***** LIKE F1 - 4 - LIFE ON FACEBOOK! *****
Friday, November 15, 2013
Thursday, November 14, 2013
FIA Thursday press conference - United States
Drivers - Pastor Maldonado (Williams), Jules Bianchi (Marussia), Paul di Resta (Force India), Esteban Gutierrez (Sauber), Sergio Perez (McLaren).
Q: Sergio, we know that you’re leaving McLaren, because you’ve told us that, and obviously we learned today who will be replacing you, but could you explain how this came about and particularly the timing?
Sergio Perez: First of all, hi everyone. As you already said, on the letter I did, and I published that. There is no secret. Everything came really late, which puts me in a very difficult position for my future. But at the end it came. I’m relieved. Obviously, McLaren is a great team, I have nothing bad to say about them. I really want to wish them the best. We have had a very difficult season all year long. It was definitely not what I was expecting and also not what McLaren was expecting, especially as when I signed for them they had such a competitive car and it’s not what we have right now and we didn’t have it all season long. It’s no secret that it has been a disappointing year for both parts. McLaren decided to go another route, I have to find my own route and hopefully I can find the best possible seat available for my career, because I am only 23-years-old, I have a lot to give to the sport and I really hope I find a good seat.
Q: As you say, it’s all happening quite late now. What are your options for next year and do you feel there is still time, because it seems a very fluid driver market at the moment?
SP: There’s no secret, it’s very, very difficult right now. I know there are some options. As I said before, I want to stay in Formula One but I will no stay in F1 just to stay. If I don’t find the right option for myself then I have to look at something else but I’m pretty confident something good will happen and hopefully I find a good seat. I think I have a lot to offer a team. I have been three years in F1, one year with McLaren. A very difficult year but I think I learn a lot. I think this year, although it has been very difficult and probably one of the worst in terms of results for myself, I think I am a good driver and I can do good things out there.
Q: Thank you for that. Moving on to you Esteban. Obviously you’ve been doing pretty well lately, a big score for you in Japan. What’s been the catalyst do you think for you turnaround in the last period?
Esteban Gutierrez: Well it’s all related to a balance to between how conservative you want to be and how risky you want to be and how much you want to put yourself in a risky position. It all takes time. In Formula One right now there’s not a lot of testing, I didn’t do a lot of testing at the beginning of the year and a lot of things I took time to adapt [to]. Somehow during the year I was gaining a lot of experience even though the team situation was not the best. There was always quite a lot of distractions around with the economic situation but finally I found myself through a good challenge and to find myself and to find the right balance on every aspect and then decided to do a step into the more aggressive side and it worked out pretty well. This is the rhythm we have been showing lately and this is how I plan to go towards the future.
Q: As we’ve been mentioning, one of the themes of this part of the year is a very fluid driver market for 2014, where do you fit into that?
EG: There are a lot of things happening around, that’s true. At the moment I’m focused on what’s happening right now. Right now we are in Austin, it’s a very important race for us, one of the most special of my career, of our careers, because we are both Mexicans. We are here to do our best and we have great opportunities to do good results in these last two races. So I’m going to try to take advantage of that and then after that see what’s going to happen. Obviously at the same time we have been looking to different options. My idea is to continue with Sauber, obviously, because we have been working on a good relationship for a long time and we’ll see what’s going to happen next year.
Q: Paul, 48 points on the board now in the drivers’ championship, big score last time out in Abu Dhabi, points in the last two races. Has this put some momentum into your season at an important moment?
Paul di Resta: I think the result in Abu Dhabi was massive and I think very crucial for us to try and do what we did. I think, given on the back of the points we scored in India, we went to Abu Dhabi with a car that was very consistent and achieved in the race something that nobody else did. But I think more importantly, if you have the confidence in the car you can do it. It’s such a crucial point of the year for our championship position over the likes of Sauber. We showed that we didn’t have the speed over one lap but we had the speed over a race and we definitely scored big. Hopefully that’s going to be enough and we can come into the last two races trying to secure the Constructors’ position but equally trying to score points because the vibe in the team is very good. I think that given very little has changed… I think it’s more about team effort and everybody’s lifted their game and the results show that.
Q: Presumably it’s quite important because, as we’ve been discussing, a very fluid situation in terms of the driver market at the moment. Does it feel quite late to you, for this all to be going on now, particularly given that 2014 is all about new technology, the packaging of the driver etc., there’s an awful lot of work to do. It’s quite late for all of these driver options to be up still.
PdiR: I think it’s very late, given where it all is at the moment - but what can you do? You need to accept where the team principals and equally the shareholders, where they are. But I suppose in probably less than ten days’ time is when the focus is going to change away from this year and more importantly onto next year’s car. The big task for us as a race team at the moment is to get out there and score points in these two and not take the focus away. That’s what I’ll do this weekend but we need to continue to keep doing that and hopefully it’s enough.
Q: Jules, obviously the only driver sitting here at the moment that has a confirmed seat on the grid for next year. Is that a relief, sitting here right now?
Jules Bianchi: Well for sure it’s a great thing for a driver to be confirmed for next season, you know? I feel really confident with the team and I am really happy to stay in Marussia and that’s why we’re trying to do our best for the end of this season and I am focussed 100 percent to finish well these two races. I think it’s great for me.
Q: It’s been a pretty good season for you all-in-all. Marussia still tenth in the championship based on that result you go early in the year. Do you feel you’ve been as consistent as you hoped to be as the year’s gone on?
JB: Well for sure we started really well. We were quicker than the Caterham and then we started to struggle from Barcelona. We tried to catch them back: it was difficult; it was a tight fight but they were in front. A few races ago we were back in front so we were really happy with that, really happy with the work we did but in Abu Dhabi again it was a really difficult race and they showed that their pace was much quicker than us in the race - so we really need to make a good job in these last two races because we know that in Brazil, for example, you will have the possibility to have a crazy race and in that case we have to be in front of them and try to the do the best result possible. So we have to keep pushing.
Q: Coming to you Pastor, obviously two clear areas to discuss with you. First of all, we know that you’re leaving Williams and you said yesterday that you thought it was the best thing for you and for the team. Could you explain a little about that?
Pastor Maldonado: Yeah, I think for sure it was a tough decision from my side. I spent three years with the team, special years. They gave me the opportunity to become a Formula One driver, we won a race which is quite special as a driver and I think as a team. Even for them, after eight years without winning anything, so I think it was the most special moment for us - but sometimes you need to take some hard decisions. It’s my case at the moment. I’m feeling quite good. Leaving is an important moment for my career, improving every time, doing some solid races, trying to get the maximum from the team, trying to get the maximum from the car. For sure this season has been very, very hard for all the team. We were expecting something more from the car, from the total performance and… yeah, we couldn’t achieve our targets but yeah… sometimes Formula One is like that, sometimes you can, sometimes not. You need to learn from the mistakes and try always to do your best.
Q: Well obviously if you’re leaving a team you must have a pretty good idea where you’re going to. Would it be fair to say that you know where you will be racing next year?
PM: Yeah, for sure I know. I have a couple of options. We are still working on it and I really hope to have a clear answer soon.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR.
Q: (Ben Edwards - BBC Sport) Sergio, just coming back to the decision McLaren have made, do you feel let down by the team at all, not so much in terms of the performance of the car, but in terms of how this has evolved in the last couple of months? As you say, it’s given you very little chance to get into the drivers’ market, so do you feel let down by the team?
SP: No. No, not let down at all. As I said, it’s been a difficult year. People from the outside can think whatever they want, but inside the team, every single person that works in the team knows the amount of pressure we are having, everyone, from Jenson (Button), myself, Martin (Whitmarsh), everyone, everyone. With McLaren and the year that we have had it was so disappointing for everyone so they have had to make some changes and yeah, they had to change me and that’s racing.
Q: (Karen Crouse - New York Times) Starting with Sergio, could each of you give what you think are one or two keys to the season that Sebastian (Vettel) is having?
SP: Well, Sebastian is a great driver and a great example for all of us. Also, I think the key was that he’s having a great team effort, the team is doing a fantastic job for him, he’s doing a very good job for them, so it’s a combination. This is a sport where you really need the team to be with you, to work together. They have been (together) for a couple of years already so I think they’re pretty strong and they will be hard to beat in the future.
EG: Well, I think that right now he’s doing a good compliment with Red Bull. They have a great team, he’s driving at the peak of his career as well and he’s being very consistent so as Sergio said, he’s a good example for all of us and I think that it will be quite interesting to see how it will change or influence next year on the rule changes. Hopefully it will make everything more competitive and more opportunities for other drivers as well to be at the front, fighting.
Q: Paul, perhaps you know him a bit better than others having raced with him as a team mate back in F3 days. Your thoughts on his season?
PdiR: I don’t think there’s really much more you can say than what Sergio said. I think he’s summed up where he’s been for the last three or four years. They’ve done a very good job, very consistent, driver and car, it’s been on top form. It would just be nice to be up the front racing where you should be.
JB: Yeah, obviously Sebastian and Red Bull are doing a great job. They are just winning everything for three years now so it’s great for them and they’re just the best now. It’s up to the other teams to push harder and try to beat them.
PM: Yeah, I agree with him. I think they are the number one team at the moment. Sebastian has been doing a fantastic job and it’s all about a team job. Maybe this is the most important thing for which team makes the difference. So many people work for a car, so many people work for a driver and everything must be combined to achieve that kind of result.
Q: (Cristobal Rosaleny - Car and Driver) Sergio, when did you start to know, to think that you were not going to be at McLaren next year, because they were talking about a multi-year contract and this is not what you were expecting, nobody was expecting?
SP: No. I found out a couple of days before you found out, so it was a very late decision. I had no idea, it just came as a shock to me because the team was always giving me good feedback, everything was pretty much settled down and I was going to stay with the team but then something happened in the last few weeks so they decided not to... it puts me in a very difficult position now, to look forward for my future.
Q: (James Allen - BBC Sport) I have a question for Sergio and Esteban: how many Mexican fans are you expecting here this weekend? Are you expecting as many as last year or more?
SP: Well, I hope more, now that we have Esteban. Last year there was only myself and we had a lot. This year, also, the results have not been too good for both of us, but I think there will be good Mexicans out there and I really hope to see them, otherwise the grandstands will be empty with no Mexicans.
Q: And Esteban, your home town is five hours away by car, so are you expecting a big crew to come up?
EG: Yeah, it is. I have lots of friends, lots of family coming and also a lot of supporters as well, which we have in the... I think it will be a really special feeling, I’ve not experienced this before in my career so it will be kind of like a new experience and I’m really looking forward to it. I think it gives great energy, great motivation to the weekend.
Q: (Carlos Jalife - Fast Mag Mexico) For Esteban and Sergio: if things turn out in a certain way, you might be team mates next year. What are your thoughts on being a team mate with a Mexican driver?
SP: Well, let’s see, let’s see what happens with my situation. I think it would be good. Why not? The thing is, it will be Esteban’s second year and he will be experienced. I think we can be good in a team. I will then have a problem.
EG: Definitely not! Mexican power.
(Source: f1.com)
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
What is going on in F1 right now?
Have anyone else noticed how much is going on right now in this sport?
I'm going to talk about issues regarding:
- Kimi Räikkönen
- Ferrari and Lotus
- Kimi's replacement
- Nico Hülkenberg and Pastor Maldonado
- Heikki Kovalainen
- Team Williams and the drivers
- McLaren and Sergio Perez
At first Lotus and Räikkönen were fighting about money. Then Kimi decided not to race because of his back pains. Some people speculated that he was lying but I don't believe in that. Back pain is the biggest problem with older F1 drivers. Everyone has had back pains, even Alonso has the same problem but not as bad.
The Iceman was sure that he would have surgery after the 2013 season, but after visiting Ferrari's factory he had a discussion with Luca di Montezemolo. Suddenly he decided to have surgery before the end of the season. My first reaction was that did Luca effect Kimi's decision to have surgery earlier? Who knows?
Luca di Montezemolo has stated that he knew nothing about Kimi's plans but thought that it was a good idea to have surgery now so that he would be in better condition before the 2014 season.
Some even speculated that Kimi helped Ferrari (his next team) by skipping the last races with Lotus so that Ferrari would have one team less to fight against. True or not but I think it will help them and hurt Lotus much more.
Some said that Lotus saved money when they don't have to pay Räikkönen for more points, but the truth is that Lotus also gets money depending on their position in the constructors championship.
Kimi could have secured the 3rd spot for Lotus or even the 2nd! They would have got much more money with that.
The team that is 2nd in the standings gets so much money that they can afford to pay their motors for the next season and maybe even the drivers salary. Now they will probably be 4th and they will loose millions of dollars.
Grosjean can't help them alone with this situation. They need a driver like Kimi or they can't keep up the good pace. So this is the part where we can start talking about Kimi's replacement.
At first everybody was sure that Valsecchi would get a shot and I understand why, he is the reserve driver. The only problem is that he has never competed in a Formula One race and they need points like hell right now. They don't have time for Valsecchi to develop when there is two races to go.
Team Lotus needs somebody that is experienced and available. Now who could that be?
First there was Nico Hulkenberg that could probably drive for Lotus next year. He said no. WHY?!?
He hasn't got his salary either from Sauber who also has money issues just like Lotus so he could leave any time he wants. Still he decides to stay with Sauber. Maybe he got nervous and thought that if he fails with Lotus in the two remaining races he looses his seat at Lotus next year? Just a theory so don't hate me for that comment. It was just a thought and maybe a stupid one.
Then there was Pastor Maldonado who's sponsors have failed to support Williams. He could have probably left right away as well but didn't. Was he also afraid or did his money truly run out? Lotus would have needed Maldonado's money also so he could have had a chance next year as well, but now it doesn't look good. We shall wait and see.
Some people said that Buemi could jump in the Lotus. I don't understand that because he works for Red Bull as the number 3 driver and they don't wanna send him anywhere. Trust me they don't.
After all these choices we come to a man who has beaten all his teammates in his career except Lewis Hamilton at McLaren, which was in his words the most difficult time of his career mentally. He has won the race of champions beating Michael Schumacher, Sebastian Loeb and many others. He almost won the first ever GP2 series with a car that wasn't even the best. This man is a GP winner but didn't get a seat this year when Caterham ran out of money. He is Heikki Kovalainen and Lotus chose him.
 |
| Heikki Kovalainen after winning the Race of Champions |
This is Heikki's last chance to show everybody that he still has what it takes to be in this series. If he fails then everything is over for him and he can start doing something else. I wish him luck.
Team Williams is next on the list. They decided to kick out Pastor Maldonado when he can't support the team financially anymore. He even stated to the press that the team only wanted his money. Sad but if he has problems to beat Valtteri Bottas who is a total rookie then he isn't probably what Williams needs.
Valtteri Bottas on the other hand has only just started his career and has a great mentor to help him.. Mika Häkkinen.
The new driver for the team is Felipe Massa who has found his motivation again. He is not the number two driver anymore but the leader of the team! He will bring Williams back to the top. Just watch out for the young boy Bottas. He is waiting for the right moment to attack the top drivers on the track.
McLaren has had problems this year and are kicking out Sergio Perez. He had a chance but they wanted more from the young driver. Perez himself has stated that McLaren is a chaotic team with no order and that they are not fair.
Former F1 driver Jan Magnussen's son Kevin is probably going to replace Perez. They have actually said it already but no names have been written down on any contracts. So everything is still possible.
Now I have written more than I would wanna read so it's best to stop here.
If you have questions or wanna leave a comment please do.
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
A few clips from the 2013 Abu Dhabi GP from the West Grandstand
I promised some videos from Abu Dhabi. I didn't film very much but here's at least something. I didn't have an actual videocamera so try to understand the bad quality.
Click on the link below:
At first there is Räikkönen, then Alonso and then a lot of Vettel and fireworks..
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