Formation lap

McLaren: More to come from diffuser

2010-07-25T10:52:00.000+01:00

McLaren believes it has only just begun to scrape the surface when it comes to exploiting the full potential of its blown diffuser.

The Woking-based team is racing its revised floor for the first time at this weekend's German Grand Prix, although the new concept could not help Lewis Hamilton or Jenson Button challenge Red Bull Racing for pole position.

McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh reckons McLaren is nowhere near optimising the performance it can get out of its blown diffuser - and that the team should be able to get much more speed out of it over the next few races.

"I think we have probably got less than half of what is possible and I am sure that as the races go by we will get more from that," said Whitmarsh at Hockenheim.

"Once you have got this concept working then the aerodynamicists can start to work on the details of the floor, start to work on the exhausts, and start to work on how it interacts with the wheels and the tyres. There is a lot of scope now to make progress."

Whitmarsh has echoed comments from other teams that the blown diffuser is not the key element that will help McLaren beat Red Bull to the title – as he targets other areas of car developments too.

"We spotted some other things on their car [Red Bull] that we are looking at the moment," explained Whitmarsh. "They have worked on developing the blown diffuser but we mustn't get carried away with the idea that the blown diffuser is the answer to everything.

"I think once you are exploiting exhaust gases in that way then you can start to develop the car. They have other features on their car which are interesting too. We will be looking at them and we will be looking to see what we can do."

Whitmarsh reckoned his team needed to find a lap performance improvement of up to 0.25 seconds per race if it was to triumph in 2010.

"We know that we have to continue to try and develop the car by 0.125s to 0.25s per lap at every race," he said. "That is a second every four races.

"We need to be doing that. This championship is still very winnable and we will be focused and pushing hard on that inevitably as the weeks go by. Then we will start to concentrate a little bit more on next year's car but I think we will get that balance right."

Glock handed 10-place grid penalty

2010-07-25T10:51:00.000+01:00

Timo Glock has been handed a ten-place grid penalty for the German Grand Prix after his team fitted a new gearbox to his car before qualifying.

The German had qualified 20th for his home race but his team had been forced to change the gearbox after the final free practice session.

That change alone meant that Glock would start from the back of the grid, but his Virgin Racing team also fitted a different seventh gear ratio from the one declared on Friday - which means he will get an additional five-place penalty.

Glock's team-mate Lucas di Grassi is also set to be handed a penalty for a gearbox change that will be required tonight after problems he encountered in qualifying.

The FIA stewards also gave Mark Webber a reprimand after qualifying for exceeding the maximum permitted time between the two safety car lines on his qualifying lap that he had aborted following his first corner error.

"It was to do with my in-lap, after I made a mistake," said the Australian. "I was a little bit too slow between the two sector lines because I was letting people through as I didn't want to destroy anyone's laps."

Alonso surprised to match Red Bull

2010-07-25T10:50:00.000+01:00

A surprised Fernando Alonso said Ferrari had reason to be happy about its performance despite missing out on pole position for the German Grand Prix.

The Spaniard was beaten by Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel by just 0.002 seconds, the German denying the Maranello squad its first pole since the 2008 season.

Alonso was nonetheless delighted with the result, which he admits was a step forward for the Italian outfit.

"I think we have to be happy," said Alonso, who hadn't started from the front row since last year's Hungarian Grand Prix. "We are in the first row for the first time this season so that is definitely a step forward for us.

"We have been competitive all weekend, I'm very confident with the car. I was very happy with the car in Q1, Q2 and Q3.

"Finally we made a perfect Saturday. Obviously we lost pole position by a small margin, but the points are tomorrow not Saturday so we need to stay focused for tomorrow.

"The target is a good day tomorrow after a good day today. We'll try to score good points tomorrow."

The two-time champion said he was not expecting to be so close to Red Bull in Q3, the Milton Keynes team having dominated qualifying this season.

"No, not really," said Alonso. "We always expect the Red Bulls in Q3 to give something more. We saw this is very close in free practice but then in Q3 they are far away.

"We were surprised to be that close and finally fighting for a pole position after 10 races. It took a bit longer but now we are very close."

Team-mate Felipe Massa completed Ferrari's strongest qualifying of the year with third position.

"I think it was a good performance from us," said Massa. "It was a very tough qualifying. In Q3 I could not put all the sectors together.

"I am happy to be back in Q3 and more focused for the race tomorrow. I hope we can do a good job and score many points for the team and myself."

Glock hopes Virgin can worry Lotus

2010-07-25T10:49:00.000+01:00

Timo Glock thinks that Lotus may have to start worrying about the challenge from his Virgin Racing outfit once again judging by the success of recent updates added to his car.

Although Lotus said recently that its attention had shifted away from the contest between the new teams on to the fight with the established outfits, Glock reckons the battle of F1 rookies has been reignited once again.

And, after updates to the VR-01 helped him lead the new team contest on Friday in Hockenheim, and more tweaks scheduled to be fitted to his car before final free practice, Glock is more encouraged than ever about Virgin's form.

When asked about Lotus' recent claims that they had moved their attention away from worrying about the new team contest, Glock said: "Maybe they have to think about it again! Let's see.

"It is hard to say after a Friday about who is driving what engine, how old is the engine and just let's see how tomorrow goes.

"However, it is positive that we have two races now where we bring parts and they work. It is quite a nice step and I hope there is more to come.

"Nick [Wirth, technical director] is pushing for another big upgrade later in the season and that could bring us another step. And I hope now the time comes where we can concentrate only on bringing performance on the car."

Virgin Racing had one of its biggest updates of the season at the British Grand Prix and Glock thinks that finally the team is making the progress that he had hoped for when he joined.

"It is more positive, yes, definitely. It is going in the right direction," he said. "The one is Silverstone was quite a big one, which brought us quite close to Lotus.

"And now we have another three or four tenths which should theoretically bring us in front of them."

Hamilton praises team for repair effort

2010-07-25T10:48:00.000+01:00

Lewis Hamilton's Hockenheim practice crashLewis Hamilton said he felt both grateful to his McLaren team and a little guilty after his car was rebuilt following his morning practice crash at Hockenheim.

The Briton damaged both ends of his McLaren went he spun into the tyres in the wet first session, but was able to rejoin in time for the end of afternoon practice.

"The guys have done an incredible job," said Hamilton. "Obviously I damaged the car a lot this morning. I was a little bit upset with myself, just because when you see the guys working so hard putting the car together during the week - and then you get there and do only a few laps and then total the car...

"It was very, very slippery, and what was actually a relief was when I came back and they explained to me how it occurred - I hit the limiter and I shifted and spun the wheels, so had an oversteer moment, tried to correct it and didn't correct it well enough. When I was on the grass, I was just a passenger and pretty much took all four corners off.

"So a huge, huge amount of work for the guys, and they were just phenomenal. They did an awesome job."

Hamilton only managed 10 laps on a dry track after the repairs, but was glad to have gathered some data at least.

"Generally it felt good to get back in, and it's good to get back out and overcome the difficulty you had in the morning," he said. "At least I've got something to work on now."

But he admitted that in the circumstances he had little chance to get a feeling for McLaren's blown diffuser, which it has reintroduced this morning after an abortive debut in Britain.

"To be honest, I haven't really noticed a huge difference," he said of the car's handling with the new diffuser. "I felt something, but it wasn't like 'wow, this is huge'.

"There's potential there. For me, it feels very similar to what it did at Silverstone. But it's not bad. If we keep working on it, maybe it will be even better."

Christian Horner

2010-07-22T22:23:00.000+01:00

Red Bull Racing found itself at the centre of the main story at the British Grand Prix two weeks ago when a decision to hand Sebastian Vettel a new front wing erupted into a major favouritism row.

Arriving in Germany on Thursday, the Silverstone issue remained one of the major talking points in the paddock - although the team is confident that it has dealt with the situation to its satisfaction so that there is no lingering tension.

At Hockenheim, team principal Christian Horner spoke to a select group of media at length about the post-Silverstone fallout, explaining how his team will deal with repeat scenarios in the future and he also cast some fresh light on the build-up to the decision made before qualifying that caused such trouble.

Q. What are the lessons you've taken out of the events from the British Grand Prix?

Christian Horner: The main one is to turn the radio off after the race! No seriously, I think Silverstone, first of all, was a fantastic performance for the team. It was our second race win in a row, so to win at Silverstone is one of the big events and Mark [Webber] drove a brilliant race from start-to-finish.

Sebastian [Vettel] was unlucky with the touch at the first corner with Lewis, but then his recovery drive was equally impressive. There were a lot of positives to take out of the weekend and it was a shame that it was overshadowed too much as to whether Mark was going to be leaving us or not after the race. But that got quickly dealt with, and there is a real determination in the team to go out there and get the best result we can this weekend.

Q. Do you think that having the issue of favouritism blown back out into the public, and having been discussed openly this week, will actually prove to be a help in the long term – because there will be no tensions simmering away below the radar?

CH: Mark and I have known each other for a long time. We had a good discussion after the race. We had a good discussion between Adrian [Newey], myself and Mark after qualifying. We had a good chat, and Mark is a very straightforward guy to deal with. Not a lot of time was wasted on talking about the recriminations of Silverstone, whereas there was a lot of focus on the remaining nine races.

Q. Is the front wing back this weekend? And if so, how many have you got this weekend?

CH: The front wing is back this weekend. The plan is to run it this weekend and both drivers will have it tomorrow. Hopefully we will have enough to support both of them throughout the whole weekend.

Q. How many have you got? Two at the moment?

CH: We've got a little bit more than that...

Q. So, three then?

CH: …[Smiles]

Q. The main issue was your decision to give the wing to the championship leader. Was that something that should have been clearer heading into the weekend.

CH: It was a situation we didn't expect to find ourselves in. Basically, to revisit again the issue – the situation was quite clear.

After P3 both wings were deemed to have damage to them. Sebastian's wing was definitely un-runable and there was a suspected issue on Mark's wing after P3. So both cars were prepared with the previous front wing for qualifying.

Half an hour before the qualifying session it turned out that the wing that had run on Mark's car, the defect was not a material defect and the component was absolutely safe for purpose and Adrian was happy that we should run it. Therefore with only one component we had to decide pretty quickly as to which side of the garage it should go.

Both Adrian and I felt that the criteria of championship position was based on what they had done on track, and it seemed to be the fairest. That will be criteria that, should we find ourselves in the same position at any of the remaining races, we will use in the same circumstances.

Q. Was it ever considered not to run the new wing and to give both drivers the old one?

CH: Well, up until half an hour before qualifying both cars were set-up with the previous front wings. It was a very late-minute okay that was given to the one component – so it wasn't that the one wing was taken off Mark's car and put on to Sebastian's car. It was a question that neither wing was going to be available up until half an hour before qualifying – and then a decision had to be made that, once one of the components was deemed to be runable, a decision had to be made about which side of the garage is should go to.

Q. Did you consider tossing a coin?

CH: We did, but we felt that it wasn't very scientific. We discussed that, and at the end of the day we felt that championship position was what had been done on track and was the fairer criteria – and that was the criteria that we will stick with. At the end of the day, other teams have similar decisions to make, whether it is with a chassis with a big-enough fuel tank, whether it is fitting a car with a new exhaust on it, whether it is who runs an F-duct first. Those decisions have to be made up and down the pit lane and unfortunately this one got a little bit more air time than perhaps it warranted.

Q. So you can confirm that if the wing situation repeats itself and Mark is in a better position, he will get the wing?

CH: Yes. If the component fails through no reason of the driver - and let's not forget that it wasn't because Sebastian had smashed the wing, it was a component that failed – then the same rules will apply. But we will work very hard to hopefully not be in that unenviable situation again.

Q. Do you think from a marketing point of view, it is better to have Sebastian as a champion than Mark?

CH: No, absolutely not. Mr. [Dietrich] Mateschitz has always told me that he doesn't care whether he has the oldest or the youngest world champion – as long as it is in a Red Bull car. There is no internal or Red Bull preference to see one driver win over the other.

Q. McLaren is snapping at your heels. How do you see the battle progressing from here?

CH: I think we are approaching the business end of the championship now we have gone past the halfway point, and it is very tightly matched. We've won more races and they have accumulated more points and are ahead of us in both championships. So, we are the pursuer rather than the pursued. It is important that we get both the cars up the front, scoring as many points as possible. Some of the tracks will hopefully suit us and some of the tracks for sure will suit McLaren's strengths. And one must never underestimate Ferrari as well.

Q. What about Spa and Monza from an engine perspective?

CH: I think the middle section at Spa, we will be very strong!

Q. Are events like Silverstone and Turkey a distraction for you at a time you should be focused entirely on performance to try and nail the championship, rather than worrying about fighting fires?

CH: Istanbul was a racing accident at the end of the day. We saw one of those happen between Fernando [Alonso] and Felipe Massa on the first lap at Silverstone, but when you are running fifth and sixth it doesn't gain as much coverage as when you are racing for the lead of a grand prix. I think far too much was made of Silverstone and the team is very, very focused on the next nine races. It is important we do the best job we can. We have won five out of 10 races so far – 50 per cent of the races – which is a pretty impressive record. We only won six races in the whole of last year, and people forget how far the team has come in such a short space of time. For sure there are always lessons that can be learned, and perhaps our learning curve at times is slightly steeper than some of the other teams, but the passion, the commitment and the dedication that exists within the team is what has made the team, and continues to make the team, as strong as it is.

One of the ethics of Red Bull is freedom of expression, and perhaps we do that more than other teams – sometimes we get criticised for it, sometimes we get complimented for it. But, we do our best, as the drivers well know, to treat them with as much parity as we feasibly can.

Stanford is Williams manager again

2010-07-22T22:22:00.000+01:00

Former Williams team manager Dickie Stanford is to resume his old position from next month, with incumbent Tim Newton returning to a factory based position.

Stanford is present at the German Grand Prix to work alongside Newton, and he will do the same again at next weekend's race in Hungary before taking over full responsibility from the Belgian GP.

Newton, who has been team manager for five years, will become Williams' Production General Manager with direct responsibility for the race team.

Stanford is a Williams stalwart, and was team manager from 1994 until 2005 - when he took a factory role before returning to a track job as test team manager.

Thursday's press conference - Germany

2010-07-22T22:21:00.002+01:00

DRIVERS: Timo GLOCK (Virgin), Michael SCHUMACHER (Mercedes), Adrian SUTIL (Force India), Sebastian VETTEL (Red Bull), Mark WEBBER (Red Bull)

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q. For four of you it's your home race. Just a quick word on what it means to you. Your hopes and expectations. How much you enjoy it or maybe you don't enjoy it. Timo, your comments.

Timo GLOCK: Good to be back at Hockenheim again and I had a lot of good races here at Hockenheim, so really looking forward to it. I hope we have a smooth weekend and try to be in front of Lotus is our own target and we see.

Adrian SUTIL: It is very nice to be here. I like this circuit and it is a home grand prix, so for a German driver it is something special. I want to perform well. I like it. A lot of people come here, a lot of guests, a few people from my family as well, so it's nice. I will enjoy it definitely.

Sebastian VETTEL: I think it is always nice to be back home. For me and Timo we are very close from this area, so sorry for the weather first of all but it is nice to be here. We all know the circuit very well and driving in front of your home crowd is always something special. We saw it the last race at Silverstone. The people were cheering a lot for Jenson (Button) and Lewis (Hamilton), so it is a bit of the same for us here. We are enjoying it and we all want to do well. I think apart from Michael none of us has won his home race yet, so that is the target for this weekend.

Q. Michael, four times a winner here?

Michael SCHUMACHER: Yes.

Q. Your expectations and hopes? How much do you enjoy racing at home?

MS: I think it is different to what it has been in the past as we come here as a kind of German national team. We have our main factory about 100kms from here. We went over there yesterday, so lots of support, lots of expectation in a way. It is good to see that compared to the previous years, ticket sales have gone up and interest has gone up although it is not fully sold out, but still there is a nice influence from that side. We naturally hope to have a decent and good race weekend to satisfy our guys.

Q. Sebastian, you ran the Red Bull car in your home town last weekend. I was going to say is that the fastest you've ever been through the streets, but I won't ask that question. What was it like?

SV: It was great. It was in a 50kph zone in the city, so of course we didn't exceed the speed limit. It was crazy. The night before I was actually a bit nervous about how many people will come and watch us and then the day after it was sunny. It was a fantastic day and we had more than 120,000 people coming, so they had to block the motorway and it was absolutely crazy. I didn't see much of my old roads I used to go to school or the swimming pool or whatsoever as it was full of people. But it was very nice and I think we put on a good show. We also had a DTM car there and a guy with a motorbike, so all in all I think it was a great package and a lot of people came, so I hope they will make it as well this weekend. On Sunday I think it should be dry, so it will be nice.

Q. A lot has happened at Red Bull since the last grand prix. Have you now set the re-set button between you and Mark? Are you now back to normal?

SV: Well, I think as far as I understood if you said to Red Bull I think we are still selling cans, so not much has happened in that regard. A lot of talk and a lot of press but the most important thing you need to understand is that it doesn't matter who wins the race. In the end we are a team and Red Bull Racing won the race on the Sunday. Mark did, so it was a great result. For some reason, or unfortunately, we didn't get a lot of positive feedback. We know where the focus is. It is surely on this race and nowhere else. The team is motivated as ever, so the most important is the atmosphere within the team and for us it doesn't get affected by what is being said or written.

Q. Mark, your thoughts?

Mark WEBBER: Yeah, it wasn't a huge drama at the last race. Obviously there was a little bit of stuff here and there but first of all Sebastian did absolutely nothing wrong with me at the last event. That is totally obvious. Seb did what he did and had an incident at the first corner which was bloody unlucky for him. It can happen to any of us and the race from my side went okay with a great team effort. Unfortunately we didn't get a one-two which we were more than capable of doing. The team is ready to go forward. We are both competitive and it is only natural the media and everyone wants to wind up a nice rivalry between whoever it is, but Seb and I are naturally going about our jobs. What we have in common is that we work for the same team, have the same passion and the same drive to get the same result and there is nothing wrong with that, so we are fine and the team is learning here and there along the way but it is a healthy learning. We are in a sensational position. Two years ago the team was not doing this type of results. Now we are and we are taking on the best teams in the pit lane, so it is an absolute credit to us and we are looking to continue that.

Q. Mark, you have had something like five lock-outs of the front row of the grid, yet not one of those has been converted to a one-two in the race. Is that part of the learning curve?

MW: Yes, it is but also there is an element of people saying we should be 5000 points in the lead. I don't really think we should be for many reasons. Seb had a couple of victories taken away from him at the start of the year but also if you look in Turkey we were not fast enough. We had an incident on the track but we were not fast enough in the grand prix. Canada, we had a different tyre strategy there for qualifying and as the race turned out that was the result we deserved. We are not taking credit away from what other people are doing. At the end of the day there have been some calls from Jenson from the cockpit, a few great victories there and that's how it has been. We look to capitalize on some of those qualifying positions in the future but there is no points given on a Saturday. We know that and we are looking to do better. It's not like it's a no-brainer on Sunday afternoon and we just drive off the front row and disappear. We have got some work to do and that is evident as you can see by the points..

Q. Timo, first of all, your aims and the team's concentration at the moment. Is it looking towards Lotus? What sort of performance are you still putting on the car? Where are the priorities now for you?

TG: I think Silverstone showed the aero update worked quite well and we had, I would say, a second aero update in Silverstone. It doesn't show in the results as we are still in the same position but we were much closer to Lotus. We could race against them in Silverstone and for here we should have another little update in terms of an aero package which will bring us another little step forward again, so that's positive. It goes in the right direction. The first half of the year was tough to sort out all the problems but now it is becoming a more focussed direction in putting performance on the car.

Q. Adrian, what is affecting Force India at the moment? It seems to be very much up and down. Sometimes you qualify and race really well and other times it doesn't go so well.

AS: I don't think it is up and down to be honest. I am very consistent in the points and I think the only driver who has scored points in every race since Barcelona, so it is a very consistent team and good performance of the car. Sometimes it is very close to go into Q3, sometimes it is enough but it is just a very close competition to go into Q3. Williams did a little upgrade on their cars and they are much stronger. Also Sauber did a good step forward. We are not struggling, no. We have to optimise everything a little bit better. We lost out in qualifying in the last two races in my opinion as we could not use our tyres in the best way. But there are all reasons behind that and everything is going well and we should be able here to get another good result, another good points' finish. The car is strong enough.

Q. Michael, do you feel you are being unfairly treated by the media who are perhaps expecting too much from you or are you perfectly happy with your own performance?

MS: No, perfectly happy with my own performance is probably wrong to say. But put it this way. Yes, there is an expectation out there which I think you have to be realistic that it is impossible to meet. I am away three years and just to come back and start exactly where I finished with maybe a car that doesn't allow me to right now is probably unrealistic. I am not a magician either. It just needs time. I take that time. I enjoy most of all this process. There were some set-backs and moments where you would, obviously, be a little bit angry. But, in general, that is what it is about. There are ups and downs and that is the excitement of motor sport. I know the final target where I want to go and I am very confident I can achieve this. That is what I am working for and what I am focussing on. There is the sportive side and there is the entertainment side of this whole circus. You just have to accept and see it is just part of that situation and do not bother too much about it.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q. (Walter Koster - Saarbrücker Zeitung) Mark, did you already have in the past such a situation like in this season with another team principal or team-mate?

MW: Frank (Williams) and Patrick (Head) were sometimes not that easy but look it is normal. It was a situation that happened which was very unusual. As I said already, I don't have any problems with Sebastian. What happened at Silverstone was nothing of Sebastian's doing. I had some discussions with Christian (Horner) over the weekend. He is running the team and we learn and we go forward. There is always unexpected things throughout any driver's career. As Michael just said there are new challengers for him right now and lots of little hurdles along the way. You are dreaming if you think it is always going to be straight up.

Q. (Tobias Holtkamp – Bild) Michael, which of the two guys sitting next to you will be World Champion at the end of this season? Who are you crossing your fingers for?

MS: First of all, it's obviously clear that both of the guys to the left and right of me have a very good package and a very good possibility to fight and win the championship, but you probably don't have to forget the McLaren drivers, that they're still in the picture. I don't think it's finished yet, but naturally you sort of get the feelings of your national heart coming up and therefore you sort of have a German tendency. I'm sorry Mark but I guess that's normal.

Q. (Marc Surer – Sky Deutschland) Michael, I know your car is very sensitive on compounds. Here we have the softest and hardest of Bridgestone's compounds. Does that worry you?

MS: No, not really. I think we actually have much more of a problem with inconsistent behaviour on the same compound. As a clear example, again in some of the races, I go out with the same tyre and suddenly I'm half a second quicker or half a second slower and I've done nothing differently, but the result is there and it's not happened only to us, it's happening up and down the pit lane every so often and it's a little bit difficult to understand.

Q. (Udo Döring – Darmstädter Echo) Sebastian, during the days after Heppenheim, has it kind of been like being on cloud number nine with this great support in your home town? And yesterday, you couldn't play soccer; was it a serious injury?

SV: It's nothing. I can still walk but to play soccer or to play football would probably have been a bit too risky, so that's why I had to cancel. I had a bit of an incident at the beginning of the week, nothing big, but it didn't allow me to play football yesterday. Yeah, I was back home and obviously it settles down. First of all you need to understand what happened. It was a very special day, the Sunday, and as I said, a lot of people – I've never seen it that busy there. All in all, it was just a fantastic day. We started off very early in the morning in the old town, the old party of the city. It takes a while to settle, as I said. It might still be difficult to understand that so many people came to see us but it was a very, very nice day.

Q. (Jonathan Legard – BBC Sport) Michael, as someone who is well versed in winning championships, what are the ingredients that are needed to win a championship, particularly when you are opposing your team-mate, who is very challenging? What factors are there which are crucial to winning a title?

MS: I don't think I can give the answer you're looking for in mentioning one particular part, because it's like a detailed or small piece or puzzle of the big picture. You have to have all those little bits together to finally do it.

Q. (Jonathan Legard – BBC Sport) You talked how you were still very confident in yourself about achieving what you want to do. Has that confidence been knocked at all, because it's taken you longer than you thought it might have done to achieve something in your first year back?

MS: Naturally you wish to go straight ahead with this, thinking, before I was finally able to drive the car, where we'd been last year with the team. You sort of think that there might be a possibility to continue on from there, but then it's easy and clear enough to understand why that is and was not possible. That's about it. You just understand and realise the situation and work from there on.

Q. (Alan Baldwin – Reuters) Sebastian, sorry if I've missed something but perhaps you could just clarify this incident with your leg that you had at the beginning of the week?

SV: I fell down when I was running. Nothing special but I had a bit of a hyper-extension of the muscle on the leg, nothing big. I can walk, it's not a disaster.

Q. (Gary Chappell – The Daily Express) Mark, 'not bad for a number two driver'. You're above Sebastian in the standings now. Should you win on Sunday, what will be your cry over the team radio this time?

MW: I think it would be like it normally is, it's a great team effort. It was said in the heat of the moment at Silverstone and that's what was said but we're both treated very equally in the team and as I said at the time, I would never have continued in that situation. That's why I am continuing, so technically the cars are to give both of us a really fair crack and I'm looking forward to trying to have that big problem on Sunday if I can, to work out what I might say.

Q. (Byron Young – The Daily Mirror) Seb, I'm sure you're not too young to have watched Michael win some of his World Championships. What did you learn from what you saw when you watched when he was competing and when he won World Championships?

SV: Many things. I think from great champions there are always a lot of things you can learn, and also if you look outside the table of Formula One, if you look at others sports - tennis, golf – there are great players, great individuals. They're probably all talented but then there are one or two popping out, like probably at the moment Roger Federer and Nadal in tennis. What did I learn from Michael? I think you just need to listen to what he says. Obviously in the past I was watching mainly, like he said even now. Obviously he himself knows best which situation he is in at the moment. Obviously there are a lot of expectations from the outside but it's part of being a great champion, being wise enough to know what you have to focus on. As he said, there are always two worlds: one is the entertainment and one is the sporting side. I think we clearly understood that he is focussing more on the sporting side and trying to come back and win races again. I could give you many examples but I think that was the lesson of the last ten minutes, I guess.

Q. (Gary Chappell – The Daily Express) Michael, how different is it for you now, coming back to your home race and not being the dominant driver and not actually being the dominant German driver?

MS: It probably evolves into the same answer that I sort of mentioned before, because it is very clear that we are not in the position to come here and win the race, because as a package, we are not yet strong enough to do so. But, for us, we fight for our possibilities of results and if we could manage a podium, that would be a great and a fantastic result for us, for the fans, for our supporters, and that's what we're aiming for.

Q. (Sarah Holt – BBC Sport) Michael, you spoke about your final target that you had in your mind. Can you categorically confirm that you will be driving for Mercedes in 2011, and in which case what is your final...

MS: Yes!

Q. (Sarah Holt – BBC Sport) And in which case what is your final target for that season?

MS: For this or next season?

Q. (Sarah Holt – BBC Sport) Next.

MS: It's what I mentioned the day that I officially publicised that I was rejoining Formula One and it is to win another title, that's our aim, that's what my focus is and that's what I'm here for. Very clearly.

Q. (Gary Chappell – The Daily Express) On that point, Norbert Haug says that next season you're going out to win the title. You will be another year older. What will actually change then?

MS: I don't know of anything other than becoming even wiser.

Q. (Byron Young – The Daily Mirror) I just wanted to ask Mark what the reception has been like here from the fans? Is there any sense that you're the rival to their local hero?

SV: No, I think it's been a very good reception so far. I think motor sport here in Germany has a huge following. I think there's a lot of guys who obviously followed Michael in his day, and now there's fresh blood, fresh talent, more people on the grid because of what Michael achieved, so they have a better knowledge of the sport, I suppose. They know there's a bit of bullshit here and there which comes with the sport, and I suppose they like to watch the racing unfold. I drove for Mercedes Benz here, I did a lot of testing here with the sports car, so I have a little bit of a feeling for the guys. Obviously I'm not German but in terms of I have a feeling for how they follow their motor sport, so it's a good time for me to drive here, at that part of my career as well.

Q. (Byron Young – The Daily Mirror) Mark, is there a psychological advantage to winning this race, beating Seb, assuming the two of you are at the front and battling for victory, is there a psychological advantage to winning this race?

MW: Not all the drivers on the grid have the luxury of having a home race, so the guys here do. Obviously I have an Australian race, there's the British Grand Prix. I think last year we all shared the victories around. I think Jenson won my race, I won his race, and Seb won someone else's race, and I won Rubens' race, so it was always moving around. It is a unique thing, obviously, to win your home race and of course it would be right up there with Sebastian's highlights to try and do that, so it's a slightly different event in many ways. Also, on the other side of the coin, it's another 25 points, it's a normal grand prix. It maybe has a little bit more emotion around it for the German drivers. It doesn't mean anything more special to me to win here, so psychologically it doesn't do anything for me, but for the home drivers it's a nice place to win.

Alguersuari boosted by new STR deal

2010-07-22T22:20:00.002+01:00

Jamie Alguersuari says his confidence has been boosted after securing a deal to stay at the Toro Rosso team next year.

The Faenza-based squad announced last week that both Alguersuari and team-mate Sebastien Buemi would be retained in 2011.

The deal means the Spanish driver will stay on with Toro Rosso for a third season, although he suggested things could change until the end of the year.

"I think it's a good motivation thing," Alguersuari told AUTOSPORT ahead of the German Grand Prix. "It's good for the confidence, but there's 10 races to go so a lot of things can happen from there until the end of the season, in the good or in the bad side.

"I'm happy that there is a team interested in me for next year, which is Toro Rosso and the Red Bull family, and this is always good for me, because I've always worked very close with Red Bull since I was 15 years old.

"But as I said there are still 10 races to go and a lot of things can happen."

The 20-year-old, who made his F1 debut with the team in the latter part of last season, is hoping last year's experience will help him perform better in the upcoming races on circuits he knows.

"I'm still getting up to speed especially when I go to new tracks," he said. "I expect a lot from the second half of the season because I know the tracks from last year, and it will be the time to show where I can be.

"I expect a lot from the team because it's been four races we haven't had any upgrades, and I expect a lot also from my side, especially to be consistently in the points at the end of the year."

Alguersuari also said Toro Rosso must stay realistic about its prospects given the resources it has compared to other teams.

"I think we have a really competitive car. I think we have a really good car," he added. "The problem is that the other teams develop more than us. We have to be realistic. Williams and Force India are better teams than us. They progressed better than us, they developed the car better than us and that's the reality for the moment.

"We have a really good car. The problem is that the development is a bit slow because we don't have the structures the other teams have. We need to be realistic and know that it's getting better towards the end of the year, and it will be a much better car, I'm convinced."

Barrichello: Tunnel used better now

2010-07-22T22:19:00.000+01:00

Rubens Barrichello says Williams's strong results in Valencia and Silverstone can be traced to improvements in the way the team uses its wind tunnel.

The Brazilian finished fourth in the European Grand Prix and then followed that up with a competitive fifth in the British GP two weeks ago.

The Brazilian veteran believes that improved communication between the drivers and the team's wind tunnel staff has meant a recalibration in the kinds of improvements the facility is being tasked to develop.

"The tunnel was giving us 'A', and we were getting 'A', but that was not necessarily the best thing. Rather it was what I needed [to feel] from the car that we needed to develop from the tunnel," he explained. "The tunnel can find downforce in a straightline, but nowadays it is important to find it in the corners also. So a better translation of [the information] we had is how we got better.

"It's a normal process, you cannot just come in to a team, bang on the table and say that is the way it is done," he added. "Tunnels work differently - it's not like 'You won at Ferrari, you won at Brawn, and it's because of this'. It's because the whole thing gets shaped until you get it to a place where you are happy. The team is starting to work on a good level."

Barrichello, speaking prior to the German GP at Hockenheim, had already alluded to the process at Silverstone where he said: "It doesn't matter if the wind tunnel is saying it's better, if it's not better on the track then we need to change that.

"And that was a good way because right now the tunnel is reading a bit more towards what the drivers are saying and we are working on that, so that's why we have seen some improvements since Istanbul."

The 38-year-old also said that it was too early to assess whether the FW32 would be consistently competitive from now on, but reckoned that Silverstone, Hockenheim and the Hungaroring would provide the acid test.

"It is true that if a car goes well at Silverstone it can go well at some other tracks but this year the bumps changed the whole attitude of the car. At the end of the day, it is important that you don't go 'wow; because it goes well on one track.

"It needs to go well on different tracks and in between Silverstone, Budapest and Hockenheim we have very different tracks. So this will be a good test for the car.

"We are still keeping our feet on the ground and keeping for Q3 here and some good points in the race," he added. "Obviously we want to visit the podium this year.

"It's being going quite well. Silverstone was not as good a position as Valencia, but I think it was as good a race. If it wasn't for those safety cars in Valencia we would have finished seventh or eighth, and in Silverstone we finished fifth but that would have been sixth if Alonso didn't get a penalty.

"I think it is improving, it is going okay. We still don't have the car that we wish to have, but I like it."

Hartley not giving up on F1 ambitions

2010-07-22T11:50:00.000+01:00

Brendon Hartley says he intends to fight to keep his Formula 1 ambitions alive after being dropped from the Red Bull Junior programme, according to a report in this week's AUTOSPORT magazine.

The 20-year-old New Zealander had combined his reserve and test driver duties for the energy drink company's F1 team with a race seat with Tech 1 in Formula Renault 3.5 - which may now be taken up by British Formula 3 championship leader Jean-Eric Vergne.

"The F1 dream is still there and I'm going to fight for it," Hartley told AUTOSPORT. "Perhaps this is a wake-up. The last year hasn't gone well, so a change of environment could be good for me."

Hartley joined the Red Bull programme in 2006 and won the Formula Renault Eurocup the following year.

His best results this season were a second place at Brno and two fastest laps, though he could have won at Spa but for a mechanical failure.

Hartley added that while he was disappointed he was grateful to Red Bull for the help he had received in his career: "I want to get across that they have given me a lot and I'm not bitter."

Monaco responds to Ecclestone

2010-07-22T11:49:00.002+01:00

Monaco Grand Prix organisers have said they are unmoved by comments from Bernie Ecclestone suggesting Formula 1 could do 'without' the blue riband event, after confirming that talks are ongoing about a new deal.

Ecclestone's comments last week that F1 could survive without Monaco because the event did not 'pay enough' drew widespread media coverage - even though such throwaway remarks are a standard tactic used by the sport's commercial boss to raise the stakes during contract talks.

The story where the comments were made also made it clear that Ecclestone did not expect the event to the dropped.

The Automobile Club de Monaco has responded to the media storm with a statement stating it has no need to get dragged into a war of words – and will await the completion of its contractual discussions before making any announcement about future plans.

"The Automobile Club de Monaco does not wish to comment on the statement given by Mr. Ecclestone relating to the future of the Monaco Formula 1 grand prix," said a statement on the ACM's official website.

"Assuming that this information is verified by Mr. Ecclestone and the media where it was reported, one must still understand the context under which such sentiments were made.

"The reality is much simpler: a negotiation is ongoing between the Automobile Club de Monaco and Formula One Management.

"In time, the Automobile Club will not fail to communicate the signing of an agreemen

Korean track set for August completion

2010-07-22T11:48:00.002+01:00

Korean Grand Prix organisers say their Formula 1 circuit remains on course to be finished in August following a visit by FIA race director Charlie Whiting last week.

Although the asphalt has yet to be laid at the Korea International Circuit, Whiting was able to inspect construction progress at the venue - including the completed race control tower, main grandstand, and pit garages.

A statement issued by the Korean organisers said that Whiting was satisfied with the state of progress, with his next inspection due for the end of August.

Race chief Yung Cho Chung said: "[We] welcomed Charlie Whiting for a site inspection of the Korea International Circuit, as well as for meetings relating to our preparations for the Formula 1 Korean Grand Prix.

"As anticipated, we had a successful visit and we are confident the drivers, teams and Formula 1 fans will enjoy the Korea International Circuit."

Unhappy Massa expects to improve

2010-07-22T11:47:00.002+01:00

Felipe Massa says he is far from happy with his season so far, but believes that recent improvements to the Ferrari will help him move up the grid.

The Brazilian began the year brightly with podium finishes in Bahrain and Australia and briefly held the championship lead.

However since then he has finished in the top six only twice and has slipped to eighth in the world championship - over 30 points behind his team-mate Fernando Alonso.

"For sure I'm not happy," said Massa. "The beginning of the season was not like I expected. The first two races were okay, we did two podiums, and then we didn't have good races, especially in the last three.

"When you have three races in a row where something happens in the race and you cannot score points, and you go from being in a good position to suddenly last because something has happened, these things are not nice.

"It was the case in Canada because of the accident at the first corner, and in Valencia because of the safety car, and at Silverstone because I had a tyre issue and went from fifth to completely last."

Massa believes that recent exhaust upgrades to the Ferrari have already helped the team close in on the pace setting Red Bulls and McLarens.

"I would say in the last two races, we brought some new parts on the car which I think was a good improvement," he added.

"Compared to the previous races I think we made a step forward and we had a competitive car. I think it is important to keep your motivation that the car is growing [in pace], and hope that for the next race we have an even better car.

"I think it gives even more motivation to keep pushing and looking for a good result in the next race."

Tyres tipped to spice up Hockenheim

2010-07-22T11:46:00.002+01:00

The German Grand Prix could be spiced up by Bridgestone's decision to allocate super soft and hard tyre compounds, according to Williams technical director Sam Michael.

Bridgestone has opted to supply its softest and hardest tyres for the race in the hope of creating a more exciting contest. Tyre degradation played a key role in making the Canadian Grand Prix a multi-stop, and therefore unpredictable, race and there is hope that the German GP could produce a similar spectacle.

"It will be good for the racing," Michael told AUTOSPORT. "It's possible that there will be more than one pitstop. We've seen that happen at other tracks, so it could definitely happen.

"It has got the potential to throw things up in the air. It's a long time since we've seen tyre blistering on the Bridgestones, so that's probably not going to happen, but it's going to be interesting."

Michael added that the capacity to make differing strategies work is key to making the races more unpredictable.

He pointed to the long first stints on prime tyres that several drivers used to good effect at last week's British Grand Prix as an example of how strategic alternatives can influence the results.

"That's what was good about Silverstone; you could make something different work, which is what Jenson Button and Nico Hulkenberg did. That's pretty rare though. I'm not sure that's going to happen again."

Vettel: Home GP no extra pressure

2010-07-22T11:45:00.002+01:00

Sebastian Vettel is confident that his home crowd will not put any extra pressure on him in this weekend's German Grand Prix.

The 23-year-old has yet to win a grand prix on home soil, but is hopeful that the support of the fans will give him an extra performance boost.

"The fact that the next race is my home grand prix doesn't give me any extra pressure," he told AUTOSPORT. "If anything, it's extra motivation so maybe I can squeeze an extra tenth or two out of myself and the car simply because of that support.

"We have a strong car and should be able to put a good show on. If it's your home grand prix and you have so many people cheering for you, it's something you will always remember."

Vettel added that he expects a similar atmosphere to that experienced by the British drivers at Silverstone two weeks ago, where a race day crowd of 115,000 turned out to back Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button.

"I hope we can have at least as good an atmosphere as there was at Silverstone," he said. "You look forward to your home grand prix, but what you like to see is that the people around the track are enjoying it and being passionate.

"There are some races that have something special about them and hopefully plenty of people should come to Hockenheim."

Alonso: Ferrari fired up by tough races

2010-07-22T11:38:00.002+01:00

Fernando Alonso says Ferrari has become even more focused and determined to get back on top following its recent run of poor results.

Despite producing improved pace in the last three grands prix, Ferrari only has Alonso's third place in Canada to show for its gains, having been compromised by the safety car timing in Valencia and a penalty for Alonso in Britain.

That lack of points has seen Alonso slip to fifth in the standings, 47 points behind leader Lewis Hamilton at the season's halfway point. But he said far from being downcast, Ferrari had been fired up by its misfortunes and would come back even stronger as a result.

"I've been in Maranello four days last week working with the team," Alonso said in a video interview for Ferrari's website.

"Overall I felt a very good atmosphere in the team. All the guys in Maranello are very, very focused on fighting for this championship.

"After these two bad races people are even more motivated than before because they feel we deserve a good race finally."

The Spaniard declared after Silverstone that he was still confident he could win the title, and he thinks that three good races could change everything.

"We saw this year if you have two or three bad races or two or three good races, it can change the picture of the championship completely," Alonso said.

"We arrive [in Germany] after two bad races with not many points. I think before long we will arrive at a good moment. We need to take the maximum from our car, do two or three podiums in a row, and I'm sure with the new points system we can be in the fight for the championship very soon."

Alonso was buoyed by the fact that Ferrari's upgrades worked well on both the Valencia street track and Silverstone's fast sweeps - suggesting its improved car can be a factor everywhere.

"I think the performance of the car at Silverstone was very, very good - a good surprise for us," he said. "The performance of the car in Valencia was very good, so two different circuits and the performance of the car was good enough to be fighting for a good position on the podium.

"So I think for the remaining races we are very optimistic. We are bringing some new developments on the car in the coming races as well, so we will not stop. We will fight until it isn't possible."

Di Resta to sit out Hockenheim practice

2010-07-22T11:37:00.005+01:00

Force India has announced that it will not run Paul di Resta in Friday practice at Hockenheim due to Bridgestone's tyre strategy for the event.

Test driver di Resta is taking part in the majority of Friday morning sessions at grands prix this year in place of one of Force India's race drivers, but the team has decided that Adrian Sutil and Tonio Liuzzi need to get maximum mileage on this weekend's tyres so di Resta will step down.

In response to the praise it received for the Canadian Grand Prix, where the large disparity in performance between its two tyre compounds led to a highly entertaining race, Bridgestone is bringing its super-soft and hard tyres to Germany. Its usual tyre choices for each race are just one step apart in its range, as opposed to the two steps' difference between its Hockenheim selection.

Di Resta said he fully understood why he would not be running this weekend.

"It's a shame but I completely understand the decision," he said. "In Hockenheim Bridgestone are bringing two tyre compounds that are two steps apart - the super-soft and the hard - rather than just the one step as usual, so the drivers and the engineers need to understand the performance fully.

"It's a decision that's been taken relatively late but it's better to err on the side of caution at such a crucial stage in the season. The team is performing well but other teams are also making steps forward so we need to have as much information as possible to get every performance advantage we can.

"Hockenheim is a track I know well from the DTM and I was looking forward to getting out there in the F1 car, but it's a team effort and I am sure I can put some of the knowledge I have back into the overall weekend."

The Scot will still attend Hockenheim as part of the team, and will drive again in Hungaroring practice a week later.

"I'll be back in the car in Hungary, replacing Tonio for FP1, so I'll resume my running there," said di Resta. "In the meantime I'll join in the programme as usual - help out with meetings, on the pitwall and pick up as much information as I can. At this stage everything is part of the learning process."

Villeneuve confirms Durango tie-up

2010-07-22T11:37:00.002+01:00

Jacques Villeneuve has confirmed that he has partnered with Italian outfit Durango in his bid to return to Formula 1 as a team owner.

Amid a string of rumours about Villeneuve's plans, potential backers and partners, he issued a statement acknowledging that reports in Italy of a Durango tie-up were true, but attempting to quash any further speculation about the project.

"There are a number of rumours circulating at the moment and I wanted to clarify a few things before this gets out of hand," said Villeneuve.

"The team will be a joint venture with Durango, and based out of Italy. To be clear, right now all the money comes from corporate sponsorship, and not from personal investors."

Durango announced its intention to apply for a 2011 F1 entry earlier this year. The team had withdrawn from GP2 due to funding issues and said it had attracted backers more interested in an F1 bid than the feeder series. It has spent this season racing in the new Auto GP category.

Villeneuve last raced in F1 in mid-2006 with BMW Sauber, but had been set for a return with Stefan GP this season had the Serbian squad received an entry. He has since returned to NASCAR and will attempt to qualify for this weekend's Sprint Cup race at Indianapolis.

McLaren 'not behind' with development

2010-07-22T11:36:00.000+01:00

McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh is adamant that his team has not fallen behind in the development race despite having to delay the introduction of the blown rear diffuser.

The British squad had a big update scheduled for the British Grand Prix, but was forced to remove the blown diffuser after hitting trouble with it during Friday's practice sessions.

Both qualifying and the race were dominated by Red Bull's drivers, with Mark Webber taking a commanding win ahead of Lewis Hamilton.

Although the team has been unable to race with the diffuser, Whitmarsh says McLaren is still very much on par with its rivals in terms of development.

"I'm not sure we've been behind in the development race - I think we've had a car that's been capable of winning races," said Whitmarsh on Tuesday during a phone-in. "You need to be reliable and quick enough to win races.

"I think we've had both of those things generally. It's always nice to be quicker, it's always nice to be more reliable, but I think we're in a reasonable position - but we know that we've got to continue to development the car if we're going to win the championships this year."

Despite the problems at Silverstone, Whitmarsh is optimistic that the device will be raced this weekend in Germany.

"You can't be entirely confident, but I think we go into Hockenheim with more information," he said. "We've made some modifications in the light of that data and we will be running the blown diffuser on Friday.

"I suspect we'll have it on for the weekend, but we'll make the call in the light of the data on Friday evening."

He also said that having one car with the diffuser and one without it was not possibility McLaren was considering at the moment.

"We're working at the moment on the premise that we'll have blown diffusers on both cars to start with," he added. "At Silverstone Lewis wanted to keep the blown diffuser on on Friday night, but we took the decision there to switch them both back to the older diffuser.

"If there was a preference from one side of the garage to the other - and if I can, we'll avoid that - we'll do it if we think it's the right way to perform during the course of that weekend.

"There are advantages, as you can imagine, to running one car in one configuration, one in the other - provided that in so doing, you don't end up, rightly or wrongly, accused of treating the two drivers differently."

Whitmarsh, whose team is leading both championships after the halfway point of the season, admitted it was still too early to write off teams like Ferrari from the championship fight, despite the lack of results from the Italian squad in recent races.

"I'd love to believe that, but experience has told me that you can't write them off. Ferrari are a strong team, they're technical capable, have fantastic resources and they've got one former world champion and one other top-flight driver and Mercedes-Benz similarly have got one former multiple world champion and a very good driver in Nico [Rosberg].

"So I think it's too early to write them off. We need to improve our car and do as good a job as we can do. Red Bull clearly are the principle challenge at the moment, but I don't dismiss the others."

Fauzy gets Hockenheim outing

2010-07-22T11:33:00.002+01:00

The Lotus team has confirmed that third driver Fairuz Fauzy will be back at the wheel of its car in the German Grand Prix this weekend.

The Malaysian had only been confirmed for the British, Hungarian, Singapore and Abu Dhabi Grands Prix, but will get another outing in Germany after mechanical problems cut his running short at Silverstone.

Team boss Tony Fernandes said: "It's an exciting day for all of us in the Lotus Racing team - being able to tell Fairuz he has another Friday run a week before he thought he'd be back in the car is a great way to start the week, and we all know he'll deliver for us, both on track and in the feedback he'll provide the team.

"He's an inspiration to young drivers around the world, proving that being determined to make your dreams come true can make very exciting things happen!"

Germany preview quotes: Bridgestone

2010-07-22T11:32:00.003+01:00

Hiroshi Yasukawa - Director of Bridgestone Motorsport: "Germany is one of the biggest and most important automotive markets in Europe, so it is imperative that Bridgestone has a strong presence here. It is interesting for us to alternate between races at Nurburgring and Hockenheim. Our local market works hard in Germany and our tyres have received many accolades in this market. We have recently seen a significant increase in the television audience figures as there are several German drivers this year, and of course the return of Michael Schumacher has had a positive impact. I am also interested to see the effects of bringing the hard and super soft compounds to this race."

Hirohide Hamashima - Bridgestone Director of Motorsport Tyre Development: "This will be the first time that we have raced at Hockenheim with slicks since 1997, and the circuit configuration then was very different. The circuit layout features a long left hander before the hairpin where it is important to have good stability. After the hairpin, there are strong traction demands on the rear tyres. Elsewhere, a good overall balance is required. We have a unique opportunity with the nature of the Hockenheim circuit allowing us to bring the softest and the hardest tyres from our range. This should provide a challenge for everyone and should be interesting. The weather will play a factor too. If it is hot then the super soft will be a challenge to manage for stability and durability. If it is cold then ensuring the hard is in its temperature operating window will be a tough task."

Teams hopeful of logo-dispute solution

2010-07-22T11:32:00.000+01:00

McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh remains hopeful that a solution can be found to the ongoing row over sponsors' logos being displayed in the pits and paddock.

Pressure has been put on teams by Allsport, which owns all trackside advertising, to remove sponsors' logos from the garages and prominent areas in the paddock.

The dispute stepped up a gear at Silverstone when teams were also asked to remove the tractor units of their team trucks because they were showing sponsors' logos too prominently.

Although no solution was found to the dispute at Silverstone, despite several conversations between the teams, Bernie Ecclestone, and Allsport, Whitmarsh is hopeful that the matter will not drag on too much longer.

"There is a difference of opinion," said Whitmarsh when asked by AUTOSPORT about the situation. "Everyone has taken a pretty sensible view on it. We all know that we have to find an accommodation, and you are not always going to agree.

"I think that the teams feel that what they have doing is fairly reasonable, but I think we also have to respect that FOM is out there trying to sell circuit signage. And it is in our interests that FOM does the best job it can."

When asked to confirm whether it was true teams had been asked to remove sponsor logos from their garages, Whitmarsh said: "There was a request. We spoke not with Bernie but the APM organisation (Allsport parent company Allsopp Parker & Marsh)

"We don't have a contractual relationship with APM. We spoke to Bernie on Friday and we said: 'Look let's find a solution and compromise.' But I don't think anyone changed anything."

It is not clear whether or not teams will be requested to remove their tractor units from their trucks again at Hockenheim this weekend, but Whitmarsh was adamant that the paddock looked much worse without them.

"I've told Bernie that," he said. "I think that the majority of these trucks are designed to have tractor units. The tractor units are pretty smart and look pretty impressive lined up.

"I also think it adds commercial value to some of those people supplying those units. So I said to Bernie - 1) go down there and look because personally I think it looks a lot worse without it, and 2) particularly for the small teams, they will find themselves having to pay a lot more for tractor units in the future if they cannot have them on display in an impressive way in the paddock."

Sources have suggested that the dispute over the display of sponsors' logos is the first salvo in what is likely to be tough negotiations between the teams and Ecclestone for a new Concorde Agreement, the document by which F1 is run.

A new deal is due to be signed for the start of the 2013, and teams are likely to demand more of a share of the revenue that they get at the moment - something Ecclestone will not be too keen for.

Domenicali: No one giving up at Ferrari

2010-07-22T11:31:00.000+01:00

Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali has issued a rallying call to his staff - telling them to either believe the Maranello outfit can still win the title this year, or quit their jobs.

Although Ferrari's title challenge has been dented by events outside of its control in the European and British Grands Prix, the team reckons that there is still everything to play for.

And with Fernando Alonso adamant after Silverstone – where a drive-through penalty for overtaking off the track cost him a points-scoring finish – that he 'will' win the title, Domenicali is equally optimistic.

Speaking at the weekend after a meeting of Ferrari's senior management, Domenicali said: "Anyone who does not believe that we can win the world championship would do better looking for another job.

"No one here is giving up: there are still nine races to go and anything can happen. We will have to do our job perfectly, that is to say the Ferrari way and then the results will come."

Buemi says he will stay at Toro Rosso

2010-07-22T11:29:00.002+01:00

Sebastien Buemi says there are no doubts that he will be at Scuderia Toro Rosso next season - despite saying late last week that he had not signed a contract.

Toro Rosso team principal Franz Tost announced last week that the outfit would be retaining both Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari for 2010 – although Buemi was later quoted as saying that he had not sorted out a contract.

However, during a mid-summer party at Toro Rosso's Faenza factory at the weekend, Buemi has said that he will definitely be at the outfit again.

"I have been with Red Bull for almost all my motor sport career and I am under contract with them for the foreseeable future, starting with next year," he said.

"And if I haven't signed anything, that's because there is nothing to sign! I am very happy where I am and well aware that I would not be here without Red Bull."

Buemi joined Toro Rosso at the start of 2009 and his best finishes have been seventh place in that year's Australian and Brazilian Grands Prix.

SA would support GP bid on conditions

2010-07-22T11:28:00.002+01:00

South African motorsport's governing body would only support a bid to host a grand prix on the provision that part of the proceeds would be channeled in to the development of the country's racing infrastructure and help promote young and underprivileged home-grown talent.

Following on from the country's successful hosting of the World Cup this summer, the South African Motorsport association indicated that it was incumbant on F1's stakeholders to follow FIFA's example and help build up the grass roots infrastructure of the sport.

Bernie Ecclestone recently pointed to South Africa as one of several countries under consideration to host future rounds of the Formula One World Championship, suggesting that Cape Town would make a good potential venue.

But George Nyabadza, the chairman of the country's motorsport body Motorsport South Africa, said that while he supported the idea in principal, he needed to see tangible benefits.

"F1 enjoys very little support in countries where there is no representation," he said. "Only when we can wave our rainbow flag will there be public interest and national unity."

Nyabadza said he wanted to see very clear provisions of how much money would be generated for motorsport development, particularly in the female segment and the black youth segments of South Africa: "It would be irresponsible," he said, "to host an F1 race and not have the stakeholders invest a portion of the proceeds in these segments.

"There would be no legacy for the sport."

Nyabadza added that the government would need to conduct an economic impact study to weigh up the benefits against the 'substantial costs' involved.

The MSA's managing director Francois Pretorius said its governing body would only support hosting a grand prix if it provided concrete benefits to the grassroots development of motorsport, which would happen under the auspices of MSA.

According to a statement released by the MSA, Pretporius added that "the immediate socio-economic priorities in the country outweighed the possible long-term benefits of hosting the event unless a cogent and sustainable plan of sport development was provided for".

The MSA made it clear that it would seriously consider support for any bidders prepared to factor these provisions into their proposal.

South Africa last hosted a grand prix at Kyalami in 1993, which was won by Alain Prost in a Williams-Renault.

SA would support GP bid on conditions

2010-07-18T07:01:00.000+01:00

Yamamoto replaces Chandhok at HRT

2010-07-18T06:59:00.002+01:00

Karun Chandhok will not be racing at the German Grand Prix next weekend, his HRT team announced on Friday, and his place will be taken by Sakon Yamamoto.

The Japanese driver had replaced Bruno Senna for unknown reasons in the previous race at Silverstone, and the Brazilian will be back in action next week at Hockenheim.

Chandhok, however, will not be racing in Germany, the team said.

Hispania said that the Indian was still part of the team and that he was "likely" to be in the car later in the season.

"After Sakon Yamamoto gave a very positive performance in Silverstone, the team has decided to give the Japanese driver another opportunity to drive the car alongside Bruno Senna," said the team in a statement.

"Karun Chandhok is still part of the Hispania Racing, HRT F1 Team family and is likely to be in the car at some later races this season."

Yamamoto raced alongside Chandhok at the British Grand Prix, where the Japanese driver finished in 20th position behind the Indian.

Virgin hoping to retain Glock for 2011

2010-07-18T06:58:00.002+01:00

Virgin technical director Nick Wirth is hopeful that Timo Glock will remain with the team next year.

The German has registered only four finishes in 10 races in 2010, with a best result of 18th.

But despite a difficult season, Wirth is confident that Glock is fully committed to the cause even though Renault is believed to be interested in his services for next year.

"We've got another year on the contract with Timo, but like anything in life everyone has got to want to carry on," Wirth told AUTOSPORT

"Timo understood that we were a new team and he wanted to be part of something that was growing going forward. That's why the Silverstone weekend was so important because it has hopefully shown him that we can do it."

Wirth added that being able to attract and keep hold of a driver who has three podium finishes to his name is a good sign of the team's long-term potential.

"We were so lucky to have a driver with his talent, ability and experience join us at his age," said Wirth. "It's up to us to try and deliver on that

Wirth also believes that Lucas di Grassi has been an impressive rookie this season despite only outqualifying Glock once in 10 attempts.

"I know I'm very biased, but I think he is looking good for rookie of the year if you look at his relative performance," said Wirth.

"He's coming into his own and doing a fantastic job. The disadvantage is that Lucas is naturally a bit heavier than Timo. For all of the new teams, weight is an issue so he's still got a disadvantage. It's to do with us and we're working very hard on it."

Wirth is hopeful that di Grassi will be able to run on the weight limit before the end of the European season with a raft of lightweight parts planned.

Schumacher: Home GP will be emotional

2010-07-16T11:50:00.000+01:00

Michael Schumacher says he is looking forward to an emotional German Grand Prix, in what will be his first home race since his return to racing.

It will also be the first time Schumacher races in Germany with Mercedes, having contested his home race with Ferrari since the 1996 season.

"There is one thing for sure; no matter how long you are around, it is always something special to race in front of your home crowd," said Schumacher in a team preview.

"At Hockenheim, I will definitely try my best for my fans who give me such a lot of support, especially over the race weekend. But the German Grand Prix is very special for any German driver. There are very few areas on any race circuit worldwide comparable to the Motodrom, and as a driver you feel that energetic atmosphere when entering.

"It will be the first time for me to come to Hockenheim as a Mercedes driver and I am very much looking forward to the experience. Driving in front of our Grandstand and in front of all the employees, members and friends of Mercedes-Benz will be an emotional moment.

"I will therefore be extra motivated to give them a weekend to remember. We will have some updates for our car which we hope will give us a step forward so we can look forward to an exciting race."

Team-mate Nico Rosberg is also fired up for what is also his home grand prix, the younger German bullish about his chances following his third place at Silverstone.

"There's always a great atmosphere at the German Grand Prix and the fans are very enthusiastic with the huge grandstands in the stadium section creating so much noise!

"It's fantastic to see their support for the German drivers. I love the track itself as it's quite challenging with some good overtaking opportunities and the races here can often be quite exciting.

"Going into one of the team's home weekends with the podium finish from Silverstone is a real boost for us, and we will be working hard to continue our improvement in performance and have a strong weekend."

McLaren: No room for complacency

2010-07-16T11:49:00.002+01:00

McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh insists his team cannot afford to be complacent despite the positive results of the last races.

Although McLaren has not had the quickest car of the field, Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button have consolidated their position at the top of the standings thanks to strong races in Valencia and Britain.

The team, however, was forced to remove its rear blown diffuser at Silverstone, something that was a hit to its chances of matching Red Bull.

And despite its strong championship situation, Whitmarsh reckons the team has made it clear it is not ready to rest on its laurels.

"We've come off an extremely successful run of recent races, but we're nonetheless under no illusions that we need to bring further performance to the MP4-25 if we are to remain at the forefront of this championship battle," said Whitmarsh in a team preview.

"I think Silverstone showed that we were in no mood to be complacent - either in our aggressive push to put upgrades on the car or our decision to remove them and put our faith in an older iteration of the car, despite a lack of running compared with our rivals."

Whitmarsh said the team has run extensive testing of the floor in the factory, but a decision on whether it will be used will only be taken after Friday practice at Hockenheim.

"Of course, that final validation will only come at the circuit," he said. "So we're looking at undertaking a major test programme on Friday at Hockenheim. This will involve both drivers running back-to-back evaluations with the T2 and T3 floors.

"And, if these prove positive, we'll then look at the deployment of the new floor for the remainder of the race weekend. But that's a decision we'll only make after a thorough analysis of the inherent risks and benefits."

World champion Button said he is aiming to raise his game in qualifying, after two difficult sessions in Valencia and Silverstone.

"After two disappointments in qualifying at Valencia and Silverstone, my aim for this weekend must be to make life easier for myself on Saturday afternoon, so that I can maximise my performance on Sunday without needing to play catch-up during the race," he said.

"This will be another busy weekend for all of us as we spend Friday working through the changes we've made to optimise the blown diffuser. Hopefully, we'll have a positive test and will be able to see the benefits of the upgrades in the race for the first time. I'm looking forward to it."

Buemi denies having signed STR deal

2010-07-16T11:48:00.002+01:00

Sebastien Buemi has denied having committed to the Toro Rosso team for next year, despite claims from Franz Tost.

The team principal said on Thursday that both Buemi and team-mate Jaime Alguersuari would stay with the Faenza-based squad in 2010.

"I believe our drivers will be well prepared for 2011, which is why they are both confirmed for next year," said Tost.

"It is also logical, because one key role of Scuderia Toro Rosso is to bring on young drivers from the Red Bull Young Driver programme and at the ages of 21 and 20 respectively, both Seb and Jaime certainly still meet the right criteria."

Buemi, however, has denied having signed a contract with Toro Rosso and admitted he is still considering his options.

"I have not signed yet," Buemi was quoted as saying by Blick. "Also, there are some details that are missing, so the transfer market still open."

Tavo Hellmund

2010-07-15T22:06:00.000+01:00

Formula 1 will return to the United States in 2012 thanks to the deal struck with Austin earlier this year.

The task of living up to the hype will not be easy, but the Texan city is determined to make it a success.

AUTOSPORT talked exclusively with Tavo Hellmund, the man in charge of the project.

Q. At Silverstone you attended your first race since the announcement was made about the grand prix in Austin. How is progress going with the race?

Tavo HellmundTavo Hellmund: Everything is great. The Tilke guys are there pretty much non-stop and I think that we are on track right now. All the permitting with the waste water has been done and a lot of people are wanting to know about the land and its location.

Although I feel that that is nobody's business, I understand that we are going to have to release news about it soon, so we will do that. The design of the track is pretty much approved from us. The layout is awesome, better than I had hoped, and the FIA is going to be to get that submitted at the Circuit's Commission.

Q. When do you think you will release the layout plans for the circuit?

TH: We will have to check with the FIA to make sure that we are the first that can do that. I am not sure about that. I know the drawings have been done - and we made a personal modification for aesthetic reasons to Turns 1 and 3, but other than that it is pretty close. I think that in the next few weeks we should be fine.

Q. What can you tell us then about the layout? What sort of circuit will it be?

TH: It will be at least three miles long – and probably a bit longer. It is going to have a really fast section, which will have some pretty challenging corners. I am partial to a couple of sections that I've seen at Silverstone, so you could see those turn up too.

There is also going to be significant elevation – probably more than 100 feet of difference from top to bottom. There will be pretty views, and I think it will be a bit of a departure from the tracks that have been built recently for F1. So, in that regard, I am excited.

Americans will be proud of it – and it won't be a 'cookie cutter' track. I think people in Texas will be proud of it as well.

Q. So what sort of characteristic will it have – what current track has a similar feel?

TH: What we did was take maybe seven or eight of our favourite things from other tracks – some of them that are no longer in play in F1, but three or four of them are. And we said we want this corner on this track, and this corner on this track.

I would say that, hopefully, people will view it as a throwback to some of the older, traditional tracks – although obviously with the added safety features and requirements that the FIA has. It will be a track that the drivers will walk through and think: "Man, I have to be on my best game today!"

Q. So you want it to appeal to the drivers as well?

TH: Yes. When you really get down to it, the drivers should be your best endorsement. They are the ones that talk, and everyone wants to hear what they have to say. So I think between access, mobility, location and then obviously the asphalt within both fences, I think we're going to be good.

Q. I spoke to Bernie Ecclestone last week and he said that he was 100 per cent sure that the race was going to go ahead, even though the sceptics remain about getting the finances in place. What can you tell us about your funding situation?

TH: With all due respect, I think it is interesting – because it is nobody's business what my funding is. I can tell you this – the group we have together is world class. Some of them are well known individuals who will probably never appear publicly – which is for a reason because their privacy and anonymity is part of the deal.

But, I can tell you that Mr. Ecclestone would not have embarked on a deal if he was not pleased with the financial package. And the state of Texas would not have done what they have done without that either. And I want to be clear about what Texas have done because there are a lot of misconceptions there. They are not subsidising anything – the state of Texas has basically passed legislation, just like they did for the Superbowl, that allows for the contribution of incremental sales tax revenue that is created by that event. So, some of the liberal media in Texas have been trying to take shots at that, but that [the subsidy claim] is a fabrication.

We are excited, because it puts Texas on a platform with the great global events – the Olympics, the Superbowl and the World Cup. They would have not been doing it either if they thought it was a bit wishy-washy.

Q. You were in the paddock at Silverstone talking to people. What was the reception like from F1?

TH: Fortunately I knew a lot of the teams already, and I knew a lot of people at FOM and the FIA when I was a kid, and they have gone up through the ranks. So, it has been wonderful.

I know that F1 is a tough business. I've been around it my whole life, and I am not naive to think that it is going to be like this all the time. I am sure we will butt heads with teams and officials occasionally, but I think everyone knows that our objective is to be a great partner for F1, and to put it on a platform in America that really helps this sport.

I don't think too much traction needs to be had. There are a lot of fans that need to be given a reason to continue to be supportive to F1. Indianapolis proved that in its early stages, and you only have to look back to Watkins Glen to see what a success it was there. It is a shame that F1 outgrew the Glen at that time.

I am excited by the fact it is the first purpose-built facility for F1 in the US. Everyone has been very nice and hopefully we are going to do everything to keep it that way.

Q. Can the F1 teams do anything to help you and help make the event a success?

TH: Yeah. I think so. Some of the teams I spoke to at the weekend, and talked to before this, understand the need for activation and traction in the United States. It is not something that is done in a week. We have a lot of really cool things planned, starting in January, so that for 18 months we are just feeding the beast.

I think we are going to get a lot of help from some of the teams, and especially those that have partners that are American-based or at least with an American presence. So I couldn't ask for more.

Q. So what is your next step? Are you coming to more races this season?

TH: Here is the thing that I love: I don't really understand these promoters that go to a lot of races – because if you are doing your job at home, how do you have time? To me if there is a need or we have got a guest, or a partner that needs to come, or Mr. Ecclestone needs me to come, then I would be happy to. But more recently I am too busy building my track!

Austin promises unique F1 circuit

2010-07-15T22:05:00.000+01:00

Formula 1 fans and drivers have been promised that the new United States Grand Prix track in Austin will be one of the most challenging and spectacular in the world.

Tavo Hellmund, the promoter of the Austin event that is scheduled to hold its first race in 2012, has revealed that the circuit will be a break from the norm of modern F1 venues and is set to feature a selection of the very best sequences from other tracks around the world.

"I would say that, hopefully, people will view it as a throwback to some of the older, traditional tracks - although obviously with the added safety features and requirements that the FIA has," Hellmund told AUTOSPORT during a visit to the British Grand Prix.

"It will be a track that the drivers will walk through and think: 'Man, I have to be on my best game today!'"

Hellmund said that final details of the location of the track will be released imminently, and that the actual layout should be made public in the next few weeks. He said he was excited by what he had seen from the plans, being put together by F1 circuit designer Hermann Tilke.

"It is going to have a really fast section, which will have some pretty challenging corners," he said. "I am partial to a couple of sections that I've seen at Silverstone, so you could see those turn up too.

"There is also going to be significant elevation – probably more than 100 feet of difference from top to bottom. There will be pretty views, and I think it will be a bit of a departure from the tracks that have been built recently for F1. So, in that regard, I am excited.

"Americans will be proud of it – and it won't be a 'cookie cutter' track. I think people in Texas will be proud of it as well."

Hellmund said one of his priorities was to make sure the drivers liked the venue – because that would help ensure the event became a hit.

"When you really get down to it, the drivers should be your best endorsement," he said. "They are the ones that talk, and everyone wants to hear what they have to say. So I think between access, mobility, location and then obviously the asphalt within both fences, I think we're going to be good."

Hellmund also echoed recent comments from Bernie Ecclestone, who said there were no doubts that the funding for the event was in place.

When asked about the financial situation, Hellmund said: "With all due respect, I think it is interesting – because it is nobody's business what my funding is. I can tell you this – the group we have together is world class.

"Some of them are well known individuals who will probably never appear publicly – which is for a reason because their privacy and anonymity is part of the deal.

"But, I can tell you that Mr. Ecclestone would not have embarked on a deal if he was not pleased with the financial package. And the state of Texas would not have done what they have done without that either.

"And I want to be clear about what Texas have done because there are a lot of misconceptions there. They are not subsidising anything – the state of Texas has basically passed legislation, just like they did for the Superbowl, that allows for the contribution of incremental sales tax revenue that is created by that event. So, some of the liberal media in Texas have been trying to take shots at that, but that [the subsidy claim] is a fabrication.

"We are excited, because it puts Texas on a platform with the great global events – the Olympics, the Superbowl and the World Cup. They would have not been doing it either if they thought it was a bit wishy-washy."

Toro Rosso to retain Buemi, Alguersuari

2010-07-15T22:03:00.002+01:00

Jaime Alguersuari and Sebastien Buemi will stay on at Scuderia Toro Rosso next year, team boss Franz Tost said on Thursday.

"I believe our drivers will be well prepared for 2011, which is why they are both confirmed for next year," said Tost in a statement.

"It is also logical, because one key role of Scuderia Toro Rosso is to bring on young drivers from the Red Bull Young Driver programme and at the ages of 21 and 20 respectively, both Seb and Jaime certainly still meet the right criteria."

Twenty year-old Alguersuari joined Toro Rosso in the middle of the 2009 season, becoming the youngest ever driver to take part in a grand prix.

Team-mate Buemi, 21, has been with the team since the start of last year.

Fry: Schumacher must 'plug away'

2010-07-15T15:01:00.000+01:00

Michael Schumacher has been urged to keep 'plugging away' with his Formula 1 comeback, despite having not yet delivered the results that he or his team were hoping for this season.

That is the view of Mercedes GP CEO Nick Fry, who reckons that Schumacher is continuing to improve on his readjustment to F1 - and says the outfit is not losing faith in the German even though he has yet to finish on the podium.

"I think Michael has just to plug away at it," Fry told AUTOSPORT. "It is not coming together clearly. We have fits and starts and last weekend had some good points - like the second part of qualifying - but then the final part of qualifying was a bit disappointing.

"During the race there were points where we thought we could put in a better result here, but it didn't quite work out at the end.

"Clearly everyone expects the best of Michael Schumacher because he is seven-time world champion, but on the other hand you've got to say he is still a top ten driver which, on a global scale, is pretty impressive.

"He is still learning and we have still got confidence in him and he has confidence in himself. So I am quite optimistic."

Schumacher himself reckons there was reason to feel more bullish about his chances for the rest of the season after his Mercedes GP team made a step forward in performance at Silverstone last weekend.

"Certainly the car was working more true to its normal car/tyre combination, because I think that a lot of the problems in some of the events are down to some tyre issues that we haven't understood," said Schumacher.

"Clearly in Valencia we made mistakes with the car that we didn't do at Silverstone, and therefore we performed on normal levels."

F1 teams agree to tweak testing rules

2010-07-15T15:00:00.000+01:00

Formula 1 teams have agreed a tweak to the sport's testing regulations to prevent anyone gaining a benefit from using 'filming days' to try out new parts, AUTOSPORT has learned.

The strict in-season testing ban means outfits are not meant to try out new parts away from a grand prix weekend.

However, some teams - including Mercedes GP with its new engine cover design and Ferrari with its blown diffuser - have this year managed to complete some limiting testing under the guise of a 'filming' day.

Those runs caused some concern among rival outfits, and teams have spent the last few weeks trying to tidy up the regulations.

Sources have revealed that at last week's British Grand Prix teams got together to sign off a new testing agreement that will prevent teams from exploiting filming days.

AUTOSPORT understands that with immediate effect, teams will be banned during filming days from running any parts that have not been raced before.

McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh confirmed the changes had taken place, and was pleased that everyone was now in agreement about what was and was not allowed.

"I personally did not feel there was any ambiguity, but others argued that there was," he said. "But that is pressure, and when people are under pressure they try and take a different view.

"It is now clear that, if you are doing a demo run, then you must use components that have been raced before - and it has to be a legitimate demo run."

Although the filming loophole was still open ahead of Silverstone, Whitmarsh revealed that he ruled out his team making use of it for its new blown diffuser, despite some pressure from team members.

"The engineers here said others have done it, why can't we?" he said. "My view, as someone trying to hold FOTA together, was that I felt we could not take that advantage."

Sauber on 40 years in motorsport

2010-07-15T14:58:00.002+01:00

The German Grand Prix will mark 40 years of Sauber in motorsport. Ahead of the event, Peter Sauber reflected on his time in the business.

Peter SauberQ. Why did you decide, four decades ago, to go into business building racing sports cars? Switzerland isn't exactly the most popular place to set up this kind of company.

Peter Sauber: My occasional amateur races in a VW Beetle and the work I used to do on the car brought me into contact with the motor sport community in Switzerland. Within these circles I met a likeminded enthusiast, and together we developed the project for building two-seater racing sports cars.

If we'd looked into the economic wisdom of building and selling racing sports cars in Switzerland, there's no way it would have made sense. But luckily the sensible approach doesn't always win the day.

Q. Was it possible to earn enough money in this business?

PS: No, it wasn't. Between 1970 and 1978 we built a total of 13 examples of the C1 to C5 models. But that just didn't prove to be economically viable. Building and selling the cars was nowhere near enough. However, we were able to make money by running the cars for wealthy clients.

Q. Were there moments when you were tempted to throw in the towel?

PS: Oh yes, there were a lot of those! The first ten years were especially difficult, as we weren't just lacking the financial resources but also the people we needed. We were pushing our limits physically as well. There were many occasions when we worked late into the night. The Le Mans 24-hour race was particularly gruelling; with all the preparations for the race, you barely slept for a week.

If you then had to watch the cars drop out mid-way through the race, it would finish you off both physically and mentally. More than once I called my wife from Le Mans and said to her: That's it, I've had enough now.

Q. That idea never lasted for long, though...

PS: No, we always kept going. I was aware from the outset that it was extremely difficult - for a whole variety of reasons – to make a living from building racing cars in Switzerland. What always drove me on, though, was the determination not to concede defeat in the face of an almost insurmountable challenge.

Q. How did you work in those days? Who designed the cars and who built them?

PS: We started out as a two-man operation. With the C1, which we built in the cellar of my parents' house, we started out with a pretty good idea. The basis for this racing car was a Brabham Formula 3 machine, including the engine and gearbox, for which we designed a new two-seater chassis and bodywork. The C1 was much better than the cars it was racing against. That was how I managed to win the Swiss sports car championship in 1970. I certainly wasn't a particularly talented driver.

Q. How did things go from there?

PS: The C2 was created according to the same principle, but for the C3 we designed every part ourselves. Like its two predecessors, it was based on a tubular frame. By then there were four of us working together, one of whom was a friend from school who was studying engineering at the time. He was responsible for the design and I did the soldering and welding.

With the C4 and C5 we used an aluminium monocoque – which we also made ourselves – for the first time. From the C3 onwards Paucoplast were responsible for building the body, and the company is still doing work for us today. It was a very intense time.

Q. And then the partnership with Mercedes-Benz gradually took shape.

PS: Yes, it began in 1984 and was a very delicate matter to start with. Motor sport was still a taboo subject at Mercedes back then, with the serious accident at Le Mans in 1955 still weighing heavily. So a dedicated group of Mercedes engineers helped us out in their free time until we became the official works team of Mercedes-Benz in 1988.

Q. Professor Werner Niefer played a particularly prominent role here.

PS: Professor Niefer was Chairman of the Board at the time and a real old-school businessman – of the sort you struggle to find in large companies nowadays. Back then I worked with Mercedes without a contract; I shook hands with Professor Niefer, and that was worth more than any piece of paper with signatures scrawled on it.

Q. What was the story with the Silver Arrows?

PS: In March 1989 the Sauber-Mercedes C9 cars, with their dark blue paintwork, were all ready for their first race at Suzuka. Professor Niefer wanted the cars painted silver, but there was a lot of resistance among his colleagues on the Board, for whom our prospects of success were too uncertain. Professor Niefer asked me to paint a model car silver and bring it to the Geneva Motor Show, where the key meeting was due to take place.

Things were not moving very fast, but then he suddenly put his arm around my shoulder, took me aside and said: "They're all such scaredy-cats. Change the colour!" The cars were duly repainted, but it was all very cloak-and-dagger. This was the rebirth of the Silver Arrows. We celebrated a one-two at Suzuka, won the Manufacturers' and Drivers' titles in the World Sports Car Championship and crossed the line first and second at Le Mans as well. So we repaid his faith in us.

Q. What would you say has been the best period you've had over the 40 years?

PS: Off the top of my head I'm tempted to say the successful time with Mercedes. But when I think back now, the 18 years in Formula One are right up there, of course. I don't really want to single out any particular period of time; the whole 40 years have been amazing, and the difficult moments are all part of that.

Q. You brought Mercedes-Benz back into motor sport and provided BMW with the platform to line up as a works team in Formula One. Are you proud of what
you've achieved?

PS: Yes, definitely. I'm also proud that I achieved this from Switzerland. After all, these are two big German companies with long histories. In 2005 the German automobile association, the ADAC, presented me with an award in recognition of my achievements, so it isn't as if it went totally unnoticed.

Q. What have been the sporting highlights of your career?

PS: In the 'old days' I would certainly say winning the Manufacturers' and Drivers' titles in the World Sports Car Championship in 1989 and the one-two in the Le Mans 24 Hours. More recently, the highlight would have to be Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld's one-two in the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal.

Q. And the low points?

PS: Without doubt the serious accident suffered by Karl Wendlinger in Monaco in 1994, which left him in a coma for 19 days, and Robert Kubica's horrific crash in Montreal in 2007. In the end, both accidents had a happy ending. Robert is still competing in Formula One, of course, and Karl continues to race GT sports cars. I'm very thankful that they are able to do so.

Q. How do you hope the future will work out?

PS: I'd like to lead the team back into a secure position and establish it at a good level from a racing point of view. If I can manage that, it will be a case of mission accomplished for me.

Lewis Hamilton

2010-07-15T14:57:00.002+01:00

Q. Another second place, and 86 points from a possible 100 in the last four races. It's not going too badly, is it?

Lewis HamiltonLewis Hamilton: "Wow, 86 points from 100? That's 86 per cent - I'd have loved those marks when I was at school! Haha! When you look at it like that, it does sound good, yeah, absolutely. I've said it before, but I think I'm able to get those kinds of results because our car is just so fantastic to drive. My car in 2008 was fantastic, but, even though we're not quite as quick as the Red Bull, this year's car is still the best Formula 1 car I've ever driven.

"You can just plant it, particularly throught the high-speed stuff, and the car will just go where you tell it. And, as a driver, that gives you so much confidence, so you're not worrying about the car, you're just focusing on the racing. On Sunday at Silverstone, I just raced my heart out; I knew our car wasn't as quick as Mark's, but I just gave it all I had. I really enjoyed the race.

"And when you're having fun out there, the results just come. So I'm just incredibly happy at the moment. Eighty six points out of 100 – I still can't believe that!"

Q. You said that you'd never seen crowds like it a grand prix before, just how unique was this year's Santander British Grand Prix?

LH: "It was incredible, it really was. If you've only been to Silverstone, then maybe it's hard to understand. Silverstone is just one of those places that really comes alive for the race, and the atmosphere was just intense. I absolutely loved it. I love it every year, but this year just felt more charged and more exciting than ever.

"Every day, I'd go out onto the pitwall just to wave at the fans, and I couldn't believe how much support they were giving our team. Hopefully, they had a fantastic weekend – the weather was perfect, the racing was great, and we got a great result.

"Hopefully, next year, Jenson and I can come back and deliver a one-two – which I think would just blow the roof off the whole place. Wouldn't that be amazing?"

Q. A lot's been said about the change back to the regular floor after trialing the blown diffuser on Friday – how much did that upset your preparations for the race?

LH: "Well, obviously, it meant we lost a day's running compared to everybody else. But we didn't really waste it, because we learnt a lot about the new floor, and we'll hopefully be able to put that to good use sooner rather than later.

"And you'd probably say we started from zero on Saturday morning, except that we didn't, because Gary and the team did their homework in the simulator on Friday night. Those guys did a fantastic job, and they really made our race, because when we got in the car on Saturday morning, we hit the ground running because we had a lot of confidence in their data. That was a great example of the team really pulling it out of the bag, and it helped us get a result that, on paper, shouldn't really have been possible.

"Now, we need to spend the next 10 days really digging deep to get the T3 floor back on the cars and make sure it has a positive impact at the next race in Germany. The guys back at the factory are already working hard at it, and I'm sure we can get it to work soon."

Webber draws line under front wing row

2010-07-15T14:56:00.002+01:00

Mark Webber says he and Red Bull Racing have now cleared the air over the British Grand Prix wing row, following sit down talks at the Milton Keynes factory on Wednesday.

The Australian was furious at Silverstone that the team had removed a new wing design from his car and put it on team-mate Sebastian Vettel's shortly before qualifying.

He claimed after the race that he would never have re-signed a deal with the team for 2010 if he knew that was how he was going to get treated.

However, with the emotions of the weekend having now cooled a little, Webber is much calmer about the situation after finally meeting with team principal Christian Horner to discuss the matter.

In a statement that was issued on his own website on Wednesday night, Webber said all the issues of the weekend had been discussed and that there no lasting tension going forward.

"My disappointment on Saturday after qualifying spilled over into Sunday but it was simply due to the fact that I, along with every other driver on the grid, wanted the best possible chance of success," wrote Webber.

"Sebastian received the newer front wing for reasons which were not clearly explained to me until Saturday late afternoon. Obviously I can see why a team may at certain points have to favour a driver with more points in the championship, if there are only enough resources to fully support one of us.

"We've already debriefed the race weekend at the factory and have cleared the air. It's now understood that, should we face this unlikely dilemma again, preference will go to the championship points leader."

Webber also conceded that his 'not bad for a number two' comment made on the radio straight after the race was probably not the best thing to have said.

"Of course things get said in the heat of the moment which, with hindsight goggles on, probably shouldn't have been said. Formula 1 is a highly charged and fiercely competitive arena where emotions and adrenalin do run high from time to time like in many sports and my comment on the radio after the race was an example of Australian sarcasm - either at its best or worst depending on how you choose to take it.

"But rest assured, under the helmet I was massively rapped about winning one of the most prestigious events on the F1 calendar and Red Bull Racing's local race. It's a home race of sorts for me; I only live 40 minutes down the road and the UK and Buckinghamshire in particular has been home to me for the past 15 years so Silverstone and the British GP are both very special to me."

Webber also made it clear that his working relationships with both Horner and Vettel had not been soured by the events of the Silverstone weekend.

"Christian Horner and I have known each other for many years; we're friends and have a strong mutual respect which continues and extends to other activities, such as our GP3 team and interest in finding and nurturing young racing talent," he said.

"The team has produced an awesome car and has come a long way in a short space of time. There are more than 500 people at the Red Bull Racing factory at Milton Keynes and I know that each and every one of them share the highs and lows that Sebastian and I experience during the season.

"The support we both enjoy is phenomenal and on Sunday evening many of them joined us at Christian's annual post-race party and celebrated our win in style."

He added: "The respect within the team extends to the drivers. I know I have a very good driver as a team-mate and I wouldn't want it any other way. We share information freely in team meetings and contribute to the development and improvement of our cars.

"Seb and I are not enemies, we're just two drivers that are pushing hard and want to do the best for ourselves and the team, it's as simple as that.

"The British Grand Prix was a wonderful result for myself and the team; however time moves fast and looking in the mirror for too long doesn't prepare us for Germany. We've moved on."

Exclusive with Red Bull’s Christian Horner

2010-07-14T14:32:00.000+01:00

It’s easy to forget that just a few years ago the Red Bull team was but a twinkle in an Austrian billionaire’s eyes. In 2009 they established themselves as frontrunners, whilst this season they are unquestionably the team to beat - having scored nine pole positions and five victories. Although there’s been a fair few hiccups along the way, for team principal Christian Horner, challenging the ‘establishment’ is a source of immense pride. He talks 2010, upgrades, Pirelli and drivers...

Q: This year Red Bull have stepped up to rival the establishment - has the pressure got to you and the team? Do you think some of the more established teams underestimated you?
CH: Last year we finished second in the drivers’ and constructors’ championship and won six races, and some people thought the bigger guys were sleeping that year with teams like McLaren and Ferrari being that much further back. I think we demonstrated that we are a front-running team. We have come an awfully long way in a very short period of time, against some huge and iconic opponents. I’m very pleased with the progress we’ve managed to make over the last couple of years to cement Red Bull’s position as a genuine frontrunner.

Q: You’ve had a fair share of reliability issues this season, but the innovative RB6 has consistently been the car to beat. Having pushed development to its extremes, did you expect a few growing pains?
CH: Inevitably when you push the boundaries there are a few issues, and unfortunately we’ve had a couple of issues. We had a spark-plug failure at the first Grand Prix that unfortunately prevented Sebastian from winning that race. We had a wheel-nut issue that also both Mercedes and McLaren have had failures at different Grands Prix. We had a brake issue in Barcelona but Sebastian still managed to finish in third. So in terms of absolute showstoppers we’ve only had one mechanical DNF. We’ve had no more, or less, than our competitors.

Q: Suddenly in Valencia recently everyone was talking about teams introducing low exhausts and blown rear diffusers. You’ve had these solutions since the start of the season. Why has it taken the others so long to catch on? Does it make you proud that you are influencing other teams’ developments?
CH: It’s always flattering when teams copy designs like the lower exhaust exits. As with all these things it’s very difficult to cherry pick items for cars. It has to be incorporated within your own package to exploit genuine benefit. It’s not just the exhaust that makes the car go quickly. So it’s been interesting to see how it’s been copied, but it’s happened before with engine covers or diffusers. It’s the way Formula One works.

Q: You now have the F-duct on the car and it’s working well. Are there any more major developments coming?
CH: We try to get something onto the car at every Grand Prix which we’ve managed to do so far this year. We are managing to add performance to the car at every race and the guys are doing an incredible job in maintaining a very rapid development process against bigger teams. Let’s not forget that both McLaren and Ferrari have considerably more resource than we do, so it means we have to think smarter and more innovatively to make sure we get the most performance possible from the car.

Q: When will the team switch their development focus solely to 2011? How far along is next year’s car?
CH: The 2011 car will inevitably be an evolution of this year’s car so I’m sure we’ll be pushing development late into the year as we did last year.

Q: You’ll keep the same drivers next year. How important do you think a stable line-up is to the success of a team?
CH: I think it’s very important. I think both drivers are well known to the team and they are a very competitive line-up. They push each other very hard and extract the best out of each other, so from a team point of view it’s a very positive partnership and we’re delighted they’ll be going into a third season together.

Q: If Vettel and Webber were suddenly unavailable, which drivers would you be trying to sign?
CH: Gosh, that’s an interesting question. I’d be hoping they both wouldn’t suddenly become unavailable. I can’t think of any other guys we would want to have than the two we do have, so I’m not going to go near that question.

Q: The new teams have come in for some flack about their pace - or lack of it - and some critics would argue that Webber’s crash with Kovalainen in Valencia proved their point. What’s your take on this, and do you think the 107 percent rule next year will change things?
CH: You must never underestimate the challenge of Formula One and the new teams are making progress, particularly Lotus, and it was great shame what happened. Mark’s never found himself actually racing one of those cars previously - he’s just seen them moving out of the way to be lapped. So I think it would be wrong to place blame on a team that’s in its first year. What happened happened. I think Heikki’s (Kovalainen’s) braking point took Mark completely by surprise and Heikki wasn’t totally sure whether he was moving to the left or the right. But I think it’s wrong to blame the drivers or teams. I doubt we’ll see Mark Webber following a Lotus that closely again this year.

Q: Regarding next year, are you pleased with the choice of Pirelli as the new sole tyre supplier. Do you have any concerns about the amount of testing and development you will be able to do ahead of the 2011 season?
CH: I think it’s great a brand like Pirelli has come back into Formula One. They obviously have a great motorsport heritage and it’s fantastic to retain a common supplier for all the teams. They have enough racing experience and have a big enough competition department to deal with the challenges of Formula One. The most important thing will be that it is the same for everyone, so we’re delighted Pirelli have decided to come into Formula One. I’m sure they’ll do a very good job.

Q: There has been mixed reaction to the moveable rear wings the FIA plan for next year. Combined with KERS, don’t you think we are introducing too many artificial elements to the driver experience? Surely Formula One is meant to be motor racing at its purest…
CH: We need to be a bit careful we don’t create a WWF scenario. It’s important that all these changes are carefully considered. I think the racing this year has been excellent. Since Bahrain we’ve had some really exciting Grands Prix. It’s important we don’t mess around too much with the DNA of what is Formula One.

Q: Do you think they’ll be more effective than the arguably negligible success of the adjustable front wings?
CH: Potentially it’s a very powerful tool. It’s also quite dangerous if it was to fail in any way, so it is important that all things are taken into consideration.

Q: There’s been talk of Renault supplying more teams next season. Good or bad for Red Bull?
CH: Renault are a great partner of ours. Obviously it doesn’t affect the potential relationship we’ll have with them in 2011. They’ve demonstrated that they are a very capable supplier. I’m sure if they don’t overstretch themselves, I can’t see an issue.

Q: Would Red Bull be interested in fielding a third car?
CH: Well Red Bull of course field four cars, as they have two teams. There are 12 teams currently in Formula One, with one open slot, so I don’t think the need will be there to run a third car.

Q: And finally, are the titles still yours for the taking, or are you worried about McLaren?
CH: I think there’s a long way to go in the championship. It’s going to be a fascinating second half to the season. And I don’t think anyone could with any confidence say we

Renault targets Spa for F-duct debut

2010-07-14T13:59:00.000+01:00

Renault plans to introduce its version of the F-duct at the Belgian Grand Prix.

The team is currently the only front running outfit not to have run the aero device, but team boss Eric Boullier says it is working on an example which he hopes will be used for the first time at Spa.

"We have a two-step F-duct coming," Boullier said. "It depends on the schedule, Budapest is a high downforce track so we don't need to have it for that. Maybe we'll get it before, or very likely right after."

Chief race engineer Alan Permane defended the team's decision to delay its F-duct development much longer than its rivals.

"We've concentrated on other bits and bobs and put an awful lot of downforce on the car, so I still think it was the right strategic decision to not do one immediately like the other teams did," he said.

But Permane admitted that Renault has fallen back behind Mercedes and believes the F-duct will help the team challenge for fourth place in the constructors' championship.

"We should be fighting with the Ferraris and Mercedes," he said. "Realistically we're just at the back of that group at the moment. We had edged ahead of Mercedes but they've done a very good job - they were very quick at Silverstone and they're ahead of us again now.

"We need a little bit more and when we get our F-duct online that should help. That won't be for another couple of races, but that's all we're missing compared to other people.

"I think we've overperformed, honestly. We've made the most of the car and made the most of the opportunities presented to us in races, and I hope we can carry on doing that for the rest of the year. In the absence of winning, our goal is to beat Mercedes and be fourth quickest."

Renault: Petrov's future in his hands

2010-07-14T11:37:00.000+01:00

Renault says Vitaly Petrov's future at the team is in his own hands, in the wake of rumours linking Kimi Raikkonen to a Formula 1 return with the outfit in 2011.

Robert Kubica recently signed a two-year deal with Renault. The second seat for next season remains open with Raikkonen mooted as a possible replacement for Petrov should he decide to leave the World Rally Championship after one year.

Renault team boss Eric Boullier says he has been pleased with Petrov's performances so far in his rookie season, but is looking for the Russian to improve his consistency and help Renault challenge Mercedes for fourth place in the constructors' championship.

"His future is in his hands," Boullier said in this week's Renault team podcast. "We have not been disappointed by him - he clearly is the best rookie in the paddock.

"He did some very amazing jobs sometimes [but] he's clearly today lacking some consistency to get the points he deserves. We definitely need to have both cars scoring points, so that's obviously creating some rumours surrounding his race seat.

"But we are totally committed to him. We are happy to have him on board and we will do everyhting we can to help him take the final step to where we want him to be."

Renaut is currently 37 points behind fourth-placed Mercedes, with Kubica having scored 83 of its 89 points so far.

Button: Red Bull row will help McLaren

2010-07-13T15:16:00.003+01:00

World champion Jenson Button has no doubts that his McLaren team is going to benefit from the internal troubles at Red Bull Racing.

On the back of the front wing controversy that overshadowed Mark Webber's victory at the British Grand Prix, Button is convinced that Red Bull Racing is going to suffer from the distraction of needing to gets its house in order.

Speaking after his fourth placed finish at Silverstone helped him maintain his second spot in the drivers' championship behind team-mate Lewis Hamilton, Button said he reckoned divisions in Red Bull's camp were positive for McLaren.

"Yes," he said. "It means they're going to be busy discussing where they're going to go from here. We've got a good relationship here. However much people take the Mickey out of how well Lewis and I get on, it works well with our team and it means the guys back in the factory are not worrying about us and how we are with each other.

"They can focus on making our car quicker. We're not quick enough. We're not as quick as the Red Bulls and we need to focus. But we can concentrate 100 per cent on making our car go quicker and not worry about politics on the circuit between the two drivers."

Button admitted that he had some sympathy for Webber, after the Australian was left fuming that Red Bull Racing took a new front wing off his car and gave it to team-mate Sebastian Vettel.

"I'm proud of the guy," said Button. "He did a good job. Whether the front wing made a difference or not, it was blown up and it's difficult for a driver to go into a race knowing that he doesn't have the same car as his team-mate.

"Even if it didn't make his team-mate go any quicker, he knows that they chose to put it on his team-mate's car and not his. Even if the car's no quicker it still hurts, mentally, so it was a great job from him and he deserved that victory. He did a good job."

Lewis Hamilton has echoed Button's feelings of warmth towards Webber - and said he would never wish to be in the situation that his title rival found himself in.

"I can imagine how he feels," he said. "I wouldn't want to be ... if that was me, sjeez… I asked him earlier and he said don't worry I'm pushing. He's just doing a job. He's doing the talking on the track. And that's what I would do. But it's not nice.

"When you're in a team that you love, people around you, all you want to do is be loved back. I don't know what's going on in the team, or whether we're blowing it all out of proportion. We don't know exactly what's going on. He did say it wasn't right. But he still did the job and that's great for him."

And Hamilton says that the internal trouble at Red Bull has simply served to make him happier about the positive atmosphere he has found inside McLaren.

"It [the Red Bull situation] is not encouraging, it just makes us more proud as a team to see that we're doing a solid job - and that the harmony in our team is good.

"The guys that we're mainly competing with, it seems that we have more harmony in our team and that's why we're leading both championships."

Ferrari was advised to let Kubica through

2010-07-13T15:16:00.000+01:00

Ferrari was told three times that Fernando Alonso should have let Robert Kubica through during the British Grand Prix, according to the FIA race director Charlie Whiting.

Alonso was given a drive-through at Silverstone after overtaking Renault's Kubica by going off track.

The penalty, which Ferrari felt was too harsh, ruined Alonso's chances of a good result, the Spaniard finishing down in 14th position.

Although the penalty was given nine laps after Alonso passed Kubica, Whiting said Ferrari was advised to let Kubica through immediately, but that the team decided against it.

"We told Ferrari three times that in my opinion they should give the position back to Kubica," Whiting was quoted as saying by Autosprint magazine.

"And we told them that immediately, right after the overtaking manoeuvre. On the radio, I suggested to them that if they exchange position again, there would be no need for the stewards to intervene.

"But they didn't do that and on the third communication they said that Kubica was by then too far back to let him regain the position.

"It's not true at all that the stewards took too long to decide. For us the facts were clear immediately: Alonso had gained an advantage by cutting the track."

Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali said the team did not ask Alonso to let Kubica through because it did not feel the Spaniard has gained an advantage.

"He tried to be aggressive to overtake, and we complained the drivers not to be aggressive and we complain about the lack of overtaking, and so at that stage, we felt as we normally do at that moment that we need to go on the radio with race control to check what is the position," Domenicali said.

"And normally, we take the right time to discuss with race control to make the judgement, and the moment when race control give us the instruction to give back the position to Robert, it was clear that Robert had already lost a lot of time - effectively he had a problem and he came back. That is the situation we analysed.

"You can have a situation where immediately there is a possibility to give back the position to a driver if you feel that there is really an advantage that you gain. On our side we felt that was not the case otherwise we would have done it."

Domenicali said that by the time the stewards told them Alonso should let Kubica by, the Pole was already too far behind.

Kubica retired from the race moments later with mechanical problems.

"As soon as we received the information that in the opinion of the stewards, Fernando should have given back the position to Robert, Robert was already very far behind and Robert was really slowing down because he had a problem."

Hamilton says McLaren 'over-delivering'

2010-07-13T15:15:00.000+01:00

Lewis Hamilton says his 'over-delivering' McLaren team will be on terms with Red Bull Racing in the next two races - as he seeks to prevent his title rivals taking a hat-trick of wins.

The Briton was able to extend his championship lead at Silverstone with a second-placed finish to Mark Webber - and reckons that with slower circuits coming up, plus McLaren working hard on getting its blown diffuser back on the car, he will be back fighting for wins.

"We're really happy with the result," said Hamilton about his performance at Silverstone. "Overall we're doing a damn solid job with what we have. We're not the quickest but the car is good. But we're over-delivering with the package we have. We're definitely over-delivering.

"Red Bull are still the quickest. They were over a second quicker in qualifying. I just managed to bring it down to nine tenths, which is huge. And then in the race it was over half a second. We've still got a huge amount of time to find in the car.

"But on the lower speed circuits we will be a bit closer to them. Maybe two tenths. But when it's a high-speed circuit, like this, like Spa maybe, they have a big advantage at the moment. But hopefully in the next race, in the next two races, we should be able to get our upgrades working and we will be with them."

Hamilton currently has a 12-points advantage over team-mate Jenson Button, while Red Bull Racing's best-placed driver Mark Webber is a further five points adrift.

Barrichello trusts he'll stay at Williams

2010-07-13T15:14:00.000+01:00

Rubens Barrichello is confident he will stay at Williams in 2011, claiming it would be wrong for the team to let him go.

"I hope so. I think it would the natural thing," Barrichello said of staying at the team.

"Obviously I haven't signed any contract just yet. I am not talking to anybody else.

"As I said I think Williams would be doing the wrong thing if they were thinking of something else because they already put into the programme of next year so it would be a waste not to be driving."

When asked when he was hoping to sort his future, he said: "Before the break, I hope."

The veteran Brazilian joined Williams from Brawn GP this year.

Despite a difficult first part of the season, Barrichello has shone in the last two races, having finished fourth at Valencia and fifth at Silverstone.

The Williams driver sees no reason why his team would not renew his contract, as he believes he is driving at his best.

"Right now it is almost a waste of time not to have me in the car and driving," he said. "In terms of speed I am performing better than ever and I think this positiveness is just making such a change.

"And people say well, you are not winning races, how can you be so positive? Well it's because as a team you have got to believe as a team we'll produce something that will put us back to the podium area, and then maybe next year make a good car that can effectively bring the first place.

"We went through a 'getting used to' time. It was almost a fun time. One time the engineer said to me, 'How can you know that?' - 'Cos I'm f****** good!' It was an honest answer but it was meant in fun. I never had arrogance in my comment.

"I never wanted to be better than anyone, but what I believe that what I am saying is a good feeling for the car. So then the team went on and proved that it was the right correction in the tunnel. So it's harmony between what I tell the engineers now, so it's a really nice working environment to improve."

Barrichello is also hopeful that Williams will have a winning car next year, but he admits it's impossible to predict.

"After all those 18 years in Formula 1, you can almost say anything can happen. You would never have said that the Brawn would be such a winning team last year.

"There are no need for a lot of changes to make this thing win. We need a little bit on the engine side, and we need a little on the aerodynamic side.

"We need to change the characteristic of the car still to have a bit more downforce on some areas that I need. We need to work with the tyres – it's going to be a different tyre. It just needs a little bit of something to make a winning car."

Red Bull told to get act together quick

2010-07-13T15:13:00.002+01:00

Red Bull Racing needs to act quickly to work out where it is going wrong, rather than keep 'shooting itself in the foot', if the team is to have a chance of winning the world championship this year.

That is the view of Mercedes GP CEO Nick Fry, who reckons that the favouritism row that erupted at last weekend's British Grand Prix over a wing swap is perfect evidence of how Red Bull Racing continues to be its own worst enemy.

Despite having had the quickest car this season, reliability problems, a collision between its drivers in Turkey and the row over swapping a front wing at Silverstone has left the door open for rivals McLaren to lead both championships.

And Fry, who has first hand experience of the trials that come from fighting for a title after helping guide Brawn GP to the crown last year, has told AUTOSPORT he thinks the management of Red Bull Racing needs to get a grip of the situation quickly.

"I do sympathise on the one hand with them," said Fry, who faced similar favouritism tensions last year when Rubens Barrichello hit out at the team over some race strategies.

"But one of the main points is to stop shooting yourself in the foot. Just looking at it from the outside, there seems to be a case of Red Bull causing more problems than they need to.

"They have clearly got the fastest car by quite a margin, and they should be way ahead of the rest of us, and they are not. So they do need to look at themselves and try and work out what they are doing wrong.

"They are beating themselves - which is very satisfying for the rest of us but it should not be what they are up to."

Fry thinks the time has come for Red Bull to get all it management levels together to go through where it has gone wrong, and make sure it can steer its path to title glory.

"I don't know what is going on inside the team, but clearly they need a good discussion between drivers and the three levels of team management - because there is the technical side, the team management and the Red Bull side. They have got to work out how to rectify their issues if they are going to beat McLaren.

"McLaren are clearly the big threat. They are immensely well organised, they are a brilliant team and they have won lots of championships - so beating them is a very tall order. Red Bull have to get their act together quick, because they should be much further ahead than they are."

Fry also believes Red Bull Racing chiefs need to get better control over their drivers - and stop them stirring up the controversies in the first place.

"I think with any management issue, and that is really what it is, you have to nip these things in the bud," he said. "If it is allowed to fester then it can quickly get out of hand.

"When we have had issues in the past, we've had a headmaster's study discussion very quickly and we've made very clear our view on things. And, at the end of the day, we run the team not the drivers. They are an unbelievably important part of the team but they are not the team: and that needs to be very clear. As soon as the lunatics start running the asylum, then you have got big problems."

Fry also reckoned that behaviour like Webber's, who said after the race that he would never have re-signed for Red Bull Racing is he knew he would be treated how he was at Silverstone, needed clamping down on.

"I would consider that something that would warrant a severe discussion behind closed doors," he said. "That is the type of discussion that should be had behind closed doors; it is not a public discussion.

"I think Red Bull have got two brilliant drivers and are both great guys as individuals. They are both very competitive and they have the best car, so they should be able to win."

Horner regrets not speaking to Webber

2010-07-13T15:11:00.002+01:00

Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner wishes he had spoken to Mark Webber before the controversial wing swap took place ahead of qualifying for last weekend's British Grand Prix.

The Milton Keynes-based outfit has found itself plunged into a fresh favouritism row in the wake of it taking a new front wing off Webber's car and handing it to team-mate Sebastian Vettel at Silverstone.

Webber was left furious at what happened and, after winning the race on Sunday, he said he would never have re-signed for the team for 2010 if he knew that was how he was going to be treated. He also said on Monday that the victory had tasted 'sweeter' because of the situation.

Horner has moved to try and play down talk of a rift in Red Bull Racing's ranks - pointing out that Webber joined a post-race party with himself and Vettel on Sunday night - but has conceded for the first time that could have handled the matter better for it not to have blown up the way it has.

But he made it clear that he was not simply acting on the wishes of Red Bull boss Dietrich Mateschitz and his motorsport advisor Helmut Marko - who have long been suspected of favouring Vettel.

Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, Horner said: "There has never been any pressure from Red Bull to favour one driver over the other.

"I didn't have a conversation with Helmut or anyone from Red Bull regarding the decision to give Sebastian the wing. It was purely a technical decision, which I discussed with Adrian [Newey].

"My one regret is that I didn't have time to discuss the issue with Mark personally prior to qualifying as I'm sure that would have given him a more balanced understanding."

Horner is due to meet Webber later this week to go through the events of Silverstone and discuss how to move forward - with the Australian making it clear on Sunday that he did not want to be treated like a number two again.

And despite newspaper reports of Webber's mechanics taunting Vettel's after the race on Sunday - which Webber described as 'an appointment with Karma' - Horner insisted there was no rift at garage level.

"It's ridiculous," he said. "Our mechanics are completely for each other, irrelevant of the car crew. That's why we have some of the fastest pit stops in Formula 1.

"There is one team of mechanics for both drivers and all championship bonuses are based on team position rather than driver so there is no favouritism at all."

Q and A with Sam Michael

2010-07-12T20:40:00.000+01:00

Conducted and provided by Williams's press office.

Q. The team introduced a blown diffuser at the British Grand Prix. What performance benefits did it bring and did you have any reliability issues with it?

Sam MichaelSam Michael: Using the exhaust to blow the diffuser improves downforce during on-throttle conditions. Besides some minor work on heat shielding, we had no reliability issues with it.

Q. The FW32 also featured other upgrades, such as a new rear wing. How did they perform?

SM: All the other parts worked as expected and improved the downforce of the car.

Q. The drivers followed different tyre strategies in the race, with Nico staying on the option tyre until lap 27. In what state were his tyres at the end of the stint?

SM: Nico's tyres were fine. He could perhaps have stayed out even longer, but his lap times were starting to level off. Combined with the debris on the Hangar Straight threatening the release of the safety car, we decided to pit. It was the correct decision because the safety car was released just one lap later.

Q. What was your feeling about the new layout at Silverstone? Was it more or less of an engineering challenge than the old configuration?

SM: The new layout was very bumpy. That improved as rubber was laid during the race, but it's something that needs to be addressed for 2011. On a positive note, I was impressed by how the new layout seemed to promote overtaking during the race.

Q. Rubens had another good weekend, coming home fifth. How much is the team benefitting from his speed and experience?

SM: Rubens is doing a great job driving our development programme as well as delivering strong qualifying performances and race results. We are very satisfied with his contribution to the team as a whole and specifically with the role he is playing when it comes to which direction we take with the car.

Vettel frustrated by team politics

2010-07-12T20:30:00.002+01:00

Sebastian Vettel has expressed his own frustration at the continued politics surrounding his team - in the wake of the favouritism row that overshadowed Red Bull Racing's British Grand Prix triumph.

Vettel found himself thrust into the centre of a media and fan backlash at Silverstone after Red Bull Racing chiefs put a new front wing on his car for qualifying – having taken it off team-mate Mark Webber's.

The tensions between Webber and Vettel for that move almost certainly played their part in an aggressive duel between the two men into the first corner – which Vettel lost out in, before a minor brush with Lewis Hamilton punctured his right rear tyre.

That incident meant Vettel could finish no better than seventh and, with the outfit facing fresh internal tensions just a few races after the Turkish GP witnessed a collision between its two drivers, there are suggestions Red Bull Racing is fast becoming its own worst enemy in its fight for title glory.

Vettel is well aware that things have not become ideal with team-mate Webber, and has admitted he is praying for better times ahead where the team does not have to deal with more trouble.

"I try to focus on myself, that is what matters," Vettel said after the British Grand Prix. "We do have a very great car and, if you race cars with similar pace and guys with a similar speed on the track, then you get to see them once in a while. That is normal. It is racing, it is what it is about and it is what people love.

"The internal [situation]? If you look at the championship now, and if you look at the championship two races ago and if you look at championship two races ahead you probably don't know what is coming up, we will see.

"Surely we could have done better up until this point, but it didn't happen. I said on the radio that if someone for the weather forecast could turn the shit off for the future, because for some reason it seems to happen on our side pretty much, then that would be appreciated. It is life, and life goes on."

Vettel made it clear, however, that he was not unduly worried that there had been races this year where he had been beaten by Webber.

"I don't want to speak bad or anything about other people," he said, responding to suggestions that Webber was performing better than some had expected this season.

"Most important is always to keep the respect. I know from myself the races where I finished behind him, or were slower than him, I know the reasons for it. I can fall asleep at night, so don't worry."

McLaren optimistic over blown diffuser

2010-07-12T20:27:00.002+01:00

McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh is optimistic that his team can get its blown diffuser working in time for it to be raced at the German Grand Prix.

The Woking-based team tried out its blown diffuser for the first time at Silverstone last weekend, but it was removed from the car on Friday night after the outfit struggled to find a good balance with it - and suffered from issues relating to the heat.

Work is now underway for another trial of the concept in practice at Hockenheim in a fortnight's time, and Whitmarsh hopes that the improvements will be good enough for it to remain on the car for the whole weekend.

"I'm quite optimistic now," he said. "Because of circumstance we took the blown diffuser off on Friday, and we got a free back-to-back because on Saturday we didn't have it.

"I was looking at the data and I think we now have some understanding of the issues, if not all, and we can devise some experiments. Hopefully we can make some progress on Friday in Hockenheim and then use it."

Whitmarsh admitted that it had been a bigger than expected task to get the blown diffuser on the car for the high-speed Silverstone circuit, but he thought the team had made the right decision with what it did.

"I think it was a big challenge," he said. "That could have been a mistake, but I'm glad we did it and I'm glad we took it off. I didn't feel like it on Friday night but now we have got a lot of good data."

He added: "Lewis will still say that he thought we should have raced it and, from the data, I think he's not wrong. Ultimately it was my decision and I think it was the right one.

"We were in a little bit of disarray on Friday, with a new circuit, gusty conditions and drivers uncomfortable. As a race team you take a decision like that, and to say: 'right, we are to concentrate on something different on each car', that would have confused us as well.

"I don't think we'd have had a much better result this weekend. We've got some good ideas now that will hopefully take us forward on Friday in Germany."

Webber says win made 'sweeter' by row

2010-07-12T20:19:00.002+01:00

Mark Webber has admitted that his British Grand Prix victory tasted 'sweeter' because Red Bull Racing had moved to favour team-mate Sebastian Vettel with a new front wing.

Red Bull Racing controversially opted to take a new front wing design off Webber's car minutes before qualifying and put it on Vettel's machine - because his own had broken during the final free practice session.

Although team principal Christian Horner insisted that the differences between the two wing versions were minor, and only affected driving characteristics, sources have revealed that there was both a lap time and a weight difference between the two versions.

The move to change wings left Webber furious and, after his victory at Silverstone, he made it clear to the team that he would not have re-signed for 2010 if he knew that was how he was going to be treated.

Writing on his website on Monday, Webber said there was no way of proving that the differences between the wings cost him pole position - but he was aware of how better his win felt because of the perceived favouritism.

"Whether the gap between us in qualifying was the difference between the two front wings, I don't know," said Webber. "But it was a far from ideal situation and it definitely made my win taste even sweeter."

Webber dominated the race at Silverstone, after taking the lead from Vettel with an aggressive dive down the inside at the first corner.

And although his charge later on was hindered by a safety car period, he actually admitted that he was happy the field had bunched up.

"I was actually quite pleased to see the Safety Car because it closed up the field and meant I didn't have to worry about backmarkers. As the race leader, you always worry that that backmarkers haven't seen you coming and we saw in Valencia what can happen if a faster car stumbles over a slower one.

"Lewis was right on my gearbox at the re-start on lap 31, but I got a clean run out of the final corner and managed to put some daylight between us. On my first flying lap I set the fastest lap of the race, which sent a clear message to Lewis that it wasn't going to be his day."

McLaren not relying on Red Bull fallout

2010-07-12T20:14:00.002+01:00

McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh says his team is not going to rely on Red Bull Racing getting ripped apart by its internal divisions - even though he thinks the favouritism row that has engulfed his title rivals is now an unwelcome distraction for the Milton Keynes-based outfit.

Red Bull Racing is facing a crunch few days to try and put a lid on the row that has erupted between Mark Webber and the team management over its decision to swap front wings on its cars before qualifying at the British Grand Prix.

That decision left Webber feeling he had been relegated to the number two driver position – and he claimed after his Silverstone victory that he would have never re-signed for the team for 2010 if he knew that was how he was going to be treated.

And with Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner insisting he has no regrets about the decisions he took at Silverstone – even though it has led to a huge backlash from the media and fans – rival teams have already suggested they can capitalise on the trouble.

Whitmarsh, whose team heads Red Bull Racing in both championships despite having not had the quickest car this year, said he hopes that the problems at Red Bull spiral out of control – but he made it clear he wasn't going to count on it.

"I don't know what's happening there," said Whitmarsh, after seeing Lewis Hamilton extend his lead in the world championship standings after the British Grand Prix.

"We have got to concentrate on our situation. A lot of people speculated on the relationship between our two drivers. And the fact is that it hasn't been a news story yet meant people tried to make it one.

"I hope there are cracks and divisions in all our competitors and they all fall apart, but I am not going to rely on it. We have got to make our car quicker and try and win the championships that way."

When asked if he felt that the internal problems at Red Bull Racing could prove to hurt the team's efforts on track, Whitmarsh said: "I think if your drivers aren't working together then it is one more distraction you could do without."

Whitmarsh reckoned that any decision that could leave one driver feeling as though he is being disadvantaged, such as the removal of parts to give to his team-mate, needed careful thought to consider the consequences.

"You have got to think carefully about decisions," he said. "Drivers are immensely competitive individuals. They wouldn't be doing that job otherwise, so if they perceive something that is not even-handed or fair, then you are going to have some trouble.

"There is always a potential tension with two drivers in the same team fighting for a championship. We've experienced that a few times, it's difficult, but I have to say that so far I think we are in reasonable shape in that regard."

Whitmarsh has close-hand experience of dealing with such driver tensions, when Fernando Alonso had a difficult time working with the outfit in 2007.

Looking back on the events of that season, which included the outfit getting dragged into a spy case, Whitmarsh openly admitted that the off-track situation cost it the world title.

"2007 was a tough year for all sorts of reasons," he said. "We had a competitive car, we were trying to win the world championship but ultimately we lost it by one point. Certainly the histrionics that went around, cost us that world championship, so we had to understand and respect that."

He added: "But I know the depth of this racing team. I think the combination of the drivers, a reasonable car and a strong team has enabled us to be leading both championships."

Post-race press conference - Britain

2010-07-12T20:06:00.002+01:00

Q. Mark, you were very angry yesterday after the team switched the front wings. After the race today you said on the radio race 'not bad for a number two driver.' Was today all about poetic justice?

Mark WEBBER: Maybe there is a bloke upstairs every now and again. I just did the best job I could do today and it worked out okay. Enjoyed the grand prix to be honest. It was a good fight with Lewis. People don't really see how we are still having a bit of a fight even if it is against the pit board and just having a bit of a look how the gap is going to pan out. But it was enjoyable, particularly the first part of the grand prix. The pit stops as always are crucial to get right and the team did a great job there. Came back out and really just got my head down on the primes, the hard tyre. I knew I had a bit of a stint ahead, so just made sure they were comfortable for the whole stint. The safety car gave them a chance to recover a fraction but the car was faultless all day and a sensational result for the team.

Q. You didn't take any prisoners at the start in the battle with Sebastian (Vettel). Tell us about those first few corners as he went off course.

MW: It was pretty straightforward. I made a good start. I was very keen to make it my corner and it worked out well for me, so it was good.

Q. Lewis, you are still leading the championship. Do you feel after all the problems you have had this weekend with the car that this is a kind of a miracle result for you?

Lewis HAMILTON: I don't think it is a miracle result. I think it is a reflection off all the hard work the team had put in. The car was nice to drive. It wasn't as fast as these guys ahead of us, but we did the best job we could with the package that we had. That has been the case all weekend. Even Jenson (Button) did a fantastic job today, so that's great points for the team. I guess we are still leading the Constructors' Championship as well, so a great result for the guys.

Q. You tried very hard to stay with Mark. You stayed with him to six seconds towards the end. How hard was it to live with the Red Bulls today?

LH: Mark did a phenomenal job, so congratulations to him. Those guys are just so fast. I knew that on pure pace I wouldn't be able to outpace them. The first couple of laps it looked like he was struggling and it was a great chance for me to maybe get past but still it was so hard, as we were both struggling. But after that I was flat, flat-chat. I was trying to do my qualifying lap every lap as always but he kept on creeping away.

Q. Nico, first podium since China for you. It looked like you had a little bit of bodywork damage early on. Tell us about your race.

Nico ROSBERG: I had a good start, so I came out fourth. Then I had (Robert) Kubica in front who was quite a lot slower than me and I had (Fernando) Alonso pushing from behind, so that was not so easy as the Ferrari was very quick at the beginning and able to follow closely. In the end the result goes down to first of all a great effort from the team to turn things around after Valencia where we had a disastrous weekend and really they made great progress on the car that allowed me to be on the podium today and that's fantastic and the other thanks goes to strategy today. They did a really good job to keep me out there on the option, put in a great lap and get out ahead of Robert and Fernando then.

Q. We have seen a lot of overtaking today. How much do you think the track changes contributed to that?

NR: Well, I am sure it must have contributed to that. It is great. The atmosphere is fantastic out there and it is so nice to see the enthusiasm that the British fans bring to the race, so it is nice that we were able to give a great race back to them.

Q. Mark, this weekend clearly demonstrated the superiority of the Red Bull package. But you are still behind in the championship, so what happens now in the second half of the championship?

MW: Well, we need to try and keep consolidating on weekends like this. The other car had a problem, so we lost some points with that situation. But we were very strong this weekend. That's evident to the development that has gone on with the car. Everyone at Milton Keynes has done an incredible job. Thanks to the guys with the F-duct, they have pushed hard with that which is not an easy thing to get on top of but they are chipping away with that and lots of other small things. Like I said yesterday we climbed this tree and it is important to know how you get up there. You cannot just pick and choose what you might want to get in terms of development, so we know the car well and we have got to keep pushing on and I have got to keep getting results I can.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q. Mark, I get the impression that was one race you really wanted to win. Tell us about the satisfaction of doing so.

MW: Ann (Neal) said to me at the start of the year ‘if you don't do anything else this year bloody win Monaco and the British Grand Prix,' so I hope I can do some more victories as the season goes on. Very special victory for me. I have won here in Formula Ford, Formula 3000, sportscars and now Formula One, so it has been a very special track to me and to get the victory for me in Formula One in the company of these guys is something which will be a highlight. I think I heard over the loudspeaker something about Jack Brabham. I don't know if he won here but it is a special venue to win. A lot of amazing grands prix have taken place here. It has the new lay-out and it was very, very special to win here in the UK. The team is down the road. A lot of English employees and it is a very special day for them to win here.

Q. Tell us about the grip off the track. Did you expect to get that much grip as you made a superb start?

MW: Yeah, I spoke to Flavio (Briatore) last night and he said ‘Mark, just make a good start,' so that's what I did and after that I was hoping it would be my day and it was.

Q. Were you surprised how much grip you got off there as that was the dirty side?

MW: It wasn't that dirty in the end. A lot of support races this weekend which have helped. We have seen a lot of other grid spots this year, particularly here and maybe Valencia and Budapest coming up, probably Hockenheim. To be fair there is sometimes quite a big discrepancy from left to right on the grid but thank God we have had quite a few support races which helped. I think it was the procedure which helped me quite a lot.

Q. The car seemed to be absolutely flying. The amount of purple we saw on the screen. Occasionally eclipsed by Lewis but a lot of times fastest laps one after the other. I should think 50 per cent of the laps.

MW: Yes, when you are in front you need to control the race. It was at that point around about Lewis and I. I am not interested in anyone else in the field. I am just interested in watching the pit boards to Lewis. It is interesting that sometimes his pit board said a different thing to mine but only by a tenth. I am just watching both boards to make sure everything is right. Lewis drove a sensational race. We pushed each other as hard as we could. I think it is fair to say I had a better car here today, I used it to the maximum managed to pull away. We controlled it very well and took care of business.

Q. Lewis, for you it was a chase all the way. Were you surprised how good the car was today?

LH: No, not really. The car felt very similar to how it did in qualifying. Our race pace has always been generally quite good. We thought it was inevitable that we would be a little bit closer to the Red Bulls as qualifying is where they really pull out a huge chunk. I did say it would be around four-five tenths a lap and it generally was a good four-tenths a lap difference between us. It wasn't easy, as when you are behind someone you get in the dirty air and even if you are split between two seconds you still notice a little bit. The team did a great job. The car felt nice to drive. We are still lacking downforce but nevertheless we still managed to do a solid job and a better job than the rest to put ourselves that high up. Mark did a great job today, it was great for him. It is a great place. The fans have been phenomenal all weekend, so I am glad for myself and Jenson (Button), as Jenson did a great job today, a really great job, to get way back up there and score points for the team, so hopefully it is not a real disappointment for the Brits. I think we still put on a good show and like I said the championship is not decided this weekend.

Q. So really pleased with second place?

LH: I am, I am. As I said yesterday on pure pace I cannot challenge the Ferraris and Red Bulls but it was down to the start. I managed to creep my way forwards which was a real blessing.

Q. Was there any contact between you and Vettel on the first lap?

LH: Not that I know of but when I got out of my car just now I think it looks like there is a little bit of damage at the front left corner of the end plate but I didn't notice it and it must have been very, very fine if it was.

Q. Nico, similar question to you. James Allen asked you just now, but you didn't actually answer it. Was there some damage to your new car?

NR: Oh yeah, I guess there was some damage. I just saw it on the TV that a part flew off the side. It was with (Jaime) Alguersuari. He drove into the side of me, or we had contact.

Q. Did it affect the performance?

NR: I am sure it did, but still good enough to hold Jenson behind which is great.

Q. How close was he then?

NR: Jenson was close, but it was a bit easier to keep him behind than Alonso as they struggle a bit more in high speed corners I think, so he is not able to follow as close. That was good. I think having Alonso behind would have been a bit more difficult.

Q. So the Ferrari when it was there was the greater threat?

NR: Yes, it felt like it.

Q. An important result going to the German Grand Prix. Your compatriots were battling away with one another behind you but to be third was important. Having said that, just as you told me on the drivers‘ parade, a fairly large margin to the front runners.

NR: Yeah, again today in the race unfortunately Mark and Lewis were very fast in front and there was no way for me to keep up. But still we have made such a great step forward from Valencia as Valencia was a disastrous weekend for us and turned the car around. Really analysed where we went wrong and made big improvements and here we are now on the podium. I mean nearly out of merit except for Sebastian I guess, so that's a great turnaround and I am looking forward to Hockenheim too as we will be making even more progress as still the big things like the F-duct are not working properly on our car, so once we get them working soon it will be another big step forward.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q. (Ian Parkes - The Press Association) Mark, we obviously caught the comments over the radio at the end of the race. There's clearly no love lost inside Red Bull at the moment. Do you honestly feel that you are the number two driver after what happened yesterday?

MW: Ah, yesterday I wasn't happy, clearly. I'm sure we'll have some pretty decent chats tomorrow. Today went well for me and, yeah, that's it, mate.

Q. (Bob McKenzie – The Daily Express) Mark, what about that with the wing? The wing that you ran today, was that the wing that was in dispute yesterday and should that sort of thing happen?

MW: No, I don't think it should. Obviously I wasn't massively in favour of the decision but that's the way it goes sometimes. But once the car's in parc ferme, obviously that's the car you race with from qualifying, so I obviously raced today with the same car that I qualified which, it must be said, still it wasn't too bad. But some of the drivers offered me some front wings from their cars on the (drivers') parade lap but I said I would stick with what I've got. Seb didn't but some of the other guys tried to offer me a front wing.

Q. (Ian Gordon - News of the World) Mark, fantastic win, thoroughly deserved. Given Red Bull have said that whoever leads the championship will have priority, will you get the better bits on the car in Hockenheim?

MW: Should do. I should do. Yesterday was a really unique situation. It was the first time that the team had really had one component. Honestly I would never have signed a contract again for next year if I believed that that was the way it was going to be going forward. That's why I was disappointed yesterday and was honest with you guys. Let's see how it goes in the future but I just keep doing what I do and hopefully it's enough.

Q. (Edd Straw – Autosport) Mark, you said there would be some discussions with the team; does that mean you will be demanding that should this situation arise again, you don't get cast in the position where you're the number two?

MW: Yup.

Q. (Bob Bull – BBC Three Counties Radio) Lewis, once again McLaren seem to have benefitted from the brotherly love within the Red Bull team. Was there a big smile on your face as you went round the first corner in second position, or shortly afterwards? Red Bull gives you wings, it also takes them away again.

LH: Like I said, I just focused on my job. I think I was very quick at the beginning of the race. Regardless, I think I would have a shot at fighting both of them down into Stowe, if Sebastian hadn't gone off. Funnily enough, we seemed to be quite quick at the beginning of the run, we seemed to be as fast as them, but then obviously (Mark) decided to knuckle down and pull away, but I don't feel I've been fortunate in this situation, I think we've just worked hard all weekend and we've just worked down to the bone and got absolutely everything we could from ourselves as a team.

Q. (Michael Schmidt – Auto, Motor und Sport) Mark, how close was it with Sebastian from the start to the first corner, and secondly, how much of a concern was the restart when Lewis was right behind you?

MW: At the start? Plenty of room, you could drive a bus down the middle. With Lewis, yeah, safety cars are always a concern because it's an opportunity for something else to happen. There was no real concern, but obviously I had a gap for a reason; that means because I was quick enough to get that gap. I had to start again. There was a little bit of a bonus, as I saw at Monaco, obviously you don't then come across a lot of the backmarkers if you get a safety car in the middle of the race. You don't come across as many backmarkers which as the leader is the benefit. Given today and Monaco, it actually sometimes works in your favour a bit. You don't have to come across all that stuff at the back.

Q. (Andrew Benson – BBC Sport) Mark, Eddie Jordan just described this as poetic justice. Is that how it feels to you?

MW: An appointment with karma, is it? Yeah.

Q. (Adam Scriven – Racing Post) Lewis, 18 points on a weekend when the team seemed to struggle is surely a great result for the championship. How confident are you heading into the second half of the season?

LH: Definitely we cannot complain with two second places in the last two races where we really have been on the back foot. The other teams have made a step forward in development and we're trying to but the component didn't work this weekend, which should have put us back into a real fighting position with the Red Bulls but no, we couldn't have asked for more, really, to come into these weekends, knowing that we don't have the true pure pace of maybe the Ferraris and Red Bulls and sometimes even a Mercedes, to be this far up is... I mean we're really fortunate.

Q. (Bob McKenzie –The Daily Express) Mark, when something happens like yesterday, are you the sort of guy who wakes up in the morning and thinks ‘I'll show them'? Does that give you an extra edge when you go into that first corner?

MW: You know I've had a few hurdles in my career, even sometimes privately as well. Yeah, how you judge a person's character is obviously how they come back in a bit of adversity. All drivers have some of that in certain parts of their career if they've been around for a while. I've obviously maybe had a bit more than others. It can work, but how long is a piece of string? You want to make sure it isn't constantly happening… I mean the challenges, because otherwise it can sometimes test you a bit too much but if the balance is right, it certainly puts a bit of fuel on the fire.

Q. (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Nico, your fifth ever podium, was this the most demanding of them all?

NR: Yes, it was demanding, yes. At the beginning I had Alonso behind me. He was very quick and pushing hard with Kubica blocking me in the front, then Jenson with fresher tyres behind me for 25 laps or something. It is quite challenging, yes, but in the end they worked alright and Jenson wasn't able to follow that closely in the high speed (sections), so that helped me out a little bit. I'm happy, it's a great result.

Q. (Ian Parkes – The Press Association) Lewis, did you honestly believe that you would be sitting here today in this position after everything that had gone on on Friday and then overnight with all the troubles that the team had had in trying to get the car set up for the weekend?

LH: I think this weekend I've had an incredible amount of optimism, regardless of when they took the floor away – which I actually thought was… I didn't actually want to change the floor, I wanted to stay with it but there were a few… the results on the data and all these kind of things. They had to make a team decision to take it off just in case. We didn't know if it was delivering a little bit less or just about the same. It should have been giving a lot more downforce. It felt good in certain areas for me. I was a bit cautious and a bit nervous about taking it off and then going into Saturday, not knowing just how quick we would be and then on Saturday morning we really were nowhere, we didn't have the pace of these guys. Like I said, we looked like we would be seventh or eighth but pulled out a stonking qualifying lap and that really changed the whole race situation. And then into the race, my race pace this year has always been strong, so that's never been a real struggle for me.

Q. (Sean McGreevy – CSMA Magazine) Lewis, you've been on pole this year, you've won here, you've had a great second place here today, almost as good as a win. Personally, what does Silverstone mean to you, all the history and everything that this weekend we're celebrating as well?

LH: Silverstone is a unique and classic race for me. I think growing up, I never got to come here when I was younger, so it wasn't until I was in my late teens that I started coming here, and seeing all the great races here, British history. In terms of motor sport, when we say it's the home of motor sport, it really is. We've got so many teams here, so many enthusiasts, so many engineers, people developing the cars in the teams, so many of these pioneers come from the UK and so for me to come from here, being born only an hour and a half away, to come here and see my fellow Brits, have my family here – we have support like nowhere else. What a weekend. I don't believe any other grand prix puts on as great a show. What were they thinking about when they thought about taking this grand prix away? It's been amazing, this weekend, probably the best weekend I think I've seen them put together in terms of the crowd and how they've set up everything, grandstands, and the events around for all the fans. I think the organisers have done a pretty remarkable job, so for me, it's a real pleasure and honour to represent my country here and again, when you have a race like this you step forward. OK, we didn't win but I did everything I could and I feel proud of the result we got.

Vettel blames clutch for poor start

2010-07-12T20:05:00.000+01:00

Sebastian Vettel was left lamenting his slow start in the British Grand Prix, something he reckons was down to having the wrong settings for the clutch.

"I think we were a little bit out of the window with the clutch," said Vettel, who lost the lead of the race to Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber at the first corner.

"I had a bad start, lots of wheelspin, so I lost the immediate pull-away. I think we tried probably a bit too hard [with start settings], but that's life - you try hard to get the optimum."

Vettel appeared to be hit by the McLaren of Lewis Hamilton at the first corner, and the German suffered a puncture as a result of the contact.

He had to complete the lap slowly and pit, returning to the track at the back of the field.

"Into Turn 1 obviously I had to let Mark past and then I don't know if - I didn't feel anything – people said that Lewis touched me. As I said, I didn't feel anything," Vettel added.

"Probably he achieved this time what he [Hamilton] didn't achieve in Valencia. Surely it wasn't his intention to give me a puncture, if it was like that [contact with Hamilton], but with a puncture early on in the race it's a big minus.

"I had to come back slowly to the pits. Then I was on the same set of tyres for the rest of the race. Fortunately the safety car came out so I had a bit of entertaining the last couple of laps."

He added: "From my point of view he had a better start, so obviously I moved to the right trying to defend but he was already there – I knew that because I could see him in the mirror. I knew he didn't stall.

"Then he was there so there was no point in doing something stupid. The race is longer than just one corner. It's a shame I couldn't fight him then, but it's good for the team. I'm happy for the team."

Webber went on to win the race while Vettel recovered to seventh position.

The Australian, however, made it clear he was still angry with the team following its decision to give Vettel one of his front wings.

Vettel refused to comment on Webber's remarks, with the Australian saying on the radio that his performance was "not bad for a number two driver."

"Well, I obviously focus on myself and sort of see, I guess," said Vettel. "Especially after what happened in the past. People have different opinions, I have my opinion, I have made my experiences, sometimes good and bad, and you get to know people probably a bit better and see their true faces. I think I learned my lesson, and I focus on myself."

Webber still seething over wing decision

2010-07-12T20:03:00.002+01:00

Mark Webber says he would not have signed a contract extension with Red Bull Racing had he believed he was going to be treated the way he was at Silverstone this weekend.

Red Bull has been surrounded by controversy since yesterday after the team decided to give one of Webber's front wings to team-mate Sebastian Vettel.

The decision left Webber clearly unhappy amid accusation of favouritism Red Bull has denied.

The Australian, starting from second position behind Vettel in today's race, went on to take a commanding win, and made it clear he was still angry by telling his team on the radio, "Not bad for a number two driver".

Webber hopes yesterday's situation was a one-off and he claimed he would not have signed a new contract with Red Bull if he had believed he would be treated that way.

"Yesterday was really a unique situation, and it was the first time we had one bit. I would never have signed a contract for next year if I believed that was the way going forward," said Webber after the race.

"I was disappointed. We will see how it goes in the future, I will keep doing what I am doing and I hope it is enough."

"I have had a few hurdles in my career, sometimes privately as well, so I think you can judge a person's character by how they come back from adversity. Some drivers have that, I've had a bit more than others.

"It can work but obviously it is not how long is a piece of string - you have to make sure it is not constantly happening because it can test you too much but if the balance is right it can put some fuel on the fire."

He said the team will sit down and talk things over tomorrow.

"Yesterday I wasn't happy, clearly, and I am sure we will have some pretty decent chats tomorrow. Today went well for me... and that is it," he said.

When asked if today's win was poetic justice, he replied: "An appointment with Karma? Yeah."

"I don't think it should happen, honestly. I wasn't massively in favour of the decision but that is the way it goes sometimes....some of the drivers offered me front wings on the parade lap from their cars but I said stick with what I've got. Seb didn't!

Rosberg delighted with Mercedes gains

2010-07-12T19:57:00.002+01:00

Nico Rosberg hailed the superb progress Mercedes made for the British Grand Prix, having finished on the podium at Silverstone just one round after his team's awful showing in Valencia.

At the Spanish street track neither Mercedes managed to qualify in the top 10 and Rosberg had to rely on penalties ahead to scrape a point. But he was back with the frontrunners all weekend in Britain and took third behind Mark Webber and Lewis Hamilton.

"Mark and Lewis were very fast in front, no way to keep up, but we have made such a great step forward from Valencia," said Rosberg. "It was such a disastrous weekend, we analysed where we went wrong.

"And we're on the podium, nearly out of merit apart from Sebastian [Vettel's puncture] I guess - and we can make more because things like the F-duct aren't working properly on our car."

He confirmed that his car had received damage when Jaime Alguersuari made contact with him while being overtaken into Brooklands during the pitstop sequence.

"I am sure it did, but it was still good enough to hold Jenson [Button] behind which is great," said Rosberg.

"Jenson was close, but a bit more easy to keep him behind than [Fernando] Alonso - he is not able to follow as close so having the Ferrari behind would have been a bit more difficult."

Alonso chased Rosberg in the early stages when both were caught behind Robert Kubica's Renault, but fell away from the Mercedes when given a drive-through penalty for corner-cutting during a dice with Kubica.

Hamilton: Second a reward for effort

2010-07-12T19:48:00.000+01:00

Lewis Hamilton was thrilled to reward McLaren with second place at the end of a tough Silverstone weekend for the team.

Having had to remove its exhaust-blown diffuser following practice after problems getting the new system to work without impacting on reliability, McLaren worked late into Friday night to change the car's spec back again.

Hamilton then qualified fourth, jumped to second at the start, and chased winner Mark Webber for the rest of the race to secure the runner-up spot at home.

"I don't think it is a miracle result, it is a result of all the hard work, a reflection of all the hard work the team put in," said Hamilton.

"It was nice to drive, not as fast as the guys ahead of us, but we did best job we could with the package we had, and even Jenson [Button] did a great job today. I guess we are still leading constructors' so it is a great result for the guys."

But despite his pleasure at being second on a difficult weekend, Hamilton admitted he had no answer to Webber's speed.

"The Red Bulls, and Mark, did a phenomenal job," he said. "Those guys are so fast, out of pure pace I wouldn't be able to out-pace them.

"In the first couple of laps it looked like he was struggling, and I thought I had a chance to get past, but we both struggled. No chance though, I was flat chat but he was edging away."

Alonso accepts British GP penalty

2010-07-12T19:38:00.002+01:00

Fernando Alonso said he accepted the costly penalty he was given during the British Grand Prix on Sunday.

The Ferrari driver received a drive-through after overtaking Renault's Robert Kubica by going off the track.

The penalty ruined all his chances of a good result as he was forced to serve it after the safety car period, which meant he returned at the back of the field.

A calm Alonso, who had been angry in the previous race because of the safety car controversy, said that he accepted the penalty.

"I accept everything they do. They are the judges," Alonso told Spanish television after the race.

Ferrari made a reference to the European Grand Prix controversy in its official Twitter account, suggesting Lewis Hamilton should have been punished then like Alonso was today.

"You can just say one thing: if a penalty must be punishing it must be always like this," said the Italian team.

The result left Alonso 47 points behind championship leader Lewis Hamilton, but the Spaniard insisted the title is still within reach.

"This is just the halfway point of the season, so all the points that we have lost in this first half is because we haven't done things as well as the others," he said.

"So in the second half of the championship we are going to try to do better than the others and recover one point more than what they have now.

"The season is very long and we are not going to give up."

Alonso finished the race in 14th position on a dismal day for Ferrari, with team-mate Felipe Massa down in 15th.

Webber takes commanding Britain win

2010-07-12T19:34:00.002+01:00

Mark Webber responded to the Red Bull front wing controversy in the best way imaginable by taking a commanding British Grand Prix victory ahead of Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg and Jenson Button.

Polesitter Sebastian Vettel's chances of victory were ruined by a first-lap puncture, although he recovered to seventh, and there was further controversy over stewarding decisions after a contentious penalty for Fernando Alonso left the Ferrari outside the points.

Webber made a much better start than his team-mate and reached Copse first, despite Vettel's best efforts to squeeze him. Vettel then lurched off the road at Becketts with a right rear puncture, potentially the result of a slight touch from Hamilton's McLaren at the first corner.

Felipe Massa was also trundling back to the pits with flailing rubber - he had been side by side with his slow-starting Ferrari team-mate Alonso through the first corner and wheel banging at Becketts left the Brazilian with a puncture as well.

Webber therefore led from Hamilton, with this pair rapidly dropping quick-starter Robert Kubica (Renault) in third, who had Rosberg's Mercedes and Alonso all over the back of him.

Pitting slightly earlier than Kubica did not work for Alonso, whereas running a little longer did the trick for Rosberg. Eager not to lose more time, Alonso went down the outside of Kubica into Vale on lap 17, and completed the pass by nipping over the kerbs and cutting the first apex of Club.

He then sprinted away after Rosberg, while Kubica was assured that Alonso would be ordered to let him back through. That became a moot point three laps later though, when Kubica retired with a differential problem.

The stewards therefore ruled that Alonso should take a drive-through penalty, a decision announced just before the safety car came out so that debris could be cleared following contact between Adrian Sutil (Force India) and Pedro de la Rosa (Sauber) that left chunks of the latter's rear wing deposited on various straights. With Alonso having to take his penalty immediately after the restart, he tumbled straight to the midfield.

The safety car was a lifeline for Vettel, who had made little progress up to that point, but then started carving through the traffic with a string of spectacular passes, including one on Michael Schumacher. Sutil - who had also put a bold move on Schumacher after the restart - proved Vettel's toughest rival, and it took many laps of tough battling before the Red Bull driver finally muscled through to take seventh on the penultimate lap.

Far away from this excitement, Webber delivered a masterclass at the front of the field. Hamilton managed to tag along until the pitstops, but thereafter Webber was unstoppable, reeling off fastest laps whenever required and leading by 6s before easing off at the end.

Rosberg returned Mercedes to the podium with a strong run to third, despite losing a barge board when sweeping round the outside of the yet-to-stop Jaime Alguersuari's Toro Rosso mid-race. The German finished just ahead of Button, who surged through from 14th to fourth thanks to a great first lap and staying out much longer than most before his tyre change.

Rubens Barrichello gave Williams its second straight top five finish, with Kamui Kobayashi following him home for Sauber's best result of the year.

By the time Vettel was clear of Sutil that pack was too far ahead to reach, so he had to settle for seventh, followed by countrymen Sutil, Schumacher and Nico Hulkenberg.

Alonso's race got even worse when he sustained a puncture in a brush with Tonio Liuzzi's Force India, leaving him 14th, one place ahead of Massa, who needed a further set of new tyres after spinning on the exit of Luffield late on.

PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS

The British Grand Prix
Silverstone, Britain;
52 laps; 306.747km;
Weather: Sunny.

Red Bull defends front wing decision

2010-07-10T17:29:00.002+01:00

Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner insists that Mark Webber was not 'stitched up' by his team in qualifying for the British Grand Prix, after the outfit was plunged in to a fresh favouritism controversy.

Just three races after Red Bull's handling of the Turkish Grand Prix collision between Webber and Sebastian Vettel prompted suggestions that the outfit was deliberately favouring its German driver, the outfit has again had the spotlight thrown on to it.

This time, it is because the team opted to take a new front wing design off Webber's car before qualifying and hand it to Vettel because his own had broken in the final free practice session.

After Vettel took pole position, Webber was left visibly annoyed in the post-session press conference - and cheekily suggested that at least the team would be 'happy' with the result today.

Horner moved quickly, however, to defend the decision – saying that he felt the outfit had a duty to hand the wing to the driver who was leading the championship. He also suggested that there was no lap time difference between the two designs.

When asked whether the team's move meant Vettel was now officially the favoured driver, Horner said: "I don't think so. I think that you could see today that the performance today between the guys was very, very close and very, very tight.

"Unfortunately we found ourselves in a situation with only one front wing of a certain specification which was slightly different in characteristics. Both drivers tried it yesterday and one had a better preference for it over the other. And it was tried by both again this morning.

"Unfortunately sometimes I have to make a difficult decision – and with only one wing available and the facts to hand that we had, and based on championship position – which was the criteria that we used – that wing went to Sebastian today."

Horner said that if the team was adopting a policy to favour one driver over the other then it would not even have let Webber have the wing in the first place.

"We don't plan to have a scenario like this," he said. "If we were favouring one driver we would give that driver a spare wing as well. We would not run with having two available to one driver.

"We will continue to support both drivers in the best and absolute fairest way that we can. But on some occasions you have to make a difficult decision, and today was one of those instances."

Horner denied that the front wing decision had left the team open to fresh accusations of favouritisms – coming so close after Turkey.

"I don't think so," he said. "Our job is to do the best job we can as a team. Sometimes you have to make difficult decisions. It is the first time we have been in a situation where we have only had one component, and I am sure that happens up and down the pit lane.

"Obviously when you have two drivers running at the front, there is perhaps a bit more emotion attached to it. But if you take away the emotion and you look at the facts, it was an entirely logical thing to do."

When asked if he had some sympathy for Webber who may felt he had been stitched up, Horner said: "I don't think he was stitched up at all. It is a difficult situation where we haven't got two components. If I'd have given it to Mark you've the same situation in reverse."

He added: "Mark knows the way we operate as a team. He knows that with that decision there was no malice behind it. There was no manipulation. It was purely that we found ourselves with a single component and, from a team point of view, some days I have to make difficult decisions."

Liuzzi penalised for impeding

2010-07-10T17:28:00.002+01:00

Force India's Tonio Liuzzi will lose five places on the grid for tomorrow's British Grand Prix after being penalised following qualifying.

The Italian was found to have blocked Williams driver Nico Hulkenberg and will drop from 15th to 20th position on the grid.

"As I was going into the first corner on a quick lap in Q2, Liuzzi exited the pitlane under blue flags but didn't move out of my way," said Hulkenberg after qualifying.

"That ruined my lap from the outset as I couldn't get past him."

Elated Hamilton hails 'best ever lap'

2010-07-10T17:27:00.002+01:00

Lewis Hamilton says his final qualifying lap on Saturday was his best ever after securing a place on the second row of the grid for the British Grand Prix.

Hamilton and his McLaren team have been forced to remove their upgrade package from their car following yesterday's practice, and the team has struggled to match the pace of its main rivals.

The McLaren driver, however, put on a strong performance in Q3 and will start the race from fourth position, ten places ahead of team-mate Jenson Button.

A delighted Hamilton said it had been his best ever lap, and insisted the upgrade package just needs time before it works perfectly.

"Fourth is... I'm so happy with it, you can't believe it," said Hamilton. "I'm so proud of my team because we pushed so hard all year, but in the last couple of days they pushed longer and harder than ever to get this update package, which is an improvement, but we just were unable to work it.

"And unfortunately we had to take it off last night. We knew we were a long way off. The Red Bull is a second and a bit ahead and have three teams with the blown diffuser who were ahead of us, and it was really about getting the best last possible.

"I have to say for me this is the best lap I've ever had. And I think it's down to all the fans we have here. The support you have around this track is like nowhere else. British fans are the best by far."

And the Briton is adamant that a good result is still possible despite all of McLaren's problems during the weekend.

"I don't know how was I able to get so high up but I'm so, so happy," he added. "I think it's a great position for us.

"The race is not over. These guys are clearly faster than us but we can still get a great result tomorrow."

Vettel lauds 'unbelievable' Silverstone

2010-07-10T14:49:00.002+01:00

Sebastian Vettel admitted it had been an “unbelievable” feeling to drive his RB6 around Silverstone’s array of fast sweeps after beating Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber to pole.

With Vettel and Webber having dominated free practice, the three-part qualifying session predictability developed into a private duel between the pair at the top of the times and both topped one of the first two knockout sessions apiece.

Vettel went up another level in Q3 set two times that would have been good enough for pole, with his final 1m29.615s effort 0.143s faster than Webber’s.

It was the German’s second successive British Grand Prix pole and he admits driving the 3.7-mile track is just one big thrill.

“We have a lot of races, then we come here, and Friday morning we do the first couple of laps and it’s unbelievable,” Vettel said.

“The corners combinations… I can only say it again and again – it’s so much fun, especially in quali.

“Our car obviously works very well in those sort of corners and it’s just unbelievable the speed we reach.

“I think we [the drivers] are all a bit crazy, but it’s so much fun. The combination is unbelievable.

“The new section is also great, especially the 11 and 12 [turns] so coming onto the new section with a big bump.

“So I really like this track and fortunately our car works very well here.”

After narrowly topping Q1, Vettel slipped over three tenths of a second adrift of his stable-mate in the second phase before moving back ahead in the pole shootout.

The 23-year-old admits he had probably been pushing over the limit in Q2 so consciously reigned himself back in for his crucial final laps.

“It was a tight session today,” he said. “In Q2 I wasn’t perfectly happy; I think I was pushing a bit too hard and tried a bit too much so for Q3 I went a bit more conservative.

“Of course I had to push, but I had two very, very strong laps and in the end I got the pole which is obviously key for tomorrow.”

Red Bull’s fifth front-row lockout of the season raises the prospect of the Milton Keynes squad’s second runaway Silverstone 1-2 in as many years and Vettel, who won the 2009 event, is naturally hoping history repeats itself.

“I hope we can repeat last year’s story with a very good result here,” he added.

“It’s not my home grand prix obviously but I feel [at] home because the team is home here, they are only 20 minutes away in Milton Keynes so it is great to have their cars again so high up.”

Button suspects car problem

2010-07-10T14:40:00.002+01:00

Jenson Button is convinced that his McLaren developed a problem before Silverstone qualifying, having been baffled to find himself only 14th on the grid.

McLaren had not been on Red Bull's pace this weekend as its eagerly-awaited exhaust-blown diffuser did not pay off in practice and was removed late last night, but Button said he still expected much better than a seventh row spot.

"This morning the car felt really good," Button insisted. "I personally think there is something wrong - the car was undriveable this afternoon as soon as I jumped in it.

"I took so much front end out of it, five or six turns, which is 1.5 per cent, which is just wrong. We had this problem on Friday where we kept having to take front wing off to get the balance."

He said the problem was definitely something more than just the car's balance changing with the overnight change of specification.

"It hasn't got the blown diffuser, but this weekend it's been tricky for us - but that wasn't normal," Button said.

"This morning the car felt reasonably good, we have a new front wing which is working really well, but something felt very wrong then. I was getting on with the car this morning even if we didn't have much experience with the new setting."

Button added that postponing the full introduction of the new exhaust system was definitely the right move in his opinion - despite today's result.

"For now, there is a lot of work that needs doing on the upgrades to improve them," he said. "It would not have been right to run them here, so it was the right decision."

Vettel on pole as Red Bull crushes rivals

2010-07-10T14:39:00.002+01:00

Red Bull continued its domination of the British Grand Prix weekend as Sebastian Vettel led Mark Webber in a seemingly easy front row sweep.

And while Red Bull proved unstoppable, its main title rival McLaren had a very tough session - with Lewis Hamilton fourth and reigning champion Jenson Button a disastrous 14th.

The latter described his car as 'undriveable', and was a lost to explain why its grip had suddenly disappeared in Q2, leaving him on row seven.

Vettel and Webber had been first and second in Q1, swapped places in Q2, and then led their rivals by just over 0.7 seconds after their first Q3 runs put them comfortably first and second, Vettel just ahead.

That was how they stayed, as Webber could not quite improve on his 1m29.758s at the end, whereas Vettel found a little more time and got his pole mark down to 1m29.615s.

Fernando Alonso was best of the rest in third for Ferrari, despite being frustrated to be caught behind Rubens Barrichello's Williams on his last Q3 run. Nevertheless, he was still able to hold off Hamilton.

Mercedes got both cars back in the top ten, Nico Rosberg taking fifth place - 0.8s and five places ahead of team-mate Michael Schumacher.

Renault's Robert Kubica will join Rosberg on row three, followed by Felipe Massa in the second Ferrari, Barrichello, and the impressive Pedro de la Rosa (Sauber) - who produced the best qualifying form of his comeback so far.

Button aside, there were few surprises among the drivers failing to make the top ten, except perhaps Force India's second straight Q2 elimination. Adrian Sutil narrowly missed out in 11th, while Tonio Liuzzi was 15th - and may yet face questions over impeding 13th-place qualifier Nico Hulkenberg's Williams.

Liuzzi had earlier edged though to Q2 with his last lap having briefly looked set for a Q1 departure. His improvement pushed Toro Rosso's Jaime Alguersuari outside the cut in 18th.

Lotus's Heikki Kovalainen and Virgin's Timo Glock had a close battle for the top spot among the new teams, eventually won by the Finn again - although the gap up to the established midfield was back up to 2s.

Returnee Sakon Yamamoto will unsurprisingly start last for Hispania, though he was within a respectable 0.4s of team-mate Karun Chandhok.

Pos Driver Team Q1 Q2 Q3
1. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:30.841 1:30.480 1:29.615
2. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:30.858 1:30.114 1:29.758
3. Alonso Ferrari 1:30.997 1:30.700 1:30.426
4. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:31.297 1:31.118 1:30.556
5. Rosberg Mercedes 1:31.626 1:31.085 1:30.625
6. Kubica Renault 1:31.680 1:31.344 1:31.040
7. Massa Ferrari 1:31.313 1:31.010 1:31.172
8. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:31.424 1:31.126 1:31.175
9. de la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 1:31.533 1:31.327 1:31.274
10. Schumacher Mercedes 1:32.058 1:31.022 1:31.430
11. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:31.109 1:31.399
12. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:31.851 1:31.421
13. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1:32.144 1:31.635
14. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:31.435 1:31.699
15. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:32.226 1:31.708
16. Petrov Renault 1:31.638 1:31.796
17. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:31.901 1:32.012
18. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:32.430
19. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 1:34.405
20. Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:34.775
21. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 1:34.864
22. di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 1:35.212
23. Chandhok HRT-Cosworth 1:36.576
24. Yamamoto HRT-Cosworth 1:36.968

Vettel leads the way in final practice

2010-07-10T14:38:00.000+01:00

Red Bull will go into British Grand Prix qualifying in excellent form having topped final practice at Silverstone in addition to leading both Friday sessions.

But the team also had a frightening moment when the nose section on pacesetter Sebastian Vettel's car came loose on his final run.

Vettel had already set a 1m30.958s lap to depose Fernando Alonso's Ferrari from the top spot, and was set to go even quicker when his car's nose box suddenly detached at the top and dropped down on the approach to Abbey, leaving the front wing scraping on the ground.

The German nursed the car back to the pits, and his time remained unbeaten.

Mark Webber completed a Red Bull one-two, 0.034 seconds behind Vettel, with Alonso third despite parking in the Ferrari garage with a problem in the closing minutes. He had been quickest until Red Bull's late surge.

Nico Rosberg showed encouraging form for Mercedes in fourth, ahead of Alonso's team-mate Felipe Massa and mid-session leader Robert Kubica (Renault).

It was a low-key hour for McLaren after the removal of its exhaust-blown diffuser though, with local heroes Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button only seventh and 12th.

Michael Schumacher put the second Mercedes in the top ten in eighth, ahead of a strong run from Sauber's Pedro de la Rosa and Williams's Rubens Barrichello.

Other drivers hampered by issues included Adrian Sutil (whose Force India had a gearbox problem) and Jarno Trulli (Lotus), who lost more yet track time to hydraulic problems. Timo Glock managed the least mileage of all, a throttle glitch limiting his Virgin to just six laps.

Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:30.958 14
2. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:30.992 + 0.034 15
3. Alonso Ferrari 1:31.101 + 0.143 10
4. Rosberg Mercedes 1:31.188 + 0.230 15
5. Massa Ferrari 1:31.240 + 0.282 16
6. Kubica Renault 1:31.519 + 0.561 18
7. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:31.549 + 0.591 16
8. Schumacher Mercedes 1:31.555 + 0.597 14
9. de la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 1:31.559 + 0.601 18
10. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:31.581 + 0.623 16
11. Petrov Renault 1:31.698 + 0.740 17
12. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:31.703 + 0.745 16
13. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1:31.867 + 0.909 17
14. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:31.947 + 0.989 16
15. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:31.994 + 1.036 13
16. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:32.235 + 1.277 18
17. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:32.331 + 1.373 20
18. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:32.723 + 1.765 18
19. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 1:34.339 + 3.381 20
20. di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 1:35.479 + 4.521 17
21. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 1:36.098 + 5.140 11
22. Chandhok HRT-Cosworth 1:36.286 + 5.328 16
23. Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:36.640 + 5.682 6
24. Yamamoto HRT-Cosworth 1:37.178 + 6.220 18

McLaren ditches blown diffuser for now

2010-07-10T14:37:00.000+01:00

McLaren has abandoned its exhaust-blown diffuser for the rest of the British Grand Prix weekend, AUTOSPORT can reveal, after a difficult first day of running with the concept at Silverstone on Friday.

The Woking-based team had high hopes that the update package it brought on to the car for this weekend's race would help lift its performance to take the fight to pre-event favourites Red Bull Racing.

However, both Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button failed to get comfortable with the new handling and set-up of the revised MP4-25 at Silverstone - with Hamilton running off-track several times as he took the car to the limit.

Button admitted that the car had not felt good with the new parts - and that the team needed to invest much more effort in making them work.

"Today's been a little bit trickier than expected in the car," said the reigning world champion.

"First of all I couldn't get a set-up for the car with the new package, but it improved at the end of the day, but there's still a lot of work we need to do. We are not where we'd like to be. The car is very tricky in a few places around the circuit.

"We've definitely made some improvements in certain places, but we don't have the right balance yet. I haven't had a perfect day today, which is disappointing because even on a Friday it's good to see so many people out there."

With Hamilton ending the day more than 1.5 seconds adrift of the best time from Red Bull Racing, McLaren felt that its chances of a decent result in the British GP would be best served with using the package it knows best.

Late on Friday night, McLaren mechanics were seen wheeling the updated floors out of the Silverstone paddock as work began on revising the cars back to the configuration that has been used up until this race - with the standard exhaust set-up.

Sources have revealed that McLaren understands where improvements can be made with the package, and revisions will be developed to ensure the exhaust-blown diffuser is back on the car for the German Grand Prix.

McLaren had come into the weekend viewing the British GP as a critical weekend in its title challenge - with the performance of the blown diffuser likely to give it a benchmark on its ability to take the fight to Red Bull Racing.

Although removing the blown diffuser is a setback for McLaren's hopes at Silverstone, the performance of the car in recent races means the outfit still has the chance of taking a decent haul of points with the older exhaust concept.

The exhaust-blown diffusers are far from straightforward to integrate into the cars, and Mercedes GP found it had to compromise its version of the design in Valencia a fortnight ago when it encountered overheating problems caused by the exhaust gases.

Drivers not won over by new layout

2010-07-10T14:36:00.000+01:00

Formula 1 drivers have not been won over by the changes made to Silverstone - as Sebastian Vettel even likened running over the bumps to 'falling off a chair'.

The new Arena circuit was used for the first time during Friday's free practice session at Silverstone – but a slippery and bumpy surface, especially at the new Abbey section, caused a number of problems.

Vettel said about the bumps: "I think everyone is struggling over the bumps. It seems like you are falling off your chair, but fortunately we have seat belts!

"I don't quite understand because you enter the new section and it's a new bit of asphalt, so it should be flat. But it's quite a big bump and I think everyone struggled: some people more, some less. But it's not comfortable that's for sure."

Speaking about the new infield layout, he said: "It's not bad. It doesn't suit the traditional Silverstone because it's quite low speed. But it's not that slow, not as slow as I expected. And it doesn't kill the rhythm - that's the most important thing.

"It's good that we still have the old bits and the proper corners, and it adds something new to the track so it's an extra challenge."

Speaking to AUTOSPORT about the new layout, Heikki Kovalainen said: "It's okay but personally if I could choose I would prefer the old one.

"I think Bridge Corner and the Priory Corner were really cool corners, and this new circuit is nothing too exciting. It is nothing too special.

"The fast right-hand corner is quite cool, but there is quite a big bump so you hang on over the bump and then it is quite straightforward with bumping and braking and the slow right-left.

"We will see. If it improves overtaking then fantastic but otherwise I don't find it too exciting. I have no strong feelings either way, but if I could choose I would choose the other one."

When asked if he felt the new configuration would help overtaking, Kovalainen said: " I think it is possible. It seems that the right hand corner is such a corner that you could probably follow the car better than through Copse.

"You don't need to lift so much, so as long as you can keep close to the car in front, then you should be able to outbrake and take a different line. I think there is potentially a better overtaking place but let's see in the race."

Renault's Robert Kubica was less convinced about the improvements – saying that he did not really like the changes.

"It is slippery, it is bumpy, I think less challenging – so I am surprised," he said. "But whatever the reason was behind it, it is the same for everybody. It will be for sure a great race. As always Silverstone is an amazing track, especially the first sector that stays the same, so it is still fun to drive around here.

"I think more challenging was the old circuit – there were some nice sections. Here this new loop is slower. There are a few high speed corners, but what is surprising is that the bump is very bumpy on the new section, slippery and quite dusty so not as quick or as fun as the old days."

Lewis Hamilton added: "It is bumpy - probably a bit more bumpy on our car for some reason, so that's what we are trying to fix. But otherwise it's very fast, very flowing.

"I don't think it upsets the swing of the track or anything. Like I've always said, it's a bit different turning right into Abbey instead of going left to a chicane. It's still very fast and still picking up grip bit-by-bit. There is a big bump going into Turn 11, but that just makes it more exciting."

Some drivers were happier with the changes, however.

Mark Webber said: "They got it right. I don't know who chalked up this track but whoever did got the angles right to make it difficult. It's tricky in places, whoever had the pencil did a good job."

Fernando Alonso added: "The track is better, more fun for the drivers to drive. More safe to drive as well, so I really like the new part of the track and we will put on a good show for everybody on the new layout."

Hamilton calm over McLaren updates

2010-07-10T14:35:00.000+01:00

Lewis Hamilton is staying calm about the performance of his McLaren team despite a difficult first day of work ahead of the British Grand Prix.

McLaren has introduced a big upgrade package that it hopes will help close the gap to rival Red Bull in terms of performance.

However, Red Bull dominated today's practice sessions at Silverstone, with Hamilton finishing down in eighth, over 1.5 second off pace-setter Mark Webber.

The Briton said nonetheless that he felt the updates were a step forward and he is expecting things to be much closer on Saturday.

"I definitely feel we've made a step forward from Valencia," Hamilton said after practice. "This is a track a bit like Barcelona, where you'd see nearly a second gap between ourselves and Red Bull.

"I don't think we will be seeing that gap. I think tomorrow will be a lot closer. If we get the car set up right then we should have no problems."

He added: "We put on the new components and I was quite excited this morning and the feeling of the car was quite positive. I was actually surprised about the pace that we had this morning. We made some changes and set-up wise they didn't make the car better, but sometimes you find that's the case.

"So we are going to go back to the set-up we had before and start from there again and hopefully tomorrow the set-up will be better. But generally I think the performance of the car is good."

Team-mate Jenson Button admitted he was disappointed with his day after struggling with the handling of the car.

"Today's been a little bit trickier than expected in the car," said Button, 13th quickest. "First of all I couldn't get a set-up for the car with the new package, but it improved at the end of the day, but there's still a lot of work we need to do. We are not where we'd like to be. The car is very tricky in a few places around the circuit.

"We've definitely made some improvements in certain places, but we don't have the right balance yet. I haven't had a perfect day today, which is disappointing because even on a Friday it's good to see so many people out there."

Team boss Martin Whitmarsh said the day had been hard for McLaren, but insisted the team needs time to make all the updates work.

"It was a difficult day for us," he said. "We're exploring the car. I wouldn't say that for a lot of the time the drivers were that comfortable today but we were learning and we will take that data and see what we can do with it this evening.

"The issue us, often when you are developing the car you are incrementally bringing downforce to the car so the balance of the car and the set-up characteristics don't change dramatically. With the changes that we are evolving on the cars, it requires perhaps a different approach, a different driving style, different setups.

"In the era when there is not much testing, that's quite difficult to nail with a limited number of tyres and laps to do it in. That's the modern era of F1 and we've got to take all of the data that we've got today, make some decision of what we've got to do and hopefully get it right.

"Parts were still arriving at 1:30 this morning. There are a lot of new components on the car and people have worked incredibly long hours day and night just to get those bits here. It's a big effort. We had a number of different parts on the car today and we've got to make sure that we've got the best package that we can provide to our drivers tomorrow."

Senna will continue to race for HRT

2010-07-10T14:34:00.002+01:00

Bruno Senna remains one of HRT's drivers and will race in the remainder of the season, his team said on Friday, despite being dropped for the British Grand Prix.

HRT revealed late on Thursday night that Sakon Yamamoto was taking Senna's place at Silverstone, although no reason for the driver change has been explained.

Neither team principal Colin Kolles nor Senna himself has so far been willing to comment on the matter.

In a statement issued on Friday afternoon, however, HRT said that it had simply wanted to give an 'opportunity' for Yamamoto at the British Grand Prix.

The statement added: "In respect to the rumours about Bruno Senna's current status with Hispania Racing, HRT F1 Team, the team wants to confirm that Bruno Senna has all the support of the Spanish team, that he remains one of the Hispania Racing, HRT F1 Team official drivers and that he will be continuing to drive in the remaining races of the 2010 Formula 1 world championship."

De la Rosa cautious on SC changes

2010-07-10T14:33:00.000+01:00

Pedro de la Rosa thinks revisions to Formula 1's safety car rules still need careful evaluation - despite a move by teams and the FIA to improve the situation after the controversy in Valencia.

As AUTOSPORT revealed on Thursday, the FIA has tweaked the safety car procedures from the British Grand Prix to ensure there can be no repeat of the circumstances that led to Lewis Hamilton overtaking the vehicle in the European GP.

From now on, when the safety car is called out, drivers will be limited to the speed of the safety car until they form up behind it after Turn 1.

Despite teams agreeing to that move, de la Rosa reckons that slowing cars down to that extent could lead to other problems – especially if some drivers are unaware the safety car has been called out.

In Valencia, he was one of nine drivers to be penalised after the race for not having slowed enough behind the safety car.

"We need to talk a little bit more in depth about the safety car rules," said de la Rosa, who is a former chairman of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association (GPDA).

"The only thing we have to be careful about is remembering that these nine drivers, all of us who came in, we never noticed the delta time. That is why we over-speeded.

"Then imagine that one of them realises and brakes just to respect the delta time – and the guys behind are flat out. It could be dangerous."

De la Rosa acknowledged that one solution could be for drivers to be given an audible warning that the safety car was out – but even that idea was fraught with difficulties.

"Sometimes these systems fail," he said. "The safety car signal could be switched on for some reason, and you suddenly back off and lose 20 seconds.

"That is why we decided not to introduce the audible tones in the first place, just in case there were some problems. Normally you use the tones for shifting.

"It is not an easy situation. From the outside it might look easy, but when you are inside toe cockpit – just remember nine drivers got caught. We didn't do it on purpose, it was stupid. I was only 2.8 seconds too fast going into the pit lane."

De la Rosa also reckons it right the FIA had not simply decided to close the pits during safety car periods – as had been discussed during a meeting with the teams earlier this week.

"You could do it, now that there is no refuelling, but that would be a shame because you would cut out all the interesting strategies that could be found in the race.

"If you started saying you could not do this or do that, then the racing would be boring. For me the safety car makes the racing a bit more interesting and the clever/lucky guys can get more out of it."

Rosberg not giving up on 2010 yet

2010-07-09T09:14:00.002+01:00

Nico Rosberg believes it is not too late for Mercedes to turn its season around, despite recording its poorest result since the German car maker returned to Formula 1 as a manufacturer at the recent European Grand Prix.

The German admitted Mercedes encountered 'some issues' with the upgrade package it introduced in Valencia, something which included the team's own version of its exhaust-blown diffuser and updated F-duct.

But Rosberg insisted the team's form in the last race was not representative of its ultimate potential and that Mercedes had improved the upgrades for Silverstone.

The German qualified 12th and finished 10th in Valencia, while his team-mate Michael Schumacher was 15th - his lowest ever classified finish in a grand prix.

"It's still doable that we can improve and that we can some really, really strong results," he said at Silverstone on Thursday. "It's getting more and more difficult of course, but when you look at where our car was in Valencia and what we can achieve in the coming weeks, it is a massive steps so we need to wait and see.

"Once we get all those things working on the car and then we can see where we are.

"We had just had issues with it in Valencia, with the upgrade package and with the F-duct for example that we are not extracting the maximum potential out of it. But we will be soon so we have to wait."

Rosberg also moved to clarify stories which suggested he had branded the Mercedes car as 'a disaster', saying that he had been misquoted by the press.

"Valencia was a disaster for us, that's very clear," he said. "We don't want to be qualifying 12 and 15, or wherever we were. Our target is much higher so that was clear for all of us, and I think we all agree in the team. But I think that was stating the obvious and that's all I said and there were just some misquotes in the press.

"Especially where it suggested I criticised Ross [Brawn] – which I would never do because I have the utmost respect for him as a person and as a leader of this team."

Thursday's press conference - Britain

2010-07-08T20:39:00.000+01:00

DRIVERS: Fernando ALONSO (Ferrari), Jenson BUTTON (McLaren), Lewis HAMILTON (McLaren), Mark WEBBER (Red Bull)

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q. Lots of things have been said about team-mates and the relationship between team-mates. How good is your relationship? Could it be better, could it be worse? Mark, would you like to start.

Mark WEBBER: I think the press are bored. There is nothing else to talk about, so they want to talk about team-mates. That seems to have been the topic for the last 10 days or whatever.

Q. You seem to have chipped in as well though?

MW: Well, the press continually ask and try to put some fireworks on these two. My opinion was exactly as it was. It is not the easiest to have a warm, fuzzy relationship as we are all competitors but we don't hate each other's guts. It's the way it's always been at the front in Formula One, in the 70's, 80‘s, 90‘s and it will continue in the future. It is certainly not rocket science.

Q. And the relationship with your team-mate?

MW: Sensational, amazing.

Q. We have heard this before.

MW: Yeah, it's a broken record.

Q. Fernando?

Fernando ALONSO: Very good as always.

Q. As always?

FA: Yes.

Q. You have always had a good relationship with your team-mate?

FA: Yes.

Q. Working relationship or...?

FA: Both.

Q. Lewis, would like to comment?

Lewis HAMILTON: About what?

Q. Team-mates. Previous team-mates even.

LH: I have had great team-mates and great relationships.

Q. Can you see what Damon Hill and Mark Webber have been talking about and how it could all implode with your current team-mate?

LH: No, I have been in touch with Damon and he insists he is supportive of both myself and Jenson and things have been mis-communicated, so that puts that to rest. Otherwise everything is sweet. We are here at the British Grand Prix and excited to see how the rest of the weekend goes.

Q. Jenson?

Jenson BUTTON: I always love the lead-up to the British Grand Prix. It is always exciting. I wet myself when I read the quotes in the papers the other day. The great thing is, it is great that the weekend is here as we will have something good to talk about hopefully, on Formula One as a whole, as we are always looking for a story leading up to the British Grand Prix and it is all over now which is good and we can concentrate on the important bit.

Q. Can I ask all four drivers about the new circuit. Have you had a look at it? What are your feelings about it?

MW: I think when they designed it they weren't really planning probably to have a Formula One race here, so they were looking very aggressively towards making it more towards the bikes. I think then it was a bonus they got the cars back which we are all very happy about. The work the BRDC, Damon, everyone has done I must say it's incredible how they kept their heels in the ground and kept the event here which is great for all of us. Back to the track itself they kept all the good stuff, the sections of the circuit that the drivers like I believe. It would still be nice if we had Bridge in there and some of the other corners were nice, but you can't have everything when you have certainly a world class category in Moto GP here. They have made an adjustment and I think it is still good for both of us. I don't think there will be any more overtaking than it was in the past. It was always a difficult track to overtake on and I think that will still be the case but that's the same for most circuits around the world. So overall positive. A huge amount of effort has gone in and that needs to be applauded and hopefully we can have a good race this weekend.

Q. Fernando, have you had a look at it?

FA: I did some laps with a bicycle today. Nothing really more to add to what Mark said. We love to drive here. We love high speed circuits as this one. As Mark said I think overtaking will be difficult but no more difficult than it was in the past, so here we will enjoy this weekend a lot.

Q. I believe the McLaren duo have been practicing it on Scalextric. Is that right?

JB: Yes. It is very slippery at turn one, lot of oversteer. Apart from that the circuit was pretty good and I enjoyed it.

LH: He was really quick on Scalextric, so watch out for him this weekend.

Q. He was quickest?

LH: He lapped me, almost twice. I crashed quite a lot.

Q. What are your thoughts on the new part of the circuit?

JB: I like it. It does take away from the flow of the old circuit. This is the first real massive change to the circuit that has really slowed us down. I think it will add to the circuit. I really do. It does take away from the flow but it is interesting to have some slow speed corners in there. You need mechanical grip and hopefully it will help with overtaking as this is a pretty tough track to overtake. With a couple of slow corners it might change that. It possibly could be different with the downforce level we run here because of the slow speed corners and it will work the tyres differently.

Q. Lewis?

LH: I like it. I think they have done a great job. Seeing the grand prix back here is very special for us all here in the UK. As Mark was saying Damon and the FIA and everyone have done a great job getting the place sorted and fixed. It is great to see the track move in a positive direction. I grew up watching the track and seeing the history. I am used to the old circuit and it took me a while to really get used to seeing some of the new corners and when I drove on the simulator I even drove old circuit straight away and forgot we had to take these new corners. It is a little bit different turning right into Abbey instead of turning left. But I think it is positive and I hope that we are still able to put on an even better show than we have in the past. I think it should be good for the fans.

Q. Mark, presumably no after-effects after Valencia?

MW: All good, ready to go.

Q. You have got a new chassis here. Tell us about that. Also, you were quite emotional and sentimental about the old one as it has been good to you.

MW: The new chassis, a different chassis obviously, it is the only car we have that we can use, so we have to take that one which is no problem at all. It will be fine. The other car had a few pole positions, a couple of victories with it, Monaco and a few things, so it would have been nice not to finish its life like that. But it is going to be rebuilt and it will be back again shortly.

Q. Is that going to be yours in the future?

MW: I think it will be a spare car.

Q. Fernando, it seems to be a feeling in the team that you should have been a winner in the last two races. Do you think that moment has passed? Are you worried about that or do you think you can carry on on that form here in Britain as well?

FA: I think it will be more difficult here to be honest. The characteristics of the track we know are maybe not the same as Canada or Valencia with the different circuit characteristics, so we will see. I am quite optimistic for this weekend. We have had two unlucky weekends, so very soon we will arrive at a lucky weekend.

Q. Lewis, you have got a special helmet here. You have had a very busy time over the last week, so it must be good to be back being a racing driver again.

LH: It has been a busy week, same for myself and Jenson, it always is for the British Grand Prix. It's our home grand prix, so the build-up to it has lots of work with all the partners who keep us racing. Helmet-wise I want to do something special every year at my two favourite Grands Prix which are Silverstone and Monaco. I did something a little bit different for Monaco. Last year I already had a slightly different helmet with the British flag on it and this year I have got all my family coming who are from Grenada, so I wanted to make sure that I was representing both flags, so I have got the Grenadian flag and British flag on top of the helmet and the stars down the side. I thought it was quite cool as my family roots are from the West Indies. I thought it was quite unique to do it and in the future these helmets hopefully will be quite valuable and who knows, maybe I will put them up for charity, maybe raise some money that way.

Q. Jenson, you have both got the new blown diffuser here. How important is that going to be and actually get it right and working correctly?

JB: Yeah, if you look at the cars at the last race that had new diffusers and exhaust systems, some of them seemed to get it very right, some not so right, so it obviously takes time. Without testing it is very difficult. We will see what happens. We are hoping we are going to put it on and it will be fine, but we know it will take a little bit getting used to and I am sure there is set-up work needed, so we are going to have a busy couple of days getting it right. But it is an important package and we have got belief in the team and we think it is going to be the right move, so I am looking forward to working with it.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q. (Oliver Holt - The Daily Mirror) Lewis and Jenson, if we take you at face value and say there's no hint of animosity in your relationship, shouldn't there be? You're both fighting for the title, shouldn't there be a bit of needle between you?

LH: We know you guys want it but no, we're doing a good job, I think. We're working very much on our acting careers and they seem to be going very well because we're convincing all of you. He's going to be James Bond and I'm going to be the villain in the movie, so we're working on those roles.

JB: You know the important thing is that we work together and we do and that helps in the team. When you get on the circuit you want to beat each other, that's exactly the way it is, but we're not on the circuit right now, we're here talking to you guys. I wish we were on the circuit.

Q. (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Mark, sorry to come back to the subject but the images of your accident were quite impressive, mainly one, when everything looks blue on TV, the blue of the sky. You were taking off. When you saw the image of the accident, what did you think and if, tomorrow when you are behind another car it will come to your mind?

MW: It's definitely an unusual situation for a single-seater to go into the sky like that. For sure I was concerned what might happen. It's a freakish crash and I was a bit worried about some of the bridges. I didn't know if there were any bridges there. I had pretty much an idea that there weren't – I was just making sure there were none of those but I couldn't do anything about it anyway. I had the crash before here, I've come back from other crashes, all of us have had crashes. Fernando had a pretty good one in Brazil one year and this happens. We have mechanical failures, we have other crashes which are ones that we don't want to have, but it's part of the business and part of our profession. I'm not worried at all about my ability behind the wheel, going forward.

Q. (Andrew Benson – BBC Sport) Fernando, this is a track that you would expect Red Bull to disappear on, just as they did in Barcelona. You've had a race with the new rear end already unlike the McLaren guys. Have the team had any sense from the simulations whether that will bring you closer to the Red Bulls at this sort of track?

FA: We don't know. I think we need to wait and see. Obviously in Barcelona we were off the pace quite a lot, nearly one second, so we expect a better performance here but as you said, I think Red Bulls are clearly the favourites at the moment before free practice, but hopefully we can change this feeling tomorrow when we go in the car and hopefully we will see good grip and good performance in our car as well. But we don't have a clear idea or clear simulation. We just need to work hard tomorrow in free practice, to set up the car right for this new circuit, also knowing the circuit well tomorrow, doing more laps than normal and hopefully arriving to Saturday with a good car.

Q. (Ivo Pakvis – Jhed Media) Fernando, as a Dutchman, I really have to ask you, we would really like the World Championship on Sunday afternoon. Could we arrange that you win the race and we take the championship?

FA: I think we really are playing well now in football and Sunday will be a good opportunity for us to win the championship but this is difficult from here to do anything, so let's try to do our job in motor sport and then hopefully enjoy what they do on TV.

Q. (Geoff Sweet – The Sun) Could I ask the British boys, given that you are obviously bosom buddies, in the two weeks before the races, how much do you liaise with each other? Do you pass on tips to each other, technical knowledge, whatever? Give the man in the street an idea of how you do actually get on?

JB: We've actually had a pretty busy week with sponsor activities and what have you. We've both driven the simulator, we know what we're doing in the simulator, set-up work and what have you. It's very useful. I think it's a tool that a few teams use and it's also very useful to get used to new tracks like this, the new layout. But we've spent a lot of time together this week because of the PR events leading up to this race. It's always going to be a busy race for us but the good thing is that I think we've kept it pretty much under control, so we've got time to relax and focus on the weekend.

LH: I think we've got an incredibly great team who help us get through our events as smoothly as possible and to be honest, the events that we do, rather than be too tiring or boring or zapping your energy, they actually make it quite fun for us. For example today we drove up in a... what was it?

JB: A VeeDub camper van which was pretty awesome.

LH: Which was quite funny. It was funny, we drove up at fifty miles an hour from Woking, it took us forever but it was a kind of a unique experience. There's lots of great things that our team does and as Jenson says, testing on our simulator definitely does make up for the time that we miss on the actual track.

Q. (Ya'acov Zalel – Hege Magazine) Jenson, if you were following Lewis in the last race when the safety car came out, would you ask your team to do something about it as Alonso has asked when he was in this position?

JB: It's a situation that didn't happen, so we're clutching at straws here to try and make a story, aren't we? You race as a team and I'm sure that the team would clarify the situation.

Q. (Jon McEvoy – The Daily Mail) Fernando, you drove with Lewis for a year. What's your reading of the way the British boys get on?

FA: Very good, I think.

Q. (Jon McEvoy – The Daily Mail) A bit better than in your day?

FA: Similar.

Q. (Carlos Miquel – Diario AS) Fernando and Lewis, we know this week that you are very good friends on SMS. Did you make that communication for a year, something like that? And the second question is to Fernando whether he thinks that Hamilton manoeuvred intentionally behind the safety car?

FA: Well, I think Valencia is in the past, so let's concentrate on the future, as I said before. We have arrived here after two unlucky races for us, we didn't win the points we wanted, so we knew what we have to do: (score) thirty points more than our main competitors in the second part of the season. I think we can do it after what happened to us in the first part of the season with all the problems we faced, I think we can do a better job in the second half, so hopefully it's enough to be in the fight for the championship, hopefully. That's all. As for SMS, I think we all send SMSs to people, so a normal thing.

LH: I think he answered it pretty good.

Q. (Sarah Holt – BBC Sport) Fernando, your answer there reminds me that we've got four of the five race winners up here now, so maybe you could all answer how important it is this weekend to do well, ahead of the second half of the season as we're at the halfway point and you've all had different experiences so far?

FA: I think it's important; not only here, the next couple of races are important. We have three races in four weeks now, there are 75 points to play for now in July, so it's important to score more than the others in these next three races.

MW: We know it's changing event by event. The new points' system is pretty interesting in that sense. Fernando had a few problems with the safety car in the last race, Lewis had a drive-through, still got second. Jenson didn't qualify well, had a good race. I crashed, Seb had a perfect weekend, and it's up and down like this until the end of the year. We know whoever has the best weekends consistently, all the way to Abu Dhabi, is going to be the guy who will be in the best shape. There's going to be some more tears before the year's out in terms of some reliability, some mistakes, some pit stops, that's Grand Prix racing, and that's why we're all here and that's why we all watch it, so looking forward to it. There are some great opportunities in the future, clearly, for all of us to do well.

JB: I agree with everything. The only thing I would say is that with the new points' system, I think it works pretty well, I think that it's not just going to be about consistency for the rest of the season. We do have to win races, that's the same for all of us. If any of us are going to challenge for the championship with the difference in points from first to second now, it is key to win races. We're all pushing very hard, I'm sure, we can all talk about the improvements that we've got coming to our cars but until we see them on the circuit we really don't know where any of us stand. It's an exciting time for Formula One, I think. We've had many different winners and we've had some great fights this year and long may it continue because it's a great year for Formula One and we shouldn't forget that.

LH: Yeah, I think they've pretty much said everything.

Q. (Alan Baldwin – Reuters) Fernando, after Valencia, the FIA said that the Formula One Commission was going to look at the safety car regulations. I was wondering if you'd heard any more about that and whether you were going to raise it with Charlie (Whiting) in the drivers' briefing, about what should be done?

FA: No, I don't have any more information. I know that there was a meeting yesterday. We have our meeting now with the engineers, some with the team at 5.30 today, so maybe I will know something more, but no information at the moment.

Q. (Ian Parkes – The Press Association) Fernando, just going back to Valencia, you were obviously very angry and outspoken afterwards about the events that happened. Is it difficult to try and keep your cool in such circumstances? And in the future, should such an incident occur again, do you think you might adopt a cooler approach?

FA: As I said last week - I said everything I think on the website and in the days after the race in much calmer conditions. As I've said now, also, Valencia is in the past. We know what we have to do, we've been unlucky in the last two races, so we seek to change this situation in the next half of the season.

Q. (Andrew Benson – BBC Sport) Mark, I understand that there's some high kerbs at four or five corners around the track that are causing some concern among the drivers. Could you tell us about that please?

MW: Yeah, you're right. I think at Becketts there are a few larger sections behind the main kerbing, if you like, which the drivers are certainly not a fan of. We don't feel the necessity to have this type of kerbing in high speed corners because the main aim of that kerbing is to keep us inside the circuit, for example, like Monza and Canada, all those types of… Nürburgring last chicane, Barcelona last chicane. So to have them in fifth and sixth gear corners isn't particularly necessary, so hopefully the guys can have a look at that tonight. We've seen here many cars in the past aquaplaning across Maggotts and Becketts out of control. I think Montoya had a pretty decent suspension failure here a few years ago across there, so it's best that the cars go across a smoothish surface within reason and we don't need to add any largish bumps to have a car potentially projected... it doesn't matter what, front, sideways or rearwards, you could then be at head height for a driver that's on the apex. I think low speed corners are fine, but it's just the fast stuff that we feel is a bit unnecessary. I don't imagine that the bike guys are particularly – I think they're really for touring cars and maybe some other saloon racing here at this track. But I don't imagine that the bike guys would be particularly too keen to roll over them either.

Yamamoto to replace Senna in Britain

2010-07-08T20:37:00.002+01:00

The Hispania team has dropped Bruno Senna for the British Grand Prix weekend, in a surprise move on the eve of the event.

Test driver Sakon Yamamoto will race alongside Karun Chandhok instead.

HRT boss Colin Kolles confirmed to the BBC that the change would take place, but further details of the driver switch will not be released until Friday morning.

Kolles added that Yamamoto only had the drive for Silverstone at present.

"A decision as to who will drive for Hispania for the rest of the season will be taken over the weekend," he said.

Yamamoto's racing debut for Hispania will mark his first Formula 1 start since his stint with Spyker in the second half of 2007.

Horner: No favouritism in chassis choice

2010-07-08T18:52:00.000+01:00

Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner has dismissed suggestions that the team's decision to give Mark Webber a chassis recently rejected by Sebastian Vettel is a sign of favouritism within the Milton Keynes outfit.

Webber's huge accident in Valencia has forced a chassis shuffle for this weekend's British Grand Prix - with Webber taking chassis number 3 for Silverstone. This is the same one that Vettel ditched after the team discovered problems with it after Monaco.

Although that move prompted comments from fans on Red Bull Racing's own website suggesting it was evidence of the team hindering Webber's title challenge, Horner insists that such claims could not be further from the truth.

Speaking at Silverstone on Thursday, Horner said the chassis had been completely repaired - and that tests conducted at the factory showed it was in perfect shape.

"Chassis at the end of the day are brackets that effectively components are bolted to, and the chassis has gone through a rigorous R&D and stress tests," said Horner. "We are 100 per cent confident that the chassis, both chassis, are in equal condition.

"If we were favouring one over the other, you could do it in different ways. If you look at it objectively, Sebastian is in the car that Mark raced in Bahrain at the first GP, and so effectively all they have done is swap chassis.

"During the course of the year, both drivers – nine out of 10 times – get to drive all the chassis that you have produced so they are just like any other component. There is nothing special; there is nothing secretive about them. They are effectively a bracket that you bolt bits to."

Horner confirmed that the damage to chassis #3 had been around the front suspension pick-up point – and also that the team would now be working on a fifth car in the wake of Webber's accident.

"We initially hadn't planned to build a fifth chassis but now we have lost one then yes, inevitably, the fifth one will come on stream at some point," he said.

Vettel was also sure that there would be no lingering problems for Webber – despite the difficulties he encountered with the car earlier in the year.

"There is nothing wrong with it," he said. "The chassis at the point it was changed was cracked, but since then it has been repaired so it is fine."

When asked if the car, which he had nicknamed 'Luscious Liz', was being unfaithful to him in Britain, Vettel said: "I don't know if he [Webber] gives any names to his cars. It is an exclusive right - so it is only valid for me."

Safety car procedures revamped

2010-07-08T18:34:00.000+01:00

The FIA will introduce new safety car procedures from the British Grand Prix on Sunday in a bid to prevent a repeat of the controversy in Valencia a fortnight ago, AUTOSPORT has learned.

FIA race director Charlie Whiting met with the sporting directors of the teams at Silverstone on Wednesday to discuss clearing up the safety car regulations after the issues that were brought up at the European Grand Prix.

Several ideas were discussed - including closing the pitlane completely during safety car spells - but AUTOSPORT understands that agreement has been reached simply to slow the F1 cars down much more than before under the safety car.

Instead of operating to a 'delta' time of 120% of a regular F1 lap before the cars form up behind the safety car, as under the old regulations, drivers will instead be forced to slow down to the actual estimated speed of the safety car itself.

The idea of slowing cars this much will be to ensure there is no possibility of a driver overtaking the safety car – as Lewis Hamilton did on the run out of the first corner at Valencia.

Drivers are due to conduct experiments with the new delta time after free practice at Silverstone on Friday and Saturday, with the new delta time being used for the first time in the race on Sunday unless any unforeseen major problems after thrown up beforehand.

The slower delta time will prevent drivers getting a benefit by being ahead of the safety car on road.

The FIA has also reacted to the problems drivers had of breaking the delta time in Valencia, after only finding out about the safety car towards the end of the lap, by making it clear that they will be exempt from the new safety car speed limit for the final 200 metres of the lap.

Williams driver Rubens Barrichello, who was penalised in Valencia, said it was hard for drivers to react immediately to the lights telling them to slow down.

"You are coming flat out at maybe 285km/h and the lights on the steering wheel only appear.. I could only see by the time that I was entering the pitlane," he said. "You have the engineer talking to you.

"It's very hard to take it. I just think that the rule can go your way one day and another day it won't. They are there for the safety so we need to for the best reasonable way of safety."

Schumacher's focus turns to 2011

2010-07-08T18:26:00.002+01:00

Michael Schumacher has admitted that his focus has switched to the 2011 season, after admitting that he is not a factor in this year's championship.

After finishing just 15th at Valencia two weeks ago, he is still on 34 points - 97 behind championship leader Lewis Hamilton and 41 behind Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg.

Schumacher insists that his motivation is as high as ever, but is already working towards the team's preparation for 2011.

"I'm not really thinking about the championship any more, that's unrealistic from my point of view considering the points I have," he said. "So all we do, from my perspective, is try to learn as much as we can and prepare for next year. That's what I'm fully motivated on.

"I have been in all sorts of circumstances in my career and don't worry, I don't suffer at all about this in a way that removes my motivation. I put in as much effort as ever and I drive on a level that I can be happy with."

He added that Mercedes is expecting to return to the form it showed earlier in the year, after he failed to reach Q3 in Canada and Spain.

"We have much better hopes than we had in Valencia," Schumacher said. "Considering where we've been it's difficult to see it getting worse. We believe that with the car we are here with, we can be at the performance before Canada. Anything beyond this requires a bit of luck and certain circumstances."

Vettel: Britain crucial for title hopes

2010-07-08T18:25:00.002+01:00

Sebastian Vettel believes the outcome of this weekend's British Grand Prix could set the tone for the remaining part of the season.

Vettel took a commanding win in the last race in Valencia, but rival McLaren is introducing a significant update to its car in the the hope of matching Red Bull's speed.

That is why Vettel believes the weekend will be crucial to see how the championship battle will pan out in the second half of the season.

"It will be a very important one," Vettel told reports at Silverstone on Thursday.

"McLaren is quite confident that they make a very big step so it will be crucial for them, having that many expectations going into this race, it is important for us to see how big their step is going to be.

"Probably then we can make out how the rest of the season or the next five races will look like. It will be an important one definitely, also because I think here you are able to read the changes you make to the car quite well.

"You have the types of corners that show you quite well who has made a step or not, so I am confident we can win it. It will be an important one, surely."

Despite Red Bull dominating the last race, and also having won comfortably at Silverstone in 2009, Vettel is refusing to see himself as favourite for victory.

"We need to see. As I said, it is still a bit unknown because parts of the circuit are unknown, some part traditionally our car was working very well here, especially last year, plus we do have some new bits other teams there are some rumours that there are a couple of tenths coming - or even seconds – so we need to see where we are.

"But I think by the end of tomorrow we know already much better. Surely our target is to win races or win the championship. Of course we have to be in a position to fight for race wins and big points."

Williams to stick with Cosworth in 2011

2010-07-08T18:24:00.002+01:00

Williams will continue to use Cosworth engines in 2011, company chairman Adam Parr has confirmed.

Williams is currently in the first season of a three-year supply contract with Cosworth, but had been linked with a Renault customer engine deal after coming close to signing with the French manufacturer last year.

"We are with Cosworth and I am very happy to confirm that that will continue next season," Parr told reporters at Silverstone on Thursday.

Cosworth has made improvements to its engine this season after friction between the two parties earlier in the year, and in last month's European Grand prix both Williams FW32s made it into Q3 in dry conditions for the first time.

But despite continuing with Cosworth, which returned to Formula 1 this year after three years on the sidelines, Parr is hopeful that the team will be able to secure a factory engine deal in the future.

"In the long-term, the best model for an independent Formula 1 team is to have a partnership with a car manufacturer that provides engines, some sponsorship and wants to go racing," he said.

"The team has had some fantastic partnership with BMW, Honda and Renault in the past and I think that's ultimately where we would like to go again."

Williams has used customer engines since its partnership with BMW ended after the 2005 season. Since then, its cars have been powered by Cosworth and Toyota units.

Williams steps down as team chairman

2010-07-08T18:23:00.002+01:00

Frank Williams has handed day-to-day control of his Formula 1 team to former chief operating officer Adam Parr, but will continue in his role as team principal.

Williams confirmed on Thursday that Parr, who joined the team in 2006, has taken over as chairman of Williams Grand Prix Engineering Limited, with Alex Burns, formerly chief operating officer, taking up the position of CEO.

Williams, 68, stressed that he has no plans to retire and will remains committed to the team on a full-time basis.

"I wish to emphasise very strongly that this is absolutely not my notice of impending retirement," he told reporters at Silverstone.

"I love Formula 1, I have a strong involvement in the company and go to work every day. When I'm going to retire hasn't crossed my mind."

Parr, who has played a key role in the development of the team over the past four years, added that Williams will remain a crucial part of the team.

"I am taking over the responsibility for the overall running of the company and the team within that, but Frank remains team principal and therefore remains the name, face and inspiration of the team.

"It's an enormous responsibility because Williams is a great company. Frank has been competing in F1 since 1969 and Williams Grand Prix Engineering Ltd since 1977 and the goal is to be doing that for decades to come.

"Part of the good order of company is to have a succession plan in place and Frank has made it clear what it is. I am very honoured to be part of it."

Williams emphasised that there will be no change either to the shareholding structure of the team, or to the technical department. Co-owner Patrick Head remains as director of engineering, with Sam Michael as technical director.

He also pointed to Parr as representing the long-term future of the team, although the new Williams chairman ruled out ever taking up the position of team principal.

"He is most definitely the right man to carry the company forward when I eventually do leave the company," said Williams.

Q and A with Tonio Liuzzi

2010-07-08T16:05:00.000+01:00

Despite not having a blown rear diffuser for the British Grand Prix, Force India's Tonio Liuzzi remains confident that his team can continue with his point-scoring streak.

Q. Now that you are back on a more 'normal' circuit, is this the weekend that you find out for sure that the straightline speed problem you previously had with this chassis is gone?

Tonio LiuzziVitantonio Liuzzi: Definitely. It's a circuit where everything should be real because it's the first proper circuit where you need downforce, you have long straights. You have a bit of everything like Barcelona where everyone goes testing because it's a proper circuit to understand things in the car. I'm really looking forward to tomorrow. I won't be in the car in FP1 but in FP2 I will try to see that everything is as we expected and as we saw in the last two races.

Q. Does what you've seen in the previous two races give you confidence that it will be OK?

VL: Yes. That's what we believed. The reason why we changed from this chassis earlier this season was a lack of top-speed and it didn't appear to be a big problem in Montreal - it was very little – and in Valencia it wasn't there so it shouldn't be a big problem. Everything is in the right direction.

Q. Force India has an aerodynamic upgrade this weekend. What do you expect from that?

VL: This is a circuit where downforce is the key, especially for the first sector. And the new part of the circuit also needs a lot of downforce. To bring updates here was very important. Some teams have the blown diffuser – we don't have that – but we brought some interesting updates in the front wing and the floor that should give us a decent step forward and help us to fight for points.

Q. What are the team's objectives for the second half of the season?

VL: We know our objectives for the season overall. We will fight to at least double the number of points that we have up to now because there are some interesting races coming in the next part of the championship where our car always showed strong performance. We are in good shape for the rest of the season. In Valencia we were fast, and it was just not being in the right time at the right moment for the pit-stop that decided everything. We are positive that we still have good opportunities for the future.

Q. Have you tried simulations of the modified circuit?

VL: Yes. The team did a lot of simulation in the factory and we worked in the simulator yesterday to learn the new circuit and to do some setup test. It's quite different. The downforce level will be a little different from the part and everything needs to be reviewed from the setup that you had in the past. It will be an interesting challenge. The bumps could be an issue for some of the teams because in the new section the track seems quite bumpy so that's something that could dominate the setup.

Q. Is the bump where the old track turns into the new section at Abbey, which was there when Formula 3 raced at the track a few months ago, a problem?

VL: It's still there, this bump, and that could be quite a big issue. In theory, you can go nearly flat in seventh or sixth gear and at that speed the bump could affect the car. It could be dangerous for an F1 car at that speed, but it's the same for everybody. We need to work on the ride heights for the bumps.

Q. How confident are you for this weekend?

VL: It's our home race and we have worked hard towards this grand prix. Since last year, we have worked a lot on downforce in this car and added a lot to the car. It is not one of our favourite races, but we can still be competitive enough to fight for points - that is always our target. We believe that we are in good shape. We brought some updates that should help us to compete with the other cars that have brought the blown diffuser.

Alonso hoping for change of luck

2010-07-08T16:03:00.002+01:00

Ferrari's Fernando Alonso is hoping for a change of luck to revive his tile hopes following two disappointing races.

The Spaniard is 29 points behind championship leader Lewis Hamilton after finishing down in ninth position in his home race in Valencia two weeks ago.

And while he admits the nature of the Silverstone circuit will make things harder for Ferrari this weekend, he is confident he can still enjoy a good grand prix.

"I think it will be more difficult here, the characteristics of the track we know are not the same as Canada and Valencia with different circuit characteristics, we will see," said Alonso on Thursday.

"I am quite optimistic for this weekend. We had two unlucky weekends so very soon will arrive one lucky weekend."

Alonso believes Ferrari can do a better job in the second half of the season in order to stay in the title fight, despite not having the quickest car.

"As I said before, we arrive now after two unlucky races for us. We know what we have to do: 30 points more than main competitors in the second part of season.

"I think we can do it after all that happened to us in the first part - the problems we faced. We can do a better job in the second half. I think it is enough to be in fight for championship hopefully, that is all."

The two-time champion, who was angry following the safety car controversy in Valencia, said that race was already in the past.

"I said everything on the website and in the days after the race in much calmer conditions, so I think now also Valencia is in the past. We know what we have to do, we have been unlucky in the last two races, so we try to change the situation in the next half of the season."

Ferrari unveils new logo for 2011

2010-07-08T15:20:00.000+01:00

Ferrari has unveiled a new logo that will feature on all its team and car branding from the start of next season.

The red-and-white design will become the Maranello-team's official racing logo from January 1, and comes on the back of the controversy over the bar code design that the outfit had used up until the early part of this season.

Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali confirmed that the team name would remain as Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro for 2011, and that the designs currently featured on the car and team branding areas would remain until the end of this season.

Ferrari and sponsor Marlboro agreed to remove the bar code design from its car earlier this year after suggestions, strongly denied by the team, that it was subliminal tobacco advertising.

Barrichello says Valencia result a boost

2010-07-08T15:19:00.000+01:00

Rubens Barrichello says the morale within his Williams team has been boosted by its best result of the season in the previous race in Valencia.

The Brazilian driver put on his strongest showing of the year so far to finish in fourth position at the European Grand Prix.

His previous best result had been an eighth place at the Australian Grand Prix, the second race of the season.

Barrichello believes the result was a good boost for Williams, but he admits the team is still hoping for more.

"It was good for the morale of the team, but we just need to finish higher," said Barrichello ahead of the British Grand Prix on Thursday.

"The car itself changed a bit in Montreal so it's a bit of a situation where we thought the car was already better but it didn't go very well in Montreal. Valencia was better. Here it can be even better with all the new stuff that we are bringing."

The team will introduce more updates for its car for the Silverstone race, but Barrichello concedes it is hard to predict how much faster they will make the car.

But he is convinced that the package will improve the performance.

"It's a hard call. The thing that we can say is that it's definitely going to be better," he said. "If it's four tenths or half a second is a difficult thing to know.

"The car has been okay on high speed tracks but not fantastic. We might improve that. If it does we could expect as much as half a second."

He said Williams should aim to finish in the top six in all the remaining races of the year.

"I think that's the biggest aim. To qualify in the top ten all the time and to finish in the top six all the time. That's the aim for the end of the year."

Formula One 2010: Lotus dream big but stay true to Colin Chapman's vision

2010-07-08T13:58:00.000+01:00

By Tom Cary,

It is difficult to know what to make of the fact that the man charged with returning Lotus to the top of the Formula One pile keeps two kune kune pigs, two donkeys, a horse, four alpacas and a handful of chickens and ducks, not to mention two Old English sheepdogs and one Labrador who are to be found bounding about his Norfolk office.

Formula One 2010: Lotus dream big but stay true to Colin Chapman's vision
500 not out: Jarno Trulli and Mike Gascoyne of Lotus appear in the pitlane with their team as they celebrate the 500th race of the Lotus marque at the European Grand Prix in Valencia Photo: GETTY IMAGES

But then, Lotus Racing's chief technical officer, Mike Gascoyne, is not your average team boss. He is not even the team boss, if truth be told.

That honour is held by Air Asia founder Tony Fernandes, the Malaysian entrepreneur who persuaded his country's government and Lotus's owners since 1994, Malaysian car manufacturer Proton, to back a new outfit that would bring back not only the name but also the colours – British racing green and yellow – of Colin Chapman's iconic marque.

Gascoyne, then, is merely the steward but it is his shaven head on the chopping block should the comeback turn sour. So far it is proving a modest success.

On Sunday the reincarnation of one of British motorsport's greatest success stories compete in their first 'home' grand prix since the shambolic 1994 season, in which a bemused Johnny Herbert escaped to Ligier and they ended in administration.

"It will be another special moment," Gascoyne says. "To have the Lotus name coming home to the British Grand Prix is an important event."

Not everyone would agree. Lotus's return to the paddock has divided F1 fans. Purists say the team are little more than a Malaysian business piggybacking on the success of past greats such as Jim Clark, Graham Hill and Ayrton Senna.

Gascoyne, as you might expect from a Norwich City tragic and amateur zookeeper, has his own views on the matter. "When the project was announced there was a lot of scepticism," he says. "But we have the support of the Chapman family. We have the support of Lotus. We are based in Norfolk 10 miles away from the original Lotus factory [in Hethel]. I'm a Norfolk boy.

"We now have a tremendous fan base for the new version of Lotus and we are aware of the heritage and responsibility to perform; Lotus are still the fourth most successful team in F1."

Walking into Lotus Racing's charmingly old-school headquarters in Hingham, it does not feel like identity theft. The first thing you notice in the foyer – in front of a cabinet housing photos of Ayrton Senna and Nigel Mansell – is the 1965 Lotus Type 32B that carried Clark to the world title, winning nine out of 13 races.

The car has been lent to the team by Chapman's only son, Clive, and Gascoyne is clearly grateful for his support. "In the last race in Valencia we had our 500th grand prix and it was great to have Clive and his family there to celebrate that with us," he says. "Now we want our 80th win."

Gascoyne reckons that target can be achieved within three years, which sounds wildly optimistic as I wander around the Hingham HQ.

McLaren's space-age Technology Centre this is not: 1980s arcade games and flat-pack office furniture are squeezed into an area that would probably fit inside McLaren's trophy cabinet. I joke that the team's 'simulator' (they can't afford one) looks suspiciously like the arcade classic Donkey Kong.

"That's a bit harsh," Gascoyne says. "We also have a PS3 and a play seat, so we have moved up a gear from that. But yeah, we have some pinball machines and arcade games. Tony wanted us to be different as a team; more approachable. We are going to put up cricket nets, picnic tables, goalposts. We have to attract people up to Norfolk ..."

It is an interesting business model but Gascoyne – one of the paddock's savviest operators – has a history of turning around struggling teams.

Jordan, Benetton, Toyota, Force India. With just six months lead time and a budget of £55 million, Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen have had the quickest car of the three new teams – which was this year's stated target, 10th place overall reputedly being worth £17 million – and Gascoyne is already directing all resources to 2011.

"It may sound like pie in the sky but F1 is changing," he says. "Teams are downsizing and they are coming back to us. For the last 10 years F1 has been a spending competition but now innovation can be rewarded."

Just the way Chapman would have liked it? Gascoyne nods. "If you look at what we have done in the last nine months I think someone like Colin would say that was good engineering; bang for buck decisions where we had to cut corners. We have remained true to the name of Lotus."

Team Lotus timeline

1952: Lotus Engineering founded by Colin Chapman at Hornsey, north London.

1954: Team Lotus split off from main company, setting up their factory at a former RAF bomber base in Hethel, Norfolk. Headquarters for both Team Lotus and Lotus Cars established at nearby Ketteringham Hall.

1958: Graham Hill and Cliff Allison run a pair of Lotus 12s at the Monaco Grand Prix

1960: Stirling Moss wins the Monaco Grand Prix in a Lotus 18 entered by the independent Rob Walker Racing Team.

1961: First F1 victory for Team Lotus as Innes Ireland wins the US Grand Prix at Watkins Glen

1962-1978: With men such as Jim Clark, Graham Hill, Emerson Fittipaldi and Mario Andretti at the wheel, Lotus win seven constructors' crowns, six drivers' titles and the Indianapolis 500

1982: Colin Chapman dies

1985: Nigel Mansell replaced by Ayrton Senna who manages two wins as Lotus finish third in championship

1994: Lotus enter administration before being bought by David Hunt, brother of 1976 champion James. Team Lotus contest their last race at the Australian Grand Prix

2009: Lotus Cars distances itself from an entry by Litespeed under the Lotus name. In September, reports emerge of plans for the Malaysian government to back a Lotus-named entry to promote Malaysian manufacturer Proton, who took over Lotus Cars from Bugatti in 1994. Lotus Racing entry accepted on Sept 15.

Domenicali admits it is “crucial” that the team wins

2010-07-08T13:55:00.000+01:00

Title-chasing Ferrari must get back in the winner’s circle before Formula 1’s three-week summer break at the start of next month, says its team boss Stefano Domenicali.

Since finishing 1-2 at the opening round of the season the Maranello outfit has claimed just three podium finishes in the subsequent eight grands prix.

This sequence of results has seen it fall adrift of McLaren and Red Bull in the championship standings and, on the eve of the season’s mid-point at Silverstone this weekend, Domenicali admits it is “crucial” that the team wins at least one of the grands prix in Britain, Germany and Hungary over the next four weeks if it is to remain a genuine title contender.

“I think that we do not have to hide behind something,” he said in a video preview on Ferrari’s website.

“For sure it will be very important.

“It will be crucial for the championships, for the motivation and I think that is really the key before the summer break to have this kind of result that I think our team deserves.”

After an abject performance in Turkey in late May – when the team was only the fifth fastest around Istanbul Park – Ferrari showed improved form in Canada and Valencia, although its chances of a strong result in the latter were scuppered by an untimely safety car.

Its bid to continue its recent resurgence will be boosted at Silverstone by new front and rear wings and, while Fernando Alonso has played down Ferrari’s hopes of triumphing at the historic track, Domenicali says the team goes there determined to make up for recent disappointments.

“As always after a difficult grand prix as we had in Valencia, the atmosphere that we have in Maranello is good and the will [is there] to go to this fantastic track and start a new racing weekend,” he said.

“We knew that unfortunately in the last two races we didn’t get the results we wanted. Unfortunately the performance was there, but the result was not there.

“So even if we know that traditionally Silverstone is not a track where we perform very well, we are really looking forward to going there and seeing what will be the outcome of it.”

Ferrari currently lies 83 points behind McLaren in the constructors’ standings, with lead driver Alonso 29 off Lewis Hamilton in the drivers’ chase.

James Allen's half-term report

2010-07-08T13:45:00.002+01:00

After a 2009 season overshadowed by political in-fighting, it’s the racing action that has taken centre stage in Formula 1 this year – and what a season we’ve had so far, with five different race winners already, a succession of absorbing races and even some memorable overtaking at the front of the field.

This is a terrific season, with close racing and unpredictability going into every race.

This is largely due to the fact that the best drivers are in the best cars and that several teams are doing a very good job, as opposed to the Schumacher/Ferrari years where only one team did a good job and ran away with it.

McLaren

The team of the moment. There is a confidence about McLaren this year, combined with a calmness, which frankly wasn’t there when Ron Dennis was running the team, as he set people on edge.

With two world champions in the car, the whole squad seems to have an assurance about it, which makes them hard to beat.

As with last year, McLaren have done an impressive amount of development on their car since the season started.

They have innovated this year – being the pioneers of the F-duct rear wing – but they have also brought a lot of performance to the car on a race-by-race basis.

That said, they have tended to have a faster race car than qualifying car and it has taken them a long time to get on top of qualifying pace. There were some operational errors earlier in the season too, like the horrendous qualifying session in Malaysia.

Button is driving with real confidence and enjoying himself more than at any time in his career so far, while Hamilton has gone up a gear after a tough 2009 and is now probably the strongest driver in F1.

Red Bull

The fastest car for most of the season – they have only missed pole on one occasion – but they haven’t done a good enough job of converting this pace into results.

They have dropped a lot of points partly due to mistakes; by the drivers, operationally and in terms of reliability. That said it is great to have Red Bull in the thick of the fight with their combination of edgy image and top-secret technology.

I sensed from the end of last year onwards that the team had decided to throw the kitchen sink at trying to win the title this year and they are giving it absolutely everything.

The mechanics are up into the early hours at every race fitting new parts and you can feel that pressure they have put on themselves. If they don’t do it this year, I think they will be quite demoralised.

Vettel and Webber have been jostling all season, and the doors blew off in Turkey when they collided.

Vettel is growing as a GP driver and I think he’ll take the championship battle down to the wire. Webber had a great run of form but he’ll do well to bounce back quickly from that horrendous shunt in Valencia.

Ferrari

The season’s most enigmatic team.

They had the fastest car in winter testing and won the first race with a 1-2, but then went backwards, showing that there is still a problem with the technical direction at Maranello.

They put effort and resource into copying McLaren’s F-duct wing, which took away from other areas of development. Recently they seem to have regrouped and taken a step forward again and it will be interesting to see whether they can get onto McLaren and Red Bull’s level for the second half of the season.

Fernando Alonso has had an up and down season, outperforming the car at times, but also making mistakes, which is unusual for him.

He seems to feel a pressure driving for Ferrari, which he didn’t feel at Renault or McLaren. I also think he’s a bit frustrated not to have won a title since 2006.

Operationally there have been mistakes too. It’s a team that isn’t quite comfortable with itself in this iteration and after the horror season last year you can feel a sense of fear that this year could slide backwards.

I don’t think they will let it do that and I hope we see Ferrari win some races in the second half of the season.

Massa hasn’t had a great year at all but still got his contract renewed which may boost his confidence. He hasn’t figured in the battles at the front so far and his body language speaks of feeling a bit out of it.

Mercedes

I said towards the end of last year that I felt Mercedes would be behind the top three this season because of the effort Brawn put in to clinching the 2009 title on limited resources.

Mercedes took over during the winter and we have seen the team come up with more developments recently, but all is not quite right with this car and it seems to have a similar problem with tyre warm-up issues as the 2009 car suffered in the second half of the season.

Michael Schumacher has had some good days, but he’s had some awful days too where he seemed powerless to make things happen, which is not like him at all. He was unlucky with strategy calls in Valencia, but generally I think he’s finding it much tougher than he expected.

Nico Rosberg is no doubt frustrated that his car isn’t able to challenge the front guys, but he’s shown some real quality and I firmly believe that this team will be very strong in 2011.

Not sure how much effort they will put into development in the second half of 2010.

Renault

I really like the way this team has come out of the traps in 2010.

Last Autumn was about as bad as it gets for a racing team, short of a fatality. They were utterly busted for the race fix in Singapore and the morale was already low from a serious decline in the aero department, due to tunnel issues and Flavio Briatore’s staff reductions.

Now Gerard Lopez has restructured the team, hired where necessary and lets the engineers get on with it. The engineers have always been good here; Bob Bell, James Allison, Alan Permane, Tim Densham.

They won the title in 2005 and 2006 and they still have a lot of quality. They have got their self confidence back and they seem to have got the bit between their teeth again.

The car is being upgraded constantly and who knows where they might end the season? They have been ahead of Mercedes and Ferrari recently on pure pace.

Robert Kubica has been outstanding this year, especially in Monaco and seems happy in the team. Vitaly Petrov has had some strong performances, but seems quite up and down. With another strong driver in the second car they would be challenging Ferrari for third in the constructors’ championship.

Force India

Again hats off to these guys. They have been very credible this year.

With the budget they have it has been a great season for the team which was Jordan once upon a time and has since been to the bottom of the pile and back.

They are fighting well with a good car and a very good technical unit, with sound engineers like Dominic Harlow making the car work at the race tracks.

Adrian Sutil and Tonio Liuzzi are both up and down drivers, but they’ve scored points on a regular basis. Sutil had strong runs in Malaysia (5th) and Valencia (6th). With 43 points on the board after half a season they look very comfortable in that sixth place space behind the big teams but well head of Williams, Toro Rosso and the rest.

It’s a bit of a glass ceiling because it’s a big step from there to challenge Renault and Mercedes. So that’s pretty much it for them.

Williams

It’s a bit of a sorry tale what has happened with Williams, with only four points scoring finishes out of a possible 18.

Their form was hard to read in testing and they were making noises like ‘don’t underestimate us’ but they’ve not had the pace most of the time to do anything.

Valencia was the exception, where Barrichello showed his quality and when presented with a chance he took it. He and Hulkenberg did very well in Q3 and then used the chaos around Webber’s accident to grab track position. From there Rubens steered home to an excellent fourth place.

There have been rumours of unhappiness internally and you get the feeling that changes somewhere are likely. But Williams is everyone’s second favourite team in F1 and many people’s favourites and no-one wants to see them struggle.

Toro Rosso

The first year of building their own car was always going to be tricky after years of keeping close to the Red Bull mothership.

I still don’t really understand what this team stands for or why they are in F1. It seemed a distraction before, from the main business of winning with Red Bull Racing.

Now it just looks like an indulgence.

They’ve not done much this year except for some odd days when Sebastien Buemi comes to life. He’s qualified consistently well and I’ve begun to see him as a proper F1 driver, who might be able to get the job done in a good car.

Jaime Alguersuari has given Schumacher a run for his money a couple of times and has scraped a point here and there.

Sauber

I’m sorry to say this but I thought Peter Sauber needed his head examining first when he took on the responsibility of saving this team from the mess left by BMW and then when he picked De la Rosa and Kobayashi as his drivers.

Kobayashi finally came to life in Valencia (and then some), but he’s struggled to express himself in this car.

De la Rosa isn’t really fast enough and his ability as a test driver is of limited use in an era of no testing. However as an employee of McLaren until the New Year he will have tipped Sauber engineers off early about the F-duct and so it’s no surprise that they were the first to copy it.

The car has been hyper-unreliable with four double retirements, some of them engine related.

The new teams

With only a few days of testing in February, it’s been incredibly hard for the new teams to get close to the established runners, especially with the late start two of them got.

Lotus only had their entry accepted in September and they have done a remarkable job to get a margin over Virgin and Hispania.

They keep bringing new parts to the car and I hope they can score a point somewhere and finish the season within half a second of the slowest established team. They will have deserved it.

Like all the new teams using Cosworth engines and XTrac hydraulics and gearboxes they have been let down by the reliability of the hydraulics in particular.

Virgin has had a hell of a time, with all sorts of teething issues. The mechanics must be exhausted.

Really the new teams should have been given some more time to test at the start of the year as a one-off introductory offer.

Since Virgin had to fit a bigger fuel tank, the car hasn’t had the speed. But there are some good people there and time will tell whether the CFD-only design model works.

The best you can say about Hispania is that it has survived, so far, which is entirely down to the determination of Colin Kolles.

Looking at on-board camera shots of the car you feel for the drivers, but this is a long road and if they continue in 2011 I’m sure Geoff Willis’ team will make a decent fist of the car.

In conversation - Bernie Ecclestone & Ron Dennis

2010-07-08T13:41:00.000+01:00

One is the modernising maestro who swapped managing a team for managing Formula One racing. The other led McLaren to 162 victories, eight constructors’ championships and 12 driver titles. Both have been paddock fixtures for decades and F1 wouldn’t be what it is today were it not for them. From allies to combatants and from a healthy rivalry to a firm friendship, Formula One Group CEO Bernie Ecclestone and Executive Chairman of the McLaren Group and McLaren Automotive Ron Dennis have many stories to tell. They share a few in this candid interview…

Q: Bernie, Ron, you are both Formula One legends and have known each other for a long time. Can you remember the day - in the dim and distant past - when you met for the first time?
Ron Dennis: I was working for Cooper in Formula Two at the end of the 1960s. I saw Bernie playing a board game with our driver Jochen Rindt, in the heat of a race weekend!
Bernie Ecclestone: Jeepers! Nothing has changed since then… I still play today.

Q: Ron, did you ever think of Bernie as an idol, a hero of your youth?
RD: No. How could he be? He only had one thing on his mind, which was to make money. My heroes were drivers. In a way they were gladiators for me, and unfortunately many lost their lives in those days. To name one, it would be Jim Clark. He was a real hero for me. I saw him at an event at Goodwood. He raced in three categories in one day - and was always on the limit. He was special - his aura, his talent, his way of driving.
BE: Very true.

Q: Ron, did you never want to race yourself?
RD: Never. I realized very quickly that it was a dangerous habit.

Q: Let’s go back to Jochen Rindt. In September it will be the 40th anniversary of his fatal Monza crash. What do you remember about him?
RD: One time I will never forget was at the German Grand Prix - I’m guessing in 1967 - at the Nurburgring. We had set up the car on the grid and time was passing quickly. There were only a few minutes to the start - and who was missing? Our driver Jochen. I was sent to get him. I remember that while Jochen had an Austrian passport, he was a German native. I discovered him at the back of the garage, a cigarette in the right corner of his mouth and he showed no intention of moving to the grid. With incredible coolness he said, ‘They may do many things, but one thing they will not do is start the German Grand Prix without me!’ A bit arrogant, but impressive in a way too.
BE: Yes, those were turbulent days. Today we have everything timed to the split second. It’s a completely different procedure. In those days the race started when everybody was ready. In Mexico we once started two hours late…
RD: I remember that. The drivers didn’t want to start because the fans were sitting and standing too close to the track. I mean they were in the corners, in front of the barriers. But when they started to throw bottles we all felt that it was probably better to start… So indeed the organisation today differs a lot - thanks to Bernie!
BE: Come off it - my organisation starts after the race, when I collect the money bag!

Q: Has anyone ever been reluctant to pay?
BE: We had little problems in Spain for a while. Bang went the money once. In the end we got it back.

Q: Did you really carry the money away in a bag? We are talking here about millions, right?
RD: Of course! For example after the US Grand Prix in Watkins Glen, Bernie went to the local bank on Monday morning to pocket the dough. In Mexico he crossed the whole city with the money bag and deposited it in the hotel safe. It’s unbelievable nowadays. Today everything is totally different. It’s simply a different time. Not better, not worse - just different.
BE: Remember Monaco? The teams had their garage in a musty car park…
RD: Oh yes, and the mechanics had to drive the cars down the hill to the pits…
BE: The teams that didn’t exist in those days have no idea how it was back then. They have no clue how good they have it now.

Q: Ron, how difficult was it two years ago to leave Formula One racing?
RD: Not difficult at all. I drove to the F1 presentation in the factory that morning and on the way I came to the conclusion that now would be the perfect time to quit. It was very spontaneous and I surprised the whole team. I wanted to be able to concentrate fully on building our sports cars. That gives me overwhelming satisfaction, and I wanted to devote more time to my private life. This was all possible because I knew that Martin Whitmarsh, with whom I’ve been working together for 21 years, would be the perfect successor for me in the Formula One team. It became clear that he would give Bernie the same hard time as I’ve done.

Q: What would you both say were your biggest Formula One successes?
RD: Let’s answer that question from the other’s perspective. Bernie Ecclestone had two business lives. As a team principal there was only one thing on his mind - to win. He was a real racer then. When he quit his team career to concentrate on the business of Formula One, he still wanted nothing more than to win - he wanted to win at making the most money. More than anybody else! It was his substitute for the on-track action. I still find it remarkable that he sold parts of his business without ever giving up control. When you think of how difficult it is to sell your car but still keep the ignition key. It was brilliant.

Q: But Ron, didn’t you do something similar when you sold part of McLaren to Mercedes? You also never gave up control and always had the last word…
RD: Not quite the same. Mercedes invested in the company and had only one goal - to win. That means if McLaren won, Mercedes won as well.
BE: What always impressed me with Ron was he was tough but fair. You could trust his word. You didn’t need to sign contracts.

Q: And Ron discovered Lewis Hamilton, whom you described a while ago as a real ‘gift’ for Formula One racing…
BE: Discovered Lewis Hamilton? I think he was just lucky.
RD: It was a far cry from being luck. It was part of our system. For a long time we have supported young talents at McLaren and Lewis was one of them. At the moment we support a young kart driver with unbelievable talent. He is unknown at the moment, but he will make his way up just as Lewis did. Bernie and I have one thing in common - we always want the best for our companies - and have forsaken a part of our private life for it.

Q: Ron, some of the biggest names in Formula One history have driven for you, including Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost, Niki Lauda, Mika Hakkinen, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso. How did you handle them, especially as many were team mates at some point?
RD: That depended on the circumstances. They all had very different characters and that is one factor that makes it very difficult to make any judgements. When I started as a team owner I was younger than my driver, Graham Hill, so he showed me the ropes. With Lauda, Senna and Prost I had a sort of comradely relationship - it was again age related. With Hamilton and Alonso it was more of a fatherly tie. Prost and Senna were completely different in their backgrounds and character. They eyed each other suspiciously and didn’t trust each other. I let their track rivalry happen.

Q: What was the problem between Hamilton and Alonso?
RD: It was very simple - Alonso didn’t expect Hamilton to be that competitive in his first year. He told me at the beginning that it was my decision to sign a rookie like Hamilton, but that it could cost me the constructors’ championship. Fernando was calculating everything, but not that Lewis would challenge him. That affected him massively.

Q: What do you make of the driver rivalry at Red Bull that culminated in their crash in Istanbul?
RD: Only that every promoter, including Red Bull, should be happy about it. For weeks they have been in the media. Obviously nothing sells better than ‘bad news’. Am I right Bernie?
BE: Absolutely!