't caused any ruffled feathers or waves until now.
Q. (Ed Gorman – The Times) Question for Frank: to what extent is the current dispute in Formula One with the FIA actually about the rules for next season and the budget cap or to what extent is it really about the way in which Max Mosley has been handling his duties as president of the FIA and the style with which he's discharged those duties? Because it seems that his personality and the way he's operating is becoming more of a problem than the actual rules themselves.
FW: I think the biggest single issue that has caused the whole recent events to take place has been the imposition or wish to impose the budget cap. It's to do with money.
Q. (Dan Knutson – National Speed Sport News) Norbert, Mercedes Benz has been winning a lot of Grands Prix the last few months. How much promotion and advertising are you doing about that?
NH: We are doing no advertising currently. In some countries it is mentioned but we do not have a special campaign for that. That's the reality. We invest in the product, it's not an easy time for the whole industry at the moment and I think it is well known amongst the people who are interested in motor sport that we are an engine partner that helps to win races but I think it is just a part of it. You need to be realistic. It's a part of it, of course, the engine is important but I think that the people who are interested in who has won a race know exactly who it is.
Q. (Andrew Frankl – Forza) Vijay, you've mentioned world recession and problems and so on and so forth. How are things coming along with the Indian track?
VM: Fortunately India has not been hit as hard as other countries in this global meltdown. Surprisingly, India is still achieving a GDP growth of more than five and a half percent. After our recent elections, that concluded last week, our stock market appreciated by 17 percent. So things in India are a little bit different and not as bad as you see in several other parts of the world. The promoters of the Formula One track and associated commercial complex have actually acquired the land and have announced that post the elections we've just got over, they are actually going to lay the foundation stone and build that track, so I am very optimistic that it will be built on time and that we will have our first Formula One Grand Prix in India in 2011.
Q. (Richard Williams – The Guardian) Question for Norbert and Mario: back to the budget cap for a minute, given the nature of your organisations, do you think that any amount of forensic accountancy, however big the teams that were sent in, could make a realistic and accurate assessment of the amount that you spend on Formula One, or do you think perhaps it would be an opportunity to introduce further abuses of the system? Do you think it would be an easy system to abuse?
NH: It's difficult. You have to start, Mario.
MT: I think whatever we do, if it's a monetary figure or if it's another form to cut resources, we have to police it and I think it can be policed. If we were not convinced it can be policed we wouldn't expend any effort on it because then it wouldn't make sense but I think it can be done with a bit of goodwill on all sides and the right spirit. It can be done.
NH: I agree, absolutely. We are used to having limited budgets, believe it or not and in our case, I can speak for all the industry, it's very clear what money goes where and it's absolutely documented properly and I think we need to sit together and find a solution and this is achievable. The trend is the right one. I think that's the positive, the positive is that we have a good sport, that we have a good surprise at the race track after a great final last year, and I think we should never forget to speak about the sport. We had a championship decision in the last corner of the last lap. This is something that not only Bernie (Ecclestone) but all of us were dreaming of.
I could have lived with the decision a race earlier, I have to say, but it was excellent for the sport and I think all of us, if you would have said in Brazil there will be a white car called Brawn with a Mercedes engine winning races, we would have said 'how will that happen?' And other things that have happened: Red Bull... whatever, or the classic teams – the Ferraris, McLaren Mercedes, BMWs – being challenged and not being that good at the beginning of the season, I think that's great and that's good for the sport. And the trend is to spend less money.
Five years ago, here, we started this process in May 2004, I think it was the 24th of May or so, a special meeting at the Automobile Club de Monaco. There will be another meeting tomorrow, five years later, and since then, a lot of money has already been saved. In our case, definitely. I know the figures, I am responsible for all the finance and so this is the right direction and we will make another good step and then I think there is a good chance for a good future of Formula One. That's what we need to concentrate on.
Q. (Oleg Karpov – Klaxon) Norbert, Felipe said at the Spanish Grand Prix that it will be impossible for him to fight for the championship. Do you think it's still possible for Lewis to defend his title?
NH: Well, I think you have to believe that all the time but it makes no sense to make predictions. You are always working in the same direction to improve the car, to improve the whole package and a lot of surprises have happened in the past in Formula One. This is a very special formula, and as Mario pointed out, if you have 15 cars within seven tenths of a second, lots of things can happen. You look quite silly being 15th or 16th but gaining three, four, five tenths is difficult enough, but easier – believe me – than gaining 1.5s.
So if you gain three, four, five tenths you are probably sixth or seventh and then if you have an aggressive strategy all of a sudden it plays into your hands. If you are not convinced and sometimes you probably need to have positive dreams and believe in it, I think it just makes no sense to sit down and say ‘well, I have no chances anymore.' If somebody likes to do that, OK, but I am not sitting here and saying we are going to win the World Championship. It does not give me a tenth of a second and I think that is important but it gives us a tenth of a second if you are working hard, if we are believing in ourselves, if we support the people.
There is obviously criticism within the team but it is very, very important that it is positive criticism and that you are steering things in the right direction. We didn't win one race in 2006, for example. In 2007, we missed the championship by one point and in 2008 we won the championship. So things can turn around quickly. You need to have the substance, you need to believe in yourself and you need not to be arrogant, that does not help. You need to work very, very hard and this is what we are doing.
Q. (Jonathan Legard – BBC Sport) A question for all you, ahead of this meeting tomorrow. How real is Ferrari's threat to leave Formula One, and how damaged would the sport be should they carry out that threat?
VM: I think that all teams want to make sure that everybody remains in Formula One. I don't think anybody wants to see a team depart from Formula One, Ferrari included. And I'm sure it will work out a satisfactory solution going forward amongst FOTA members, with the FIA, with FOM. I think everybody recognises the value of the sport, the importance of the sport, everybody's participation in the sport and certainly nobody wants to see any team leave, so I'm hoping that we will find a via media that keeps Ferrari in.
MT: Short answer: I think it is serious and there would be a big loss if Ferrari stepped out. Like Vijay, I think we need to work out a solution. Formula One is a very strong brand, a very strong platform. The stakeholders are benefitting from it, so there is really no point in destroying that platform.
FW: Well, Ferrari now don't really need this help. They're a very, very strong and wealthy team. It will be a great shame if they do go but if they go, I hope that it won't be in a fit of pique. They've had many years under this Concorde Agreement and the previous one in a very privileged position, which if it had been known previously would not have gone down very well, I think, with the competition authorities in Brussels, so it would be better for them to put their cap on and come back inside.
NH: Well, obviously I think none of us can speak for Ferrari but one thing is for sure: I think I can express the same view. I think everybody wants Ferrari to stay in Formula One, the fans out in the world wish that and the teams wish it as well. I think what Mario said is right; Ferrari would not say things like that if they hadn't carefully considered where they are. This is the message I get and this is what I know from the discussions we've obviously had within the teams, within FOTA.
But still, I think everybody should work very hard to find solutions that this group of teams stays together. And as for new teams, I would very, very much support the idea of having new teams but you have to have a certain level – Frank is much more qualified than I am to describe, for example, what it takes to come into Formula One, and I think we should not underestimate that Formula One needs to have one set of rules because people want to see the best drivers in the best cars and I just cannot believe that people want to see an overtaking manoeuvre that is steered by the fact that you have a flatter rear wing than your competitor and things like that. I can see the background of that idea and I think there are some formulae like that.
Sometimes in touring car racing or production car racing or whatever, there is no other way, no other chance than to go down that path but after a while you need to regroup, even in these formulae. I know that for example from DTM and then there must be one of set of rules for everybody because that is what is interesting. Is the car good enough, is the driver quicker than the other one? Even between team-mates, this is what makes Formula One and what has made Formula One great in the past. That is my feeling and I think my colleagues will see it the same and we should not underestimate that fact.
Bridgestone
Bridgestone's super soft tyre proved to be the fastest rubber on the streets of Monte Carlo for the first day of the Monaco Grand Prix. In warm and sunny conditions overlooking the fabulous Monaco harbour, Nico Rosberg set the day's fastest lap time, a 1min 15.243secs, in his AT&T Williams during the afternoon practice session.
Track conditions improved throughout the day as rubber was laid on the street course and the circuit surface was cleared of normal public road debris. Brawn GP driver Rubens Barrichello was the fastest driver in the morning session, using the soft compound to set a time of 1min 17.189secs. The soft and super soft compounds are used here in Monaco, both compounds being from Bridgestone's low temperature working range of F1 tyres.
Q&A with Hirohide Hamashima - Bridgestone Director of Motorsport Tyre Development
What was significant about today's running?
"Today was a challenge for all the drivers as the grip level in Monaco is very difficult to learn, and any mistakes are punished by the barriers. There are significant sections of resurfacing, however the new surface is very smooth, just as the older sections of track are, so there is not a significant difference between the two from a tyre performance perspective. As a first day at Monaco, we saw the lap times fall dramatically over the course of the day as the track cleared and the rubber was put down. It was a good day in terms of gaining data as the weather was fine and the running was not interrupted. However, we will not see any F1 running here tomorrow, so it will be interesting to see how the track surface changes for Saturday."
How do you expect this allocation to work over the weekend?
"Even though these are our softest tyres, drivers will struggle for grip here due to the unique slippery nature of this track. Despite this, we saw very good displays from the drivers today with some exceptional car control, as we would expect of the best drivers in the world. The super soft tyre was faster than the soft tyre, as we expected. The difference between the two tyres today was around 0.4 seconds over the fastest lap. Both tyres delivered their fastest lap on the first or second flying lap, and neither tyre suffers greatly in terms of wear or degradation because of the low grip here."
Brawn GP
Brawn GP began the team’s on-track preparations for the 2009 Monaco Grand Prix around the streets of Monte Carlo today.
With track time at a premium to allow the drivers to get into the rhythm of the 3.340km street circuit, all the cars were quickly out on track in the morning to maximise the available running time. Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button completed 26 laps and 28 laps respectively as they developed the balance of their BGP 001 cars. With the track conditions improving throughout the day, both drivers focused on longer runs and tyre evaluations in the afternoon session, completing a further 77 laps.
Friday is a traditional rest day in Monaco with the track action resuming on Saturday ahead the all-important qualifying hour.
RESULTS
Drivers Car No. Chassis No. Free Practice 1 Free Practice 2
Rubens Barrichello 23 BGP 001-01 26 laps 01:17.189 P1 41 laps 01:15.590 P3
Jenson Button 22 BGP 001-02 28 laps 01:18.080 P8 36 laps 01:15.774 P4
Weather Warm and sunny
Temperatures Air: 23-26°C Track: 31-44°C
RUBENS BARRICHELLO
“We have had a good first day to start our weekend here in Monaco. I love driving the street track although it is lacking grip at the moment but this should improve in time for qualifying on Saturday. We were able to evaluate a lot of different things today with positive outcomes. I had some oversteer in the car but it was controllable and overall I am very satisfied with the balance. So we can be optimistic heading into the weekend although we expect a tough fight from our close competitors. We will need to work hard ahead of qualifying as it is so important to achieve a good grid position here.”
JENSON BUTTON
“We are going in the right direction following this afternoon’s practice session however this morning proved quite challenging for me. I had rear locking in the low speed corners and understeer in the high speed corners and didn’t feel quite comfortable in the car. However we were able to make some good set-up changes this afternoon and my last runs on the softer tyres were much better. Achieving a good balance is very important here so we are going in the right direction. If we can keep making improvements then it should be a good weekend to come.”
ROSS BRAWN
“The Monaco Grand Prix always throws up a number of unique challenges and we worked hard today to familiarise ourselves with the conditions and prepare for the weekend ahead. The biggest challenge this afternoon was finding sufficient free air to allow the cars to have clean runs and achieve a clear read on our set-up evaluations. Jenson had a little unscheduled work in the garage this afternoon after brushing a wall, a frequent hazard here in Monaco, and we made some precautionary changes to the steering components. Overall it has been a very good start to the weekend which has allowed Rubens and Jenson to acclimatise themselves with the car and the circuit and has put us in a good position ahead of Saturday.”
McLaren
Lewis Hamilton - 2nd: "Driving around Monaco is a spectacular sensation - you can't compare it to any other circuit. You get such a huge buzz here; I love this place – it reminds me how much I love this sport, why I love racing and why I love Formula 1. From today's performance, I think Q3 is definitely possible on Saturday. I'm optimistic about shooting for the top five – I hope we can get there."
Heikki Kovalainen - 7th: "Lots of traffic today – but that's normal for Monaco. Today's running tells us we'll be more competitive here. The team has worked very well and my car was in good shape straight away this morning. The most important thing is that we've made consistent improvements – we've made good progress on the set-up and I've been dialling myself further into the car and the track on each run. While our car seems to behave well around here, there's still some work to do – we won't be able to do miracles over the weekend."
Martin Whitmarsh – team principal, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes: "The whole team loves the thrill and tension of the Monaco weekend and today's performance has left us feeling encouraged that we will have another successful weekend in the principality. Both Lewis and Heikki have really dived into the challenge, both producing some excellent times and, most importantly, helping to refine our technical package ahead of Saturday's crucial qualifying session and the race itself. We go into Saturday feeling extremely positive about getting a strong result from both drivers."
Norbert Haug – vice-president, Mercedes-Benz Motorsport: "A good first day on this challenging track which saw Vodafone McLaren Mercedes winning on the last two occasions. It is too early to know where we will be in qualifying compared to our competitors, but Lewis and Heikki should hopefully be in better shape than at previous races. The car so far just looks better on this track and our mechanical and aerodynamic improvements seem to help here around as well as our KERS hybrid. Having said that, I do not see us in the role of the favourites like in previous years when we won six grands prix out of 11 since McLaren-Mercedes' maiden win in 1998."
Ferrari
Felipe Massa - 5th: "It's hard to say if there's been an improvement since Barcelona, but we are in amongst the other front runners, which is already a good sign. Everything went well from the start of the day, when we worked towards the race. From what we've seen today, our car seems to be quick and consistent in performance terms. In the past, I wasn't particularly keen on this track, but more recently that has changed.
"Last year, I took pole and today I immediately felt comfortable, working on settings for the car, which we had never tried before. The softer tyres are definitely quicker, but after ten laps or so, you start to lose the back end a bit. However, we must bear in mind that the track conditions change a lot from today to Saturday, so today's results are not that representative."
Kimi Raikkonen - 8th: "We worked our way through the usual programme for the first day of practice, based on evaluating the two different types of tyre that Bridgestone has brought here and on finding the best set up on the car. I would say the car is handling reasonably well: there are still a few areas where we can improve but I am pleased with what we achieved today.
"Driving here is always a challenge, even if Sunday's race can then be rather boring, with overtaking practically impossible and if you end up behind slower cars there is nothing you can do but wait for the pit stop."
Chris Dyer: "It's always important to start the Monaco weekend without any problems and so we can be happy with having managed that today. Time lost in free practice here can be more costly than elsewhere. As for the set-up, both drivers are reasonably happy with the handling of the F60, even if obviously, there is still a lot to do.
"Tyre choice for the race is particularly interesting here, given that the two types available are much closer to one another than at other races. Qualifying will be the key as usual at this Grand Prix. Usually at this track, the times are very close and this year they are even more so, given how closely matched everyone is. Therefore it will be even more important to be as well prepared as possible for all phases of qualifying."
Force India
Adrian Sutil - 13th: "Today was quite a normal practice day. The track was very slippery in the morning and it took quite some time to be able to push for a lap time. The car felt OK, reasonably balanced under the high downforce configuration, but the biggest problem we have at the moment is the rear tyre graining. Both the soft and the supersofts seem to be really bad and after even a medium-length run the graining is so bad it really affects the balance of the car. I am confident we can find a solution for qualifying though - the extra day we have will help."
Giancarlo Fisichella - 19th: "Not a bad start to the weekend. We used the morning session to check the set-up and the balance and then completed some longer runs in the afternoon when the track had a bit more rubber laid down. Like Adrian I had some issues with tyre graining, particularly in the last five laps of my longer runs, and the car even felt like it was moving around even when going in a straight line. I didn't feel I got the best lap time today and there is certainly more to come."
Dominic Harlow, chief race engineer: "A typical Thursday's practice in Monaco with the circuit starting at low, low grip and beginning to rubber in by the end of FP2. The programmes ran smoothly for both cars apart from Giancarlo catching some traffic at the end of the afternoon. Adrian produced a good lap, and our balance is not too far away. We will work hard on analysing that data over the coming turnaround day, with a particular eye on maximising the rear tyre life in the race. With these roads open to the public tomorrow afternoon the circuit will be almost back to square one for Saturday morning, but we can expect further improvement before qualifying."
Toro Rosso
Sebastien Buemi - 15th: "It was a good session and we tested everything we wanted to, which is positive. We are still lacking a bit of pace, but the track was improving towards the end of the session, and those who fitted new tyres at that point were clearly quicker, which means there is some potential there.
"There is also potential in the car, so if we can put all the elements together for Saturday, it should be good. It is also positive that we had no problems with the car and that we didn't crash, which is always a key to a good weekend here in Monaco. As for the tyres, both types worked well, so now we need to improve our car set-up, even if some of the new parts we have here are also an improvement."
Sebastien Bourdais - 16th: "The car felt quite good on the short runs, but less so on the longer ones, when the car's behaviour made it difficult to sustain the lap times. We got through our work programme for the day. We are suffering from a slight lack of pace, but overall we did the best we could in these two sessions.
"Now we must look at the data for Saturday and the race, because it looks as though we are going to have two different sets of requirements for the short and long runs, although it is not tyre related. This is of course a special place to drive, although today it was a bit of a struggle to keep away from the barriers."
Williams
Nico Rosberg - 1st: "We had a difficult start to the weekend and I really didn't feel comfortable in the car because of a simple lack of grip to begin with. So we made plenty of set-up changes and we found a significant improvement. By the end of P2, I was much happier and I would say there is more in the car as I had traffic and never really had a clean lap. We also suffered no problems or damage to the car which is a constant issue in Monaco. And let me say, it is great to drive on this track."
Kazuki Nakajima - 9th: "This morning was good but for reasons we will look at tonight, the afternoon session was a bit difficult in the car. So I am hoping we can establish what was happening and use third practice to make sure I am well prepared for qualifying."
Sam Michael, Technical Director: "Today was a typical first day in Monaco. We have spent some time looking at the two tyres in the context of a track that is changing hugely compared to a normal track. As a street circuit, all the contaminants are getting cleaned off by the F1 rubber, so it's too early to say where the car is. All the parts we brought here seem to be working well."
Toyota
Jarno Trulli, P1 - 1:19.831, 20th; P2 - 1:16.915, 14th
"We did our normal work of setting up the car and trying to find a good balance. Of course the track surface was dirty this morning and that meant there wasn't much grip. In second practice I had some problems with the tyres and with degradation so we must look into that and work out a solution. We have plenty of work to do but here in Monaco we have an extra day to study the data and improve the set-up. We certainly won't be having a day off tomorrow."
Timo Glock, P1 - 1:19.698, 19th; P2 - 1:17.207, 18th
"That was not an easy day for me. We tried out several mechanical and aerodynamic set-ups in the morning and then in the afternoon we spent more time looking at the tyres. It's hard to say where we are at the moment. Overall, in terms of lap times it was not great but it's always tough to judge after practice. We need to work on getting better traction and getting the best out of the tyres, which was a bit of a challenge in the afternoon. It's tricky but we have a lot of information to look at and we'll make improvements before qualifying."
Dieter Gass, Toyota chief engineer race and test:
"We had a busy day today, doing a lot of laps without major technical problems on the cars. We spent first practice mainly on set-up and assessing some new items we have for this race and in the second session we worked mainly on tyres. We seem to be struggling a bit with long-run consistency so that is something we have to look into. I am not too worried about the time sheets because we set our fastest lap times on the option tyres very early in the second session and we know there is significant circuit evolution here in Monaco. We will now analyse our data, not only tonight but also tomorrow, and come up with the best package we can for Saturday and Sunday."
Red Bull
Sebastian Vettel, P1 - 1:19.233, 13th; P2 - 1:15.847, 6th
“We had an engine failure in the morning, which cost us some track time. Things like that are important for the driver, as well as the car, as you need to get into a good rhythm round here. Nonetheless the boys fixed the car, which I think was quite tricky as some of the parts arrived last minute, so it wasn’t easy. But, we still managed to complete quite a few laps and get a lot of data – including a view on the different tyre compounds, so I think we’re in decent shape, but of course we always want to be on top!”
Mark Webber, P1 - 1:19.348, 10th; P2 - 1:16.579, 12th
“It was a bit of a mixed bag today. We didn’t have a great run, reliability-wise, which was a first this season. There was a vibration in the rear of the car during this morning’s session so we stopped early, but the boys did an amazing job to get the car back out for the afternoon. I think it was a good recovery for us to do as many laps as we did. We didn’t get the ultimate lap time in the second session, as we were running under yellow flags at the end, but the long runs were good and we’ve gathered plenty of data to go through for Saturday. It looks very tight and competitive here, so it should be an exciting race.”
Renault
Fernando Alonso - 11th: "Monaco on a Thursday is always more important for the drivers than for the team because it gives us time to get used to the circuit and feel comfortable in the car. We did quite a lot of laps today so it was useful for me and I'm happy with the car. I think that we are quite competitive, but qualifying will be the key to the race and our preparation today should help ensure we get the most from the car on Saturday."
Nelson Piquet - 10th: "It always takes a few laps to get used to racing on the tight streets of Monaco, but after the morning session I was back in the groove. The car worked well today and we didn't have any problems, which allowed us to complete a lot of laps. The track was dirty this morning and improved during the day, just as it always does in Monaco, but that made it difficult to evaluate the tyres and the set-up changes we made. Overall though I think we are in reasonable shape for the weekend."
Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering: "It was a normal Thursday in Monaco. It's very difficult to really improve the car because the circuit conditions change so rapidly, but we seem quite competitive here, although that is not reflected in the final times because both drivers had problems with traffic."
BMW
Nick Heidfeld - 17th: "After brake problems on both cars in the morning, the second session was okay for me. On the long runs I was lucky in terms of traffic, but it was the opposite when I was on new tyres towards the end of the session. I lost time when I was stuck behind other cars, but even without this it doesn?t look as if this circuit is good for our cars. We will keep working on it."
Robert Kubica - 20th: "Today was extremely disappointing. We clearly lack outright performance and, due to the engine failure in the second session, I had far too little track time. There is nothing to add."
Willy Rampf (Head of Engineering): "This was a disappointing practice day. The car's performance is a long way behind what we were expecting. On top of that, due to technical problems, we lost valuable time for setting up the cars. Robert's engine failure happened during the last planned running of this engine on a Friday. Therefore, the failure doesn't impact on the number of engines we can use over the rest of the season. Of course the failure cost Robert valuable time when he should have been working on his car's set-up."
Adrian Sutil (Force India)
Sebastien Bourdais (Toro Rosso)
Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull)
Felipe Massa (Ferrari)
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Adrian, memories of last year here. Do you ever look back and think what might have been?
Adrian SUTIL: No, I look back in a good way. I think it was a great race for me being in fourth place between the Ferraris. It was a big success. For sure, a really unlucky ending and a lot of tears but that’s how it is, that’s sport. You have to bring it to the chequered flag. For the team it was very good and still I get lots of questions about it. It is good to hear that they talk about it and it is still in their memories.
Q: Recently you have been showing the same sort of perseverance, the same sort of staying power to the end of the race. Are you hopeful that with the slightly different nature of this circuit it might reap a good performance this weekend?
AS: Yeah, I think all the field will be really close, so every tenth, every hundredth will count for a good lap and finally maybe to get a few places on the grid. But let’s see. I think everything is possible in Monaco. It is a tricky circuit. I like street circuits very much and it is one of my favourites, so I hope it will help me for a better position.
Q: I think you are still the Formula Three record holder here?
AS: Yeah, still. Exactly. Hopefully it is a good omen.
Q: What are your feelings about the performances recently? It seems that the technical side of the car is improving.
AS: Yeah, step by step we are doing our improvements. The problem is that the other teams improved their cars quite a lot, in big steps, so it is hard for us to catch up. But of course overall the balance is really good and it is definitely a big change to last year. We are very fast on the straight line, so straight line speed is really good. We need a little bit more downforce but reliability-wise it is really promising. There is potential in the car but we need somehow to catch up the train. It is difficult.
Q: We do see that your straight line speed is very good. But can you have downforce as well?
AS: Yeah, that’s the thing. It is a compromise we are looking for but right now the factory is pushing a lot and trying to give their support in the best way. But as I said it is difficult for us but let’s see how we go on. We are trying our best to put everything on the car right now.
Q: Sébastien, your feelings about the season so far and your own performances?
Sébastien BOURDAIS: Yeah, it has been obviously a steep learning curve for us as we had zero kilometres, or nearly, before the first race. The
car has been changing every race, so it hasn’t been easy to understand the car and optimise it. Here and there we felt we did a good job. I think obviously at the last one we got a major update and we were hoping for a big step forward and a great performance which didn’t come. I think as a whole we didn’t optimise what we had and that was a bit of a shame and obviously here it is a completely different game. You can’t be quite sure of what is going to happen, if the car is going to be easy enough to drive to give you the confidence to go fast. It is always a very interesting weekend and I think all through the season it will be a very changeable, movable target. We have done what we could with what we had at the beginning. Now I think the car has a lot more potential and it is up to us to use it better.
Q: What do you think is lacking? Where do you think you need to improve? Everything?
SB: No, I think quite clearly since the beginning of the season up until Monaco we were definitely lacking downforce and that is what you need these days to go quicker. For sure here if you do not have downforce it is quite hard but once again we have some new parts on the car which should help us get a little bit closer. We will give our very best and see what happens.
Q: Do you feel this is your home grand prix?
SB: Yeah, I mean to me Monaco is very much like France. You have a lot of French supporters that come over. It is a very unique track, loaded with history and for the French it is always very special to drive here. I have had
my fair share of success here and I really like the place, so hopefully we can put on a good show and have a good result.
Q: Sebastian, a phenomenal performance last year.
Nineteenth on the grid to fifth. Is it a circuit that you enjoy?
Sebastian VETTEL: Yes, I do. I mean last year we had a difficult time here as we introduced the car for the first time, so we had no spare parts, nothing. It wasn’t very easy to deal with but in the race, fortunately, it was a chaotic race with wet and dry conditions, so we survived. We were on a one stop strategy and able to catch a lot of cars and in the end score some points, so it was a very good race for us.
Q: How do you feel you have changed since one year ago? Your driving, your own personality?
SV: Well, I think as a person I am still the same guy. I don’t think I have changed much. Hopefully I have learnt a lot and I feel much more comfortable sitting in the car, driving the car and working together with the crew, with the team. Obviously this year I’m with Red Bull Racing and it is my first season with them. It is a different team but I think I get used to it and getting better I suppose.
Q: So what are your expectations for the Monaco Grand Prix this year?
SV: It is always difficult to say and give a number but I think we have a very competitive car. We saw that the last five races. Also independently from the results I think the race was always very good and promising, so why should it change much for here. We have some new bits on the car, so if any they will help us I hope and we will be even stronger, so let’s see.
Q: Your concentration has come out in Monza and China as well. Obviously it is very important around here. Do you see that as one of your assets perhaps?
SV: I hope so. I mean it is a very long race around here and street circuits are always very difficult. You need to be very focussed. It is all about keeping your concentration up and in the end you need to push just as hard as on a normal circuit but you are not allowed to make any mistakes. It is a bit more spicy but I think that is the extra challenge around here.
Q: Felipe, you felt that you could have finished third in the last grand prix. Is that the sort of progress you are expecting here?
Felipe MASSA: I hope for sure. The last race we took a big step forward. We were very competitive during the race. I know we had a problem at the end of the race but at least with the pace point of view we took a big step forward. Here is a very different track compared to tracks we have had until now. So many things can be different here because of the lay-out of the track, so I think it is a little bit different for everybody. Sometimes you will see cars which are a little bit more competitive in one track but less in others. I hope our car can be as competitive as we were in the last race here as well. Also I hope we can have a very good race, start in a good shape and finish in a good shape. What happened in the last race was really a shame.
Q: Is there less emphasis on the technical side here and is it more on the drivers?
FM: Well, for sure it is a very technical track. The way you drive here is different than other tracks. Usually you need to anticipate the corners as you are getting to the corner and some corners you have understeer and some you have oversteer. The corners you have understeer you need to anticipate because if you are turning in the right place as if it was a normal corner maybe you lose a little bit of the apex, so you need to anticipate to get very close to the wall but not touch it. So it is different driving here. It is also very important as Sebastian said for the concentration. It is a huge factor in this race.
Q: You have had pole position here and two third places, so what chance of being on the podium again this year?
FL: Well, I hope we can have a great race as we have had in the last two years. Especially last year it was really, really good. We had a fantastic car and fantastic pace here. I made pole position with two laps more fuel, so it was one of the best poles of my career. The race was a big lottery unfortunately but I think we were very strong. I hope we can be strong as well and having a car to fight.
QUESTIONS FORM THE FLOOR
Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) How important is a driver on this track? Can you say what the difference is for a driver with the other tracks and here?
FM: Well, as I said it is a different track compared to the others. It is very technical. The concentration is very important. If you make a single mistake you can go to the wall. It doesn’t mean you cannot make mistakes on this track. But if you make a mistake you need to be very lucky, to be on the right place, so you can still recover. But for sure the margin is very small compared to the other tracks.
SV: Yeah, I mean basically on this circuit the driver is very important, more important than on other circuits. As Felipe said you don’t have a lot of room for mistakes and you need to be quite brave around here and as I said before you need to push just as hard as on any other circuit but that is the difficult thing as you have got the walls and the rails everywhere. It is difficult but good fun. So I think, to answer the question, the driver here is more important and by how much is difficult to say. You always need a good car as well but maybe the driver can make more of a difference here.
SB: I think it all depends on how you rate the level of the field. If you think there are big differences between drivers then you have one opinion. If you don’t think so then maybe it is not so relevant. Personally I think the quality of the field is very high, so since you have nearly all the best in the world and in the end we have all been through street circuits and road circuits. I think the biggest difference is that some guys like street circuits better than others. That’s what makes the biggest differences as it is true that it is a unique exercise. You can’t drive here like you drive in Malaysia or modern tracks with a lot of run-off. It is narrow, it is tricky, it is a little bumpy and you have a little bit of everything. But probably you need a little bit more anticipation here than anywhere else.
AS: Yeah, a driver circuit I think. It showed in the last years always and that’s why for us we always hope for Monaco as sometimes we can perform better. You need to risk quite a lot here but not too risk too much. There is a small edge and the car is moving around a lot. You have to play with the car, control it, so in the end I think it is up to the driver if he likes street circuits, if he feels good through the barriers, through the streets. But I do think there is a big difference in the end lap time-wise. You can gain or lose if maybe you risk a little bit more than the others.
SV: May I add one thing. I think also if you look from 1984 to 1993 because we have just had the discussion this morning, there were only two guys winning here: Senna and Prost. They must have done something better than the rest of the field.
Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Question for everybody: just a few minutes ago, a court in Paris rejected the Ferrari appeal and as you know it will have a very big effect on Formula One in the future. May I have your comments because I think it will also affect your personal future. Maybe you will have to change categories if your teams don’t decide to do Formula One next year.
SV: I haven’t heard the result yet, so I don’t know what to answer now. First I want to see what happened exactly and then we will see what the reaction is from everyone and then I will also know a little bit more about my future.
FM: It’s very difficult to comment. I think many things aren’t over yet. The way the championship has started has been very different compared to other years. We have had a lot of political fighting in many areas. I don’t think that has helped the sport, for sure. I think many people have been a little bit upset because of many of these fights. I don’t really know what to answer. It would be nice to have more sport and less politics, that’s what we’re here for. We are not here for political reasons, we are here for sport, to fight for positions. That’s the good thing about Formula One. I hope things are going to be OK. For sure, if we lose Ferrari, Formula One won’t be the same. People can say whatever they want but if you lose Ferrari, Formula One won’t be the same. You see many teams which are trying to get into Formula One next year but you can imagine that if you lose Ferrari and maybe you get GP2 teams it won’t be the same; with all respect, it won’t be the same. The only thing I hope is to have more sport and less politics. We are here to race, we are here to fight each other on the track, not outside.
AS: Actually, I have no comment really. I didn’t hear about the stuff going on right now. First I want to read it.
SB: I think it’s very difficult to comment on anything until we really know what’s going to happen. Right now it’s negotiation time, everybody is trying to pull the strings the way it goes. I’m not aware of much of it, so I will leave it at that.
Q: (Oliver Reuter – Kölner Express) Question to Sebastian Vettel: how do you like your new double D (diffuser)model?
SV: Well, we will see. We don’t know yet. As I said before, we tried to bring more and more bits to the car which will help the performance but we will see on Thursday where we are and also on Saturday, whether we are able to make a step forward or not. But nevertheless, I think it’s difficult to prove anything on this circuit because it’s so different to a normal circuit. I think we will have a clearer picture in the next races; the next round at Istanbul.
Q: (Ed Gorman – The Times) Question for Felipe: when Luca di Montezemolo threatened that Ferrari would leave Formula One, both you and Kimi put out a statement that you supported that. Do you also support the move to take the matter to court over next year’s rules and if you did support that could you explain why?
FM: I think I said enough. Before, I’ve said enough about all these problems, so I don’t want to go into the details, so I support my team. I will support my team because I think Ferrari, to be honest, is not alone. Ferrari maybe took the lead but I don’t think it’s just Ferrari which thinks like that. I think it’s many other teams. Yeah, I support my team.
Q: (Fulvio Solms – Corriere dello Sport) Felipe, at this historical moment in your sport, do you feel firstly a Formula One driver or a Ferrari driver?
FM: Well, I am a Ferrari driver and I race in Formula One and I’m very proud of that.
Q: (Heinz Prüller) To all of you: I would like to have your personal opinion, what is the most difficult, most fearsome, most challenging corner on this circuit for you personally?
SB: For me it used to be the swimming pool but not anymore because now it’s not blind and you have some room, not a lot, but some. Now for sure it’s Casino, because if you get it wrong there it’s an over 200kph approach and it doesn’t go well.
SV: I think, as Sébastien said, there are some blind corners and like Felipe said before, you need to anticipate, so I think that is the most challenging around here, so places like the Casino, swimming pool, the fast bits obviously, you need to have a little bit of balls but overall it’s a very difficult circuit and you’re not just losing or gaining time in the fast bits, also in the corners that you see very well, like the harbour chicane but these are the key corners if you’re looking for lap time.
FM: Yeah, maybe similar thoughts. I think Casino is quite difficult, I crashed there two or three years ago I think. You have many difficult corners but maybe this place is more tricky. If you’re talking about lap time, every corner is important because you can gain or lose in every corner, so I think you need to be really consistent and perfect in most of the corners.
AS: Yeah, I think very similar places: the Tabac corner, swimming pool and then Casino corner. You always want to push more but then somehow you reach a limit and it’s easy to go a little bit over it and crash. It’s high speed there and you always think it can be a little bit faster but you have to see where the limit is really.
Q: (Sarah Holt – BBC Sport) Sebastian, how important do you think it is that you stop Jenson’s (Button) winning streak this weekend? If he maybe wins five races are your own championship hopes and those of Red Bull effectively over?
SV: Well, first of all I think it’s a good position for the rest of the field that we basically have the points system still but nothing is impossible, we have just done five races, there are a lot more races to come. Of course it is important to stop Brawn GP winning, not just for us, I think for everyone, so we would like to turn the whole thing around and basically start winning at the earliest possible opportunity. Of course the target is to beat them and the target is to win the race, so to do so we need to beat everyone.
Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) All of you have some kind of a relationship with the FIA and your teams as well. The president of the FIA wants a regulation that as far as we understand, nobody wants in Formula One. What do you think about that?
FM: I think that many of the ideas which came from FOTA were very good ideas, to be honest and I think just because of political games, many of these ideas were not in Formula One. I’m not political, I’m very neutral, I’m a driver, I want the best for the sport I race in and I think many of these ideas were very interesting. You need to think about the sport. I’m not here to make judgement, that this is right, this is wrong. I’m not a political guy, so I cannot really answer very clearly or very deeply about your question but what I say is that many of the ideas were very interesting but they weren’t accepted because of other reasons. But I don’t have anything against anybody, so I just want better ideas for the sport, for the fans, because at the end of the day we race for the fans, we race because of them, we race because of the sponsors. Many ideas come up but if they are not good ideas, it’s less interesting for the fans, it’s more difficult for the fans and it’s more difficult for the sponsors as well.
AS: The only thing I can say is that cost-saving is important, so it’s a good thing to think about it and try to make a new regulation for next year, absolutely OK, but there are always two sides, so if you agree or you don’t agree, I think you have to find a middle way and find a solution very quickly.
SB: I think that what came out for this year&ldots; obviously we see a great show this year. I think the regulations are quite sensible, it helps what it was meant to, meaning overtaking, less turbulence. For sure, another step seems to be necessary to proceed forwards with cost savings. Then it’s up to the teams to somehow find a way to communicate with the FIA and to find an agreement. There’s nothing that we can do. The only thing I would say is that us drivers, as members of the GPDA, we only kind of look at safety for us, or the way we see it from the inside and we start to have a good relationship with the FIA, to have some communication going and it’s good. That’s all I’m going to say really.
SV: Well, I think first of all we are all here for the same reason, we are here in this room now because we love driving cars. Motor sport and Formula One is our life, we want to compete with each other. I think it’s always difficult to make new rules or think about the rules, try to improve and so on. You might have an opinion for one thing, not have an opinion for another one. You might like one way to go and dislike another. I think you will find an advantage, disadvantage. In the end it’s always linked to a lot of discussion, so it’s never easy. As Felipe said, we need to see why we are here. Personally, I think we want to race and Formula One is obviously the best platform in the world to do so. We’re here for the fans and we all want the sport to continue. As I said, it’s always tricky and there are always a lot of discussions, so I think it’s very difficult to know where to go.
Q: (Walter Koster – Saarbrücker Zeitung) Question to Sebastian, Red Bull driver. Sebastian, have you done some special things to improve your starting situation? It was not the best in the past, especially in Barcelona, or was it more a technical problem?
SV: No, you’re right, we didn’t have a very good start there. Obviously, as at every race, you look into it and you try to improve. Very clearly we could see that our start wasn’t the best out of the top group, so basically both cars, Mark (Webber) and me, were lacking a little bit of performance there but I’m confident that we will fix it and we will have a reasonable and good start here in dry conditions. In wet conditions, it’s always obviously a bit different, always trickier but I think we should be OK.
Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Question for Bourdais about politics again: there is a lot of talk about another championship. You were in America, you won in America in a situation similar to that which might arise in future in Formula One, with two different monocoque championships. Could you tell us what is the effect (of such a championship) on the motor racing environment, to have two championships?
SB: No, there is nothing I can say. I think it’s very difficult to foresee Formula One with two different chassis. Maybe that’s what it will be in the end but I think the teams have been quite strong about that opinion, to make sure it was not going to go through. The FIA seems to be quite keen on it, I think there’s going to be a compromise to find somewhere and there’s no way you can compare the States to Formula One, it’s two different ways of approaching racing and I won’t even go there. It’s too long and complicated.
Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Felipe, you said that you needed more confidence here than at other circuits; does the return of performance to your Ferrari give you enough confidence or are you still worried about reliability?
FM: No, no, I’m very confident. I think we can do a good job. What happened to my car especially in the last race was something that I never saw before. We had the fuel in the car but the car was reading wrong numbers, so the refuelling machine was putting the right fuel in, it was reading the right numbers of the amount of fuel that went inside but the car was saying to the engineers, to the telemetry, that all the fuel was not inside. Then we changed the refuelling machine, we did exactly the same thing, and we again had the wrong numbers, so maybe I saved fuel for nothing.
Q & A with Adrian Newey
Q. Can you clarify what the latest is on the diffuser? Have you got the double decker here?
Adrian NeweyAdrian Newey: Yes, we've got the double diffuser.
Q. On both cars?
AN: Yes. We are going to fit it on both cars and see how we get on. We run load cells to try and measure the downforce of the car around the circuit and if at the end of the session we have concerns, then we will review the rest of the weekend.
So there is an element of risk in putting it on both cars in terms of, does it perform as predicted by the wind tunnel? Is there a mechanical problem that we have not thought of that causes the cars to break down? But we've decided to take that risk - as we would rather find out about it.
The other thing is that if we had only put it on one car, then Murphy's Law around here dictates that that will be the car that ends up in the wall on the first lap and we won't learn anything about it. That is why we will fit it on both cars.
Q. Was it an easy process time wise to get it all on, or was it all a bit last minute?
AN: It has been a bit last minute, but not too bad. We wanted to get it on both cars because it was Monaco. At other circuits, if we had it on one car the first day and then both cars the next it wouldn't have been so bad, but here we wanted to make sure that both drivers had the most practice they could on what will be their race set-up.
Q. What figures have you had from the wind tunnel and simulation?
AN: That is for us to know!
Q. But people are saying that the Red Bull is so quick without the diffuser that when you put it on it should be streets ahead?
AN: Hopefully it should be a small step, yes.
Q. Would the step have been bigger if you didn't have your rear suspension set-up?
AN: Well, it is difficult to answer that because we've only designed it around the rear suspension we have. It would be a piece of research that we need to do for next year's car, but we haven't properly evaluated that yet.
Q. Did you have to make big compromises to get the diffuser in?
AN: Not big compromises. We had to make a little bit of a compromise on the pullrod, but not a big compromise. But it has been a difficult exercise getting it in, and to answer the question could we have got more out of it if it had been a pushrod rear suspension, we can't answer that yet.
Q. What about here, how much will it bring on this circuit?
AN: It should bring a bit. It is a misconception that Monaco is a very low-speed circuit. Obviously in average lap speed it is, but there are some reasonably quick corners here so downforce is important.
Q. Do you expect to see the performance advantage of the new diffuser here, or do you expect to see more in Turkey?
AN: What we normally do is have the offset of one tenth of a second gained per per cent of downforce. The circuits don't vary that much, although some circuits are more downforce orientated than others.
I am afraid I am going to have to be honest and admit that I didn't look for this circuit because we were just pushing as hard as we can and not on what it will bring. You could argue that if it was Silverstone it would be more of a benefit, but there should still be a benefit here.
Q & A with Jenson Button
Q. It's not really been your circuit here, has it?
Jenson ButtonJenson Button: Really? Has it not? I finished second here in 2004.
Q. What about 03?
JB: I can't remember 2003, 2004 was a good year. Last year was ok as well, I qualified well, overtook three people on the first lap and then crashed into one of them at the end of the lap. It's a fun circuit, but if you look back at the stats you'd say it hasn't been fantastic, no. But nor had Barcelona really.
Q. Is the 2003 crash still your biggest accident in F1?
JB: Yes. They've moved the barrier back now, which is good. Somebody said this circuit is the same as it was 20 or 30 years ago and it is, the actual layout, but the safety is a lot better which is good. It's as safe as a street circuit can be, in a city around a port.
Q. Do you have flashbacks about the crash?
JB: Not really, no. If I'm asked about it I think about it, but it doesn't scare me in any way. If I had hurt myself, maybe. But I didn't.
Q. What would be the setback of such an accident now?
JB: Well, it would be 10 points, which just means I have to make it up in the next few races. That's the most positive way of looking at it. If you have a reliability issue or an accident, then for sure it can set you back a long way, but it's the same for all of us. It's not just me.
Q. With a good car, this could be most fun you've had in Monaco.
JB: I've had a lot of fun in Monaco [laughter]. 2004 was a fun race, chasing down [Jarno] Trulli in the Renault. It was a great race and it was very enjoyable. And last year was as well, for the first lap. I'm looking forward to it.
I think every circuit you go to, if you've got a good car, it's enjoyable. That's the way it is. It's obvious really, but having a good car around here, a car that you feel completely in control with and very comfortable with is important. If you are comfortable with it and confident in it then you can throw it around, you can find the limits of the car and also the barriers.
Q. You wouldn't think of it as a track where you could throw it around.
JB: No you wouldn't, but then again that's the problem. People come here and they think that you can't. In a way, in the past when I arrived here I always thought the same. But you learn over the weekend that you have to be aggressive, you have to give the barriers respect for sure - they are very hard and there is no runoff. But you have be aggressive as well. There's no pussyfooting around. It doesn't work in Monaco.
Q. Is there a psychological barrier?
JB: You can't go out of the pit lane here and just think, "Right, I'll do a few laps and see how the car balances". You've got to go out and think, "Right, I'm going to drive aggressively here". You either get the best out of the car, or you are a long way off getting the best out of it.
There's a big difference in laptime, so it's a circuit where when you start the weekend, you don't want to be stupid the first run, you don't want to throw it in the wall there. But after that, you need to be consistent but also be aggressive. If you don't push the car to the limit you're not getting the best out of it, and it's a big difference here if you don't get the best out of the car.
Q. How much of a dream is it to win here?
JB: It was a dream just to win again after Hungary. It would be great to win here, but for me the most exciting race to win would be my home grand prix, for atmosphere's sake, with the British fans. You would hope at your home grand prix you've got more fans there than any other, so Silverstone would be the most special.
Monaco is up there and it's such a unique circuit - it's very different to anything else. You win here and it doesn't mean you're going to win the championship, but there's nothing else like this circuit. It's a fun circuit to drive and when you cross the line at the end of this race, it's a bonus in a way.
Every lap is 100 per cent around here and you have to be totally focused and as precise as possible, but also with aggression. So winning here would be pretty special and when you cross the line it's just a feeling of relief. Afterwards you're so tired, mentally and physically drained around here, so that would make it extra special.
Q. The Monaco GP carries with it the most kudos, though.
JB: Yeah, maybe, but whatever race you win it's pretty spectacular, finishing in front of everyone else, seeing the chequered flag first. It is a special race, but when you are looking at the races over a season, I wouldn't put this as the race that stands out for me - it's my home grand prix at Silverstone.
Q. Is it different coming to this race now compared to when Flavio asked if you were looking to buy a place here?
JB: The bit about the boat was probably correct, but that bit was a little bit wrong. That's the way Flavio is, he is very outspoken. But things have changed a lot, although they changed the next year for me. Things turned around. I come here very confident in the team, the car and myself. I'm really looking to getting out on the circuit.
But this season is weird because after the last couple of races I've won, I've obviously enjoyed the weekend, but I wake up on a Monday morning and I'm already thinking about the next race. It's quite a strange feeling, very different to the rest of my Formula 1 career, winning four races out of five, but you do get used to it very quickly.
I will never forget how difficult it can get, how tough it can get, but when you're winning, finishing second is a disappointment. So you have to learn to think it's not a disappointment, that it's not a bad result, otherwise you could go mad.
Over the last few weeks, I've been non-stop thinking about the next race, running through it in my mind, getting all the data. It's been quite a stressful few weeks, you wouldn't think so, but it is more stressful.
Q. You say stressful. Is that part of the pressure of being championship leader?
JB: Stressful is probably not the right word, I'm just always thinking about racing. Before, I tried to take my mind away from it when it wasn't going well and think about something else. But now I'm always thinking about racing, it's always running through my mind.
Q. We're seeing a different side to you this season.
JB: I'm probably a right boring bastard at the moment, I really am. My girlfriend will tell me when she turns up tomorrow. It's different because things are going well and you want to be thinking about how you can improve. But when things aren't going so well, you know you need to improve the car and where you are, but you also need to get away from the racing, to forget about it for a few days. At the moment, that's not possible.
Q. It's a bit more difficult to do that in Monaco.
JB: Yeah, this week especially. I've been here since the last race and it's been pretty busy.
Q. Have you become a right boring bastard because there's the bigger picture to consider?
JB: Maybe, I don't know. But I haven't been thinking about that, I've been thinking about this weekend, thinking about it a lot.
Brawn GP’s Ross Brawn
Q: Ross, you must feel a bit like Alice in Wonderland, as Formula One racing at the moment is a world full of paradoxes: some of the least successful teams of last year lead the championship this season. How is life in that fairytale world?
Ross Brawn: Yes, it is a little bit surreal on one hand, but on the other hand it was all part of a plan that we had. Well, not necessarily a plan to be exactly where we are, but a plan to improve the team enormously. And that plan was to sacrifice 2008 and focus totally on 2009, because the new regulations gave an enormous opportunity. These new regulations gave an opportunity to teams which perhaps were behind with the old regulations. Our idea was: let’s forget about the outdated regulations and let’s get on with the new ones and concentrate on the car for 2009. The established teams didn’t have that luxury - they had to try to win the championship. And you can see that it hurt them at the beginning of the year. They are starting to come back now, but it was somewhat of a difficult compromise for them: do they sacrifice the 2008 championship for a strong 2009 or vice versa? I think it is one of those situations that arise every five to ten years when the regulations change. Any work that they did in 2008 was not usable in 2009 - it was wasted. We had a plan to make that step change that we needed to go forward and make the team more competitive, and in combination with one or two teams having problems we find ourselves where we are. And we are very delighted.
Q: What is the prevailing feeling: surprise, satisfaction or thankfulness?
RB: All of those! Obviously some surprise of the position of some of our competitors. I don’t want to say that in an arrogant way, but it is no surprise how our car is performing, because it is performing where we had expected it to be. But it has galvanized the team enormously in what also was a very difficult period for the team - and the two have gone hand in hand. What I am really, really happy about is that although we had that very difficult time the team is united in a way that perhaps it wasn’t before. The difficult circumstances had bonded everything together. I am delighted, of course, with how things are going. Now we try to keep it going as long as we can.
Q: Had you ever guessed in your wildest dreams that a Formula One team would one day bear your name?
RB: No, that was never my ambition, quite frankly, and it really came about as a necessity because we’ve tried to come up with different names for the team but none of them made much sense. And it was Caroline, our legal secretary, who said ‘why don’t we take your name? You are established. It will have a certain standing in Formula One’ - and we didn’t have a better idea! That’s how we arrived!
Q: If Jenson goes on winning with Rubens in tow both championship titles could be decided by the time of the summer break. Is that your aim?
RB: It would be fantastic, but I don’t think that will happen. Formula One is very competitive and very tough - and we are not thinking about the championships. We are attacking every single race as it comes - and in attacking every race if we do well the championships will start to evolve. But you can’t set out your plan to win the championship by a certain date. Whether it happens or not fate takes a bit of a hand. But sure there is no reason why we shouldn’t be competitive for the rest of the year. And we don’t talk about it - it means bad luck.
Q: For the first time in his career Jenson can consistently show his true colours. Have you always known that potential was under the surface?
RB: I always rated Jenson as an excellent driver, as a top class driver, but I have never worked with him and last year we did not have the equipment, so I still wasn’t really able to judge that final strength that a very successful racing driver has. The people in the team told me that he had it. People in the team said you haven’t seen Jenson at his best - because the equipment we had in 2008 was not very good - so be patient. And if you remember we agreed to keep Jenson in the summer of 2008 and a lot of that was based on the expectations that he would do well with the right equipment. And he’s doing a fantastic job! I couldn’t ask for anything more in terms of his performance and the guys who said be patient, wait and see, were absolutely right because what he is doing is exceptional.
Q: You were criticized for keeping Rubens and not signing Bruno Senna, but the results prove you right&ldots;
RB: Bruno was a very exciting prospect and I like him a lot. He has a good attitude and approach. The difficulty was that the team couldn’t take any risks, unfortunately. We have a very low budget for this year, we can’t afford to have too many parts damaged and we have no testing due to the regulations. Bruno unfortunately was a too high risk for the team in that situation. And I know Rubens very well. He is a great driver but he is very good for the team as well. He’s a very important part of the team. So regrettably for Bruno we made the decision to stay with Rubens and I am a hundred percent sure that was the right decision. But I think that Bruno has something to offer to teams in the future. I don’t know if here or at another team, but I do see him in Formula One.
Q: The success of Brawn GP has caused its fair share of controversies. In fact at times there has been quite some hostility towards the team. How did you live through that?
RB: I’ve been in Formula One for a very long time. The approach I like to take is that what happens out on the race track and what happens in competition is different to what should happen between team owners and team principals. Some of my colleagues don’t seem to be able to make that separation because for me we should go out on the race track and we should try and beat each other with every bit of strength that we can - but when that is finished we should sit down and have a beer together and laugh about what happened. But you need to separate those things. You fight on the track but then you sit down and try to improve Formula One, to improve the show, to improve so many things. I find it very frustrating that some teams find that a difficult concept. They love you on the track when you’re not competition, but as soon as you become competition they don’t love you anymore, but that affects your relationship - and it shouldn’t do. But I gave up worrying about it - I gave it up many years ago.
Q: Will Brawn GP submit their entry for 2010 within the period stipulated by the FIA?
RB: There are a lot of discussions going on at the moment. We want to find the best solution. I don’t want to comment on that particular point yet, because of the discussions going on. My dream - as we talked about dreams - is that we find a solution so that all the teams in Formula One can go forward - with some new teams joining - and we control the costs of Formula One and make a team like Brawn GP viable in the long run. We have to get costs down as low as possible to make that viable, and we have to find solutions so that it is still attractive for the big teams.
Q: What is your stance on the FIA budget cap proposal? Brawn GP is already a team in the process of slimming down&ldots;
RB: We as a team always supported the idea of the budget cap, but what we don’t want is a budget cap that forces other teams to leave Formula One. Is there another solution to the budget cap that can achieve the same objectives and be acceptable to teams like Ferrari, Toyota and so on? If we can find such a solution then we get the best of both, so we are not fixed on the budget cap being the only solution. We proposed a budget cap already last year but having a budget cap that forces other teams to rethink their commitment to Formula One would be a great shame. I hope we can avoid that.
Monaco Grand Prix - Team and driver preview quotes
Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari
2008 Qualifying - 2nd, 2008 Race - 9th
“It’s always a very special week, the one of the Monaco Grand Prix. It’s a unique track where qualifying is more important than on the other tracks and we have to try to implement it in the best possible way, learning from the lesson we were taught recently.
“I’ve never been very lucky during the two Monaco weekends as a Ferrarista, but I really hope that I can end this streak of bad luck. The F60 improved a lot at Barcelona and now a place on the podium is no longer a mirage. It will be very important to see how things go during the free practice session to see if we made up some ground also on this track, like it happened in Spain. Last year we were able to place both cars in the first row and it would be a dream to repeat that. We’ll use the KERS also at Monaco: it might not have the same advantage as on other tracks, but anyway there’s a performance improvement.
“I’m expecting faster lap times than in the past. In theory this year’s rules slowed the cars down in the fast corners, but due to the slicks we’re faster in the slow ones. To be ahead in this race you have to be absolutely perfect. We drivers know that you can’t loose your concentration not even for a second: the blink of an eye is enough and you end up in the wall. You need a 100 percent driver and a 100 percent car for the whole 78 laps if you want to win: that’s the only way to be successful.”
More
Since the championship started in 1950, the Scuderia cannot consider the trip to Monte Carlo a truly profitable one, as the last victory for a Prancing Horse car dates back to Michael Schumacher's win in 2001, the final one of five times that the German won here. In fact, after a victory for Gilles Villeneuve in 1981, Ferrari had to wait until Michael was first past the flag in 1997 to record another Monegasque win. When Niki Lauda took victory in an incident packed 1975 race, it was the first time the Scuderia had won since the 1955 win from Maurice Trintignant, in a race more famous for Alberto Ascari's dive into the harbour.
Although there are no points handed out for a race fastest lap, it does say something about one's real pace and in 2002, '04, '05, 06 and '08, a Prancing Horse car did set the quickest lap in Monaco, which is an encouraging statistic to have on one's side. In 2008, it was an all-red Ferrari front row, but still the Scuderia failed to win. In fact, in the past, it has often been the case that the dominant team of the year has failed to secure victory in the most famous race on the calendar, with a less fancied runner taking top honours. Could it be that, in 2009, Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro fits that designation? This year will be the first time that the F1 teams arrive in the Principality without the benefit of having tested on a track configured to reproduce the demands of the slowest, twistiest circuit of the year. For Ferrari that used to mean running at its own Fiorano facility and in more recent years, using the slowest of the several layouts available at Le Castellet in the south of France. The ban on in-season testing has had an effect on the Ferrari team, as much of its work method was based on track activity and the Scuderia is still working to adapt its philosophy to the new world of Formula 1. The major step forward in performance seen in Barcelona a fortnight ago is the result of the team adapting well to the new methods of bringing innovations to the track without the benefit of pre event testing. Felipe Massa expresses a mix of optimism and caution when it comes to this weekend's Grand Prix. "For the last two years, I've made it to the podium in Monaco and it would be great to go for a hat-trick this time," says the Brazilian. "It will be very tough, but we'll give it our best shot. Thanks to the aerodynamic updates we introduced in Spain, the F60 is much improved, which is why I should have been in the fight for third place at the Catalunya Circuit right up to the end, if a refuelling problem hadn't meant I had to back off for the final part of the race. In terms of performance, we have made significant steps forward, while there is still much to do on the reliability front."
Monaco provides the exception to the rule in so many cases in Formula 1, from its "Friday holiday" to the need for scuba divers on standby, to the thrill of racing through a tunnel and this year sees an additional exception when it comes to tyres. Bridgestone is required by the regulations to bring tyres with distinctly different characteristics to each race, in an attempt to improve the show: for example, the "super-soft" can be brought with the "medium" and the "soft" with the "hard." However, here at Monaco, which is much more tyre dependent in terms of lap times and race pace, Bridgestone will be bringing its "soft" and "super-soft." This should suit Ferrari, as it has been evident this year that the F60 has tended to struggle on the harder tyres, while working better on the softer side.
Much has been written about the value or otherwise of running KERS in Monte Carlo and currently the F60s are due to be fitted with the power boosting device. Admittedly, its use will be more limited than at more flowing circuits, but given that the F60 was designed around carrying KERS and this is factored into its weight and distribution of its weight, it is logical to run it, no matter how minimal the benefit, given how much closer the grids have been this season. Furthermore, given that close grids have always been a feature of the Monaco Grand Prix, then the slightest advantage has to be worth having.
On top of that, it was clear that all the work of the past few weeks has produced a car package clearly superior to the one that tackled the opening four races of the season. The F60 now has far more grip and downforce and these two qualities are in much demand around the streets of the Principality. For all the pieces to finally fall into place at Monaco would be a fantastic boost for the team, which is still working towards the goal of winning races again, whatever the scores in the championships. As Kimi Raikkonen said, "the situation in the championship is very difficult, given that both me and Felipe have only managed to score three points each. But we won't be giving up and we continue to work hard to get back on top and, only at the end, will it be worth adding up the points. The car has improved since the earlier races and so it should mean we are more competitive, although it's best to wait until Thursday's free practice to get a clearer picture."
Monaco is without a doubt the biggest draw for spectators, TV viewers and those with a commercial interest in the sport, however, it is no longer truly unique because, as of last year, we have another street race in the shape of Singapore, with the added factor of it being a night race. However, while it might be the most exciting race for the fans who can almost feel part of the action, for the team personnel, Monaco is possibly the toughest on the calendar. Since the pit garages and a new pit lane were created a few years ago, the situation has improved, but the lack of space, the complicated garage layout, the pit signalling area at the back rather than the front of the pits and the need to fight through the crowds all makes for a stressful time and the longer weekend simply adds to the pressure. As to the weather, Monaco's unique coastal setting, alongside the Mediterranean might make for a picturesque backdrop, but in meteorological terms it can be more of a headache. Currently, the forecast for the weekend is good, but trapped between the sea and the mountains, Monte Carlo can produce its own micro-climate, which can change in a matter of hours, adding to what is always something of a Sunday afternoon lottery.
Bridgestone
Bridgestone makes an exception to its 2009 race tyre allocation philosophy of leaving a gap between compounds by bringing the soft and super soft tyres to the most slippery race of the year, the Monaco Grand Prix.
Despite its relatively short length, the 3.34km Monte Carlo track has a seemingly endless supply of corners with barely a straight to mention, all bordered by unyielding Armco barriers. To make matters more difficult, the track surface is polished smooth by constant road traffic through the year, meaning that finding grip is a big challenge.
Both the soft and the super soft compounds are from the lower temperature operating range of Bridgestone's F1 tyres, meaning quicker warm-up.
Also of note, Bridgestone will debut a new softer compound intermediate tyre at Monaco. This tyre has been designed to deliver more grip in the wet and will be used for the remainder of this season. Last season Lewis Hamilton won an eventful Monaco Grand Prix after using Bridgestone's wet (now intermediate) and soft dry grooved tyres.
*Hirohide Hamashima - Bridgestone Director of Motorsport Tyre Development, said:
What are the challenges of Monaco?
"Finding grip will be the main challenge on the streets of Monte Carlo. This is a very interesting circuit, and one where the track is made of many different types of surface as well as there being public road markings on the track. Also notable is that F1 does not run on Friday, so the track conditions can change quite a lot between Thursday and Saturday. When there is no racing taking place, public vehicles and also people use the track. This makes it difficult for rubber to build up and the surface can become dirty again, which does not help the track surface develop well for racing."
*How different is the new intermediate tyre?
"The new intermediate tyre gives more grip through having a softer compound than the old one, but driving the latest specification F1 cars in the wet will always be a challenge, no matter what tyres are used. The latest cars have less downforce so less aerodynamic grip than before, and this is true in wet or dry conditions. In the dry, less downforce is not as much of a problem as the slick tyres have more grip than the previous grooved tyres, so there is more mechanical grip to counter the loss of aerodynamic grip. In the wet, even with our new intermediate tyres, there is only slightly more grip than before. In the wet we still need the drainage channels in the tread to prevent aquaplaning, so the only grip improvement must come from new compound developments."
Stats & Facts
Number & Spec of tyres brought to Monaco 1800 (Soft & super soft dry. Intermediate/wets)
Pole position time 2008: 1min 15.787secs (Massa)
Fastest race lap 2008: 1min 16.689secs (Raikkonen)
Top three 2008: Hamilton, Kubica, Massa
Brawn GP
The Monaco Grand Prix, Round six of the 2009 FIA Formula One World Championship, is widely considered to be the most prestigious motorsport race in the world. Set around the spectacular harbour backdrop of Monte Carlo, the race winds around the barrier-lined streets of the Principality, providing a fantastic spectacle of speed and noise for the thousands of fans who pack the grandstands and viewing areas.
The 3.340km 2.075 mile street track is the slowest circuit of the year with the cars averaging speeds of just 160kph 100mph throughout the 78-lap race. From a technical point of view, the weekend will see the Brawn-Mercedes cars running with maximum aerodynamic downforce to take full advantage of the low speed corners. With its twisty narrow streets, frequent elevation changes and the famous tunnel, Monaco is a unique race venue which provides a challenge for man and machine.
*ROSS BRAWN, TEAM PRINCIPAL
Q. How does the team approach the Monaco Grand Prix weekend
“Monaco is a unique and unpredictable venue and you have to take a very controlled approach to the race weekend. The pit lane and paddock is an intense environment to work in due to the location at the heart of the city and it is therefore more stressful than any other race on the calendar. You can make just one mistake in Monaco and your race weekend will be compromised. However we love that level of extra challenge and it is what makes Formula One and Monaco so special.
“Our car works very well with low-speed corners and we have a fantastic engine from Mercedes-Benz which has a lot of power and excellent drivability which is important around the twisty street circuit. The BGP 001 car is very good mechanically which you need to take advantage of the slow speed nature of the track. Monaco is a real drivers’ circuit where their performance can make all the difference. Jenson and Rubens are both precise and consistent drivers and we will give them as much practice time out on track as possible to get into the rhythm of the lap. Your aim in Monaco is always to secure pole or as close to the front row as possible in qualifying and take it from there. Neither Jenson or Rubens has won the Monaco Grand Prix, although both have stood on the podium, so I’m sure they will be determined to make the most of the weekend.”
*JENSON BUTTON
Q. What are your thoughts ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix
“The Monaco Grand Prix is always a very special race weekend, and as a resident of the principality, it will be my first home race of the season with the British Grand Prix at Silverstone following next month. To go to Monaco with the lead in both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championships is fantastic but we saw in Barcelona that the performance margins at the front are extremely close. There will be a lot of competitive cars fighting it out this weekend. My usual driving style is very smooth but I will have to change that a little bit to get the best out of the car here. You have to be aggressive around Monaco and not let the barriers intimidate you whilst obviously paying them due respect. Every time you take to the track, it’s a non-stop challenge which requires you to maintain absolute focus, concentration and precision. I think we will see a very exciting qualifying session on Saturday as grid position is so significant in Monaco. It’s almost impossible to overtake once the race is underway so being at the front and getting a good start will be important for a successful weekend.”
*RUBENS BARRICHELLO
Q. What are the technical challenges of the Monaco Grand Prix
“Driving a Formula One car around Monaco is a fantastic challenge. This will be my 17th Monaco Grand Prix but the weekend has lost none of its appeal and is always one of my favourite races on the calendar. Experience counts around Monaco and it’s going to be a fascinating weekend with the competition so close at the front of the field. Qualifying is one of the biggest challenges of the year here and it is so important to get it right to give yourself the best chance in the race. The unique nature of Monaco presents a number of technical challenges. The streets are tight and twisty although not as bumpy as you might expect following resurfacing work in recent years. We will run with as much downforce as possible on the car and good mechanical grip and low-speed handling is crucial. And then of course there are the barriers which line the majority of the Monte Carlo streets for the race weekend. You can really feel the speed of the car when the barriers are so close but Monaco is actually one of the lowest speed circuits that we race on.”
Monaco Stats
Circuit Length: 3.340km
Race Distance: 260.520km
Number of Laps: 78
Full Throttle: 52
Brake Wear: Medium
/ Hard
Tyre Compounds:
Super Soft / Soft
Downforce Level:
High 10/10
Tyre Usage: Low
Average Speed:
160kph 100mph
Race Weekend
Schedule all times are local
Thursday 21 May
Practice 1: 1000 - 1130
Practice 2: 1400 - 1530
Saturday 23 May
Practice 3: 1100 - 1200
Qualifying: 1400 - 1500
Sunday 24 May
Race: 1400
Williams
*Kazuki Nakajima, Williams
2008 Qualifying - 13th, 2008 Race - 7th
“Monte Carlo is an iconic destination for Formula One. The atmosphere is completely different to anywhere else we go and that can’t fail to make it a more exciting weekend than usual. I know I should be more excited about Monaco, but it really is just another destination for me. The glitz and glamour is all a bit too much for me to really enjoy myself there so I’ll be keeping my usual routine of working hard at the track during the day and then having quiet evenings at the hotel, probably some training and treatment followed by a quick supper and an early night. hope we have a good car in Monaco, we normally do, and I need a better race this weekend. Although it’s not my favourite track to drive, I went well in Monaco last year going from 14th to seventh in my debut race to get two points for the team. With the new regulations this season, I think it will be quite a different experience in Monaco this year and the new slick tyres will really help with the grip levels. I just hope the race will be incident-free for me.”
Nico Rosberg, Williams
2008 Qualifying - 6th, 2008 Race - DNF
“Monaco is my home town so all my friends and family will be there supporting me which will be great. Living within 100 metres of the track also makes life so much easier over the weekend as well. Monaco should be a good race for us. Our car has traditionally gone really well there in the past few years and I believe it will be strong again this year. As we haven’t managed to get the results that our car deserves yet it would be great for everyone in the team if we came away with something positive from the weekend. To me, Monaco is my home so I’m used to it but it is a completely different place when Formula One is in town. Normally it’s quite quiet, just like anywhere really, but the Grand Prix weekend brings a different atmosphere to the place and that’s really special to be a part of.”
Force India
Giancarlo Fisichella, Force India
2008 Qualifying - 20th, 2008 Race - DNF
“For me, Monaco is the best track in the world, one of my favourites, as the twisty track itself is phenomenal, the fans are so close to the cars so you get a real atmosphere, and the surroundings are so beautiful. It's certainly the best place for a celebration - I have to hope that we can celebrate a good result on Sunday too! It has given me some good results and good memories as well. Last year I celebrated my 200th race start, I've been on the podium twice in 1998 and 2000 and 2007 was particularly good as I came home 4th when no one was expecting it. Realistically this year points are going to be difficult particularly if it's dry and overtaking is even more difficult. But getting a good result is my target. We have an upgraded aero package that will for sure help us, but the whole race is a lottery so you've got to be lucky too.”
Adrian Sutil, Force India
2008 Qualifying - 18th, 2008 Race - DNF
“It's always nice to go back to Monaco, because it's one of my favourite circuits, I like the atmosphere and the whole weekend. It's very special, and it's a nice circuit with good memories for me. Two years ago I was quickest in wet practice and we went even better last year, again in very tricky conditions with rain and a drying circuit. I've had two good years in a row, and hopefully I'll have maybe another one now. But it's always up to the conditions to a certain extent. I just like the circuit layout and since F3 times I've been fast there. It's very narrow, you have to risk quite a lot to be fast, and you have to go very close to the wall all the time. And you have to know the circuit, the different cambers and the tricky areas where you have to be really precise. You can go there and make an impression with a slower car as the driver can have more input, so your motivation is right up. Maybe that's why everything comes together!”
*Dr Vijay Mallya, Force India chairman and team principal
“I think glamour and sport go hand in hand and it's no more obvious than in Monaco. We still intend to put on a good show in Monaco, both from a sporting and commercial aspect. Monaco is a race that is so famous world-wide that almost everybody knows it and wants to come to it, so it is not only important from a team point of view, but from a sponsors' point of view as well. We will be hosting two parties again, as brand awareness is even more important in these days of economic downturn. The days of unlimited budgets are of course gone, and clearly one has to watch that the end justifies the means, but we still believe that these events give 'bang for buck' and are an integral part of why we are involved in F1 as a project.
“As Monaco is such a high downforce circuit we'll run a modified front and rear wing, although how much we can introduce is obviously limited by the regulations. I have been very pleased we have been able to get so many major upgrades through so early in the season; that is just one advantage to being a smaller team - we can be more dynamic and adapt to regulations more quickly.”
Renault
*Fernando Alonso, Renault
2008 Qualifying - 7th, 2008 Race - 10th
“Monaco is one of my favourite races of the year and I have happy memories from winning there in 2006 and 2007. It's definitely the race that all the drivers want to win. The first lap of free practice on Thursday is always a great feeling and you have to readjust and get used to racing on such narrow streets with the barriers all around you. Overtaking is difficult and it's a mentally demanding race as there's not a moment to relax. But above all, Monaco is about the show for the fans and spectators who can get really close to the cars. The most important thing is to qualify as near to the front of the grid as possible because doing well in Monaco is all about having track position. We therefore need to make sure we find clear space on the track in qualifying so we don't get caught out by the traffic. All the teams bring new packages to Monaco as the track is so unusual and we will use a special set-up to cope with the bumps and tight corners. In terms of a result, I think we can realistically hope to qualify in the top ten and aim for points in the race.”
*Nelson Piquet, Renault
2008 Qualifying - 17th, 2008 Race - DNF
Monaco is probably the most famous race in the world and so it feels special to drive there. There's a great atmosphere for the whole week in the lead up to the race and it's one of the races were the fans can really get close to the team. I used to live in Monaco when I was a kid and racing there as a Formula One driver is something I always dreamed about so it's pretty cool. Overtaking is almost impossible at Monaco so it's important that we can qualify near the front, hopefully in the top ten, and make the strategy work. The streets are narrow and the walls so close that you really cannot afford to lose concentration for a second or make the slightest mistake. It's normally an eventful race and so we need to be ready to take advantage of any situation that comes our way.”
*Bob Bell, Renault technical director
“We have some minor updates because Monaco always needs a slightly different package, for example it requires the most steering lock of any track we visit. It won't be as big a step as we made in Barcelona, but we are still hopeful of adding some performance to the car to keep closing the gap to the leaders. It's a very challenging weekend because there is never much space and the facilities are limited. But it's a fabulous track; everybody enjoys it and there's always a great atmosphere. It's an interesting and demanding circuit where it's very easy to make a mistake and experience counts for a lot. Because there is no margin for error, we often see safety cars during the race and so we need to be ready to react quickly and make the most of any opportunities.”
Toyota
*Jarno Trulli, Toyota
2008 Qualifying - 8th, 2008 Race - 13th
"Monaco is one of my favourite tracks in Formula One; it is so challenging and the driver can really make a difference so this suits me well. It is always special to go to Monaco because the atmosphere is different to any other race and the circuit is unique. I know it's slow in terms of average speed but when you are driving it feels really fast as the barriers are so close. This means you have to be completely concentrated otherwise a small mistake can put you in the wall. I love the challenge of Monaco and I am usually really strong there, even if sometimes I've had a bit of bad luck and not had the results I deserved. Our car has been competitive all year but you can't compare Monaco to other circuits so you can never be sure what to expect. Obviously the race in Spain was one to forget but anyway I prefer to look forwards not back so I'm ready to fight hard again this weekend. I'm hoping for a strong result."
*Timo Glock, Toyota
2008 Qualifying - 10th, 2008 Race - 12th
"Last year Monaco was a tricky race for us because of the changing weather but in general I really enjoy racing at street circuits, and this one in particular. I've had some strong performances in GP2 at Monaco and I know you have to be completely focused because it is so easy to make a mistake and ruin your race. It will be important to qualify well, as it always is in Monaco, because it's virtually impossible to overtake in the race unless the guy in front of you has a problem. Unfortunately the Spanish Grand Prix didn't go according to plan due to the problems on the first lap and it was very frustrating to miss the points for the first time this season. It will be interesting to experience how this season's car feels around Monaco because we have less downforce but more grip from the slick tyres. Generally our car has felt pretty good this season so there's no reason why we can't be competitive in Monaco."
*Pascal Vasselon, Toyota senior general manager chassis
"This year's Monaco Grand Prix is quite unusual because we don't have a fully dedicated aerodynamic package for this race, unlike previous seasons. In the past we have made major changes to the wings as well as adding flaps and winglets where possible to generate extra downforce. But this year things are a little bit different because the regulations have restricted what we can do to generate downforce, meaning we have quite a bit less this season. Therefore we have been chasing downforce at almost all tracks so Monaco is no longer unique in requiring us to do this. We will bring a few updates, as we aim to do at most races. We know the TF109 is fundamentally a very competitive car so we are looking forward to a strong weekend."
McLaren
*Lewis Hamilton, McLaren
2008 Qualifying - 3rd, 2008 Race - 1st
“Monaco is my favourite circuit. The sensation you get from racing up the hill at 175mph, trying to make as straight a line as possible between the barriers while just shaving them with the walls of the tyres is unbelievable - the best sensation you could ever have in a Formula One car. There’s an expectation that Monaco will be another good circuit for our car package because the combination of low-speed corners and absence of any really fast stuff should suit MP4-24. I really hope so because it would be fantastic to have a competitive car and to be fighting at the front again.”
*Heikki Kovalainen, McLaren
2008 Qualifying - 4th, 2008 Race - 8th
“I really enjoy driving on street circuits and I’m optimistic that we’ve got a good package for Monaco. Although the results don’t show it, because I was forced to start from the pit lane, I had a very strong race here last year and charged up from the back to finish eighth. Hopefully, I’ll have an easier race this year! We will be using KERS in Monaco and one of the questions will be whether we’ll actually be able to use it to get past other cars - as usual, KERS will be a benefit for us, but anything can happen in Monte Carlo. Coming off the back of a disappointing race in Spain last week, I’m more determined than ever to get a strong result under my belt.”
*Martin Whitmarsh, McLaren team principal
“Everybody at Vodafone McLaren Mercedes is rightfully proud of the team’s reputation around the streets of Monte Carlo. We have won the grand prix for the past two seasons and McLaren has triumphed here an unprecedented 15 times - more than any other Formula One team. As a result, we go into the race with a greater degree of optimism than we had going into Barcelona: both Lewis and Heikki enjoy this circuit and we feel MP4-24 will be a more competitive proposition around the streets of the principality.”
*Norbert Haug, Mercedes-Benz Motorsport Vice-President
“The Monaco Grand Prix is certainly the most classic race on the calendar of the Formula One World Championship and the one that gets the broadest audience worldwide. Monaco is thrilling each and every year and everybody involved in Formula 1 has to be proud that this prestigious event is part of our campaign. Our track record in the principality looks good - since our first victory in 1998, we have won there on six of 11 occasions, an achievement which makes this circuit obviously one of our favourites. Our results have not been strong lately so we all will be very focused in Monaco in order to create an upwards trend.”
BMW Sauber
Nick Heidfeld, BMW Sauber
2008 Qualifying - 12th, 2008 Race - 14th
“Monaco is one of the highlights of the season. It's crazy that the venue least suited to Formula One is also the most popular. The tight and twisty street circuit is brilliant. Only Macau is comparable, but we don't drive there in Formula One. There may be a bit less hype nowadays, but the Formula One weekend in Monte Carlo is still something special. It's all about Formula One and parties. There are a lot of famous people around, the harbour is packed with yachts, the sound of the F1 engines reverberates across the principality, and the track is jammed with crowds of people through the evening. In Monaco the spectators get closer to the action than at any other venue. For me, every time I come here it's a wonderful sight. On a few occasions already this season, the new, larger front wings have proved to be a bit awkward in the tight confines at the start of races. It's extremely tight through the first corner in Monte Carlo, so there's a big risk of knocking your front wing off against another car."
Robert Kubica, BMW Sauber
2008 Qualifying - 5th, 2008 Race - 2nd
"I'm a big fan of street circuits, so I'm looking forward to the race in Monaco. I always have a really good feeling going into the weekend here and enjoy driving between the barriers and walls. There is no margin for error, which makes things particularly interesting. Of course, you can't tell in advance how the 2009-spec cars will feel there with the new aerodynamics and slick tyres. We'll find out more on Thursday."
Mario Theissen, BMW Motorsport Director
"We are currently experiencing an extremely demanding period for Formula One - both as a team on the race track and behind the scenes. In both cases, the important thing is to keep a cool head. We lined up at the Spanish Grand Prix with a far-reaching aerodynamic package. That was the result of some extremely hard work, but represents just the first step on a long road. We scored two points, which was extremely positive following the low-point we reached in Bahrain but clearly does not meet our aims. We will step up our pace of development. Monaco presents very specific challenges, as we all know, and the next performance package for the race in Istanbul is already being prepared.
"Monaco is one of the mainstays of Formula One and one of the circuits, alongside the Nurburgring, Spa, Monza and Silverstone, which has made the sport great. Monaco is Formula One up close and personal. Only street circuits like the one in the principality can bring the spectators so near to the action. This is the most famous and glamorous grand prix of the year. The yachts, the parties, the show business - nowhere are they such an integral part of the Formula One experience as in Monaco.
"In sporting terms, the important thing in Monaco is driving precision, mechanical grip and an engine with good drivability at low revs. Monaco has the lowest average speed of any grand prix. High levels of downforce are more important here than low drag, and the cars' aerodynamics are therefore adjusted to generate maximum downforce. There are no long straights at this circuit, but it does have a lot of slow corners and the tyres are subjected to exceptionally high loads under acceleration out of these corners. Monaco is also a test of endurance for the brakes. The speeds the cars reach may not be very high, but that means there is also a lack of cooling airflow."
Willy Rampf, BMW Sauber head of engineering
“Monaco has the lowest average speed of any circuit on the calendar, so we run maximum downforce on the cars. In the past, this meant that the teams often produced aerodynamic configurations which you didn't see anywhere else - with small and also larger auxiliary wings sprouting out of the cars. That's now a thing of the past, though, as the 2009 regulations no longer permit these kinds of modifications. As a result, the cars will run a similar amount of downforce to last weekend in Barcelona.
"The large number of tight corners in Monaco places a particular emphasis on grip, and we have prepared a specially optimised spring and damper set-up in response to this. The circuit is open to public traffic between practice sessions, which represents a particular challenge with the negative impact on grip levels. This means that the conditions - and therefore lap times - improve significantly in a short space of time as more rubber is laid down during the course of each practice session. The car's steering lock is adjusted to the demands of the circuit; after all, Monaco has the tightest corner of any Formula One venue."