The best part was when Sebastian Vettel made Jenson Button "emotional" :D
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Showing posts with label SUZUKA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label SUZUKA. Show all posts
Thursday, September 24, 2015
Tuesday, October 7, 2014
2014 Japanese Grand Prix review
When I think back at this race my thoughts are with Jules Bianchi. I hope he will recover soon and that this won't have an impact on his racing in the future. It might even be that he won't return and that would be very sad.
Some drivers have lost their spark after an accident. Felipe Massa for example. He is good but he used to be better. Then there is Mika Häkkinen who was in a coma for a short period and won 2 championships after that. What about Niki Lauda? Everybody knows that story. Let's hope that Bianchi doesn't end up like Robert Kubica who never returned to Formula One.
The race itself was chaos for some teams. Ferrari and Williams for example. They had a great chance to score some good points but were left with scraps and a retirement (Fernando Alonso).
The Red Bulls took advantage of the other team's misfortune and managed to take a podium. I knew that Sebastian Vettel would be good here because he has always been good in Japan and the previous podium gave him extra motivation. He has also started to beat his teammate Daniel Ricciardo and I think he will continue to do so. Ricciardo is good but don't forget that Vettel is a four time world champion.
Some people don't respect Vettel because he has won his championships with a good car. It's not his fault that the car was good. You can not be a bad driver to win 4 championships.
This year Vettel has been in Ricciardo's shadow because the new car hasn't really fitted his driving style. Don't get me wrong, Daniel Ricciardo is a very good driver but so is Vettel. I have to remind you that I am not a Vettel fan so I am not saying this because I cheer for him or anything like that.
Mark my words Vettel will beat Ricciardo in the next race as well if the car doesn't break down or anything.
My last words of the race are these: I was not surprised that Hamilton won the race instead of Rosberg because this track and this win was so important to him just like I explained in my preview.
Once again let's hope that Bianchi recovers and continues to do what he loves to do which is racing.
Here are my predictions and the actual results:
Pole position: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes - WRONG. Hamilton was 2nd and his teammate Rosberg was on pole.
Race:
Fastest lap: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes - CORRECT
Surprise: Romain Grosjean will have a surprisingly good race for a change. He likes this track. - WRONG. Didn't go so good for him in Japan. I guess the Lotus wasn't very good in the wet.
Pole position: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes - WRONG. Hamilton was 2nd and his teammate Rosberg was on pole.
Race:
- Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes - CORRECT
- Nico Rosberg, Mercedes - CORRECT
- Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull - CORRECT
Fastest lap: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes - CORRECT
Surprise: Romain Grosjean will have a surprisingly good race for a change. He likes this track. - WRONG. Didn't go so good for him in Japan. I guess the Lotus wasn't very good in the wet.
First to retire (5 bonus points in the PREDICTORS LEAGUE): Pastor Maldonado - WRONG. Alonso retired first.
Post your own predictions to our F1-4-LIFE PREDICTORS LEAGUE!
The rules:
POINTS: 1st - 3 2nd - 5 3rd - 10
HOW IT WORKS: the aim of the game is simply predict who comes where in the race (top3). A total of 18 points can be won on a race day. If you get winner and and 3rd place right but 2nd wrong you get 13 points same if you get 1 correct. eg. 2nd you get 5 points. If a driver wins the race and you said he would come 2nd or 3rd no points would be awarded. Same if he came in another position, and you predicted that wrong. A table will be posted up every race weekend. The point scoring system will change once the cars become more competitive. Everyone will say a merc 1,2 so it won't be close or fun.
HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR PREDICTIONS: send an email to f14lifeblog@gmail.com or message the Facebook page to submit your predictions. You have until lights out to make them. If you submit them when the race has started they won't count. So be quick! like the Mercedes.
THE PRIZE: the winner of the league will win themselves a admin place on the F1 4 LIFE page along side AE, JT, MW & MH. If you don't want to be an admin you are welcome to participate anyway. We may also come up with some other prize if it helps.
That's it for today and if you want to send me feedback then email me: f14lifeblog@gmail.com
Monday, October 6, 2014
FIA post-race press conference - Japan
Drivers: 1 - Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes); 2 - Nico Rosberg (Mercedes); 3 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing)
PODIUM INTERVIEWS
(Conducted by Nigel Mansell)
Q: What a race we just had ladies and gentlemen, a very tough one at the office for these gentlemen. Brilliant drives everybody. Lewis, your 30th win, my goodness me, how did you enjoy that?
Lewis Hamilton: It was great. What a day it’s been. It’s been a very difficult weekend. Today, to be raining so much, it was very difficult, tricky conditions. We hope that Bianchi is OK. But we had a great crowd this weekend, as every year.
Q: Tell us about those hot laps, 15 or 16 laps before the end there. You were putting in some hot laps, a second or second and a half quicker than anyone?
LH: Yeah, I really got into a groove. In terms of feeling it was very reminiscent of Silverstone 2008.
Q: Tell the fans what you really thought when you went off at the first turn when you were really pushing hard early in the race?
LH: I was pushing to get by Nico and I had the DRS open and I forgot to turn it off. When I went into the corner the rear end stepped out. It was very, very close but I saved it.
Q: Well, a brilliant win. Nico, you did everything perfect, great pole position yesterday and then great drive. You were doing all the hard work, acting as the brake, because being out front is difficult isn’t it?
Nico Rosberg: It’s been a good weekend for us as a team. Of course it’s great for us as a team to get a one-two. And you fans have been absolutely spectacular again this weekend, it’s very, very special to drive here and to really get an impression of the whole atmosphere here. Congrats to Lewis for winning today, of course with my thoughts at the moment with our colleagues Jules, because it seems quite serious, so I really wish him all the best.
Q: As we all do. Unfortunately, we don’t have any news about that at the moment. But brilliant drive and congratulations Nico. Seb, unbelievable drive, you made things very exciting with the Williams drivers, getting on the inside and then the outside. How did you enjoy that today?
Sebastian Vettel: As they both touched on it was very, very tricky. Took a while to get the race started, waiting for the conditions but then I think it was very good fun. Concentration has to be very, very high when it’s wet; it’s so easy to do a mistake. In the end obviously we pitted, decided to go for fresh tyres, lost one position only. Obviously I got lucky to have the safety car coming before, so I’m quite lucky to be up here. Great race, we seemed to have great at some times as well. Overall, very happy and last but not least best to Jules Bianchi.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Lewis, an excellent race, the right result for you in very difficult conditions.
LH: Yeah, absolutely. It’s been an interesting weekend. Obviously a great result for the team. I think we’re all very concerned about our colleague, Bianchi. Don’t really know what to say. But again, to have the result, this has been a great weekend with the car; qualifying obviously wasn’t perfect for me but generally the car was absolutely fantastic through the race and once I was passed Nico I was able to really manage the gap and enjoy the ride. Obviously didn’t finish the way we would have hoped but really, my prayers are with him (Bianchi) and his family.
Q: A great overtaking manoeuvre round the outside of Nico going down into the first corner; tell us about that.
LH: Fairly straightforward, really. I had a lot more pace than Nico. This is not a very easy circuit to follow but fortunately I was able to get quite close and particularly in the last corner and I think perhaps he had a small oversteer moment out of the last corner and I didn’t. Obviously the DRS enabled me to get alongside. I was fairly confident with the balance of the car so I put it there and stuck it out. And after that it was really about trying to... you know, the whole approach changed after that because I was attacking, attacking and after that, I kind of took different lines and managed it differently. But it felt very reminiscent of a time years and years ago, of 2008, and it was a great feeling in that respect.
Q: And you had a couple of excursions but they didn’t really seem to hurt you at all.
LH: Yeah, I only remember one of them but yeah, I went into turn one with the DRS open and there’s so much less downforce when that wing is open. You’ve got to remember to close it again and then I started to turn and brake and it was still open, so the back end stepped out. It was very, very close but yeah, kept hold of it, didn’t really lose too much time so fortunate.
Q: Nico, we heard you talking about a lot of oversteer, is that what the problem was throughout the race?
NR: I was definitely not happy with my balance but I think we had pretty much the same set-up so Lewis must have had the same oversteer. I just wasn’t happy with that and tried to figure out a way to reduce that and found some improvements then with the pit stop, put down the front wing so that was a bit better but still not good so just need to look into that. But all in all, Lewis just did a better job today and deserves to win. OK, second place is damage limitation and taking everything into consideration, it was very, very difficult conditions out there on this track and everything so seven points lost to Lewis... you know, there’s worse than that.
Q: Sebastian, a late stop and we weren’t awfully certain if we’d see you or Daniel in here; it was a bit worrying with that late stop.
SV: Yeah, obviously we didn’t know what happened. The safety car came out and I think we were aware that Adrian went off in turn seven and obviously it was difficult to see what happened after that. From a racing point of view, the safety car comes in and we saw that there was quite a good gap and so we decided to pit and lost only one position. Obviously, as it turned out with the red flag, we thought initially we were not on the podium, but as the rules are similar to... I think a little bit of confusion. Five years ago in Malaysia I think we had a similar scenario and we found ourselves back in third. Obviously it was great to be on the podium, this is my favourite track, it’s for sure very nice in those tricky conditions. In the end, I don’t think it really matters. I think the most important thing, as we’re all probably thinking, is that we hope the best for Jules, obviously currently not in the best shape but we hope that we get some very good news very soon.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Michael Schmidt - Auto, Motor und Sport) Question to all three of you: you were out in the last few laps on intermediates as well when the accidents happened. How slippery was it and was it already too wet for intermediates at that period of the race?
LH: For me personally it wasn’t. There was more and more rain coming and you could see the circuit... you started to see more reflections and so you could see that it was increasing - the amount of water that was on the track, but it wasn’t... I didn’t notice any difference so I was still able to maintain the same pace. I would imagine that we would probably have been able to finish on those tyres since there was only ten laps left. Yeah, but the tyres performed quite well today.
NR: Yeah, it was fine but the thing is that we have so much more downforce than some other people, so I can imagine that maybe for them... because it was starting to get a little bit more difficult for us and maybe for them, with so much less downforce, it was already on the limit of needing to go to full wets. That’s very possible and I myself was a little bit surprised to hear that other people were already going for full wets but I guess that must be the explanation.
SV: Yeah, it was borderline. At some stage, towards the end, just before the safety car, it started to rain a little bit less with a little bit less intensity. Also when the race was stopped it was just a drizzle and a couple of laps before it was getting quite bad, that’s why we decided to pit and we decided to go for intermediates again. I think the problem, in general, is that once there is a lot of water, visibility is very poor and once there’s too much water, the inter doesn’t work anymore and the extreme wet only has a very, very narrow window where it works because also, with a lot of water on the track, water drainage on the extreme tyres is not as good as it probably should be, so that’s why I think the window is narrow and that’s why other people probably decided to pit. For us, I think it was borderline but for sure, the better your car, the better - Nico explained it well - the better it is for you.
Q: (Frederic Ferret - L’Equipe) Nico and Lewis, do you have any kind of explanation of the difference of balance and settings for the car and the difference during the race between the two of you?
NR: We had pretty much the same set-up, so I’m sure the balance was similar for Lewis and I just struggled more with it I suppose: a lot of oversteer and I don’t like that.
LH: Yeah, we had pretty much exactly the same set-up so as Nico said, maybe he took out some wing later on in the race. I didn’t really have any problems with the balance of the car. It was oversteery but it was manageable.
(source: f1.com)
Sunday, October 5, 2014
F1-4-LIFE PREDICTORS LEAGUE STANDINGS AFTER THE JAPANESE GP
- AE (F1-4-LIFE) -> 89 points
- Larry Gallagher -> 86 points
- Darcy P Lang -> 72 points
- Peter McLaren -> 72 points
- Rich Kewell -> 70 points
- Regina Ehrnrooth -> 69 points
- Elliott Robson -> 64 points
- MW (F1-4-LIFE) -> 56 points
- Dylan Curry -> 47 points
- Jon Yountz -> 46 points
- Jaakko livari -> 44 points
- Anthony Brian Ayrton Senna -> 42 points
- JT (F1-4-LIFE) -> 40 points
- Jonathan Riggs -> 36 points
- Liutauras Raulynatis -> 29 points
- Leonardo Machado -> 27 points
- Rab Mckinney -> 24 points
- Jake Lakin -> 19 points
- Martin Francis -> 16 points
- Martin Mihalic -> 14 points
- Shaun Magnano -> 14 points
- David Perry -> 13 points
- Abijith Kv -> 13 points
- Leo Harry Gowing -> 11 points
- Flavio Wallis -> 10 points
- Jayson Nufc Nicholson -> 10 points
- Craig Whitehead -> 10 points
- Joel Booth -> 9 points
- Paolo Gagliardi -> 9 points
- Steven Peli -> 6 points
- Jared Tallott -> 5 points
- Mark Newman -> 5 points
- Ryan Lane -> 3 points
- Will Leahy -> 3 points
- Craig Lymer -> 3 points
- Coilin Higgins -> 3 points
- Craig Taylor -> 3 points
- Christopher Damien Wiseman -> 1 point
- Vitor Lobo -> 0 points
- MH (F1-4-LIFE) -> 0 points
- Pippaa Chilton -> 0 points
- Richard Gehl -> 0 points
- Junaid Khan -> 0 points
- Ewan Darlington -> 0 points
- Chris Kemp -> 0 points
- Saadi Tate -> 0 points
- Theodore Dickman -> 0 points
- Josh Dennis -> 0 points
- Brian Dodgy Discs Hughes -> 0 points
- John Hersam -> 0 points
- Elaine Hannon -> 0 points
- Natalie Bandee -> 0 points
POINTS: 1st - 3
2nd - 5
3rd - 10
+ possible bonus points
HOW IT WORKS: the aim of the game is simply predict who comes where in the race (top3). A total of 18 points can be won on a race day. If you get winner and and 3rd place right but 2nd wrong you get 13 points same if you get 1 correct. eg. 2nd you get 5 points. If a driver wins the race and you said he would come 2nd or 3rd no points would be awarded. Same if he came in another position, and you predicted that wrong. A table will be posted up every race weekend. The point scoring system will change once the cars become more competitive. Everyone will say a merc 1,2 so it won't be close or fun.
HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR PREDICTIONS: send an email to f14lifeblog@gmail.com or message the Facebook page to submit your predictions. You have until lights out to make them. If you submit them when the race has started they won't count. So be quick! like the Mercedes.
THE PRIZE: the winner of the league will win themselves a admin place on the F1 4 LIFE page along side AE, JT, MW & MH. If you don't want to be an admin you are welcome to participate anyway. We may also come up with some other prize if it helps.
Saturday, October 4, 2014
FIA post-qualifying press conference - Japan
Drivers: 1 - Nico Rosberg (Mercedes), 2 - Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), 3 - Valtteri Bottas (Williams)
TV UNILATERAL
Q: Nico, after the disappointment of Singapore, how important was this?
Nico Rosberg: I’m not thinking about Singapore any more. I’m here, Suzuka, here to try and win and so yeah, it was a great day today. Of course, it’s only one step on the way but really good. It was a real pleasure today because the car is so amazing to drive and on this track which is one of the most spectacular to drive in qualifying, low fuel, the tyre grip and everything. It was really cool.
Q: Your thoughts on the weather tomorrow; how prepared are you for that?
NR: As prepared as we can be. We’re expecting it, we’re expecting it to be wet. The last experience we have in the wet was Spa where our car was really really quick, so I’m very very optimistic actually. Even if it rains, it could be even better for us.
Q: And what’s it going to be like with a strong wind as well?
NR: I don’t know. For sure, the more windy it is, the more difficult it is out there, because the cars are very sensitive to wind but it will be fine.
Q: Lewis, we’re used to seeing tiny margins between the two of you but it’s a relatively large margin this time. Tell us about what happened in your Q3?
Lewis Hamilton: Not too much, really. Nico was extremely quick today. I did the best I could. My guys did a fantastic job to rebuild the car after I binned it so a big thank-you for their hard work. Yeah, just today, wasn’t really feeling it. Don’t know why. It was still fast but Nico was fantastically fast today. But tomorrow’s the day when you get the points so I’m looking forward to all the different tricky weather that perhaps will come.
Q: And you mentioned a little bit of a vibration at one point as well...
LH: Yeah, I generally had that throughout the whole run. I don’t know if that was following the incident but maybe it was just the tyres imbalanced maybe but it didn’t get in the way of the result.
Q: And was it difficult to have to get back in the car and immediately be on the pace after this morning’s accident?
LH: No. That’s the way it is, that’s what we’re trained to do.
Q: Valtteri, much better qualifying position for you, obviously compared to last year, your third third place this year as well, best of the rest, and 0.4s behind Mercedes. How does that sound?
Valtteri Bottas: Not too bad, I think. They looked really really quick yesterday and even this morning so it was nice to get a little closer. They still have some margin and they’re going to be really quick tomorrow as well. But I think we need to be happy as a team, third and fourth, that was the goal today.
Q: And how is the Williams going to be in the wet?
VB: We know that we might struggle a little bit more in the wet but there now seems to be also a bit of a margin behind us so hopefully we can still fight for a podium if it’s really wet. But I think like everyone and for the fans, it would be really nice if we could really have a good race so that the rain would not be too much. Let’s hope for the best.
Q: Nico, how important is pole going to be tomorrow? People have always said it’s very difficult to overtake around here; is that more or less the case in the wet weather?
NR: Well, for sure it’s better to be first and second, so it’s some sort of an advantage but I don’t yet know how much. If it’s dry, then it’s more of an advantage, maybe if it’s wet a little bit less so but I’m still definitely happy to be on pole.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Your eighth pole position of the year so far and obviously a really good one around here, you really seemed to enjoy that one.
NR: Yeah for sure. Today was a good day, I just felt very comfortable in the car, I had a good balance. Our car is just unbelievable out there today.
Q: Are you basically going to be relying on the FIA to run the race depending on the weather conditions? Is there anything the driver can do?
NR: I’m not really thinking too much about tomorrow. I’m sure they’re going to try and take the best decision for everybody, especially for the fans who are also coming out to watch the race. I’m sure it will be OK.
Q: Lewis, when it comes to weather we’re expecting tomorrow, have you already set the car up for those conditions because obviously it’s going to be in parc ferme?
LH: No, because we set it up for qualifying today.
Q: So not for the race itself, not with a wet set-up or a huge amount of wing?
LH: No.
Q: Valtteri, what can you do for the expected weather?
VB: Well, yeah, if the weather is like it’s expected to be, first of all I really hope we can have a race but it could be difficult, but it’s going to be difficult for everyone. In mixed conditions, a lot of things can happen. The main thing is that as we’re now starting with both cars from a good place the aim is to try and get all the points available for us to take. The main thing is to score the points.
Q: Nico, finally, what’s that run like into the first corner because it looks incredibly quick; we’ve seen people go off there in the past, that’s where Lewis went off this morning?
NR: It’s a very exciting corner, for sure, because it’s a bit difficult to feel the limit, as you’re coming towards there, and you just have to give it a guess and give it a go. It’s a good corner.
Q: Especially when you’re got 21 cars behind you.
NR: Yes indeed. That’s a bit easier then.
Q: And finally, tell us a bit about the downhill start?
NR: It’s not much different. You just have to keep a little bit of brake pressure on so that you don’t roll off the grid, so you don’t get a jump start and then it’s fine.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Paolo Ianieri - La Gazzetta dello Sport) To all three of you: the big rumours of the day are Sebastian Vettel leaving Red Bull...
NR: That’s not a rumour any more.
Q: (Paolo Ianieri - La Gazzetta dello Sport) It’s not a rumour, right. Sebastian leaving Red Bull and probably going to Ferrari.
NR: That’s a rumour.
Q: (Paolo Ianieri - La Gazzetta dello Sport) What do you think about this?
NR: I don’t know. It was a big surprise. I find it good for the sport when there’s a bit of movement and there’s a bit of excitement. I think that’s all good. A bit of a change, change is always good. And interesting.
LH: Has nothing to do with me, so...
VB: Yeah, not much to do with me. I guess it’s nice to see a bit of change but it doesn’t change very much for me.
Q: (Michael Schmidt - Auto, Motor und Sport) Lewis, on your last lap, I think, you locked the brakes at the hairpin. Was that a crucial moment when you lost out to Nico?
LH: No, I don’t think so. I don’t think I lost any time with it. I just wasn’t quick enough today.
Q: (Michael Schmidt - Auto, Motor und Sport) And one to Valterri: how much have the upgrades on the car helped; would you have been in the same position with the old spec?
VB: We probably would have still been in the same position but with not as good a lap time, so we definitely made gains since the last race. It’s positive to see the whole year, actually, always when we plan for some updates and we put them on the car and it always works so that’s a good sign for the future and those updates should also help us in the future races this year. That’s a good thing.
(source: f1.com)
Friday, October 3, 2014
FIA Friday press conference - Japan
Team representatives - Pat Fry (Ferrari), Andy Cowell (Mercedes), Remi Taffin (Renault), Paul Monaghan (Red Bull Racing), Yasuhisa Arai (Honda), Jonathan Neale (McLaren)
Q: Arai-san, if I can start with you please. What’s the current state of the Honda project? Is Honda on target with development?
Yasuhisa Arai: First of all, thank you very much to sit in centre. I am glad to be here again after Shanghai. Our progress is right now almost on schedule and I hope that in the year 2015, March we will make [a good start] together with our partner, get a good start on the grid.
Q: Would you like to run the power unit in a McLaren before the end of the year? Is that feasible? Are you allowed to do that?
YA: Everyone asks this to me! McLaren and Honda work together to design and create an experimental test vehicle to check the power unit system but unfortunately we don’t have an actual test plan but I hope if possible we will drive just before next season.
Q: You can’t say any more than “just before next season”?
YA: Just before next season. End of the season and next season, during that time. That’s my hope.
Q: What lessons have you learned from the efforts from the other power unit manufacturers? Are there particular areas that you’ve noticed they’ve had troubled with?
YA: I’ve learned very small things because most of the data we don’t know. So, very difficult to learn on the track.
Q: You’ve seen the failures that they have had. Are there particular areas you have concentrated on?
Jonathan Neale: If I may, just to help my partner here, as Arai-san says it’s very difficult at arm’s length to focus on any particular area. Honda and McLaren have a lot of work to do together in a short period of time and I’m sure if you were to ask - I don’t want to put words in the mouth of either Andy or Remi here - but if you were to ask them what it felt like for them at this time of year before they were starting with the V6 engines, they’ll know what we’re going through at the moment.
Q: Thank you for that. If I can come to the back row now: a couple of questions for all of you. First of all, what is your state of development at this stage for 2015 with your engines? Remi, if I can start with you?
Remi Taffin: It’s all about on plan. It’s basically now a few months we are working on that and we now have got a few examples on the dyno, so it’s a work in process. I think we are going in the right direction. It’s always difficult to know if we’ll hit all our targets but that’s where we are at the minute.
Q: Andy?
Andy Cowell: We’ve been doing lots of development ever since we froze the specification of this year’s engine in February, so we’ve been doing lots of development on research engines and using this year’s engine as a prove-out but our final specification of engine won’t be complete until the early part of next year, because for all of us we’re in the development phase until the.
Q: Thank you. And Pat?
Pat Fry: Our development is very similar to Andy’s really. As soon as the engine was frozen we’ve obviously been developing as hard as we can and trying to improve the power unit in all areas. There is a huge amount for us still to do. Very little of next year’s spec engine actually exists, which I expect to be the same for everyone here. It will all finally be coming together at the start of January.
Q: Can I ask you your feelings about unfreezing in-season power unit development and where is that discussion actually going? Remi?
RT: Where is that discussion? I think at the moment it is at the upper level than the one we are here and what I think about it, or what Renault thinks, is that it is not going to really change the way we are working. As Andy says we are developing our engine for next. There won’t be many parts that will be looking like the one from this year. Whether we will be able to put all the parts, all the development into one engine for Melbourne is difficult to say. Of course we will push as much as we can, because the more we put for the first race, the more performance we will get for the whole season. If we’ve got a slot at some point in the season to introduce some more development, they will be on the shelf, because obviously we just keep on working all through the year. It’s not really decisive in how we achieve our development. We will just take the opportunity if it is there.
Q: What are your feelings about this Andy?
AC: I think it would be a change to the way we are structured. We froze the performance specification of this engine in January/February of this year and started working on a 12-month development programme and if you’ve got one introduction point or two introduction points, it is a change. And often it is the prove-out - taking that performance specification into something that is reliable enough to do five race weekends - that’s the costly aspect, because you’ve got to have several sets of bits and often you have to go back around, because fatigue failures occur and you’ve got to redesign and go again. The regulations were put together several years ago with the opportunity to do an annual performance update. If we change to a mid-season as well as a start-of-season update, we all just need to consider that carefully. I think we all acknowledge that it would affect the financial situation. Perhaps the engineering directors would love the opportunity but the finance directors would have a furrowed brow at the thought of doing it. It needs to be discussed and considered carefully.
Q: Pat, what does Ferrari think of this?
PF: I think we are continually developing all through the year. It’s not like we’re targeting a fixed point, we’re developing as quickly as we can in every single area - some parts of that will be ready in January and some might not. But even then we don’t stop, we’ll carry on developing all through the following year. I think the changes that are being discussed still stay within the technical regulations and the number of tokens that you are allowed - it’s exactly the same number - it just gives you the opportunity to upgrade in one extra point, mid-season. I think for us the cost implications are not huge. As I said we would be doing all that development work anyway and also trying to improve the reliability of bits, so it doesn’t make a huge difference for us from that point of view.
Q: Jonathan, we’ve heard the state of the engine development for next year. What’s the state of the chassis development?
JN: Well, as Arai-san has said, we’ve been developing an experimental vehicle to support the engine and transmission integration. We continue to develop the car on the circuit this year, aerodynamically. And while we are not comfortable with where we’re at, we’re much more confident about the direction in which we’re taking the team and the progress that we’re seeing on the track. The gap to Mercedes still looks pretty eye-watering at times, so we’ve got a lot of work to do. The changes that Eric and I have made to the organisation, I’m happy that that’s going in the right direction. We’ve just got to get out heads down now and get on with it now. It’s going the right way.
Q: We’d remember in the past McLaren and Honda would be pounding around here for weeks on end… not possible these days.
JN: Well the world has changed a bit since that time, not least of which the engine regulations, chassis regulations, aerodynamic restrictions - it’s an energy-constrained series. All of these things, I think, have been good for the sport. They have their challenges, the rate of development, or the rate of aerodynamic development has definitely been restricted by the amount of wind tunnel time that’s available - not so sure that that’s actually restricted the amount of aerodynamic cost because the reality is that a unit of time in capacity is worth so much more at the moment but that’s probably a wider discussion - but we are very optimistic that the steps we’re taking in the organisation are the right ones and we will be a competitive team.
Q: And finally - and I’m sure you’re expecting this one - when are going to hear about the drivers? What are the criteria for choosing the drivers for next year?
JN: That’s a really interesting question and I think it depends on who you ask. I’ll give you my view. We have two very good drivers in the car who have been working incredibly hard this year, not always with the easiest car but with an improving car nonetheless. Having a world champion in the team is fantastic from a development and a confidence part of view, and having the Viking charger is also a joy to work with and good for us. In terms of setting our stall out for the future, then in our longer range, longer term conversations both with the shareholders and with our colleagues in Honda, then we have an eye on what’s happening in two, three, four, five years’ time. Where does the team want to be? In the short term, I read the same magazines that you do. I look with interest and note that everybody’s in contracts - but this is Formula One and anything can happen at a moment’s notice. I’m never surprised by what Formula One will throw up.
Q: Paul, Sebastian in particular is on five units of certain parts of the engine. Is there any way you can manage that? Is there any way of managing how you take those penalties if there’s going to be a penalty? He says there’s going to be a penalty. How do you manage that?
Paul Monaghan: As carefully as you can, with the minimum damage to the team’s performance. Obviously we have a few people breathing down our necks for second place in the Constructors’ title, so we have to keep ourselves in a competitive situation. I think on a race-by-race basis we review where we are, what we’ve got, how far we think we can take it? When is it least damaging to take any penalty? And we’ll have to make that call in the near future.
Q: Unless it springs up on you beforehand…
PM: We’ll deal with it if it does.
Q: You are entering into a much closer relationship with your engine manufacturer Renault. How is that coming along, what are the benefits of that?
PM: I think we’ve always had a close relationship with Renault. Don’t forget we’ve got four Drivers’ and Constructors’ titles with them. I think a closer collaboration will only benefit both parties. So if we can bring some additional skill-sets to the party to complement those which Renault possess, we’ll get a better package out of it, not just the power unit but its integration into the car, and ultimately our performance. That’s our aim, and that’s what we’ll do.
Q: How far advanced is that?
PM: It’s taking shape at the moment and I think a few early projects are starting to bear fruit looking towards next year. We hope to pick up a few more and, as Remi said, when all the pieces come together, then we’ll see how big a step we can make with it all.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Paolo Ianieri - La Gazzetta dello Sport) Arai-san, there are rumours today saying that Alonso has signed with McLaren-Honda. Can you confirm this, and if not, how desperate or hungry is Honda to have Alonso in its car next year?
YA: [to JN] Should I answer? McLaren-Honda know this idea, what driver should be used to drive our car. There is many rumours but my understanding that Formula One driver is just 22 drivers in the world. All of the drivers, I have great respect and so of course not only McLaren-Honda but also the other teams want to keep the good driver. Not only McLaren-Honda but also the team, everyone keeps the good driver. We don’t decide yet.
Q: (Kaz Kawai - Fuji Television) Pat, we’ve all heard that Steve Clark has won his job back. Do you have any idea when he’s coming back or have you been told by your boss when he’s coming back in?
PF: I think that’s all being negotiated and sorted out at the moment, so I’m sure we’ll know in a few days.
Q: (Kate Walker - crash.net) Pat, we’ve heard some stories today about the movement of technical staff from Red Bull, possibly moving to your team. Does this mean that Seb has signed for Ferrari as has been rumoured?
PF: Technical team... we have had a few people join in the recent months but in terms of drivers, it’s got no link to drivers whatsoever.
Q: (Sumie Dan - The Hochi Shimbun) Question for Arai-san: I understand that your new engine power target is over 600hp. Did you achieve this target now?
YA: Sorry, I never said the number of our target. Where did you get such kind of a number? But of course our target is very clear. This season, the Mercedes is top of top so next season we shall achieve that same competition or power. Everyone understands that and wants to exceed that power. Lots of work.
Q: (Dieter Rencken - Racing Lines) To Andy, Remy and Arai-san if he would like to comment as well: obviously any change to the engine freeze situation requires regulation change. Given Formula One’s present governance process, that means that the teams would actually be voting for that rather than the engine suppliers. How much of a frustration is it that your destiny is not ultimately in your own hands?
RT: Difficult to answer or difficult question, I don’t know, but I will give one. That’s the way it is, as you say, that’s the regulations so obviously we have to follow that, and again, as I said a bit earlier, it’s not going to be changing the way we are working so whether we are going to have a change or not, we’re just pushing like elves to try to get back to where we should be, so at the upper level and whatever we will get for next year... it will just be a plus, I would say, if we have this change. I would not say we are frustrated.
AC: Yeah, I would support Remy’s comments. It’s not frustrating, that’s how Formula One is set up and one of the great things about Formula One is that the boundary conditions do change and you do well if you can adapt quickly, if you can react quickly, change your organisation, not slow down but accelerate and make sure that you’re in a strong place. And that’s what we’ll do. So as soon as we’ve got any change to the regulations, we’ll all react, we’ll all take the race on and we’ll all see who’s done the best job when we get to the first race.
Q: (Dieter Rencken - Racing Lines) Andy, I must come back to your comment earlier on that it’s got to be very carefully managed, any changes, and yet you won’t have any input into that process and that’s really what I’m getting at. How would you ensure that it is carefully managed?
AC: You’re asked your opinion, so collectively we’ve got lots of years’ experience developing engines, KERS systems, ERS systems and we’ve all got a clear breakdown as to how many people we’ve got, how much we spend on material, how loaded our dynos are so based on a different set of criteria, different set of regulations, we can all work out what the consequences are, what the opportunities are and do we want to take on those opportunities or not. So of course we’re all consulted on that and regulations are often a compromise, not everybody is completely happy but as soon as the regulations are clear and fixed, you react, you respond quickly, motivate the staff and you go racing into the first race with those regulations as we’ve seen at the start of this year.
YA: Just a small comment: from the engineers and many fans, they and we want to keep the competition so in a season, to develop the many parts and to keep the competition is very important, just from engineering and fans’ side.
Q: (Kate Walker - crash.net) Arai-san, when you first announced your engine development programme, you said that there would be the possibility of supplying more than one customer team from 2016 onwards. Have you already entered into any negotiations or discussions with potential customers?
YA: Not yet, because no one knows of our potential. Of course, we prepare many cards but no one has checked my card.
Q: (Paolo Ianieri - La Gazzetta dello Sport) Mr Arai, what is your target for next year, realistically. What level do you think your power unit will be able to perform at and do you think that you have been doing enough at this stage, to convince a top driver to join your team?
YA: Our development progress is still on plan but we need to be careful to achieve top competition power within five months, so I need more time but finally our target, the McLaren-Honda target will be to keep a good position to compete in the championship. That’s our target.
Q: (Ken Kawakita - Weekly Playboy Magazine) Arai-san, we’ve seen at the debut this year, a lot of engine manufacturers facing problems in testing as this whole system is so complicated and integration of the whole components is a colossal issue. And as far as we’ve heard, you start properly testing from next year with only one partner. That means that the information and data that you can gather from that is quite limited. Do you think this could be a disadvantage for your engine programme? Do you have any concerns about this situation?
YA: I don’t think so. Our partner is very strong and I think one of the best teams. Of course that means just one team’s data, but maybe that’s enough, I think. So we already discussed with our partner and set a target and already we have agreed whether the target is good or not. Then finally, maybe in March 2015 we will be in a good position.
Q: (Dieter Rencken - Racing Lines) Paul, obviously Adrian has started moving out and moving on within the group. What will the restructure look like? Who will be appointed in what positions, come next year?
PM: As I understand, a group of four will step into the void created by Adrian’s step-back. That’s Rob Marshall, Dan Fallows, Pierre Wache and myself. So we all get a dose more responsibility. Adrian hasn’t left, he will still be involved in the F1 programme and that’s how it will be divided up.
(source: f1.com)
2014 FORMULA 1 JAPANESE GRAND PRIX - Second practice session
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