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Post by Anna on Oct 14, 2011 10:08:13 GMT
Michael Schumacher sets the fastest time in wet Korean GP practice
By Simon Strang Friday, October 14th 2011, 02:39 GMT
In keeping with his recent renaissance, Michael Schumacher set the fastest time in first practice session for the Korean Grand Prix, though his position was enhanced by changing track conditions following a very wet start to the day.
The Mercedes driver survived a trip across the muddy pitlane border as well as late attacks from newly crowned world champion Sebastian Vettel and Paul di Resta to stay top of the times as the surface water dissipated slightly in the final moments of the 90 minutes.
The rain threatened to completely wash out first practice until the session came alive in the last 30 minutes.
After nearly an hour of waiting around in the rain - with the exception of some development laps for Lewis Hamilton's McLaren - the Briton re-emerged from the pits and triggered a mini burst of activity as five or six cars joined him within minutes.
Hamilton was the first to post a time with a 2m03.391s lap, which was quickly usurped by Toro Rosso's Sebastien Buemi (2m03.182s).
That time stood for a while as Kamui Kobayashi's Sauber and the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg and Schumacher all failed to bump the Swiss from the top spot. Meanwhile Pastor Maldonado's Williams ran off the track twice in the space of 10 minutes.
It seemed as if Buemi had enjoyed the best of the conditions as with 10 minutes of the session left, both Force India drivers Adrian Sutil and di Resta had a crack at the top spot. Sutil's lap looked strong until the final sector, while the Scot had to catch a wild moment as the rain continued to fall.
Around the same time, Vettel ran wide around Turn 11, almost dinking another front wing against an unsuspecting wall. As if to emphasise the low grip level, Karun Chandhok also spun his Lotus harmlessly.
Vettel then posted the fastest lap, only to be outdone by Schumacher, whose 2m02.784s was enough to take the top spot. Di Resta persisted to take the third fastest time, ahead of his team-mate, as the chequered flag waved.
Buemi ended up fifth, followed by Kobayashi, Hamilton, Rosberg, Sergio Perez (Sauber) and Mark Webber (Red Bull), as only 18 cars set times. One of those was French rookie Jean-Eric Vergne, who made his practice debut for Toro Rosso and ended the morning 13th.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 2m02.784s 10
2. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 2m02.840s + 0.056 8
3. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 2m02.912s + 0.128 12
4. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 2m03.141s + 0.357 12
5. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 2m03.182s + 0.398 9
6. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 2m03.292s + 0.508 13
7. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 2m03.391s + 0.607 6
8. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 2m04.311s + 1.527 12
9. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 2m04.797s + 2.013 8
10. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 2m05.183s + 2.399 5
11. Karun Chandhok Lotus-Renault 2m06.350s + 3.566 11
12. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 2m06.852s + 4.068 11
13. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 2m07.541s + 4.757 9
14. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 2m08.218s + 5.434 5
15. Narian Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 2m08.832s + 6.048 14
16. Daniel Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth 2m09.232s + 6.448 14
17. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 2m12.658s + 9.874 7
18. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 2m14.508s + 11.724 4
19. Felipe Massa Ferrari no time 1
20. Fernando Alonso Ferrari no time 5
21. Bruno Senna Renault no time 1
22. Vitaly Petrov Renault no time 1
23. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault no time 1
24. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes no time 1
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Post by Anna on Oct 14, 2011 10:08:40 GMT
LewisHamilton tops wet second practice for the Korean Grand Prix
By Simon Strang Friday, October 14th 2011, 06:36 GMT
McLaren dominated the times for the second free practice session for the Korean Grand Prix as the second 90 minutes of running provided no more dry running than the first had.
Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button were split by 0.104s, but the pair were 1.7s quicker than the rest of the field - headed by new double world champion Sebastian Vettel.
The second session exploded into life as soon as the pitlane opened with all the vivacity the first practice had lacked. None of the teams had achieved any worthwhile running in the first one, and even with the track still wet, the priority seemed to be to put the laps on the board.
Very quickly the Red Bull pair established themselves at the top of the times, with Vettel leading Mark Webber. But that only lasted as long as it took for the McLarens to get out of the garages and up to speed. Then Button and Hamilton began trading times over first position.
By the time they'd settled the initial argument, half an hour of the session had gone by, and Hamilton was top with a 1m50.828s, Button 0.5s behind - the track still wet enough for inters with the rain sporadic. The silver cars were two seconds faster than their Red Bull rivals.
Button returned to the track with 35 minutes gone and began setting fastest split times, improving to within 0.104s but staying second before returning to the pits, his set of inters finally shot.
Things stayed the same for a while until Fernando Alonso fired in a lap good enough to put him third fastest with 40 minutes to go - still the Ferrari driver was 1.9s behind the two McLarens, which seemed the car most happy in the intermediate conditions.
The Red Bulls returned to the track at the turn of final half hour and Vettel immediately re-established himself in third, but only just – the world champion still 1.8s off Hamilton's time. It was about this time that the most curious incident of the day occurred when Nico Rosberg collected Jaime Alguersuari's Toro Rosso as the Spaniard exited the pits.
The Mercedes driver ran wide on the exit of the very tight left-hander that is Turn 1 and simply skated into the Toro Rosso, damaging both cars. Not long after Alguersuari was on the radio complaining about the dangers of exiting the pits in Korea.
They weren't the only ones going off though: Hamilton, Alonso, Rubens Barrichello, Bruno Senna and several others all had similar moments.
Into the final ten minutes and still the track wasn't entirely dry. Sebastien Buemi tried the super soft tyres, but a spin on his out lap gave Toro Rosso its answer as to the adhesion levels on the track.
Webber too went on to the softer slicks and fared better – in that he didn't spin – but no way was the Red Bull changing the order.
So in the end the McLarens headed Vettel, Alonso and Webber with Alguersuari remaining an impressive sixth. Felipe Massa ended up seventh ahead of Rosberg, Buemi and Paul di Resta completing the top ten.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m50.828s 26
2. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m50.932s + 0.104 19
3. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m52.646s + 1.818 30
4. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m52.774s + 1.946 25
5. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m53.049s + 2.221 27
6. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m53.402s + 2.574 25
7. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m53.707s + 2.879 24
8. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m53.914s + 3.086 18
9. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m53.948s + 3.120 27
10. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m53.957s + 3.129 32
11. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m54.200s + 3.372 26
12. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m54.392s + 3.564 26
13. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m54.831s + 4.003 30
14. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m54.965s + 4.137 21
15. Bruno Senna Renault 1m55.187s + 4.359 28
16. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m55.203s + 4.375 24
17. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m55.544s + 4.716 23
18. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m56.067s + 5.239 22
19. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1m56.669s + 5.841 20
20. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1m57.173s + 6.345 19
21. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m58.269s + 7.441 25
22. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m59.458s + 8.630 26
23. Daniel Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth 1m59.958s + 9.130 19
24. Tonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 2m00.165s + 9.337 20
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Post by Anna on Oct 14, 2011 10:09:18 GMT
Thursday's press conference - Korea
Thursday, October 13th 2011, 10:10 GMT
DRIVERS - Jaime ALGUERSUARI (Toro Rosso), Fernando ALONSO (Ferrari), Lewis HAMILTON (McLaren), Pastor MALDONADO (Williams), Sergio PÉREZ (Sauber), Sebastian VETTEL (Red Bull)
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q. Sergio, a good race last weekend, finishing eighth. Can we expect the same this weekend?
Sergio PEREZ: Well, it was a very special race for me. It was quite a good race, very good race, starting on P17. We had a hydraulic problem. We thought the race was lost and our pace was very strong in the race. We managed very good strategy and it was very good to score some good points and hopefully we will keep up the momentum in the last races.
Q. Presumably you have sent a birthday card to Peter Sauber if you want to keep your drive for next year, as it is his birthday today?
SP: Yes, of course. It was his birthday and we all congratulated him. It is a very good atmosphere in the team, everybody is very happy, and we are looking forward to the last four events.
Q. This is a new circuit for you and I believe you have driven it on the simulator. Now you've seen it for real what are your initial impressions?
SP: I went for a walk this morning and, of course, it looks very dirty. The track, the layout, looks very promising. I have driven the circuit on the simulator already and I am looking forward to doing a good job this weekend. It is a very challenging circuit.
Q. Jaime, you started 15th last year and drove up to 11th. Similar or better this year?
Jamie ALGUERSUARI: I hope better. We had a problem in the pitstop last year and I think a top-seven position was possible here. It was a chaotic race with the rain, a very difficult one for all of us. I expect a lot from this year and especially now we are not far away from Sauber. I think we can manage to score some points in the last four events and hopefully to finish the race in the top 10. That would be awesome.
Q. You are not doing FP1 at this race. How much does that potentially upset the weekend?
JA: At the moment, not much. Tomorrow it is raining at the moment. That's the prediction that we have. We know that on Sunday possibly the race will be in the dry conditions and also the Saturday, so at the moment it is not a bad job. Also the fact I know the track so it is also fine and it is not bothering me so much.
Q. One other story is all about your music CD. How much does that take up your time. It sounds as though it is very successful.
JA: Yeah, at the moment the first release has been quite good. It was number one in the chart of iTunes in Spain and top five in the UK, so working a lot in the studio and hopefully with more releases for the winter and next year. Keep on working at that as well. It's a part of my life, what I love. I obviously cannot do it when I'm here but I try to do it at home. I have my studio there in Barcelona so I spend a lot of time there having fun.
Q.So a good second career?
JA: Yeah, absolutely.
Q. Pastor, first time here. Have you driven it on the simulator? What are your first impressions of this circuit?
Pastor MALDONADO: No, I've never driven it on the simulator. It will be my first time tomorrow. The track looks really interesting; challenging. I think especially the second sector will be quite technical. I hope to improve our last results and be a little bit more competitive here. Even if it will be my first time here, I think after P1 I will be competitive.
Q. You have got a new technical leadership in the team. What are your thoughts about that?
PM: I think the team now is having many changes and important at the same time, but we are really happy, we are pushing, concentrated, focused on improving even this year's car. I hope to do well, especially in this last part of the season and even working so hard with the team. I think the changes are really important. All the people feel comfortable in the team, so looking forward to this end of the season.
Q. And your thoughts about your first grand prix season?
PM: I think it was really difficult, especially at the beginning. We didn't run a lot because of so many problems in the car. But now we are getting the pace, more confidence, more experience, so I think I am doing good. I feel good in the team, with the people. As I mentioned before the team is really compact. It is a big family and I hope to improve and score some more points in the last part of the season.
Q. Fernando, the championship is over but what are your goals for the last four races? And obviously you won here last year.
Fernando ALONSO: Try to win one race if possible. We know it will be difficult. Red Bull will remain favourites for the remaining races. McLaren is very strong at this part of the championship as well, so we know it is going to be difficult. But we will try every Sunday, we will try to enjoy racing, with obviously not the pressure of the championship position or whatever, as I think finishing, second, third or fifth in the Drivers' Championship is not a big difference. Once you cannot be World Champion it is not any more a big interest on that. And then in the Constructors' Championship, which is maybe more important, McLaren are still quite a long way ahead of us, so we need to do the maximum, but we know it is also going to be difficult to catch them. As I said try and enjoy racing like we did at Suzuka last weekend, when you can be aggressive on the starts, you can play a little bit with the strategy. We can enjoy Sundays, try do good races, maximise the potential of the car and if we do that then we know a podium is very possible and as I said if there is one opportunity to win one of the remaining grands prix we try to take it.
Q. Suzuka was a very good result. You were right there with the leaders, but Singapore say wasn't such a good performance. How do you explain those ups and downs?
FA: I think this year there has been some up and downs for everybody which no-one can understand 100 per cent. We can have some ideas of what happened in Singapore to us and we are quite convinced that we know the problem. We are also quite convinced we know why we were a little bit better in Suzuka. Obviously, I will not tell you now. I think it is the same for everybody. I think everybody was expecting a strong Red Bull in Suzuka and they finished third so more and more difficult to understand Formula One for everybody in these days.
Q. Have you got more bits and pieces coming here? Is there a new wing, maybe a development for 2012?
FA: I know some things but I plan not to tell you what we have new in the car, [this would] give you an easy life.
Q. Sebastian, I expect you have had a fairly busy week. Tell us about it, well not even a week, five days.
Sebastian VETTEL: Yeah, we had a very busy Sunday to be honest. After the race there were a lot of things to do but once we got beyond that and once I found myself in the bar with the boys we enjoyed that night very much. We had a very good time. Did some karaoke, which I think is traditional in Japan. It was a very good night, very special, and after a couple of drinks everyone was quite happy so we definitely had a good time and it was quite special as some time in the night Michael [Schumacher] came as well and joined us and we had a couple of drinks together. I think after he came I felt much worse as I started mixing a little bit, which wasn't the best strategy. No, all in all, it was a fun night. We continued going straight to Tokyo. I had an event there with Infiniti and saw a lot of fans there so it was good. We weren't as fit as usual maybe, so still quite tired but it was quite a nice day as well. Tuesday, I had a bit of time for myself and allowed myself to let things sink in a little bit more. I had a good time in Tokyo and then got here yesterday.
Q. So the second World Championship, has it sunk in as the first one jumped up on you? This one has crept up on you more?
SV: Yeah, it is obviously a big difference. I think last year we did it the last minute and we always kept believing and got it done in the very end of the championship. We never led the championship. This year it has been a different story. We led it from start to finish so it is obviously a different year. Even though it was likely and the championship got closer and closer in the last coupe of races we always tried to focus on that particular race. In some ways when I crossed the line, of course we knew we could have done maybe a little bit better and always you have the freshest emotions in your head and we knew what we could have done better for that race on Sunday. We got beaten by Jenson (Button) and Fernando. We would have loved to win, but we are out again this weekend and try to get another win. Surely the championship in that regard is decided bit it doesn't change anything to our approach really.
Q. Lewis, this weekend marks McLaren's 700th World Championship event, which you may or may not know. How does it feel as a World Champion to play a part in that history and such an important part in that history?
Lewis HAMILTON: It feels great. My dream was always to race for this team so to have become a part of the history of the team and to be here now representing them on their 700th grand prix, I am very proud of that. I am very proud to be a part of it. I have got some incredible people behind me supporting me within the team and I think I am very blessed to have that.
Q. Jonathan Neale said that the team had given you a standing ovation. Not awfully certain where it was, but how does it feel to have that support when you are trying to refocus on your season in 2011.
LH: I don't really know anything about that. I've not had a standing ovation for a while. I have been with the team since I was 13-year-old. I think I have quite a unique relationship with the team and regardless of how tough a year it has been or how many problems we have had I stay very close to their hearts and I think the same with me. They continue to support me and it is great to see that when they are having tough times us as drivers, me and Jenson, are able to lift them and vice versa.
Q. And you must have been very heartened by the fact that Vodafone McLaren Mercedes won the grand prix last weekend?
LH: Well, I wouldn't say heartened is the word. I think I was very proud as we had worked very hard to beat the Red Bulls this year and to beat them on such an important weekend, when Sebastian won the World Championship, I think was quite significant for us. It is quite an achievement and as always we celebrated in the same manner as we always do and I think that continues to show strength in our team.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
(Giusto Ferronato - La Gazzetta dello Sport) Fernando, Stefano Domenicali said in the future you could accept Sebastian in Ferrari. is it true? And do you think that Ferrari has the ability to manage two World Champions in the same team?
FA: Well, I am extremely happy with any team-mate I have alongside me. I think now I am extremely happy with Felipe (Massa). I think we have a very strong team at the moment. We are different rivers with different styles that we can help each other with a way of driving and a way of approaching the weekend. I am constantly learning from Felipe in these two years and I am extremely happy. In the future, nobody knows. I have a long-term contract with Ferrari for the next five or six years so I don't know, if we can keep going with Felipe or if there will be a change in the future. If someone else is coming we will try to work as close as we work now as we do with him and try to help Ferrari in as many races as possible so it will be good.
(Marco Degl'Innocenti – La Gazzetta dello Sport) May we know the opinion of Sebastian about that?
SV: Well, I think, I mean I have a contract as well. I am very happy where I am. I think we have just won the second title together, now we are focused on the Constructors' Championship and not really thinking what is happening in, I don't know, five or six years. As I said I am very, very happy where I am and I think if you look in everyone's face in our team we are having a good time, we are very competitive, we are very focused when it comes to racing. But the proof of last Sunday was we also know how to have a good time so I am very happy.
(Fulvio Solms – Corriere dello Sport)Fernando and Lewis, do you think Sebastian with his young team could be a serial winner in the future as well?
FA: I think Formula One is very difficult to predict. We have seen in the last two years, or two years-and-a-half, that Red Bull dominate the sport and they were the best prepared guys and they did a better job than anybody else so we need to congratulate them on these two championships and this very good performance. But next year we all start from zero again, we all try to improve and I think no-one here can say that next year who will be the fastest car or fastest guy. It will be pretty close I think and Red Bull, Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes will start again like the most powerful teams as they are maybe the best teams now. All of them will start like favourites and Sebastian will be one of them next year, I am sure.
LH: I agree with what Fernando said. You cannot really predict what is going to happen, but they have been very competitive the last two-and-a-half-years so we have to assume they are going to be competitive next year but we all start from scratch and have another chance to win again. I think one thing is for sure is that we are all determined to win the championship so whatever the case it won't be easy for any of us.
Q. (Bianca Leppert – Auto, Motor und Sport) Sebastian, have you and the team already analysed what the problem was with your tyre wear, because it was much higher than at Ferrari and McLaren?
SV: Maybe Lewis had even a little bit more? It's true that in other races we always had – in a way – the luxury to go maybe a lap or two longer but had to pit for strategy reasons, so we were never really limited by tyre wear, whereas in Suzuka we were the ones pulling into the pits first – well, Lewis was – we were quite early, earlier than we expected and earlier than we wanted and we suffered more degradation than we thought, especially after the strong performance we had on Friday. We have a couple of ideas. Obviously on Sunday everything turned out to be a little bit different. You know the race is long, so you have to look after the car and not only the tyres as well. I think, to some extent, we understand why tyre wear was more excessive than we thought, or we need to come here and confirm that I think we have another good chance in that regard, to understand more about tyres as the tyre approach for this weekend is very, very aggressive. So I'm not sure how many stops we will see but surely more than two, maybe even up to five. I don't know – we don't know yet. It all depends tomorrow – on the other hand, if it's wet, it doesn't really give us an idea, so we could be surprised on Sunday, we will see.
Q. Gary Meenaghan (The National) Sebastian, I'm just wondering if you could tell us what you sang at the karaoke on Sunday, and also, if you've had a chance to explore South Korea?
SV: You wanted to know which songs? We had Yellow Submarine, Hey Jude, My Way – no Japanese songs, our Japanese is not so fluent. I think the funny thing is that whereas I might usually be quite in control of not showing the German accent too much, I think after a couple of drinks it was quite obvious where I come from. It was a fun night and then, as I said, I spent a day in Tokyo on Tuesday and came here yesterday, so I didn't see much of Korea. I think really to judge the country you have to go up to Seoul which I have heard a lot of good things about. It should be a nice city. It's a shame that we are so far away. Obviously it's a bit different down here, a bit more quiet but tomorrow we start the engines again and we will create our own action.
Q. (Sarah Holt – BBC Sport) Question for Lewis: this was an interesting and demanding new track last year which you did really well on. Are you looking for a particular result this weekend, a particular experience here this weekend to help you get back in your groove?
LH: My approach every weekend is obviously to have a good weekend but for some time now it's not been the case but I always come back, I always come back and give it another shot and hope for a better result. I've prepared myself in the best way I can, with the situation that stands, and I hope that... clearly Jenson showed that we're competitive, so I think that if he can do it then I can do it, so I really need to get on with things this weekend. Hopefully we will have our timing a little bit better in qualifying and get our second run in and hopefully we will be able to compete with the two guys here. I've got two-time World Champions next to me and my goal in life is to emulate those, but really I think I have to catch up with them so I'm working on that.
Q. (Sarah Holt – BBC Sport) Could you talk a little bit about the track for us?
LH: The track's fantastic, it's a nice track to drive. Last year there were obviously some difficult conditions but I believe this weekend is going to be dry. You've got a couple of very long straights which enable you to follow and to overtake. With the DRS zone I think it's going to be quite a challenging circuit and I think staying ahead of people is going to be tough when they're right behind you, of course. But I think our car will be quite quick here as well as the two guys next to me, so it's going to be very close but fingers crossed, we show some positive performance as we did in the last race.
Q. (Joris Fioriti – Agence France Presse) You keep saying that you're going to keep trying, for Fernando and Lewis to win some races and to keep on winning ; I was wondering how hard it is to still have motivation when everything is done. Racing for fun can't be as good as winning when races count.
FA: I think we all want to win, in any race we participate in. Even when we do the Race of Champions in December, for fun, if we finish second it's a very bad feeling, and a very bad night. Even here, in Formula One grand prix, in four different countries, racing for our teams, for our sponsors, for our fans, it's impossible not to be motivated to win that grand prix.
SV: Yeah, I think we love racing and I think the moment you come to a race thinking that it doesn't really matter where you finish it's the moment when you should probably stay at home. Of course, the championship was the ultimate target. Reaching that, before the end of the season, is not usual, but nevertheless we come here with pressure, even if people don't put pressure on us as usual or as much as usual, we put pressure on ourselves because we love racing, we will enjoy racing as usual, but we will make sure that we do the best we can and we will not be happy leaving this track knowing that we could have done better. That's what I said: the approach will remain the same. This has been a tough venue for me last year, we have been in very good shape until ten laps to the end, so obviously there is still something to be done. Obviously I've never been on the podium and I'm looking forward to a good race but first of all we need to focus on Friday to prepare our car as much as we can, to be in good shape. I think that's for the whole team, we're not lacking motivation.
LH: I think no matter who you are, every challenge, every competition, every race or obstacle that you come across in life is important and every race that I come across… every race is important. To me, racing is the biggest part of my life apart from my family and it doesn't matter if it's a practice race or whatever, it still holds significant value to me. Whether or not the championship is still up for grabs, I think there are still some fantastic races ahead of us and there's always another chance to revive yourself, so I'm excited for that.
Q. (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Lewis, the last few races have not been very exciting for you. What's your explanation for this, is it linked by the tyres, just bad luck or something else?
LH: I think the last… I think it's been more than two races, it's been since… at least since Hungary, so that's quite a few races, but even before that we had some… yeah, so it's been a good five bad races. I think it's a combination of things. I put most of it down to myself and of course, there are times that you find yourself a little bit unfortunate but whether it could be a yellow flag or something like that or traffic, it's not really any excuse, we all have to do it, we all have to do the job. Others are able to do it, so I think it's just been a lack of some pace, a lack of some being in the right place at the right time so that's what we're working towards improving.
Q. (Carlos Miguel – La Gaceta) Fernando and Jaime, this is the first time that we see you in the same room after Singapore; how is your relationship, is everything OK after the problem during the race?
FA: First of all, we have no problem. I think we were in the same plane after Singapore, today we were in the gym in the morning, so we don't need to tell everyone with whom we are at any moment. And in Singapore, as I said, maybe Jaime agreed, that there was no problem. We were lapping cars in front of us after the restart. They took very long to let us pass, 13 corners and whoever took the opportunity. This is normal, the restarts are always different and difficult, especially in Singapore on a street circuit, but we said it there, no problem, but after three weeks now, you keep talking about that, so the problem is not in us, it's maybe in you.
JA: I agree with everything that he says.
Q. I have a question for Lewis; is it possible that you have again become a friend of Felipe Massa?
LH: I think so. Of course the situation has not been great for some time now. I've always had respect for Felipe and still do today, regardless of the negative comments that he's constantly coming up with. It's easy, in this sport, when you're competitive and in the heat of the moment, to say things that perhaps you don't mean, whether or not he does mean them. But regardless, I've tried to show respect, particularly in the last race, I'm very, very sorry for that. I really didn't see him. I've just seen the replay today and he was quite far up the outside of me but out of my mirrors, I can't see a thing, and I was looking to the right and I couldn't see him, so by the time I realised he was on the left it was too late. I think I've been in the wrong place in the last few races. We've had the car to be quite a bit further ahead as Jenson showed and so perhaps if I was doing the right job I wouldn't be in this situation with Felipe but again, just all due respect and I hope that in the future we can put our guards down and he can be cool with me again. I'm cool with him, so I have no problems with him.
Q. (Frederic Ferret – L'Equipe) Sebastian and Fernando: last year the track was nearly ready for the Grand Prix, have you seen any improvements to the track this year and are you happy with them, if there are any?
SV: I think generally there hasn't been a lot going on since we left, but they obviously made some changes, for instance, at the last corner they moved the wall so it's a little bit better to see, a bit easier for us. The pit entry becomes a bit more visible – things that were a little bit borderline last year are a bit better this year but other than that… The circuit was ready just in time last year. Obviously they've had a year break to finish everything if there were some things still to be finished. As I said, it looked unchanged in many ways. I don't know how much racing has been going on so for sure we will see a lot of track improvement throughout the weekend.
Q. (Alan Baldwin – Reuters) Sergio, I think you played a bit of a practical joke on your team over the last few laps at Suzuka; I wonder if you could just explain what happened and how they reacted to it?
SP: They were very excited that we were getting into the points. We had a problem, we had some vibrations and in the last part of the track, the last corner, I told them that I was losing power and they were quite afraid about it and when I crossed the line, it was a just a few seconds after they realised that it was just a joke.
Q. ( A Young Shin - SBS/ESPN Korea) There's been a lot of talk about races, but since you're in Korea, I would like to ask a question that is specific to Korea. The Korean interest in motor sports is not that high, unfortunately, so a lot of the F1 driver hopefuls are struggling to become professional drivers. Sebastian, Fernando and Lewis, you all became World Champions despite difficult conditions so can you say a word of encouragement to F1 hopefuls in Korea, based on your experiences?
SV: As you described, I think it's the same for all of us. We know pretty well what is going on in our own countries in terms of what possibilities there are because we've run through the system ourselves, therefore it's hard to judge what's going on over here. I think that generally we are very open for new races to come onto the calendar, so this one was spectacular in terms of the race we had last year. Unfortunately, as I said, I think there's a lot more going on in the area around Seoul, there are a lot more people. Down here it seems to be a bit too quiet but we obviously hope that our appearance here helps the interest in motor sport in this country and therefore maybe the chance that one day we will have a Korean driver in Formula One. I came across a couple of kids – not many to be honest – from Korea, one or two, I remember, I forgot the names, a little bit hard to pronounce for us. There's nothing that speaks against a Korean driver but I think it's a bit difficult to judge, as we don't know really, especially in karting, how much support there is and how much opportunity there is for people here.
FA: The first thing to improve motor sport in Korea is to host a Grand Prix, and that's already done, and this will be a huge improvement for the future in Korean motor sport and for the young kids, watching the race here. For us, and I think for Korean kids or whatever, when we started we all moved to Italy to race in go-karts because Italy was and still is the best place to race in go-karts and to improve your talent and your driving. So we all made some sacrifices to get into Formula One and we all tried to dedicate our lives and our careers to motor sport. So if any young Korean guy wants to grow up, he needs to enjoy, to love this sport and then I'm sure that at one point he will have to sacrifice something in his life.
LH: I agree with both the drivers, and particularly Fernando's comment there. I was going to say the same. I think it's definitely possible to have a Korean driver in the future and I think it just appears that the formula for proving a young driver's talent is to go to Europe to race. The majority of the drivers that you see here in the paddock would have gone to Italy to race as that's generally where the… they have great weather, they have great circuits, generally most of the greats went racing there. That's the place where you will be seen, that's the place where you will really have your skills and your talent challenged and so it's about making… it's quite a big sacrifice to move countries all the way from Korea to Europe, but if you feel confident in yourself, believe in yourself enough then you should do that.
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Post by Anna on Oct 15, 2011 20:36:49 GMT
Korean GP - Press conference after qualifying
With Hamilton, Vettel & Button
Saturday 15 October 2011 - 11h14, by Mylène Drui
Q: Lewis, congratulations, your first pole position in over a year. I would have thought that you’d have had a smile as wide as the sea between here and Japan. But you don’t seem to be too happy? Is everything okay?
Lewis HAMILTON: No, I am happy. I am very happy. Happy to be here and very proud of what the team have been available to achieve over the course of the last few races and for Jenson to have won the last race and for us to be on the front two rows again and the only ones competing with Red Bull I am very, very happy about it. But tomorrow is the day that really counts.
Q: Sebastian, it seems a strange position to see you the right of Lewis and not sat in the middle here. No pole position for yourself. Did you expect this renewed challenge from McLaren today?
Sebastian VETTEL: Well to be honest I think McLaren looked very, very competitive yesterday. I know the conditions were completely different but you could see that they were a fair chunk ahead of everyone else, including us, as well as this morning in the dry so they looked extremely quick. But I think, once again, we pushed them very, very hard in qualifying and got very, very close. I think closer probably than they expected and closer than we expected in some regards so I think we did a very good job in qualifying. Also we saved all our prime tyres, which I think will be crucial for tomorrow. We had only a rough idea this morning with a little bit more fuel in the car. I think we are in a good position. It is not a long way down to the first corner and then Turn Three is a little bit exposed so we will see. It is a long race, a lot of things can happen. I think tyre wear will be crucial. Jenson did a very, very good job last race in particular so I think that, again, will be very important tomorrow.
Q: Jenson, third place for you. If tyre wear is so vital and the teams haven’t got as much data as they would normally expect at this stage of a weekend, how handily placed are you for another race victory?
Jenson BUTTON: Well it is not perfect, we all want to be on pole position and congratulations to Lewis for getting the pole. He has been pretty quick all weekend and tough to hold onto. I am reasonably happy where we are. It is not perfect, but we can race very well from here. As Seb said there is a lot to play for still and we really haven’t got a clue what is going to happen tomorrow in the race in terms of tyre deg on high fuel, what the car is really going to feel like on high fuel, so really a bit of an unknown. But looking forward to the challenge tomorrow.
Q: Lewis, after all your disappointments in recent races and whatever does happen tomorrow, how much does it mean to you to be hitting the track running and being on pole position and being the fastest man out in the car this weekend?
LH: Well it is probably one of the first positives I have had for a while and to be back on pole is a great feeling. But, as I said, tomorrow is the most important day. I have had some difficult races in the past so hopefully will try to redeem myself tomorrow. As long as we can get some really strong points for the team as they have put an incredible amount of effort into getting us to where we are today so a big thank you to them and I hope that tomorrow me and Jenson can repay them.
Q: Lewis, first pole for you and McLaren this year. How much satisfaction do you get from this?
LH: Well it is very early days and it is not the most important day but it is a great start. As I was just saying the team have worked incredibly hard all year to catch up the deficit that we had to the Red Bulls. Particularly the last few races, at least the last five races Jenson has been massively quick and we have been able to compete with them and constantly be on podium but not really finish ahead of them on the podium too often. Fortunately after the last race and here today we are as competitive as them and hopefully tomorrow we can continue with that performance.
Q: Just describe what sort of work you did this morning as you are virtually starting from scratch?
LH: No, we pretty much drove the same car as we had on Friday. Made a couple of changes as the track improved but I think we have made a big change to the set-up compared to the last race and that made a big difference.
Q: In terms of tyre wear what sort of programme was there this morning?
LH: I think everyone anticipated it would be quite poor the degradation of the tyres and looking at the Red Bull’s long runs it doesn’t look so bad. The performance over one lap is longer than what the specialists anticipated so I think tomorrow is going to be very, very similar to what we had in last race.
Q: After the problems that you have had the last few races you just seemed to nail Q1, Q2, Q3. Every single one you were fastest so that must have been a satisfaction as well.
LH: Yeah, I think we have had several Q1’s and Q2‘s at the top of the leaderboard but never really been able to pull through in Q3 and particularly the last couple of races I have not had my last run so it was quite important that we got that today. It made a significant difference otherwise I don’t really know if Seb improved, I am sure he did, so it was important that we got that lap.
Q: Sebastian, obviously you would have loved to have been on pole position but again it has been a pretty tough day today. I don’t suppose you learnt that much yesterday and really all the work was done this morning?
SV: Well I mean yesterday was a different day. Different conditions. But we saw already that McLaren is very competitive this weekend. In the end it doesn’t really matter the conditions. I think if your car is quick, if you feel the balance is there, then you are quick no matter what conditions and we were a little bit behind or quite a bit behind, including this morning. But again we pulled ourselves together and when it mattered most for today we were there, Q3, we were very, very close in the first run. I thought we would have a crack at pole. My second lap was very good again. There wasn’t much left but, obviously, Lewis had a very good lap and deserves pole. It was close. Closer than many people thought or we thought as well as they were looking so, so strong this morning and the pace came so easy for them. At least by the looks of it. It is good that we made a fair step in the right direction and caught up so tomorrow should be an interesting day. A long race. We saved all our prime tyres so there is a little difference there. Whether we can use that to our advantage or not remains to be seen, but I think we are in good shape. It is a long race here. Tyres are reasonable soft, both compounds, so we will see.
Q: You predicted multi pit-stops yesterday, does that still stand?
SV: I think so. It did look a little bit better this morning than some people thought so I think five stops is too many. Two is impossible so somewhere in between. You know three or four stops is not a big secret. We know that if there is a lot of tyre wear we have seen races where we end up three stopping and races where we end up four stopping. All in all we should be in good shape and looking to tomorrow. Also considering that the last week wasn’t the easiest, and preparation wasn’t easy, but very quickly we refocused and as I said we were there when it counted. Not enough this time, but tomorrow is another day.
Q: Jenson said just now ‘we don’t know where we are’. What do you think of that quote?
JB: When did I say that?
Q: In the unilateral.
JB: Did I? Well, I will have to watch that back. I think if I did say that, in terms of the race, running high fuel. We haven’t done that yet, so we don’t know how competitive we’re going to be yet, but looking at the pace today, I would say that we would be reasonably competitive.
Q: Is that something you’ve done, Sebastian? Did you do high fuel runs today?
SV: Yeah, we did a little bit. You can’t turn the world upside down. Yesterday, we had no preparation in dry conditions because it was wet. This morning we still had only one hour. I think we had a lot of work to do and we got most of it done, so we were very happy with this morning, gave us direction with the car, with the conditions, with the fuel. The runs we did didn’t look too bad. We will see.
Q: Jenson, what are going to be the principal factors in the race?
JB: Being quick, and that’s something we’ve been pretty good at for the last couple of races, in terms of consistency throughout the whole race. It’s very difficult to know what to do in terms of strategy tomorrow because again, we haven’t really run the tyres. We know that they’ve got a short life but how short and if you can make any difference by trying to look after them? It’s very difficult to know, so a little bit unknown tomorrow so we will see. I should think everyone’s looking forward to the race tomorrow especially us three at the front. It should be a lot of fun out there. Finding our feet is going to be the first thing on high fuel, to see how the car feels and acts with that much fuel on board. Today was a reasonably good day for me. I thought we would be able to fight for first but Lewis was just too quick today. All in all, a pretty good day and it looks good for tomorrow.
Q: Does the chassis change make any difference at all?
JB: No. I didn’t think about it at all. It’s got a number one on it now, so that’s quite nice but no, it doesn’t make any difference at all. At this high level, the tubs themselves are identical, so that’s not an issue.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Sebastian, what tyres were you using on the last run, super soft but used or new, because you used one set in Q1?
SV: We used new tyres in both runs of Q3.
Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Jenson, why did you change the chassis this morning?
JB: There was a problem at the back of the chassis where the engine bolts on, so they couldn’t fix the problem here and it wasn’t worth risking trying to fix the problem here so that’s the reason why they changed the chassis yesterday. The guys did a great job of turning it around, I think they left pretty early last night considering they had a complete chassis change, so thank you very much to them on both sides of the garage, so cheers.
Q: (Dan Knutson – National Speed Sport News) To any of you, lots of pit stops tomorrow, how much of a concern is the pit exit?
JB: If you look at how many times we’ve exited the pits over the last two days and also last year, there’s been one incident and that was in wet conditions. It’s very different in the dry; it’s more unusual to lock up into turn one. It obviously does make it a little bit tricky if someone’s exiting and you’re racing that person exiting the pits, knowing where to really place the car through the apex but I’m sure everything will be fine tomorrow with the pit exit. I don’t think we will see any issues.
Q: (Livio Orrichio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Lewis, please understand this question; for a driver who broke a series of 15 poles of a competitor you look very sad, you haven’t smiled. Is there any reason for that in your behaviour to the criticism you have received in the last few races?
LH: No, no. I am happy, I am happy. As I said, it’s been a tough second half of the season and it’s great to get pole. It doesn’t really mean a huge amount because tomorrow’s really what counts. As I said, I’m happy, I’m proud of… I am proud of my team, the support that I’ve had from them has been just incredible, so to be up here is kind of… it’s a great feeling for that but tomorrow is the most important day so I look forward to that.
Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto, Motor und Sport) Lewis, you were getting close to Mark Webber in the last sector, did it affect your lap time?
LH: No, I saw that he was backing off and my last sector seemed to be OK, to be honest. Through the last corner was a little bit slippery but I can’t really say that was because of him. I think it was the tyres really falling off. I don’t know how many seconds ahead he was but I think the gap should have been enough.
Q: (Joris Fioriti – Agence France Presse) Jenson, you were the fastest guy in Japan apart from in qualifying, where you missed pole by a very tiny margin. Your car, the McLaren, seems to be the fastest car here too. Should we see that as an indicator for the end of the season, McLaren becoming faster than the Red Bulls?
JB: If you looked at practice in Suzuka, yes, we were very quick and the same here. I think some of it is due to maybe us running less fuel than other people, especially compared to the Red Bull because they seem to be a lot more competitive in qualifying. But as a team, in terms of the car, yeah, I think we’re in a great place right now. As I said, I really don’t know how the race is going to go tomorrow but you’d think that it would be between us and the Red Bulls. So we will have to wait and see, but I don’t think Ferrari are that far behind in terms of consistency. Over one lap they maybe don’t have the pace but in terms of consistency we saw them very strong in Suzuka so they might also be there tomorrow. It’s a great way to end the season. As a team, were obviously disappointed that we couldn’t get this performance earlier in the year but I think we’ve done a great job through the latter part of the season and it can only be good for next year. Obviously there are rule changes but having a good base at the end of this year, going into 2012, it’s something that we really need, I think.
Q: (Joris Fioriti – Agence France Presse) Sebastian, was there a sense of disappointment in the team not to score all the pole positions until the end of the season?
SV: It was never really the target, to be honest, because it’s so far away, there are so many races, but the run we’ve had so far is quite impressive and even today we are still on the front row and we’re not so far off. I’m very happy with that, but as I said, now you mention it, it would have been nice, but it has never really been our target. Tomorrow is more important for us.
Q: (Kate Walker – Girl Racer) Lewis, you said that you had problems with your tyres losing grip on the last sector in your qualifying lap; are you concerned that this might disadvantage you coming off the line tomorrow?
LH: No, no. Generally, when you’re driving these cars, particularly in qualifying, you do quite a slow enough lap that you don’t take too much out of the tyres on the first lap and when you do your lap, naturally you’ve extracted everything. If you’ve extracted everything from the tyres, they should start going off in the last sector. That’s natural, but once they cool down again, as they will be for tomorrow, the grip will be back to exactly where everyone else has it.
Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Sebastian, you’re second and Mark is fourth and the two McLarens are on the right side of the track. Does that bother you for the start tomorrow?
SV: Not really. I think our side is maybe not the cleanest side, but we’ve seen a couple of times this year that in the end there’s not a big difference. I think the tyres are different to last year so… we are seeing different starts to the races. Jenson had a very good start at the last race from second, didn’t you?
JB: Can’t remember.
SV: So we will see. It’s a bit tricky here because it’s not a long way to the first corner or the first two, then there’s a long straight after that, and another straight after that so it could be interesting.
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