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PART TWO: DRIVERS - Kimi
RAIKKONEN (Ferrari), Esteban OCON (Force India), Brendon HARTLEY (Toro
Rosso)
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Brendon, congratulations, World Endurance Champion, once again, for the
second time with Porsche. How did it feel jumping back into a WEC car after
the Formula One, and how are you rationalising this very unusual life
experience that you’re going through at the moment.
Brendon HARTLEY: Yeah, it was actually surprisingly tricky to jump back into
the car. I thought I was going to feel right at home – it’s been my home for
the last four years – but it took a couple of laps for it to feel
comfortable again. The seating position’s quite different from Formula One,
having a roof over your head, different perspective – but yeah, after five
laps I felt back at home. In terms of rationalising things, I guess I’ve
tried to not overthink it and I’ve just… yeah… even winning the championship
hasn’t really sunk in. I haven’t really had time to reflect. It probably
helps that I’m just going from one weekend to the next. I think this is my
sixth race in a row. It won’t be until I get home at the end of the year
after all the racing’s over that I’ll be able to reflect and fully
understand what’s just happened to me. I’m well aware that making my grand
prix debut and Le Mans victory and World Endurance Championship… I mean
they’re all amazing things but at the moment I’m just trying to take one
step at a time and try to stay focussed and catch up on as much sleep as I
can.
Q: It sounds like you’re set for a full season of Formula One next year,
although obviously not official yet, but now you know a bit more about it,
will your experience of working with a major motor manufacture like Porsche,
do you think it will help Honda developing with Toro Rosso, taking that
whole relationship forward?
BH: I don't know. What I do know is, from working with Porsche the last
years, it made my transition quite smooth to Formula One because it’s a
similar amount of people involved; very similar structure in terms of
engineering; pressure – I mean driving at Le Mans for Porsche, there’s a big
amount of pressure on your shoulders, so I guess all of those things I’ve
learnt to deal with, so that was obviously very helpful going to Austin.
Obviously there were a lot of other things to learn in Formula One and I’m
well-aware that there’s still a lot to learn but yeah, I think the good
thing for me is that I’ve been involved in the past also with other Formula
One teams and development and the project at Porsche, I was very heavily
involved in the development on every level, so at least I have some
experience from that point of view, yeah.
Q: Esteban, Force India confirmed fourth in the constructors’ championship,
it’s your first full season but you’ve obviously played a key part in that.
What does it mean for you, given the quality of the opposition you’ve faced
this year?
Esteban OCON: It’s been a great season for us. Of course securing the fourth
place, it’s an amazing achievement with two races to go. Thanks to the team,
I would like to thank everyone. I can’t thank everyone in here but a few key
people: Andy Stevenson, Andrew Green, Tom McCullough, Otmar, I would like to
thank everyone there for the great season we’ve had. Hopefully we can finish
the last two races very well like we did before and start the next one as
high.
Q: Some interesting numbers about you: you’ve out-qualified Pérez at the
last four races in a row; you’re the only non-Mercedes driver to start in
the top six for the past four races, and you’ve led Pérez for 137 of the
last 138 racing laps. So, is that in line with your expectations of yourself
at this stage of the season, and how do you move forward from here in 2018?
EO: Yeah, I’m here to push. I’m here to challenge Sergio for sure, it’s been
a very close season with him, fighting with really little margin, that’s
what we have been doing so far this season – but arriving a second time on
the tracks where I’ve driven before, with the Manor, helps me a lot with my
experience, and also finishing all the races has helped me and I feel much
more comfortable now than I’ve been feeling at the beginning of the season,
so it’s great.
Q: Kimi, ten years on – we all remember it very very well from that dramatic
day when you won the World Championship here in Brazil, probably the widest
smile you’ve had as a sportsman at least. Can you share some special
memories of that day?
Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN: It’s a long time ago. Obviously it was a great day but it
wasn’t just about the day, it was the whole year. Obviously it ended on that
day but there were some great moments, some not very nice moments but in the
end it worked out OK and I was very happy with it but – I don’t know – I
haven’t really thought about it too much; obviously after that, yes, but not
for a while because it doesn’t really change my life today, thinking about
it. I don’t really try and make a big story out of it.
Q: This year, you’ve had a very good car and kept developing it very
effectively so where does it go from here for Ferrari? You’ve talked a lot
this season about a few fine details here and there which have been the
things that have stopped you but tell us a bit about that, where the team
goes forward next year and what your personal ambition is in 2018?
KR: Obviously I want to be fighting at the front every weekend, to be able
to fight for the championship next year. I think we started pretty badly –
we were not really where we should have been – a personal feeling on my side
– we’re not really happy where the setup was and it took quite a long time
to figure it out and then since then it’s been better but then we had too
many DNFs for many different reasons but I think, as a team, we’ve come a
long way from year to year and also from last year, made a good step,
obviously not enough for what we want but as Ferrari we want to win both
championships. But I think we had all the tools this year, we just need to
tidy up things and not make mistakes nor have issues on any side, not from
our side as drivers or from the team side. These are just small things which
in the end played a big part this year, who won the championship and which
way it went but I think we have all the people, we have the tools and we
have a great car. There are still two races to go and even though the
championships are done we try to do the same work we always do and try to
win races and then, obviously, we start from zero next year so hopefully we
will be up there.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Daniel Fideli – GloboEsporte.com) Brendon, you are used to winning races
and championships as an endurance driver and you come to Formula One to race
in a car that is not so good and mentally for you, how hard is it for you to
come to Formula One and you know that you’re not going to be able to win
races and just fight for the midfield?
BH: I think as a driver you try and get the most out of whatever the
situation is and I know for this weekend I have a firm goal of scoring my
first point in Formula One. That would be celebrated, so I think so far from
my experience in my two Grands Prix I had a lot to learn and a lot of small
goals along the way and from my point of view it doesn’t change much on how
I approach the weekend and the team. I can guarantee every single person in
Toro Rosso is working their utmost to get the most out of the weekend,
whatever is possible, so that doesn’t really change too much.
Q: (Gustavo Faldon – ESPN Brasil) Kimi, Felipe Massa is retiring; you were
his teammate for quite a while. What can you say about him? How was your
relationship and do you feel like he helped you win your title ten years
ago?
KR: He’s retiring again, so let’s see if it actually happens or we will see
him in the first race next year. I always had a good relationship with him,
great atmosphere when we were at Ferrari together. We won two championships
for the team as teammates and I think it was a great time. Obviously it was
very fast, very good but I wish him all the best if he ends up (not) racing
in F1 any more. We will see what comes in his life in the future.
Q: (Andrea Lopez – Motorlat.com) Kimi, there are only two races left this
season; what is the summary you can make of your season this year?
KR: I think it’s very simple that we are in the championship, that’s how
good or bad it’s been. That’s how it is this year and obviously we need to
learn and make better things next year but we all start from zero next year
and it depends on many things over the winter and over the testing at the
beginning of the year. We will then get some idea of where we are going to
be and then we see in the first races what will happen, but obviously the
aim is to do better, to fight for wins and championships – that’s, as a
team, what we want to do and as a driver I want to do that. This year, for
sure, in many ways could have been better but I guess it can always be worse
also.
Q: (Lucas Santochi – Pole Position) Brendon, you talk about how your work
with Porsche helped you to approach the Formula One weekend, but what
surprised you like ‘this is very difficult, I have to work on this’ and if
Esteban can comment about his experience when he came in too last year?
BH: Sorry, I’m just trying to think what surprised me the most – probably a
lot of things. I’d been in the Formula One paddock before, 2008, 2009 – oh,
sorry, 2009, 2010, OK. I didn’t make a Grand Prix start but at least I had
been in the paddock so there were a few familiar faces already. I guess at
Austin, a big shock was the high speed, just in terms of a driving the car,
it was quite amazing, these modern Formula One cars, how quick they are in
the first sector in Austin, so that was pretty mind-blowing and it took some
time to get confident. For the drivers who are driving weekend in and
weekend out, they are probably… you always want more grip, you always want
more power but coming straight in… that was quite a shock to the system. And
other than that, I don’t think there were any huge surprises in terms of
difficulties. I knew it was going to be a challenge, I knew putting a
Formula One weekend together is tough and I know that the level in Formula
One of drivers and teams and everyone – there are some of the highest you
can find so I guess in some ways there were no big surprises as I kind of
expected that.
EO: I was very well prepared before arriving in Formula One. I was around in
the paddock since 2014 so that has helped me a lot. I have been driving with
many different teams in testing and then I went into DTM with Mercedes and I
think like Brendon it’s a bit the same way of working, with engineers,
sponsors and then going back into the racing. It’s a bit the same level of
professionalism. It’s just the specification of the category. I think you
have to learn all the details and then be sure you are there when it’s
needed.
Q: (Jens Nagler – Bild) Esteban, there are quite some discussions about the
future of Formula One, including a budget cap. Do you think a small team
like Force India, assuming you work like you did this year, could have an
extra shot at the title with such a budget cap?
EO: I think that’s a very good question but honestly if everyone had the
same budget I think some people would be surprised what Force India can
achieve. At the moment, with the budget we have, what we are achieving is
amazing, the level of work we are putting in is a lot but at the end the
level is there and the performance is on track, so yeah, it would be nice. |
