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Spanish Grand Prix - team and driver preview quotes |
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Technical directors: Ross Brawn (Brawn GP), Aldo Costa (Ferrari), Patrick Head (Williams), Pat Symonds (Renault) Q: Ross, would you like to start on the overtaking situation as you and Pat were on the overtaking working group I think. Ross Brawn: No, I wasn’t. Pat was. Our drivers are reporting that the cars are easier to follow. They have still got an imbalance when they follow other cars. But the cars are easier to follow. At the moment we have got the situation that some cars have KERS and some are without KERS. We have had several occasions where we have managed to get on the back of a car with KERS and we can’t overtake it as it uses KERS to pull away, so we have got a little bit of an odd situation at the moment but the general impression from our guys is that the cars are better and because they have got this adjustable front wing it also helps to get the car set up when you are coming up behind someone. Q: Pat, has it pretty much worked the way you thought it was going to? Pat Symonds: I have to say I am not completely sure. We are on race five now. We have had a couple of wet races, Australia is always a difficult track anyway. I have been quite impressed with the way the Brawns have overtaken us a couple of times, so maybe it has worked or maybe they are just quicker than us. But as Ross says the KERS is clouding things as well and I think it is certainly easier to follow now and that is what we set out to do. But it is not the magic panacea. Q: Just going back a couple of weeks, your reaction to the diffuser. What sort of effort was required for that? PS: It was a huge effort. All the guys at the factory, from aerodynamics through design and manufacturing, really pulled the stops out to get that done. You don’t just sort of design these things and they work first time. It takes a while to understand how they work and get them to a state where it is worth investing the money and putting them on the cars and they really did a super job to get that diffuser to China. Q: Same question to you, Aldo. As I understand it has been a massive redesign of the whole of the back end of the car and the diffuser has not been the problem. It is all the rest of it. Aldo Costa: Yes, it is not the composite part that is the problem. The problem was a complete redesign of the hydraulic system, electric system and modifications to the rear suspension, so it was as Pat said a very, very big, huge effort to be ready in time for here with such a modified car. It is a learning curve since we had to work on this concept that we thought was illegal. We are learning now but still it is our first attempt and I am sure we have got quite a lot to learn still. Q: When did you start to react to the diffuser? Did you start before the ruling or did you react to it when the ruling was made? AC: No, from the technical point of view we had to start the thing earlier because we could not wait for the decision to be made, so we started as soon as we felt that other teams had another rule interpretation. Q: And tell us about the other modifications here? I understand Kimi has a new chassis as well? AC: Yes, we are running with KERS. Obviously at the moment the heavier driver, in order to run KERS, has got a disadvantage, so we tried to help Kimi be under the weight limit developing a new chassis. Later on in the season we will introduce it for Felipe as well. Q: And other modifications? AC: The car we have got here is a mix between a double deck diffuser concept, our first attempt, and the development that we had already planned for Barcelona, so we have got other modifications on the bodywork and on wings. Q: Patrick, can I ask you for a summary of the season so far. It seems that it goes very well on Fridays, as it has today, but perhaps you are a little disappointed when it comes to the race performances? Patrick Head: Yes, as Pat mentioned we have had some fairly sort of unusual races. In Australia we messed up a pit stop for Nico (Rosberg) and then when he was on the option tyre I think his race engineer encouraged him to push very hard as I think they thought he might be able to get Rubens (Barrichello) and the option tyre was very delicate and it fell off a cliff really for us. It was between us and various things. We have not made the best of the grands prix. Then with Malaysia and Shanghai with the wet and the wet dry, which is an opportunity for everybody, and for various reasons we did not make the best of that. In Bahrain, although Nico made a good start, he lost a lot of places going into turn one. He started ninth and finished ninth, nobody broke down. Massa broke down but I think Kimi got him going into the first corner, so it was not a very special race. We are certainly disappointed with the results but there are a few teams in that position and there is no point in kicking the dog or anything like that. You just go back and work that bit harder and try and not make the same mistakes. Q: What sort of modifications have you got to the cars here? PH: We had a slightly modified diffuser for Nico in Bahrain which is on both cars now. Not big, just a small modification, and some other bits and pieces for the car all pushing up small amounts in improving the performance. Q: Do you feel as an independent team that it is going to be hard for you to keep up the pace of development during this season? PH: I think we have got the resources. We haven’t got maybe as big a budget as some teams but I don’t think we think we are budget limited in developing the car. It is up to us to keep up really. Q: Ross, similar question. Do you feel it is going to be difficult for you to stay ahead development-wise? RB: It is always very difficult to even maintain your position wherever it is in Formula One as it moves forward so quickly. The big challenge we all have is that with no testing you are effectively on a Friday trying to work out what you have got and where you are. It is not such a straightforward process as it used to be. Testing itself was always very difficult anyway but it is extremely difficult now. We have brought a new package here which seems to be working very well with Rubens but we have got a problem with it with Jenson (Button) and we have to understand what is going on. It is quite a difficult year for everybody and it will continue to be difficult with the testing rules that we have. We have a reasonable sized team now and we are not budget limited in what we can do, we are just being careful in how we spend that money. Perhaps we bring three or four sets of parts to a race whereas last year we might have brought six or seven. We make those sorts of judgement calls but we are certainly not holding back on doing any performance improvements that we can. There is a package here, there are some modifications for Monaco and there is another update for the Nürburgring, so we are working hard. Q: When you say a package, what does that comprise? RB: Well, it is a new floor, new engine cover, new bodywork around the rear suspension, so that’s what we have brought here. Q: Pat, I saw a succession of cardboard boxes being carried into the paddock yesterday. What are your modifications here? PS: Similar things. As we have said earlier we introduced our first double decker diffuser in China but it was very much our first attempt. There is a new attempt here. In addition, with visible parts, we have got new front wheel fairings, we have got a new top rear wing here. We have got modifications on rear suspension, so there is a lot going on. |
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QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR Q: (Mike Doodson) I suppose this is for all of you. As I understand it, you don’t know the full technical regulations for next year, especially the tank size. I wondered if since this impinges on costs that if you each think it is realistic for the President of the FIA to be imposing a budget cut before you even know the rules. PH: I think teams are having to take a fairly strategic view and maybe cover a number of options. I think at the moment everybody is pretty clear that there is no refuelling next year. I think that was something that FOTA supported way back in December last year, so it is not as if there is any conflict at all about that position. I think there has been some talk about races changing in distance. Really I think everybody is working on the assumption that the races will be of the same length next year and they are doing their numbers on that basis. But there are all sorts of factors, if you are able to move your rear wing and lower your drag level going down the straight obviously has a number of interesting effects both on lap time but also on your fuel consumption as well. But I think most people will be having to say ‘well, we will have to work out our fuel consumption on the basis that we won’t be able to move our rear wing and if we are able to move our rear wing we will probably have a little bit too much capacity,’ so there is quite a lot of strategic thinking. It is a difficult one. It is certainly not a comfortable position where rules can be changed without any consultation, without any passing through the technical working group and to me it seems unfortunate that Formula One rules seem to come about through change a lot of the time, through confrontation, rather than through consultation. I think very often Max (Mosley) might say ‘well, I have given them the chance and they haven’t come up with what they wanted.’ But the teams are very open to realistic and practical ways of saving money. It is not as if the teams, and this goes for the manufacturer teams and the smaller teams, as if they are all rushing around wanting to spend more money. They’re not. They’re wanting to spend less money, so I think the environment is very positive towards a less costly Formula One but I don’t think anybody, and this goes for Williams certainly, I don’t think anybody thinks that a two-tier championship is a good idea. Even on the basis of being able to adjust the rear wing alone, that is going to be very significant. I mean it depends whether any additional things come in that limit how far you are able to adjust it, but on the basis of a completely adjustable rear wing with a single flap moving you are going to be talking about, I don’t know, a second-and-a-half, two seconds a lap. Now, no amount of expenditure on more expensive, more fiddly hydraulic blocks, no amount of expenditure anywhere else will make up for that difference. It is certainly a difficult environment at the moment but I think everybody, Ross, Pat, Aldo, are all having to sit in strategic meetings where you decide what possible option might come through and how you cover it and how, if that doesn’t go through, you then don’t find yourself significantly embarrassed by having made a wrong decision. It is a bit of a gambling imposition on what should be a logical design process but all part of the fun and the same for everybody. Q: Aldo, your thoughts, and when do you need to know this? AC: I think Patrick has recapped the situation very well. He’s speaking for Williams but I think he’s speaking for all of us. Certainly, as Ferrari, I would say exactly what Patrick has said. PS: I think probably the two things that Mike mentioned are two of the few things that we do know. The sporting and technical regulations for 2010 have been published, races are still 305 kms, the refuelling rules have been altered as such that we can’t refuel during the race, we can only refuel in the garage, so we haven’t gone back to refuelling on the grid as we used to in the old days. I think we know those things but there are lots of other details which are perhaps less clear. I really echo what Patrick and Aldo said. I don’t think anyone wants two tier rules. I don’t think they’ve worked in any series, whether it’s saloon cars and sports cars, where they are trying to equalise diesels and spark ignition engines, whether it’s Formula One with turbos and normally aspirated engines – they just simply haven’t worked. I think it’s important to say that we are not necessarily all at conflict. I think that we all have the same intentions, as Patrick said. We all want to spend less money. We all need to spend less money, not just want to. I think that where there are some differences of opinion is perhaps monetary scale and time scale. I think there will always be a difference of opinion on monetary scale – those that have and those that don’t have – but I think the time scale is a very important factor in this. I think it’s very important to have a glide path down onto a cheaper formula – or rather a more cost-effective formula. It’s very difficult with the large organisations that we all have with very high capital investment, very high capital write-downs every year, a lot of employees. It’s very difficult to move to a new position which is vastly different to the one we have and to do it quickly. Given time, given a few years to do it, of course we can get there, and I think that’s an important point to make. RB: We don’t want to see a two tier Formula One. We think that would confuse the public, we think that if there’s a big disparity in the regulations there will be no merit for those teams that succeed using the most advantageous regulation, so we don’t want a two tier Formula One. It’s a fact that stability – when the rules are right – is the cheapest way of going forward in many ways because you can plan, you can organise yourself but one of the difficulties of Formula One is that we’re turning into Swiss watchmakers. We’re just refining everything to the nth degree instead of being able to make conceptual changes or innovative changes because the rules are becoming more and more restrictive. In order to try and contain the costs, we’re just closing everything down so much that I’m not sure that that’s what Formula One should be. We, as a team, both in Honda days and now, support the idea of a constraint on resources of some sort, be it financial, be it people, be it some constraint where everything is enclosed and within that enclosure there is more freedom because most of the technical changes we’re doing are to save cost, so if we can save cost by saying ‘that’s all you’re allowed to spend’ and have more freedom, for me that’s a more exciting Formula One, for us, for the public and we’ve always supported that concept. What we want to do as a team is find a solution to that with all the other teams. We don’t want difficulties in Formula One, we want to work with the FIA, we want to work with all the teams and find a solution that fits with that. But for me, we’re going down the Swiss watchmaking route with Formula One and it’s not what I believe Formula One should be. Q: (James Allen – Financial Times) We’re obviously talking about transition and how you manage it but if it’s difficult to negotiate in the next few weeks with Max Mosley on this, is it not possible that you would all run uncost-capped, all the teams, for next year and then try to work it out and negotiate it from that point onwards? RB: I think all the teams within FOTA don’t want to have a two tier system and I think there will be discussions over the next week or so. It’s very unfortunate what has happened with Max, a terrible thing, so we’ve got to be sympathetic in that respect but as soon as it’s possible, we would like to meet with Max and try and find if there’s another way forward, where all the teams can be united and consistent in the solution. For us, there has to be some constraint on resources, not a constraint on the technical regulations. Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Aldo, how did you judge the performance of the modifications today? AC: Normally Friday is quite difficult to judge. We can judge it based on our numbers and based on what our drivers tell us, so at the moment we are happy about what we see but we have to see it compared to other teams that have, as we said before, brought here other developments, where we are in comparison with them and this we will know at the end of qualifying, of course and at the end of the race, not from today. Q: (Dan Knutson – National Speed Sport News) Question for all of you: the weight limit has been raised for next year but it’s a general overall increase, so the taller heavier drivers are penalised. Would you support a system where you weigh the drivers, seat and helmet together, so that it’s a level playing field no matter what size your driver is? RB: I don’t think you will get total equality. A big driver should be stronger, he should have more stamina, he should be able to drive the car over a longer period more consistently, so I don’t think you will ever get total equality. Possibly the weight limit now, particularly with the introduction of KERS, is making it quite difficult for teams who want to run KERS to find the weight distribution they want and accommodate the heavier drivers. I think there are two important things next year: one is the weight and the other is the smaller front tyre size which is going to push the weight distribution, let’s say, to a more natural position in the car. The ratio size of tyres at the moment is forcing everybody to run very forward weight distributions and that’s where people with KERS and bigger drivers also run into problems, so I think it’s a sensible change. I think with those changes, I don’t believe bigger drivers are penalised. Bigger drivers are stronger and they take those advantages. PH: I rather agree with Ross. I’m quite happy with it as it is. We have, in the past, had quite heavy drivers. I don’t think it’s a problem particularly as it is. The problem at the moment is that the tyre regulation and the change to slicks is forcing – I wouldn’t say an unnatural weight distribution – but a weight distribution which within the layout that’s forced on us by the fuel location and various other things is quite difficult to achieve but with the tyre for next year, which we understand is 25mm narrower on the tread contact patch, that will be less of a problem, I think. AC: It was an open point for sure. It has been discussed a few times during the FOTA meetings and during the Technical Working Group. As a team we were supporting the idea of increasing the weight limit. It just came out as a surprise in the new rules for next year, as Patrick said, without consultation. So for us it’s a good move anyway. PS: I think the only thing that I would add to what’s been said is that it’s probably worth remembering that next year’s cars will be heavier per se, the bigger fuel tanks mean more monocoque to put that fuel tank in. The fuel tank material is quite heavy. If the FOTA material restrictions are adopted and of course they can be because material restrictions abide in the appendix to the technical regulations, so they can be changed in quite short order, if the recommendations which the FOTA technical regulation working group have come up with on material restrictions are applied, then again that will increase the weight of the cars, so I think that the increased weight limit, while not entirely neutralised, will be largely neutralised just by changes in regulations. Q: (Alan Baldwin – Reuters) Ross, I wondered if you could perhaps give us a review of Rubens’s performances this season, because while Jenson has won three of the four races, Rubens has been on the podium once and that was somewhat fortuitous. Is he doing something different to Jenson or is Jenson just performing exceptionally? RB: I think Rubens has had a little bit of bad luck. I know luck shouldn’t come into it but I think in China he was looking very strong, in fact probably for a dry race he was in better shape than Jenson but then in the wet he had a problem with the brakes, one of the brakes glazed over on the rear which made life very interesting for him. In the last race, in Bahrain, the front wing adjustor failed during his qualifying lap and the front wing flap dropped down as he was in the middle of his qualifying lap. We’d gone for a pretty aggressive strategy and that meant being at the front and he didn’t achieve it because we had a problem with the car. I’m pleased with Rubens’s performance this year. He’s contributed an awful lot to the team, helping sort the car out. He gives very valuable technical information and I think it just hasn’t quite fallen for him this season. Jenson’s doing a superb job, so that’s the reference but I’m very happy with Rubens’s performance and I’m sure that if we get a smooth weekend he’ll be up there. |
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Brawn GP |
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Jenson Button, P1 - 1:21.799, 1st; P2 - 1:22.052, 6th "The balance of my car hasn't been quite right today with our new aero upgrade fitted. We have been struggling for grip which was a little frustrating but we believe that we have identified the reasons. The good thing is that Rubens has collected some good data today so we can look at that overnight and have a more positive day tomorrow." Rubens Barrichello, P1 - 1:22.859, 10th; P2 - 1:21.843, 4th "We have had a good first day and focused our attentions on evaluating the new aero package that we have for this race. I ran the current package this morning for baseline data before fitting the new developments. My initial feedback is positive and the car felt good and well-balanced. We ran a fairly conservative programme which has given us valuable data to study overnight." Ross Brawn, Brawn GP team principal: "It is always good to return to Europe after a hectic start to the season and particularly following the success of our first four races. Throughout that period we have been working hard on our first upgrade package of the season for the BGP 001 and it is very satisfying to see those developments on track today. It has been a mixed day for us with Rubens very happy with the performance however we have experienced some issues with the performance of the package on Jenson's car. We are investigating the cause at the moment and have plenty of data to study overnight to resolve it." |
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McLaren |
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Lewis Hamilton, P1 - 1:23.077, 14th; P2 - 1:22.809, 13th “We're still a long way away and I didn't feel any improvement. I think it's going to be hard work to get into Q3 tomorrow. We're pushing but unfortunately the upgrades we tried didn't work for me and the car doesn't feel like it's improved. We lose a lot of time in Turns Three and Nine because we can't carry the speed through the high-speed corners like other teams. But we'll battle our way through." Heikki Kovalainen, P1 - 1:23.522, 19th; P2 - 1:22.876, 14th "We had a gearbox issue in the first session which was caused by a hydraulics problem. Fortunately, the team was able to fix this shortly after we started second practice so I didn't lose too much time. I'm really happy with the progress we made. The new parts we have on the car obviously seem to work: I think we've improved the technical package since Bahrain but we need to wait until tomorrow to compare our pace with our rivals'." Martin Whitmarsh, McLaren team principal: "Inevitably, when you come to a circuit with a big package of modifications that need assessing in a very short period of time, you get some successes and some failures. But coming into this weekend, we've been realistic and disciplined: we always knew this would be a challenging circuit, but we've gathered a lot of data - and that will enable us to study our performance overnight and enhance the car for tomorrow. Are we as quick as we want to be? No. Do we believe we can get through into Q3 tomorrow? Yes, we do." Norbert Haug, vice-president, Mercedes-Benz Motorsport: "Our laptimes during our race simulation in the afternoon looked better than two months ago at the final winter test. The positive is this proves that we are working in the right direction; the negative is that we are still not quick enough to fight for podium finishes - in fact, it will be tough to enter Q3 tomorrow and to start the race in the Top 10. Also on this circuit, our KERS hybrid is a good help for improving our lap times and hopefully KERS will be even more of a help at the race on Sunday as only four of 20 racers are running the system here." |
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Ferrari |
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Kimi Raikkonen, P1 - 1:22.873, 11th; P2 - 1:22.599, 10th “We have definitely made a step forward in performance terms on the car: you can feel a greater level of aerodynamic downforce and that’s what we needed. Sure, it’s Friday and it’s always difficult to draw conclusions, but the feeling is that we have closed the gap to the top cars. Here, just as at the last race, the harder tyre is a bit difficult, while on the softer one, we’re reasonably good. Tomorrow morning, we’ll work on qualifying, given that today we concentrated on race preparation. All in all, I am happy with how things went today.” Felipe Massa, P1 - 1:22.855, 9th; P2 - 1:22.878, 15th “We have done a good job over the past weeks and the car has improved, but of course, the others haven’t been standing around with their hands in their pockets. As from tomorrow, we will see if we have managed to move up the order, because today’s classification is difficult to interpret and I reckon it doesn’t represent the true pecking order. We worked towards Sunday’s race. On my final run I had traffic and that cost me a bit of time, but what matters is the performance tomorrow. I will do my best to get through to the final part of qualifying and then aim for a good grid position.” Stefano Domenicali, Ferrari team principal: "We had a very busy day: having so many new parts on the F60, the work sheet was full and we managed to complete it in its entirety. It was important to be able to work without major reliability problems on an aero package which is pretty much making its track debut today. We managed it and that’s definitely a positive thing when evaluating the day. As for performance, it is always difficult to draw conclusions. We have certainly made progress, but how much when compared to the competition we will only find out as the weekend continues.” Chris Dyer, Ferrari chief engineer: “We are reasonably pleased with how things went this Spanish Grand Prix Friday. The team, both back at home and at the track, has put in a big effort to bring this aero package to Barcelona and the fact we had no reliability problems is already a positive element. The track confirmed our first impressions, that the handling of the car has improved and, from what we can learn from an initial analysis of the situation, we are in better shape than at the previous races. Tomorrow, our aim is to get both cars into Q3 and then to have a good race on Sunday. The tyres are behaving as expected: on the harder ones, we are struggling to get good grip, while we are fine on the softer ones, both in terms of grip and consistency of their performance.” |
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Williams |
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Nico Rosberg, P1 - 1:22.667, 6th; P2 - 1:21.588, 1st “Today was our first run with the new aero components on the car and they all seemed to work well. They’re giving us a few tenths extra per lap so we’ve made definite progress. Everyone has brought new developments here though so we will see how things look in qualifying. We also ran some tyre compares today. It’s not obvious which direction will be the right one, so strategy is going to be very important and will have a major impact on the race.” Kazuki Nakajima, P1 - 1:22.659, 5th; P2 - 1:21.740, 2nd “We had a pretty good day and it seems that all the updates are working well. I found it quite difficult to get enough grip with the hard tyre, the soft one definitely has the advantage for me. We now need to focus our attention on qualifying well tomorrow.” Sam Michael, Williams’ technical director: “We had a normal Friday during which we carried out short runs to prepare for qualifying and long runs to prepare for the race. The tyres are much closer than we anticipated on the basis of the tests we’ve had here and the hard tyres look stronger than they have at other circuits. We should therefore expect to see more even strategies from the teams on Sunday, rather than these unbalanced strategies that we’ve seen in the first four races of the year whereby people have run very short final stints.” |
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Renault |
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Nelson Piquet, P1 - 1:22.753, 7th; P2 - 1:22.349, 8th “It was a fairly typical day of practice as we began evaluating the new developments on the car and assessing the tyres. I’m still not happy with the set-up of the car and so the priority tomorrow morning is to work on that so that we can approach qualifying in good shape and hopefully get the car into the top 10.” Fernando Alonso, P1 - 1:23.157, 17th; P2 - 1:21.781, 3rd “The practice sessions were interesting because we had to evaluate some new parts that we have introduced to the car this weekend. In the first session we were struggling a little bit as we didn’t have much grip, but for the afternoon we found something which took us in a good direction and improved the lap times. We obviously need to remain realistic about tomorrow as this is only Friday, but we are reasonably confident that we can have a good qualifying session. The target for Sunday remains the same: to score as many points as possible.” Pat Symonds, Renault executive director of engineering: “A very normal Friday programme for us today. We had a look at both tyre compounds and there were no big surprises: the harder tyre needs a bit of warming up, but the softer looks like it is performing well. We had no particular problems with the car today, although we are not totally satisfied with the balance yet.” |
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Red Bull |
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Mark Webber, P1 - 1:22.934, 12th; P2 - 1:22.027, 5th “Another cliff hanging Friday eh? Ha ha. Obviously everyone knows this track very well, so it’s always going to be pretty tight around here, but we had a pretty good P2. P1 wasn’t that great, but P2 was better for us and I got a better feeling for the car. We had a little problem on the last run in P2, but we know what that was about. The guys did a good job today and we’ve got a solid amount of data to go through tonight, so I think we’re in pretty good shape.” Sebastian Vettel, P1 - 1:22.959, 13th; P2 - 1:22.082, 7th “A pretty normal Friday except that at some stage we had a problem with the radio and I think I had some Spanish taxi drivers to talking to me! Other than that it was normal Friday business. We did a lot of laps and tested some new parts, which I think we got an answer on, but to be sure for tomorrow and Sunday we will compare the data in comparison to our competitors. I’m confident there are areas where I can improve and where we can improve the car, so we have to work hard and come back stronger tomorrow.” |
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Toyota |
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Jarno Trulli, P1 - 1:22.154, 2nd; P2 - 1:23.623, 19th “We went through our normal Friday routine of testing tyres and set-up as we get ready for qualifying tomorrow. We also worked to understand what strategy to take in terms of tyres and everything. The tyre testing went reasonably well but obviously we need to analyse the data before we make any decisions. The car is not perfect and it needs to be a bit more balanced before I am happy with it. However, I think the track conditions will change for qualifying so I am not too worried. We have to wait and see what happens tomorrow morning." Timo Glock, P1 - 1:22.828, 8th; P2 - 1:23.360, 18th "It was not a very good day for me today to be honest. I was struggling quite a bit with the tyre behaviour in both practice sessions and it is really tricky to understand what the problem was. We have to analyse the results from today and work hard to make an improvement for qualifying tomorrow. I'm not happy with how things have gone today but we won't give up; we will do our best to find a solution." Dieter Gass, Toyota chief engineer race and test: "Even though I am not too worried about the timing sheets, we have to say it was hard work today. Thanks to an enormous effort from everyone in Cologne, we brought quite a significant aero update for this weekend and with no in-season testing, we had to evaluate it all today. We did a lot of laps and made several comparison runs to get as much information as possible. Obviously you don't have as much time to concentrate on these parts as you do in testing so that makes it quite difficult. As well as evaluating the upgrades, we did quite a lot of tests, mainly on aero, brakes and tyres. We got some interesting results which we will analyse tonight and try to find the best compromise for tomorrow." |
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BMW Sauber |
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Robert Kubica, P1 - 1:22.221, 3rd; P2 - 1:22.948, 16th “Today was a special Friday because we have a lot of new aerodynamic parts on the car. We spent quite some time working on the set-up and tried different things. We now have to analyse the data so we can exploit the potential of the car to its maximum. In addition, as usual on the Friday, we compared the two tyre compounds, but it was very soon obvious the option specification gives better performance.” Nick Heidfeld, P1 - 1:22.658, 4th; P2 - 1:23.173, 17th “Unfortunately I lost some time this morning when we had a couple of problems during the first free practice session. Only at the end was I able to work properly on the programme. That was a shame because with such a new package and, for me, driving the car for the first time without the KERS, track time is especially important. Considering the small amount of mileage from the morning, we made quite good progress when preparing the car for the second session, and I think there is room for more improvement.” |
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Toro Rosso |
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Sebastien Bourdais, P1 - 1:23.088, 15th; P2 - 1:22.615, 11th “We have a new package here which should give us a greater potential than at the earlier races. Unfortunately, a couple of problems meant we were not able to exploit it fully today. Nevertheless, we managed to complete 60 laps, split 30-30 morning to afternoon, so we gathered a lot of data. Hopefully, we can now work with that to find a good set-up on the car for tomorrow’s qualifying and Sunday’s race.” Sebastien Buemi, P1 - 1:23.185, 18th; P2 - 1:22.571, 9th “In the morning session, we had the first opportunity to assess the new aero components we have on the car for this weekend. It is hard to say exactly how effective they are, as in the morning session the track is green and you don’t know what fuel loads the others are using or what tyres they are on. But the overall feeling is positive and we are going in the right direction. In the afternoon, I had a problem with the rear brake, which unfortunately happened right at the start of the second session, so I lost some track time, before the guys got me out again. It’s not the best way to begin the weekend, but we will just have to deal with it. We will be looking very carefully at Bourdais’ data as well as mine from the second session, then factor in how we think the circuit will improve for tomorrow, when hopefully I can do my best to catch up. The car in this new configuration definitely has more potential, but I think it will take more than one race weekend to get the most out of it.” |
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Force India |
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Giancarlo Fisichella, P1 - 1:23.089, 16th; P2 - 1:22.670, 12th “It's good to run with the adjustable front wing, from my point of view it made things easier. We are still struggling a little with the understeer in the slow speed corners and we need to improve traction in that area but we got through our programme today and could cover a lot of laps. I think we are doing a good job to get the developments through but I think the target now should be just to get to the end of the race and see where we are.” Adrian Sutil, P1 - 1:23.536, 20th; P2 - no time, 20th “Unfortunately in the afternoon we couldn't do any running as there was a problem with the fuel cell and we couldn't make the change in time to get out for the session. In any case we have our information for the set up this weekend from winter testing so I don't think it will be a big problem tomorrow. FP1 was okay, we just tested the tyres available this weekend. We struggled a bit with the soft tyres and I wasn't too happy with the time in the end, but Giancarlo got a lot of running in so we know what direction to take.” Dominic Harlow, Force India chief race engineer: “Whilst it was a useful day for Giancarlo, Adrian lost the entire FP2 session with a fuel cell problem. It's one of those things that happens very infrequently and, despite working flat out, it was impossible to repair it in time for the second practice. Giancarlo worked on the tyres to compensate for the team's reduced running and was reasonably satisfied with the overall car balance and the data that was collected going in preparation for the weekend.” |
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Drivers: Fernando Alonso (Renault), Giancarlo Fisichella (Force India), Lewis Hamilton (McLaren), Nick Heidfeld (BMW Sauber). Q: Nick, how do you turn around the massive disappointment in Bahrain? Nick Heidfeld: Well, I think the position obviously was quite poor for the team. We could have performed stronger from our pace but it still would have been difficult to get into the points. Unfortunately we both had to change our front nose as we made contact with some other cars in turn one but that happens a lot easier if you don’t start at the front. We knew that we would struggle more and more in certain races as we did not get any major updates as the team decided pretty early on that rather than bringing small updates we would provide a big package here in Barcelona. Here in the past it worked and I think this year the theory behind it was logical because everybody, including myself, was surprised by how close the teams were together this season. Everybody thought with the new regulations there would be massive differences but if you look at the last couple of races there are sometimes 10 cars within just a couple of tenths. Therefore it would have been the right choice to do small steps. We hope that we will make a bigger one here. Q: You have brought new bits and pieces here. Do you think that is going to bring you right back into the top 10? NH: Impossible to answer that. First of all we hope to see on the track what we have seen in simulation and the wind tunnel, then we can carry on with proper development. But as you all know the big question is what do all the other guys bring. Q: And yet you are not using the double diffuser or the KERS here. What would that do? NH: Well, we found out with KERS this season that it is not as big an advantage as probably people thought before the season. Some teams use it, some don‘t. Sometimes you put it in one race and take it out the other. Here probably it definitely would have been an advantage on the start because I think it is the longest straight until turn one, so it would have a big effect there. But in terms of overall lap time it is not that easy to simulate. We are still working on it and plan to have it back in the car in Istanbul as well as a double diffuser. Q: Lewis, have you found KERS useful this year and can you envisage not using it? Lewis Hamilton: I think we would be a bit further behind if we did not have it. Mercedes Benz have done a fantastic job in preparing ours. It is performing fantastically through all the races with no reliability problems, so I am quite confident using it. Q: And Fernando? Fernando Alonso: I don’t know to be honest. I think some races it helps, some others not much. We are also happy with our system. We have not had big problems, only in Malaysia I think when it was that amount of water we had some issues. But we are happy with the system but as Nick said it is difficult to simulate or calculate the lap time advantage especially on some circuits, so it is something that we need a little bit more time. Q: Giancarlo, you were perhaps expecting to use KERS here. You obviously do see an advantage in it? Giancarlo Fisichella: Well, I never used it. We were supposed to use it here but unfortunately we delayed the programme and hopefully it is going to be introduced in Germany. I never drove with the KERS, so I can’t say a lot. Q: What about the modifications you had in the last grand prix? They really did seem to give you a little bit of an advantage? GF: Yeah, the team did a good effort to build the double diffuser. It was a good step forward obviously. We made a step forward but not enough to move forward in the grid positions. Actually in the first two stints I was quite competitive and I was, let’s say, one of the quickest in the circuit but once I went with the hard tyres I was struggling with the grip level and I could not score a better result. We need another good step like that. Here we will have a new adjustable front wing which is a small step forward, so let’s see where we are. Q: You have that here. Any other bits here as well? GF: Just a few small bits, so not enough I think to move our grid position. Q: So you might just get a little bit left behind again? GF: Probably. Maybe in Monaco we will have another good step. Q: Fernando, looking at this circuit you won from pole in 2006. You have been on the podium another three times. Obviously it is your home circuit. Is it a circuit that you like as well? FA: Yeah, I like it. Obviously we all test a lot here in the winter time and we all know the circuit quite well, so it is not a big advantage for me to be at a home track as it is like a home track for everybody. It is a very special race for me. The atmosphere here is quite good and the support from the grandstand I can really feel it. Every year we come here it is something special and this year I think it will be the same. The whole team is doing 120 per cent every race but here 130 percent as it is good for everybody, also the mechanics, everyone in the team is quite well supported here. Q: Pat Symonds says he has been disappointed so far. Is it the same with you? FA: Yeah, I think when we finished winter testing in Jerez we were quite optimistic. All winter we have been more or less competitive. We knew in terms of pace and lap time what the others were doing and we were very comfortable with our pace and with our car. The balance of the car was good. We did not have big problems, so we arrived in Australia really convinced that we were ready to fight for podium positions and things like that and it was not the case, so it was some kind of surprise how competitive some other teams were in Australia. We knew that Brawn were quick in the last two tests but Red Bull, Williams, we really thought that they were behind us. We started improving the car from Australia. We introduced a new package in China, some new parts also in Bahrain, some new parts here as well. We try to catch up but as Pat said I think we were expecting a little bit more from the first four races, so only five points are not enough for the championship battle. Q: I have been down in the paddock and a succession of cardboard boxes of varying different sizes have been carried into the garage. How much are you expecting this weekend? FA: I think not much unfortunately. As I said we will improve the car from the last race but it is difficult to simulate what the advantage will be. It can be one tenth, it can be two maybe four but who knows. But I think in this particular race everyone will introduce new parts in the car, so everyone is around these two, four tenths or six or whatever if someone was clever enough. We all will move more or less these two or three tenths forward and the positions will remain more or less the same. Q: Lewis, going back two months ago when you were last testing here I think things did not look so good. How are your feelings about the progress that has been made since then? LH: Well, when we tested here I think the team kind of felt that perhaps we would not be so bad but when we arrived we were between two-and-a-half and three seconds slower than the leading cars, so that was a big shock to the system and the team have pushed incredibly, just an incredible amount from then on. I think the progress that we have seen in our performance from the second day we did here until now has been phenomenal. I think the team have done a great job and to see the results that we are getting, fourth in the last race, was a result of that but for sure there is still a long, long way for us to go and we are coming from a long way behind, so like Fernando said I think everyone this weekend will have made a step forward, so probably the positions will be pretty much the same as before. Q: Do you think that rate of progress can take you back to where you were last year? LH: Who knows. We will have to wait and see. I guess this weekend is a good indication of whether that is the case or not. We have a couple of things put on the car but like Fernando said we don’t have a lot of things going on the car that are radical steps for us. It is just bit by bit that we are adding bits to the car. This weekend it will be interesting to see how far everyone else has stepped forward and the difficult thing is whilst we progress everyone else progresses at more or less the same pace and the key for us is to try and progress a bit faster than them. But with the way the world is, with the economy and everything, it is not the easiest to do that, so it is tough times. |
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Q: Tomorrow you are going to be honoured by the circuit here. They are going to unveil a plaque to you. What are your feelings about that? LH: I was just recently told about it, just half an hour ago. I think it is fantastic. It will be a great moment to be standing. I don’t know if Fernando will be there. Is it all the drivers? Well, I think it will be great to be standing next to Fernando as a known Formula One World Champion. I think it will be a real privilege. QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR Q: (Mike Doodson) There are going to be tremendous cuts made in the technical budgets of the teams. I wonder if you guys feel you also should suffer in the financial conditions. Are you expecting to take substantial reductions in salary? Would you be willing to do so if you were asked? NH: I think it is always the same. You have two parties and both have to agree. If the team thinks they don’t want to pay so much, they say no. If the driver thinks it is not enough, he says no. I think it will be solved by itself personally. GF: Well, in the cut in costs for next year the driver salary is not included. And probably they are going to be different for the driver next year, we’ll see. We’ll see the options. FA: The same. Q: But do you think you should take a cut? LH: I get paid what I am offered, it’s as simple as that. FA: As Nick said it is something you need to agree with your team. I think we are all in the same financial crisis in this world, same for you and your newspaper and your boss. All the bosses will ask the employees to reduce salaries and things like that and maybe you agree and maybe not. GF: Because the costs are lower, the driver could be paid much more. Q: (Dan Knutson – National Speed Sport News) Lewis, it’s been a tumultuous few weeks for you and the team; how much of a relief is it that a line has been drawn under it all now and you can concentrate on the car and the season? LH: I think what’s been impressive is that the team has not been affected by it. They’ve been pushing since the test we had here and fortunately, through past experiences, they have been very, very strong, all together, and just kept focussed on their primary goal. For sure, it’s a weight off the team’s shoulders and the guys back at the factory can focus more on getting the car back to the front. So it can only be good for them. Q: (Carlos Miquel – Diario AS) A question for all the drivers: last year Jenson Button was at the back of the field and this year he is the big favourite for the title. Does this mean that the championship is only decided by mechanical possibilities; that the driver is not important? What do you think? FA: I think the championship is the same as last year or the last ten years. I don’t think Jenson was the worst driver last year when he was fighting for the last positions because he’d been quite competitive throughout his career and in 2004 he was always fighting for podium finishes, finishing third in the World Championship, I think, so Jenson has always been competitive. This year, finally, he has the right car and he’s proving that he’s also able to fight for race wins and championships. I’m happy for him. We all know that Formula One is about the whole package: the team, the car, the driver, the engineers, luck. Many factors can help you win a race or win a championship. We all respect each other here. I think between us, we are all good drivers, we are all competitive people and sometimes we know that some of us have the right car and some of us have problems and you need to work hard to make your car or your team competitive enough to win championships. GF: Since I started my career in Formula One in 1996 there has been that problem: the car is much more important than the driver. Last year we had an example: Lewis was the World Champion and this year he’s struggling to get into the top ten. Last year Button was struggling on the last few rows with me and now he has won three races and he’s the leader of the championship. It’s not just this year. Q: To Nick and Lewis: should there be more emphasis on the driver and if so how? LH: I think Fernando put it pretty well, I couldn’t put it better than the way Fernando did but as he said, there’s the team, the car and the driver and the way the team works and operate. They are all equally important and if you don’t have one of those then you won’t be competitive, you won’t be at the front and you’ll see some cars that have more performance than others and some people perhaps won’t do such a good job with them. I think there’s quite a lot of emphasis on the driver. I think we have a lot of tools that we need to deal with in the car and no one in this room, in the world, can understand what it’s like driving the car and what different pressures we’re being subjected to while we’re driving the car but that’s because you’re not driving. There’s only twenty of us that have the great privilege of driving them and I still feel it’s pretty tough driving these things. NH: Nothing to add. Q: (Paulo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) For all four of you: in Bahrain, Fernando had some problems at the end of the race, had a problem with water but the fact that most of you had to lose some weight during the off-season could that be a safety concern? NH: Not from what I’ve seen. Obviously Fernando can answer that one better. I also lost about two and a half to three kilos but I felt better after the race than I did last year. I think you just have to find the right balance but it will be interesting to see what Fernando says. FA: In Bahrain I had a very specific problem with not enough water in my body because I lost five and a half kilos in the race and this is obviously not normal at all. It was a problem with a radiator of the car and we had some hot gas going into the cockpit, so I burned all my back with the seat and that was losing me even more water from my body, to keep the temperature in the race. So I think it was a very unlucky combination of factors that left me in that condition at the end of the race but as Nick said, I think I was in better condition when I finished the first three races compared to last year. We are also running with less aerodynamics in the cars, so maybe the high speed corners are not so demanding in terms of physical etc., so I don’t think that this year is any different compared to last year, even if the drivers lose some weight. Q: (Jonathan Legard – BBC) You’ve sort of answered this but talking to Nico Rosberg on this subject of weight distribution and KERS, he was concerned that there was a safety issue for drivers, particularly those with the KERS in the car, that you were having to lose a lot of weight and he’s at his lowest weight ever in Formula One. I just wondered how that affected you, is that a problem? NH: I’m on my lowest weight ever in Formula One and it’s not a problem, no. The lighter drivers have an advantage now, yes, that’s true. I weigh 59 kilos. LH: 59 kilos! I have a long way to go to get to that weight. I’m at 67 kilos but I’ve always been 67. I started the season quite a lot heavier but that was just because I was eating really good. FA: I don’t think it’s a problem. I feel, as I said, better than last year, especially when you take the bike. It’s better this year. I don’t think there are any safety issues. GF: I thought they were too fat last year! Q: (Ian Parkes – PA) Lewis, in terms of going forward, in terms of repairing the damage done to your reputation over the last few weeks, is there anything that you can feel that you can do personally to aid that cause, in particular when such luminaries as Stirling Moss claim they felt let down by what had happened in Australia and Malaysia? LH: Not really. I think I just need to get on with my job and keep being me; remain humble, just try to continue to do a good job and I hope that over the course of some time people will get to know exactly who I am and understand that I am in actual fact a good person. I do what I do because I love it. Q: (Jon McEvoy – The Daily Express) In the same spirit, Fernando, you drove for a year with Lewis. I was just wondering if maybe, in order to aid Lewis moving on, you might be able to say some generous words about Lewis the sportsman? FA: I’ve always said the same thing. I was a season at McLaren and I had no real problems with Lewis. We had a good competition which helped each other to find our limits. I can say that maybe I am missing that competition in a way because, as I said, it was quite fun to really push and find new limits from ourselves. The problems I had there were with the big bosses and the philosophy of the team, so I decided to move on from that period of my career but Lewis has always been a great driver, a great champion, fighting for the World Championship in his first season in Formula One, winning in the second season, so I think to really help the reputation or whatever has been damaged, I think will be very easy if he keeps winning. He will make people happy, his supporters and that’s a very important thing, doing our job. The maximum we can do is driving the car, winning races, winning championships. This is the best thing you can do. Q: (Joris Fioriti – AFP) All the teams will improve, race after race, as you said. Fernando even said that the positions will remain the same, so would you consider that Brawn and Button have already won the championship? FA: I think you have to wait because positions may change, but we saw sometimes that it’s not only enough to have the fastest car on the grid, it’s about finishing the races, it’s also about having some luck at some special moments in the championship, so we will see. I don’t think the championship has been decided. It’s also like in football or soccer; always after four or five matches, one team always plays very well but the championship is very long, so you never know what is going to happen but at the moment they are favourites, for this race also but it doesn’t mean that they will win the race. LH: We’ve only had four races. There are 13 races to go, there’s a long way. NH: I hope the positions will change after the first four races. GF: Yeah, me too but it’s going to be difficult. So far Brawn has the strongest car. I think they will have another good day here, so it will be interesting to see how they are here compared with the other teams but I think it’s still the quickest car. Q: (Marco Evangelisti – Corriere dello Sport) Fernando, I don’t want you to have any trouble with the fans here but what did you really feel yesterday evening when Iniesta scored? FA: Well, in the end I think there is a Spanish team in the final, so this is good news and I’m happy for Barcelona and for the fans. Obviously I’m a Real Madrid fan, so I think it was more painful last weekend when we lost in Madrid but I think in the Champions’ League you always want a Spanish team moving forward. I have a lot of friends who are supporters of Barcelona, so I am happy for them as well. Q: (Paul Logothetis – Associated Press) Max Mosley said this week that he can imagine F1 without Ferrari in the future. Just wondering if you guys felt the same way. LH: I couldn’t imagine it. FA: No, impossible. GF: Yes, without Ferrari I don’t think it would be Formula One anymore. NH: Yeah, it was a bit strange hearing that from him because I thought that people were looking and listening to the fans worldwide and Ferrari is obviously the biggest name in F1 with many supporters and has been there since the very beginning, so they belong in F1 for sure. |
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Adrian Sutil Q. How would you review the first four races? AS: Bahrain was, overall, a good weekend. Qualifying was our best performance yet and in the race both Giancarlo and myself could put in consistent times. The team should be really happy with that weekend. For me personally I am pleased with my start to the season. In the past I have not started well and it's taken some time to get into the season, but straightaway this year we were racing and I've finished three out of the four races. As a team we've been very consistent, the car has felt good and well balanced and we have made some steps forward. There is so much more to get out of the VJM02 and for Spain we will get another upgrade, which hopefully will be enough to stay and race the other cars and maybe even reach second qualifying. Q. What are your thoughts on the Spanish Grand Prix and the Circuit de Catalunya? AS: Barcelona is a track we all know really well from the laps we do over the winter. This year I did nearly 1,000km there! This means you can go to the circuit with a set-up that's pretty much ready to go. I like the circuit, it flows quite well, apart from the chicane at the end though, of course. The crowd is always huge as well - it gives you a buzz when you drive round. Q. What will your objectives for Spain be? AS Let's see how the upgrades go. The modifications in Bahrain worked better than we thought and gave us about four tenths a lap, but we have to keep introducing more new parts to just stay with the others. Last time we were racing, but everyone else is moving forward as well so we need to stay focussed and get the most out of what we have. Giancarlo Fisichella Q. Giancarlo, the Spanish Grand Prix has been a relatively successful race for you in the past. Is it an event you look forward to? GF: I enjoy going to Barcelona as it's good to get back to Europe, with the tracks we know very well. I also posted two fastest race laps there in 1997 and 2005, so I feel comfortable on the circuit. Barcelona is itself a nice track. We know it very well as we do a lot of days there in winter testing. There are a couple of interesting corners such as one and two and a few quick corners like turns three and nine. There's a hairpin in first or second gear at turn 10 and at the exit there is quite a lot of wheelspin, which makes it very difficult for the tyres. Unfortunately the new chicane at 14 and 15 disturbs the rhythm of the lap, so it's not as exciting as it was a couple of years ago when the last two corners were very difficult. It's always good to get back to Europe though - a good result there sets you up for the start of the European season. Q. What would be a good result for you in Spain? GF: In Bahrain we showed we had a much better car than in previous races but we still need another couple of steps and then we will be able to challenge for points. Last year we had a good race and finished 10th but as we've seen reliability with everyone has been very good so we shouldn't make too many predictions. It's not going to be easy as the others are improving as well, but I think a good result would be top 12. Vijay Mallya Q. The Spanish Grand Prix marks the start of the European season, where teams traditionally introduce the next stage of developments. Will the VJM02 cars have further upgrades this weekend? VM: I was very pleased to see the clear improvement we demonstrated in Bahrain as a result of the new diffuser and aero upgrades. To get both cars fitted with the modified floor in such a short time was a major undertaking, particularly from a team with such a limited workforce and budget as Force India. This of course was only the first stage in development and for Barcelona we'll have yet more upgrades coming through based on the information we gained in Bahrain. We'll be running a driver-adjustable front wing flap and a further modification for the front wing. This is just part of our ongoing development cycle and there will be further upgrades at most of the forthcoming races. Q. Will the team be running KERS in Barcelona as originally planned? VM: No, we will not be running KERS in Spain. At the beginning of the year, it was our provisional plan to introduce the system for the start of the European season, but we have decided to put the emphasis on aero development where we feel the greater gains can be found. As we've seen many other teams are not running KERS so we do not feel we are at a disadvantage. We still plan to use it later in the season, but this will be reviewed after each race in line with the other work we have going on in the background. Q. You have said in the past that the European season will be where Force India starts to race. Do you stand by this? VM: We always said that the first four flyaway races would be extended test sessions and we have indeed used them wisely. We've accustomed ourselves to the new systems, new personnel and new ways of working and introduced some very worthwhile upgrades. We are already racing but we can always improve. We've achieved more than I thought so in this respect I can't stand by the earlier comments - I want more now! |
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Bridgestone |
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Bridgestone opens the start to nine Formula One races in Europe with the hard and soft tyres at the Spanish Grand Prix, the Gran Premio de Espana Telefonica, at the Circuit de Catalunya near Barcelona, on May 8-10. The Spanish Grand Prix is the fifth round of the 2009 FIA Formula One World Championship and it takes place at a circuit that teams know very well because of the use of Barcelona as a test venue. The 4.66 km track layout features one long straight and a variety of different corners making set-up a compromise. The track is quite a harsh one for tyres which means the hard and soft compound allocation is used. Of particular note, the left front tyre is put under significant stress over a course of a lap. As with any circuit, the compromise between finding low drag for the straights and sufficient downforce for the corners is a challenge. Barcelona's numerous bends make for a greater focus on the corners and the high speeds attained here make for significant energy forces on the tyres. Hirohide Hamashima - Bridgestone Director of Motorsport Tyre Development, said: What are the challenges of Barcelona? "Barcelona has a track surface that is the middle range in terms of abrasion and roughness but durability and driver requirements mean our harder allocation combination is used. The front left tyre has a lot of work to do at this circuit and equally, teams and drivers will have a big challenge trying to gain an advantage here as they know this track so well." Many teams have tested their latest cars here in the pre-season, will this make a difference? "Of course, the experience of the teams at this track with their current cars will assist them with set-up. However, the ambient and track temperatures are likely to be warmer than testing so this will have an affect. Generally, we see quite close lap times here and close races too. The circuit layout is well balanced so it is a good indicator of overall car balance. A car that performs in Barcelona has the potential to perform well at many places." |
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Renault expecting a step forward in Spain |
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Renault have not had the easiest of starts to the 2009 season, with five points from four races falling well below their expectations. However, since adding a twin diffuser to the R29, the car has become easier to set-up and there are more developments for Barcelona this weekend, including further floor revisions, a new rear wing and new wheel fairings. In combination, Renault believe the changes should produce a noticeable increase in performance, as Executive Director of Engineering, Pat Symonds, explains&ldots; Q: Pat, after four races, what's your verdict on the team's start to the year? Pat Symonds: I'm disappointed with our start to the season. We're all well aware of the difficulties of trying to assess competitiveness through winter testing, but when we arrived in Melbourne we did feel we were higher up the pecking order than the performance we actually delivered. However, what has impressed me is how the whole team has responded to the need to become more competitive, particularly following the clarification of the diffuser regulations as we managed to get the new-style diffuser onto one of the cars in China, which is a credit to the whole team. So it has been a disappointing start, but we've definitely moved up the order in the last four races and there's a lot more to come. Q: Do you feel the drivers are getting the most from the R29? PS: I think they are, especially now that we've introduced the twin diffuser because the car was quite sensitive and difficult to set-up with the more conventional diffuser. The car used to have a very small sweet spot in terms of set-up, which made it difficult for Fernando (Alonso) and Nelson (Piquet) to get the most from the car. I do believe that this has improved since we've fitted the new diffuser, but it's still difficult to judge because we have been so limited with the amount of running we've done, especially in dry conditions. So we still have a lot to learn about the R29, but I do feel it's becoming easier for us to get the most from the car. Q: Can you update us on the team's development programme as the European season begins? PS: The whole team is still pushing hard with development and the diffuser and floor that we brought to China was very much a first attempt and over the course of the year we will see several more versions, the first of which we hope to have in Barcelona. In addition, we've got new wheel fairings this weekend with quite a major design change to give us an increase in downforce and a new rear wing. On top of that we've got a few small aerodynamic tweaks that we will introduce on a race-by-race basis. Overall we can expect a reasonable step in performance for Barcelona. Q: Have you been surprised by the relative competitiveness of all the teams this year? PS: Yes, I've been very surprised by just how close the racing has been in the first four races. Normally you expect stability of rules to lead to close racing and change of rules to move things apart, but that hasn't been the case this year, although the new rules have certainly shaken up the order of the grid. I don't have an explanation as to why things are so close, but I can speculate that one of the reasons is that the aerodynamic performance of the cars is probably a bit closer this year. With much simpler aero regulations, the advantage that some teams were getting from winglets, deflectors and vortex generators may have been lost. The aero domain has therefore been neutralised to an extent and the relative aero performance of the cars is perhaps a bit closer. The second reason might be to do with tyres as I wonder whether the formula is becoming tyre-dominated. The fact that we are all using a Bridgestone control tyre that is relatively conservative is probably another factor that has led to the closing up of the field. Q: How do you expect the R29 to perform in Barcelona, which is renowned as the definitive aero circuit? PS: We weren't particularly satisfied with our performance in Barcelona during winter testing and I think that was probably because our aero performance was significantly below that of the cars with twin diffusers. Now that we have hopefully improved our performance with our own new-style diffuser, we certainly hope that Barcelona will be a bit more favourable for us. |
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Renault |
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Fernando Alonso, Renault 2008 Qualifying - 2nd, 2008 Race - DNF “It's always very special to race in Spain and I'm lucky to have two races at home this year in Barcelona and Valencia. Seeing the support of the fans always gives me a boost and I just hope that I can make them happy and have a strong weekend. It will be difficult to fight for the podium, but hopefully we can qualify well and score some big points in the race. “All the teams know the track well as we do so much testing there in the winter. We tested there in February, but obviously we have developed the car a lot since then so we will need to work on the set-up during free practice. We are still missing some performance at the moment but the team has really improved the car already this season so we are certainly moving in the right direction. Hopefully we can take another step forward this weekend.” Nelson Piquet, Renault 2008 Qualifying - 10th, 2008 Race - DNF “(The Circuit de Catalunya) is the circuit that I know the best, but it's not one of my favourites because it's not especially challenging for the drivers. It's all about having a good aero package and a well balanced car to cope with the high-speed corners. It's therefore difficult to overtake, so you need to qualify well to be able to choose a sensible strategy for the race. Barcelona is also really demanding for the tyres and so we need to see how the different compounds perform during long runs on Friday. “We've definitely improved the car by fitting the new diffuser and the team did a great job to react quickly and adapt the car. We also had an update to the front wing in Bahrain and the car is now much easier to drive than it was at the beginning of the year. I know the whole team is working really hard to find more performance and now that we are back in Europe it will be easier to bring new developments to the races.” Pat Symonds, Renault Executive Director of Engineering “The whole team is still pushing hard with development and the diffuser and floor that we brought to China was very much a first attempt and over the course of the year we will see several more versions, the first of which we hope to have in Barcelona. In addition, we've got new wheel fairings this weekend with quite a major design change to give us an increase in downforce and a new rear wing. On top of that we've got a few small aerodynamic tweaks that we will introduce on a race-by-race basis. Overall we can expect a reasonable step in performance for Barcelona. “We weren't particularly satisfied with our performance in Barcelona during winter testing and I think that was probably because our aero performance was significantly below that of the cars with twin diffusers. Now that we have hopefully improved our performance with our own new-style diffuser, we certainly hope that Barcelona will be a bit more favourable for us.” |
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Toyota |
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Panasonic Toyota Racing heads to the Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona this weekend for the start of the European season. Following the flyaway races which started the season, Toyota is third in the Constructors’ Championship having claimed an impressive three podium finishes in four Grands Prix. Jarno Trulli recorded pole position, fastest lap and third place in the Bahrain Grand Prix while Timo Glock maintained his 100% points-scoring record in 2009 with seventh place. That put both Toyota drivers into the top five of the Drivers’ Championship. The team has enjoyed podium success in Spain before, with Jarno finishing in third in 2005 – one of two podiums he has scored in this race - while last year he was eighth on a day when Timo was 11th. Both drivers have extensive recent experience of the Circuit de Catalunya, having completed over 500 laps between them during four days of testing in March. Jarno Trulli - Car 9 "It’s good to be coming back to Europe again after the long-haul races as this makes things a little easier for everyone. The opening races of the season have shown the potential we have in our new car; to get pole position and the fastest race lap in Bahrain was a good achievement which gives us great encouragement. We’ll see how it works out in Barcelona but we have to be optimistic after our strong performances so far. We tested in Barcelona before the season but I have to admit it’s unusual to be preparing for the race having not driven at the track for a couple of months. In the past we have generally tested there just before the race so everything was quite predictable, but it could be different this time. I am enjoying this season because we are consistently fighting at the front so I am really looking forward to the Spanish Grand Prix." Timo Glock - Car 10 "Barcelona is one of the tracks I know best after all the testing and racing I’ve done there over the years and I’m feeling optimistic going into the Spanish Grand Prix. I have scored points in all the races so far - only two other drivers have done that - and I certainly expect to continue that run this weekend. But I hope to score a few more than in Bahrain; it was disappointing only to finish seventh after starting from the front row however the potential of the car is clear for everyone to see. That motivates everyone to keep pushing hard because we can see there is the possibility for some great results. We have an upgrade to the car this weekend so hopefully that can bring something extra but we will have to wait and see how the other teams develop as well." John Howett - President "We have made a successful start to our season but there is no doubt we want more; we feel we are close to our first victory and this is our clear target for the remainder of the year. We narrowly missed out on winning in Bahrain but by starting from pole position and setting the fastest lap, we showed we are right on the pace and we are working hard to bring it about soon. Thanks to the fantastic job done by the team over the winter, our car has been one of the very fastest so far this season and we have some aerodynamic upgrades in Spain which will bring more performance. We have an aggressive development programme for the whole season so I’m confident we will be in good shape." |
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Brawn GP |
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The Spanish Grand Prix, Round Five of the 2009 FIA Formula One World Championship, marks the start of Formula One’s European season and the first of nine races to be held on the continent between the months of May and September. Located just outside the vibrant city of Barcelona, the Circuit de Catalunya has hosted the Spanish Grand Prix since 1991 and has a demanding and varied layout which makes it a renowned testing venue and well known to the teams and drivers. The 4.655km 2.892 mile circuit has undergone a series of modifications during its 18-year history which has led to the loss of some of the track’s high-speed edge but the combination of high and low speed corners still provides a technical and physical challenge for the cars and drivers. Brawn GP completed a four-day test at the Circuit de Catalunya prior to the start of season with the new Brawn-Mercedes car. ROSS BRAWN, TEAM PRINCIPAL Q. After such a successful start, the team must be looking forward to continuing the challenge in Europe “The team had to make a tremendous effort simply to have two cars on the grid for the first race in Melbourne and the success that we have achieved has been a well-deserved reward for all our staff for their hard work which has been supported by the commitment of our engine partner Mercedes-Benz. The short break which we have enjoyed since returning from Bahrain has enabled the whole team to regroup at our factory in Brackley and spend a little time reflecting upon our first four races. “Jenson, Rubens and the team delivered a first class job to win the Bahrain Grand Prix which is the level of performance that we must sustain if we are to seriously challenge for the championships this year. The field has compressed considerably since the season-opening race in Australia and the performance margins at the front are now very tight indeed. Whilst we have been away racing over the past few weeks, the factory has been working extremely hard on our upgrade package for the BGP 001 and we look forward to seeing the results of our development work on track in Barcelona this weekend.” JENSON BUTTON Q. What are your thoughts ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix “Although the team only completed four days of testing at the Circuit de Catalunya in March this year, I know the track inside out and it feels very familiar to be heading back there for the start of the European season this weekend. You need to have a car with good downforce for a really quick lap there and we are fortunate that our car behaves so predictably which enables you to feel completely confident when committing to high speed corners. This can be a very difficult circuit for overtaking so you have to make the most of the run down to the first corner to capitalise on any opportunities at the start of the race. I visited the factory last week to join the team for a small celebration of our successes to date and catch up on the progress with our latest developments. We know that we have a real fight on our hands from here to maintain our lead in the championships but I am confident that we are well prepared for the challenges ahead.” RUBENS BARRICHELLO Q. What are the key challenges of the Circuit de Catalunya “The Circuit de Catalunya feels like a home circuit for the drivers with so much of our pre-season testing taking place here over the winter. Although the track has lost some of the high speed challenge that it once had, it is still an interesting and physical lap to drive. You need to find a good rhythm to make the most of the combination of the high speed corners, particularly at turn three which is very fast and demanding, and the slow corners in the final sector of the lap. The long pit straight requires good aerodynamic efficiency and we will be thankful for the power of our Mercedes-Benz engine there. The Spanish Grand Prix is always one of my favourite races on the calendar as it feels like this is where the season really begins.”
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Ferrari |
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Felipe Massa What you can be sure of is that all the teams will be working hard and most should improve by the time we get to Barcelona, so that whatever Ferrari can do will have to be measured against that We have a big package coming for Spain and it's not just a case of working on producing a new double diffuser, even though this is the element that has caught everyone's imagination. The numbers show this should have a big effect on lap time and I am pretty confident this should allow the Scuderia to make a big step forward. The fact the next race is in Barcelona has several advantages, even if they apply to all the teams equally: it is a track that has been used so much for testing that everyone knows what to expect and how to analyse the data we will get there on Friday, taking into account outside factors like ambient temperature and the wind speed and direction In addition, the character of the track calls for a very efficient car and therefore it can provide us with an accurate picture of just how the F60 is performing with the new parts we will have on it for the race weekend. Hopefully, we will use this to our advantage to improve our qualifying performance to give us a better chance in the race. My aim now is firstly to score my first points of the year and then to look to go for my first win of the season. Until we start winning races again, it's difficult to start thinking in terms of the championship. We need to work day and night to return to having a very competitive car. Only then we can start thinking about the championship titles. Maybe it will be too late, maybe not, but we're not giving up We have all these new elements, the slick tyres, the KERS, the adjustable front wing and making the most of them on track has been very interesting. A bit more down force would make it even more fun! But I've got my job to do and even if I only had three wheels on my car I would still be doing my best and (trying to) improve the situation. But for now, more downforce is what I want. Although it is too early to establish our programme for the first day of practice in Barcelona, we might try the new package on one car only in the first session in the morning, in order to run a comparison test with the old one, before both running it in the second session. But nearer the time, we will have a better idea if there's a need to do a back-to-back. With all the new aero packages and other interesting developments throughout the field, it should be a very interesting Friday for everyone. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari 2008 Qualifying - 1st, 2008 Race - 1st “It’s a bit more than a year ago that I won my last Formula One race. At Barcelona in 2008 I had my best weekend with Ferrari: pole position, victory and fastest race lap. Since then I came very close several times - I’m thinking of Magny-Cours, Montreal and Spa - but for one reason or the other I could never make it. Having said that, a driver never loses the lust for winning and I want to have that feeling again as soon as possible. “After four races outside Europe it’s always very nice to come back to the Old World. Furthermore I really like the Circuit de Catalunya a lot, also because I could win here already twice in my career. I really liked hearing from the Team that the new aerodynamic package’s first signs are positive. It will be really interesting taking the car out during Friday’s free practice sessions. We drove on this track back in March this year, but it’s always really difficult to understand from the tests who’s really strong in the field. Furthermore many cars have changed quite a lot since then. With the new aerodynamic package we’ll have more downforce compared to the first four races, but also almost all of the others will show up with some updates. We’ll see who has done better work. “Aerodynamic efficiency is crucial at the Circuit de Catalunya for a good lap time. It’s a very demanding track from a technical point of view and you need a good car to be competitive. A good qualifying will be important to avoid getting stuck in the field with all the risks coming with a situation like this at the start; we paid our price for that at Bahrain. Overtaking is never easy at Barcelona, but now we’ll see if the KERS can help to make it easier. On such a track it might make the difference, especially at the start.” |
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Red Bull |
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New rules, biggest change for decades, hurray for slicks, KERS is occurring, adjustable front wing, no testing during the F1 season, money's too tight to mention, Honda's saved and reborn as Brawn, three Sebs and one Mark in Red Bull F1 line-up, seven good legs between them, pullrod rear suspension for Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Toro Rosso FOTA? 'Fota Schmota' says Bernie, Rubens and Jenson on top in winter testing, the D word finally appears DIFFUSER! Drivers looking anorexic to fit KERS, take your hat off to budget cap 30 million, but drivers can have gold, silver and bronze medals or the Big Issue, credit crunch fever doom and gloom, Europe to Melbourne 16,000 kilometres, Melbourne at last, unpopular late afternoon start, diffuser protest goes to court, Vettel third on grid, popular Brawn the Virgin winner, Independents Day, rookie Buemi drives like veteran scores points in first race, super soft tyres good for three... corners, point for Bourdais too, ten-place Malaysia grid penalty for three-wheeled Vettel, Trulli penalised for passing Lewis but Liargate is round the corner, Lewis sorry, Ryan goes, Paris looms, Melbourne to Kuala Lumpur 6360 kilometres, Vettel qualifies third again, tropical storm in Sepang in late afternoon, surprise all round, only half points then everyone in the dark, third shortest GP in history, Mark gets off the mark with 1.5 points. What? No race this weekend? Kuala Lumpur to Europe 9751 kilometres, trip to Paris instead for some, double deck diffuser row diffused, Brawn Williams Toyota legal, Newey stays at home drawing, McLaren and Ferrari at bottom of points table, world is upside down, Coulthard reserve driver for both Red Bull teams, Brendon Hartley waits for Superlicence, GPDA tells Bernie no to late afternoon races, farewell to Dennis, China means temporary diffusers everywhere, Red Bull in China shop with Vettel taking team's first pole ahead of Alonso and Webber, Renault 1-2-3 on grid first time since 96, Sebastian starts behind Safety Car and goes on to win, Webber makes it historic one-two with no KERS and no double diffuser, Super Swiss Seb snatches eighth for another Toro Rosso point, Shanghai to Bahrain 6827 kilometres, dry in desert so sand storm predicted, welcome back Lauda with artificial hip, Vettel gets congratulatory call from Bernie, world stops spinning as McLaren has parties and Red Bull has podiums, first all-Toyota front row in 38-degree heat, Button's best win fighting off second placed Vettel, Mark's great drive from back of grid, man breaks world record for holding breath in water tank on grid and we stop to take one before we start the European season with Red Bull Racing second in the Constructors' Championship and Scuderia Toro Rosso seventh, Bahrain to Europe 4000 kms, next stop Barcelona and five months with no long-haul flights. |
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Williams |
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Kazuki Nakajima, Williams 2008 Qualifying - 12th, 2008 Race - 7th “It’s been a tough start to the season for me. I’ve had three DNFs out of four races and I don’t want anymore. I’m going to put them behind me now though and concentrate on the work ahead. There’s still 12 more races to go and I’m determined to get some good results for myself and for the team. “I really like Barcelona and have lots of racing experience there. Last year, I had a good qualifying session and scored two points for the team coming seventh in my debut race. As I haven’t had a great first few Grands Prix, I hope that this will mark the start of a new phase for me and I can do something good in Barcelona. “I didn’t have the new parts on my car in Bahrain so I’m looking forward to trying those out in Spain and to see how the other new bits go. I’m sure that the upgraded package will be a step forward, we already know how much time it will give us, but it’s all relative compared to what the other teams have done.” Nico Rosberg, Williams 2008 Qualifying - 15th, 2008 Race - DNF “It’s been a bit of a frustrating start to the season. We should be going into Europe with more than 3.5 points from the first four races. We were looking competitive at the outset in Australia, but things just haven’t gone our way. It’s also so close out there, probably the closest season I’ve raced in. We’ll have some aero upgrades for Barcelona which I’m hoping will help us and push us further up the grid. It would be good to score some points to reward the team at Grove who have been pushing really hard. “As we spend quite a lot of time testing at Barcelona, it’s a circuit we all know well. Last year was going really well for me and I was looking good for sixth place, but then a technical problem put me out of the race. The only concern with Barcelona is that track conditions are constantly changing, so knowing what direction to go with the set-up can prove hard.” |
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BMW Sauber |
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Robert Kubica, BMW Sauber 2008 Qualifying - 4th, 2008 Race - 4th "I am looking forward to the race in Barcelona. After a block of four overseas races Formula One comes back to Europe, which I am happy about. As all Formula One teams have tested in Barcelona, I expect the pack to be very close together - even closer than up to now. We will bring a new aero package and we hope to improve significantly compared to our recent performance, as it is our goal to close the gap to the top teams. "The track is nice to drive and quite challenging. There are some high-speed corners, some low-speed corners and a hairpin which requires very heavy braking. As we have all done a lot of kilometres here, I guess we could drive the circuit with our eyes closed." Nick Heidfeld, BMW Sauber 2008 Qualifying - 9th, 2008 Race - 9th "We know the Barcelona track like the back of our hands, as we used to test here a lot. I've been to the circuit so many times. As recently as last year we had 16 days of testing in Barcelona. This year we had four days in March, two for each driver, and there will not be any more. Barcelona is a tricky track to drive because it presents a variety of challenges and the circuit is very sensitive to changes in temperature. If the wind, temperature or grip levels change even slightly, a set-up which was fine one minute is suddenly all wrong the next. "Like everybody in the team, I am also placing my hopes on our new aerodynamic upgrades. The team has put an incredible amount of energy into trying to close the gap to the leaders. I hope we will perform rather better against our rivals in Barcelona, but that's difficult to predict as all the teams will be bringing upgrade packages of varying degrees to the first race of the European season." Mario Theissen, BMW Motorsport Director "The Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona signals the start of the European season after four races overseas. Traditionally this represents something of a second start to the season. "For the BMW Sauber F1 Team this applies more so than usual this year, as we cannot be satisfied at all with the first four races of the season. After our positive winter testing, all of us at the BMW Sauber F1 Team envisaged a rather different start to the season. The car is not fast enough and we have recorded only one podium finish - Nick Heidfeld's second place in Malaysia. "We are approaching this challenge in a positive way and are working intensively in Munich and Hinwil to get back to our old form. We will be lining up in Barcelona with an extensive aerodynamics-focused development package, and are already working on further upgrades to be introduced later on in the season." Willy Rampf, BMW Sauber head of engineering "Although the teams know the Barcelona track extremely well from all the testing they've done there in the past, this circuit frequently presents a new challenge. The problem is the track conditions can change very quickly here and the wind has a big impact on the cars' handling through corners. "We will be lining up in Barcelona with an extensive development package for the F1.09, which we have put together for the start of the European season. The nose section, more deeply undercut sidepods and the rear wing are all totally new. Added to which, modifications have also been made to the front wing, engine cover and underbody. We expect these improvements to significantly reduce our lap times. "Of course, we know that the other teams will also have made modifications to their cars for Barcelona. However, we expect to be able to close the gap to our rivals. We won't find this out for certain, though, until the race weekend. Up to then we will only have the results from the wind tunnel and simulations to go on and, of course, can no longer test in advance on the track. Seeing the full potential of the car reflected in results on the track will be a big challenge for the engineers." |
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McLaren |
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Lewis Hamilton 2008 Qualifying - 5th, 2008 Race - 3rd "The schedule for the first four races was very tough for everyone, so going back to Europe almost feels like a fresh start. After such a positive performance in Bahrain, we're fully aware that the characteristics of the Barcelona track won't suit our car so well. In addition, we won't have the bigger upgrades of some of the other teams as we already introduced several new parts during the opening flyaways, so it will be interesting to see where we sit in the order. Nevertheless, the engineers are optimistic that our new diffuser and front wing will once again help us to make progress towards the front of the grid." Heikki Kovalainen, McLaren 2008 Qualifying - 6th, 2008 Race - DNF "Going back to the scene of last year's accident doesn't change anything for me: I really enjoy this track - I had a great race to fifth here in 2007 and I love the high-speed corners, where you've got to push hard to get the maximum from the car. It's also a circuit where you need to find the perfect balance to look after the tyres - and I really enjoy trying to find the best compromise for the race. Our pre-season test at Barcelona was not very encouraging, so we are going into this race with realistic expectations, but I'm optimistic the whole team can deliver once again this weekend." Martin Whitmarsh, McLaren team principal "Our decision to introduce performance updates at each race rather than concentrate all our developments into a single upgrade package has helped us score some reasonable points in the opening flyaway races. With our rivals expected to introduce some more substantial improvements in Barcelona this weekend, we once again expect a fight to score points. And while the high-downforce nature of the Circuit de Catalunya may show up some of MP4-24's shortcomings, everyone within the team remains confident and motivated that we can sustain the momentum we have gathered to push and close the gap to the front this weekend." Norbert Haug, Mercedes-Benz Motorsport Vice-President "The first four flyaway races within only five weeks have been turbulent and downright demanding for everyone in Formula One, and particularly for us. The field has moved closer together than ever before in Formula One history. Unfortunately, we are still not competing in the right position and the beginning of the European Formula One season in Barcelona will be a true test for the future balance of power. I expect an extremely difficult race. We are in the middle of an intensive process of catching up and, in comparison to our competitiveness in the previous two seasons, we are still far from where we need to be. Our team is working extremely hard to achieve more significant improvements in aerodynamics and particularly in downforce, but to do so we still need more time." |
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Q&A WITH WILLIAMS F1'S TECHNICAL DIRECTOR, SAM MICHAEL Q: Has FW31 lived up to your pre-season expectations? SM: It's been quite quick in the opening few races, but we haven't delivered in terms of points and that's been very frustrating. Our rivals are catching up quickly and it will be difficult to maintain a development edge over them during the year, but that's our job and we'll keep pushing. Q: What problems have kept the team out of the points? SM: We've made a few mistakes. In Australia we had a problem with a wheel nut, which cost Nico about 10 seconds, in Malaysia we didn't switch to intermediate tyres at the right time and in China we made the wrong strategic call with Nico when we brought him in during the first Safety Car period. Q: Did `diffusergate' tarnish the opening races for you? SM: We had to go and defend our case at the International Court of Appeal, and there was some work connected to that, but in terms of how we went about our job it didn't affect us at all. Technically, I had no doubt as to which way the decision would go, but you can never be 100 percent sure when things go to court. As it was, the FIA deemed our diffuser legal. Q: How exciting do you find the development race this year? SM: It's great, but the rules are quite restrictive this year and the development is contained to specific areas of the car. As a result, the field is very close together: in Bahrain there were just 1.3s separating first and 20th positions. Q: How much of a factor will KERS play in the coming races? SM: As the rate of development slows, KERS will take on a greater significance. We're working flat- out to get it onto the FW31 as soon as possible, but I can't say when that will be at this stage. As soon as it's ready, it'll be on the car. Q: Do you think it's healthy for Formula One to have new teams winning races this year? SM: Yes, I do. The racing's been really good and the victories of Brawn and Red Bull have brought new characters and new faces to the fore. Formula One is about a team working well technically and a driver driving well; it's free competition and the people that do the best job are the ones that deserve to succeed. Q: Are you pleased with the performances of Nico and Kazuki so far this year? SM: They are doing the best job that they can. I think every driver raises his game from year to year, especially when they're in their early 20s like Nico and Kazuki. They are getting better and better, and a lot of that is simply down to experience. |
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Formula One racing’s governing body, the FIA, has released full details of Wednesday’s World Motor Sport Council decision that saw McLaren handed a suspended three-race ban for bringing the sport into disrepute by deliberately misleading stewards at March’s Australian Grand Prix: World Motor Sport Council - Decision 01/05/2009 Re: Article 151(c) and 152 International Sporting Code – Vodafone McLaren Mercedes 29 April 2009 The World Motor Sport Council (“WMSC”) met on 29th April 2009 to consider a charge that Vodafone McLaren Mercedes (“McLaren”), a competitor in the FIA Formula One World Championship, had breached Article 151(c) of the International Sporting Code (“ISC”), which prohibits "any fraudulent conduct or any act prejudicial to the interests of any competition or to the interests of motor sport generally". 1 Background 1.1 During the closing laps of the 2009 Australian Grand Prix, an incident occurred which required that the safety car be deployed. At the time of deployment, driver No. 1 Lewis Hamilton (for McLaren) was placed fourth and driver No. 9 Jarno Trulli (for Panasonic Toyota Racing (“Toyota”)) was placed third. 1.2 While running behind the safety car, Trulli left the track and Hamilton passed to take third place. Hamilton subsequently moved off the racing line to the right of the track and Trulli repassed, taking back third place. 1.3 Article 40.7 of the 2009 Formula One Sporting Regulations sets out the rules governing overtaking while running behind the safety car. Article 40.7 reads, in relevant part, as follows: “All competing cars must [&ldots;] reduce speed and form up in line behind the safety car no more than ten car lengths apart and overtaking, with the following exceptions, is forbidden until the cars reach the Line after the safety car has returned to the pits. Overtaking will be permitted under the following circumstances: [&ldots;] - . 1.4 In light of Article 40.7 and the fact that Hamilton and Trulli had passed each other while running behind the safety car, the matter was referred to the Stewards of the Meeting (“Stewards”) by the FIA Race Director. As part of their investigation of the incident, the Stewards summoned Trulli and Hamilton and their respective team managers to a hearing on 29th March 2009 at which the FIA Race Director was also present (“29th March Hearing”). 1.5 At the 29th March Hearing, the Stewards and the Race Director asked questions regarding Trulli’s passing of Hamilton. Trulli stated that Hamilton had moved off the racing line to the right of the track and had begun to travel very slowly. As a result, Trulli pulled up alongside Hamilton to see whether Hamilton would wave him through. There being no response, Trulli proceeded to pass Hamilton. 1.6 Hamilton was asked by the Stewards why he had moved off his line and whether there was a problem with his car. He informed the Stewards that there were no problems with his car and that he had drifted right because he was checking his lap time and was concerned that his tyres were cold. Hamilton was then asked whether he had consciously let Trulli pass. He said “no”. He was asked if he had been told to let Trulli through, at which point his Team Manager, Dave Ryan, interjected and answered “no”. There were further exchanges, with the Stewards posing similar questions but Hamilton and his Team Manager were clear in their insistence that Hamilton had not slowed down and had not let Trulli through. 1.7 The Stewards considered the evidence, including the McLaren representatives’ statements, and issued a decision, penalising Trulli for overtaking while behind the safety car in breach of Article 40.7 and imposing a drive-through penalty. Since the race was already finished, the drive-through penalty was converted into a penalty of 25 seconds to be added to Trulli’s elapsed race time. As a result of the penalty, Trulli was demoted from third place to twelfth place and Hamilton was moved from fourth place to third place. 1.8 From the release of the aforementioned decision until the reconvening of the Stewards in Malaysia on 2nd April 2009, no McLaren representative contacted the FIA, its Race Director or the Stewards in relation to that decision. During this time, the official result of the Australian Grand Prix was understood to be that Hamilton had been placed third and that Trulli had been placed twelfth. 1.9 Late on Sunday evening, after the official result had been published, it came to the attention of the Chairman of the Stewards and the FIA Race Director that there existed a press interview given by Hamilton in which he stated that he had been told by McLaren to let Trulli pass. Based on this information, a recording of the pit-to-car radio exchanges between Hamilton and McLaren was retrieved and examined by the Stewards and the FIA Race Director. Having been informed by Hamilton that Trulli had left the track and that Hamilton had passed to take third position, the team instructed Hamilton as follows: “Lewis, you need to allow the Toyota through. Allow the Toyota through now.” 1.10 Hamilton responded: “OK.” 1.11 Having listened to the press interview and the pit-to-car radio exchanges, the Stewards reconvened on Thursday 2nd April 2009 in Malaysia (“2nd April Hearing”) where Hamilton and Trulli and their respective team managers were interviewed again. Trulli confirmed his statement from the 29th March Hearing (see section 1.5). 1.12 Hamilton and his Team Manager were played recordings of the press interview and the pit-to-car radio exchanges evidencing that Hamilton had been instructed to let Trulli pass and had done so. Notwithstanding the clear content of the recordings, Hamilton and his Team Manager reconfirmed their statements that Hamilton had not consciously let Trulli pass and that McLaren had not instructed Hamilton to let Trulli pass. The Race Director and the Stewards then gave Hamilton and his Team Manager a further opportunity to correct the statements they had made at the 29th March Hearing. They declined to do so. 1.13 The Stewards found McLaren’s explanations inadequate and concluded that – at the 29th March Hearing – there had been a deliberate and successful attempt to mislead the Stewards. This had led to Hamilton being moved incorrectly from fourth to third and to Trulli being unfairly penalised. 1.14 The Stewards therefore issued new decisions – Decisions Nos. 76 and 77 – respectively excluding Hamilton and McLaren from the race classification for the Australian Grand Prix and reinstating Trulli and Toyota in third place. 1.15 In comments to the press immediately after the release of Decisions Nos. 76 and 77, the McLaren Team Principal stated that McLaren stood by the representations made to the Stewards by Hamilton and his Team Manager. 1.16 Hamilton held a press conference on 3rd April 2009 at the Malaysia Grand Prix. In that press conference, Hamilton reversed the position he had taken at the 29th March Hearing and the 2nd April Hearing, apologised to the Stewards, the FIA and the public for having provided misleading information to the Stewards on both occasions, but pointed out that, during both hearings, he had been acting under instructions from his team. Subsequently, the McLaren Team Principal also apologised and announced the suspension of the McLaren Team Manager. |
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1.17 The FIA Observer presented to the FIA President on 7th April 2009 a report titled: “Report of the Hamilton/Trulli incident during the 2009 Australian Formula One Grand Prix and subsequent issues” (“FIA Observer’s Report”), outlining the above facts. 1.18 In response, the FIA decided to summon McLaren before the WMSC to answer charges that, in breach of Article 151(c) ISC, it: (a) on 29th March 2009, told the Stewards of the Australian Grand Prix that no instructions were given to Hamilton to allow Trulli to pass when both cars were behind the safety car, knowing this statement to be untrue; (b) procured its driver Hamilton, the current World Champion, to support and confirm this untrue statement to the Stewards; (c) although knowing that as a direct result of its untrue statement to the Stewards, another driver and a rival team had been unfairly penalised, made no attempt to rectify the situation either by contacting the FIA or otherwise; (d) on 2nd April 2009, before the Stewards of the Australian Grand Prix (meeting in Malaysia), made no attempt to correct the untrue statement of 29th March but, on the contrary, continued to maintain that the statement was true, despite being allowed to listen to a recording of the team instructing Hamilton to let Trulli pass and despite being given more than one opportunity to correct its false statement; and (e) on 2nd April 2009, before the Stewards, procured its driver Hamilton to continue to assert the truth of the false statement given to the Stewards on 29th March, while knowing that what he was saying to the Stewards was not true. 1.19 In its written response to these charges, McLaren accepted that, both at and between the 29th March Hearing and the 2nd April Hearing, McLaren had acted in breach of Article 151(c) ISC. McLaren’s Team Principal expressed McLaren’s, and his personal, unreserved apology to the WMSC, the Stewards, the FIA and Formula One competitors and fans. In addition, in a separate letter to WMSC members, the McLaren Team Principal admitted that McLaren’s conduct regarding these matters was “wholly unacceptable” and expressed his sincere apologies. 1.20 At the WMSC meeting on 29th April 2009, the McLaren Team Principal again admitted that McLaren had been in breach of Article 151(c) ISC and offered representations for the purposes of mitigation (see section 2.7). 2 WMSC’s Assessment 2.1 The WMSC has carefully considered the FIA Observer’s Report, McLaren’s written submissions of 14th April 2009 and its representations in mitigation at the WMSC meeting on 29th April 2009. The material facts of the case, being the deliberate and successful attempt to mislead the Stewards at the 29th March Hearing and the failure, when confronted with incontrovertible evidence at the 2nd April Hearing, to correct the position adopted, are not in dispute. In addition, McLaren has admitted that its conduct amounted to a breach of Article 151(c) ISC. 2.2 Under Article 152 ISC, seventh paragraph, the WMSC: “may, upon the proposal and report of the FIA observer [&ldots;] directly inflict a penalty which will take the place of any penalty which the stewards of the meeting may have pronounced”. 2.3 The WMSC considers that McLaren’s course of conduct as set out in section 1 of this Decision amounted to a serious breach of Article 151(c). By making deliberately misleading representations to the Stewards, and then failing to correct those misleading representations, McLaren gained illegitimate advantage and caused the unfair imposition of a penalty upon a fellow competitor. The WMSC wishes to emphasise that it finds this latter element particularly reprehensible. 2.4 In addition, by its course of conduct, McLaren has brought the sport into disrepute. The WMSC considers – and McLaren has accepted – that sole responsibility cannot lie with the Team Manager who misled the Stewards and who procured Hamilton to do likewise. Rather, the course of conduct occurred over such a period of time that the WMSC finds that McLaren’s management either were aware or should have been aware that the Stewards had been misled. 2.5 In light of the foregoing, the WMSC considers that pursuant to Article 151(c) and 152 ISC, seventh paragraph, the Stewards’ Decision No. 76, which excluded Hamilton and McLaren from the race classification for the 2009 Australian Grand Prix, should be replaced with this Decision, which imposes a more severe penalty. 2.6 In short, the WMSC considers that the penalty must be of a magnitude that reflects accurately the severity of the offence and effectively deters McLaren – and other competitors in the FIA Formula One World Championship – from deliberately misleading the Stewards in the future. However, the penalty imposed must also take into account other relevant factors. 2.7 In determining the sanction to be imposed on McLaren, the WMSC considered a number of factors presented by McLaren in mitigation. These factors (together, “Mitigating Factors”) included the following: • (a) that the McLaren Team Principal admitted all material facts, including the making of deliberately misleading statements to the Stewards and the subsequent failure to correct such misleading representations; • (b) that the McLaren Team Principal accepted in written submissions that McLaren’s course of conduct in the matter had been unacceptable and offered an unreserved apology both personally, and on behalf of McLaren, to all affected parties; • (c) that the McLaren Team Principal has assured members of the WMSC that there has been a change in culture within McLaren and that the course of conduct – or similar – will not be repeated; • (d) that, on realising his mistakes, Hamilton held a press conference at which he apologised for his actions; and • (e) that McLaren promptly suspended, and subsequently terminated the employment of, its Team Manager, who misled the Stewards and who procured that Hamilton did likewise. 2.8 However, in addition to considering the existence of Mitigating Factors, the WMSC also considered whether there were aggravating factors suggesting that the level of any penalty should be increased. In this instance, the WMSC recalls that McLaren has recently breached Article 151(c) of the International Sporting Code (see Decision of the WMSC 13 September 2007). 2.9 Recidivism is a strong indicator that the sanction previously imposed was not sufficiently deterrent and recidivism is thus a circumstance which may justify an increase in the severity of the penalty which might otherwise be imposed. The purpose of taking recidivism into account in setting a penalty is to induce teams which have demonstrated a tendency towards infringing the rules in the past to change their conduct in the future. The WMSC therefore also takes into account, as an aggravating factor, McLaren’s 2007 breach of Article 151(c) ISC. 3 Decision 3.1 The WMSC finds Vodafone McLaren Mercedes in breach of Article 151(c) ISC in relation to each of the five counts identified in the FIA’s summons to Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, reproduced at 1.18 (a) to (e) above. 3.2 Pursuant to Article 151(c) ISC and 152 ISC, seventh paragraph, the WMSC therefore replaces the sanction imposed by Decision No. 76 of the Stewards with the following: (a) the exclusion of the driver Lewis Hamilton and the competitor Vodafone McLaren Mercedes from the race classification for the 2009 Australian Grand Prix; and (b) the suspension of the competitor Vodafone McLaren Mercedes from three rounds of the FIA Formula One World Championship. Exceptionally, and in light in part of the Mitigating Factors (including the open and honest way in which the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes Team Principal addressed the WMSC and the change in culture which he made clear had taken place), penalty (b) shall be suspended for twelve months from the date of this Decision. In the event that, during the period of suspension of penalty (b), either: (i) further facts emerge that are relevant to the WMSC’s assessment of the gravity of Vodafone McLaren Mercedes’ breach; or (ii) Vodafone McLaren Mercedes commits a further breach of Article 151(c), the WMSC may implement penalty (b) in relation to the breach set out in this Decision. 3.3 Vodafone McLaren Mercedes is reminded of its right of appeal. In the event that an appeal is lodged with the FIA International Court of Appeal, the effect of this Decision will not be suspended pending the outcome of that appeal. |
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Following Thursday’s FIA announcement that teams entering the 2010 championship will be given the option of competing under a £40 million budget cap in exchange for greater technical freedom, Formula One racing’s governing body has explained the reasons behind the move&ldots; Q: Why does Formula One need cost capping? FIA: Formula One faces a period of great uncertainty during this harsh recessionary period. Funding a team is increasingly seen as a discretionary spend for the majority of team owners and sponsors. To ensure a healthy grid all are agreed that costs need to be cut. Two main philosophies have emerged, either i) reduce activity levels through very restrictive technical rules, plus a degree of standardization if required; or ii) restrict the money that teams are allowed to spend (cost capping). The FIA believes that unfettered technical competition is part of Formula One’s DNA, and would like to see this flourish, but in an environment of strong, responsible and innovative management, not a spending race. For these reasons cost capping is preferred. Q: What is covered by the cost cap? FIA: Everything except: Marketing and promotion – we want Formula One teams to look good and to entertain their partners. We want manufacturers to show off their cars at exhibitions and city centre displays, and we want teams and their sponsors to promote Formula One through inclusion in advertising campaigns. Drivers and young driver programmes – Formula One is the pinnacle of motor racing. Fundamental to this is attracting the world’s best drivers. Moreover we wish to encourage continued investment in young driver programmes. Engine costs – In order to attract manufacturer owned teams to take up the cost capping option, the FIA have decided to exclude engine costs for 2010 (only) Furthermore, we are allowing manufacturers to honor existing supply arrangements, provided there is no element of subsidy that could have a cartel-like affect on the engine market. Q: How did the FIA arrive at the £40m figure? FIA: We arrived at the figure by analysing both revenues and costs in Formula One. We know what the FOM (Formula One Management) revenue is likely to be in the future, and we have some understanding of realistic sponsorship revenues during the recession. Taken together, it’s possible to project total external revenues for all finishing positions in the Championship. At £40m we believe that 70 per cent of the grid can generate a profit. This transforms the business case for owning a Formula One team, for both manufacturers and private investors. The desired net result is to have a very healthy commercial environment for present and new owners. We also had a good look at costs, and believe that £40m in combination with greater technical freedom will allow engineers to create Formula One cars even more interesting and exciting than today’s cars. Q: Will the £40m cap for 2010 be changed for future years? FIA: As set out in the Regulations, the cap for future years will be decided by the FIA. In setting future years’ limits, the FIA will have regard to the progress of the project and the feedback from all stakeholders to the sport. Q: How does the FIA intend to police the cost cap? FIA: Throughout the construction of the Regulations we have worked with expert forensic accountants. The Regulations allow for the establishment of a Costs Commission to monitor and assist teams in complying with the Regulations. The Costs Commission will appoint auditors, and other financial experts as required, in order to do this. A key factor is that all cost capped teams are businesses engaged in exactly the same activities and this enables consistent interpretation of the principles of the regulations. It is difficult to hide engineering activity or to falsify accounts consistently, given the traceability of transactions in today’s world and the access and inspection powers which the Costs Commission will have. The penalties for defrauding the FIA with regard to any willful transgression of any Regulation or any subversion of an investigation are well established. Q: Is a Costs Commission really needed? FIA: The emphasis is on teams to demonstrate compliance, and to pro-actively seek clarification and interpretation of the Regulations. As the Cost Cap Regulations are new the FIA has decided to provide an appropriate resource, staffed with a small number of financial and technical experts, to deal with such issues, and to monitor compliance, such that the Regulations are effective. Q: Who pays for the Costs Commission, auditors and other experts, and doesn’t this just add costs, rather than removing them? FIA: The cost capped teams will each pay an equal contribution to cover these costs. The costs involved will represent a tiny fraction of the costs saved in Formula One. Q: What is the penalty if a team exceeds the cost cap? FIA: This depends on the case. The International Sporting Code covers transgressions in the same manner as for the technical or sporting regulations. There are no ‘fixed penalties’. The Cost Commission will judge the degree of misdemeanor and advise the FIA , who will determine any penalty. Q: What measures are there to prevent teams spending money this year on a car that will compete under cost cap in 2010? FIA: The teams must demonstrate that they have adhered to the spirit of the regulations and spend no more than 50% of the value of the 2010 cap on the development of the 2010 car (in 2009). Furthermore, there are limits on the value of stock of car parts which can be carried into 2010. Q: How will you stop manufacturer backed teams from running hidden F1-related projects in their parent companies? FIA: The question is actually asking ‘how will we stop manufacturer teams from cheating’. The principles of determining a fair market value for all activities which are undertaken for the benefit of a team (whether a manufacturer or not) are clearly set out in the Regulations. No team would wish to be exposed as cheating, so we expect a healthy amount of self-policing. However, the rules are clear on this point, such activities must be declared and appropriately valued. Bear in mind the access that the costs commission and auditors have and their ability to compare reported costs across all cost capped teams. Q: Will teams be allowed to buy parts from other teams/manufacturers? FIA: Yes, according to the FIA regulations, but one should bear in mind that contractual arrangements with the Commercial Rights Holder will place restrictions on such activities. Inter-team transactions are covered by the regulations. Q: How many teams do you expect to take up the budget option? FIA: All those who wish to transform the commercial basis of participation for their owners and investors. The FIA believes that cost capping will prove attractive, and it hopes that over time all teams will join. So far, interest has been extraordinarily high from both existing teams and potential new entrants. Q: If a team decides not to become cost capped now, can it do so at a later date? FIA: Yes, a team will be able to opt to become cost capped in advance of each year of its participation in the Championship. Q: Are you worried that F1 will effectively become a two-tier championship? FIA: There is one set of Technical Regulations and as always there are choices for all teams as to how they decide to attack the Championships. |
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World Championships
3 History He streaked through the sport like a comet, an other-worldly superstar whose brilliance as a driver was matched by a dazzling intellect and coruscating charisma that illuminated Formula One racing as never before. No one tried harder or pushed himself further, nor did anyone shed so much light on the extremes to which only the greatest drivers go. Intensely introspective and passionate in the extreme, Ayrton Senna endlessly sought to extend his limits, to go faster than himself, a quest that ultimately made him a martyr but did not diminish his mystique. Ayrton Senna da Silva was born on March 21, 1960, into a wealthy Brazilian family where, with his brother and sister, he enjoyed a privileged upbringing. He never needed to race for money but his deep need for racing began with an infatuation for a miniature go-kart his father gave him when he was four years old. As a boy the highlights of Ayrton's life were Grand Prix mornings when he awoke trembling with anticipation at the prospect of watching his Formula One heroes in action on television. At 13 he raced a kart for the first time and immediately won. Eight years later he went single-seater racing in Britain, where in three years he won five championships, by which time he had divorced his young wife and forsaken a future in his father's businesses in favour of pursuing success in Formula One racing, where he made his debut with Toleman in 1984. At Monaco (a race he would win six times), his sensational second to Alain Prost's McLaren - in torrential rain - was confirmation of the phenomenal talent that would take the sport by storm. Deciding Toleman's limited resources were inadequate for his towering ambition, Senna bought out his contract and in 1985 moved to Lotus, where in three seasons he started from pole 16 times (he eventually won a record 65) and won six races. Having reached the limits of Lotus he decided the fastest way forward would be with McLaren, where he went in 1988 and stayed for six seasons, winning 35 races and three world championships. In 1988, when McLaren-Honda won 15 of the 16 races, Senna beat his team mate Alain Prost eight wins to seven to take his first driving title. Thereafter two of the greatest drivers became protagonists in one of the most infamous feuds. In 1989 Prost took the title by taking Senna out at the Suzuka chicane. In 1990 Senna extracted revenge at Suzuka's first corner, winning his second championship by taking out Prost's Ferrari at Suzuka's first corner. Senna's third title, in 1991, was straightforward as his domination as a driver became even more pronounced, as did his obsession with becoming better still. Some of his greatest performances came in his final year with McLaren, following which he moved to Williams for the ill-fated 1994 season. Beyond his driving genius Senna was one of the sport's most compelling personalities. Though slight in stature he possessed a powerful physical presence, and when he spoke, with his warm brown eyes sparkling and his voice quavering with intensity, his eloquence was spellbinding. Even the most jaded members of the Formula One fraternity were mesmerised by his passionate soliloquies and in his press conferences you could hear a pin drop as he spoke with such hypnotic effect. His command performances were captured by the media and the world at large became aware of Senna's magnetic appeal. Everyone marvelled at how he put so much of himself, his very soul, into everything he did, not just his driving but into life itself. Behind the wheel the depth of his commitment was there for all to see and the thrilling spectacle of Senna on an all-out qualifying lap or a relentless charge through the field evoked an uneasy combination of both admiration for his superlative skill and fear for his future. He drove like a man possessed - some thought by demons. His ruthless ambition provoked condemnation from critics, among them Prost who accused him of caring more about winning than living. When Senna revealed he had discovered religion Prost and others suggested he was a dangerous madman who thought God was his co-pilot. "Senna is a genius," Martin Brundle said. "I define genius as just the right side of imbalance. He is so highly developed to the point that he's almost over the edge. It's a close call." Even Senna confessed he occasionally went too far, as was the case in qualifying for the 1988 Monaco Grand Prix, where he became a passenger on a surreal ride into the unknown. Already on pole, he went faster and faster and was eventually over two seconds quicker than Prost in an identical McLaren. "Suddenly, it frightened me," Ayrton said, "because I realised I was well beyond my conscious understanding. I drove back slowly to the pits and did not go out anymore that day." He said he was acutely aware of his own mortality and used fear to control the extent of the boundaries he felt compelled to explore. Indeed, he regarded racing as a metaphor for life and he used driving as a means of self-discovery. "For me, this research is fascinating. Every time I push, I find something more, again and again. But there is a contradiction. The same moment that you become the fastest, you are enormously fragile. Because in a split-second, it can be gone. All of it. These two extremes contribute to knowing yourself, deeper and deeper." His self-absorption did not preclude deep feelings for humanity and he despaired over the world's ills. He loved children and gave millions of his personal fortune (estimated at $400 million when he died) to help provide a better future for the underprivileged in Brazil. Early in 1994 he spoke about his own future. "I want to live fully, very intensely. I would never want to live partially, suffering from illness or injury. If I ever happen to have an accident that eventually costs my life, I hope it happens in one instant." And so it did, on May 1, 1994, in the San Marino Grand Prix, where his race-leading Williams inexplicably speared off the Imola track and hit the concrete wall at Tamburello corner. Millions saw it happen on television, the world mourned his passing and his state funeral in Sao Paulo was attended by many members of the shocked Formula One community. Among the several drivers escorting the coffin was Alain Prost. Among the sad mourners was Frank Williams, who said: "Ayrton was no ordinary person. He was actually a greater man out of the car than in it." |