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PART ONE: DRIVERS – Sebastian
VETTEL (Ferrari), Kimi RAIKKONEN (Ferrari), Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing)
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Start with a question to all of you. Clearly a painful moment in
Singapore, three cars eliminated on the first lap of the grand prix, how do
all three of you assess it now and how do you move forward?
Sebastian VETTEL: I don’t think there’s much assessment necessary. Obviously
on Sunday all three of us were unhappy, but you move on.
Max VERSTAPPEN: It happened, you know. You can’t change it any more -- it
was just a very unfortunate moment. But there’s nothing you can do about it
-- we just come here and we try again.
Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN: Not really anything. Obviously moved on since Sunday, since
the weekend.
Q: Sebastian, you’re a four time winner here. Since the summer break you’ve
gone from a 14 point championship lead to a 28 point deficit to Hamilton.
You’ve obviously seen quite a fluctuation throughout this year and in your
previous title-winning years. Do you still think it’s possible to get back
on terms? Or do you rely on him to have problems?
SV: I don’t know. I think we have a lot of races left. I think we have a
strong car. I’m not too fussed about the amount of points. Obviously it’s
never good to be behind, I’d like to be in front but we’re not so I’m not
thinking about that.
Q: Max, it’s your 20th birthday on Saturday. You’re committed obviously to
Red Bull for next year. What kind of progress does the team need to make
next year to satisfy you?
MV: I think for next year, the team and I, we want to win, so that’s our
priority and we’ll see what happens afterwards.
Q: And Kimi, it’s the 19th and last Malaysian Grand Prix. You’ve raced in
most of them, all but three, and you got your first win here. What do you
think this event has contributed to the world championship over the years?
KR: I think to start with it’s a very nice circuit, I think there’s been
quite good racing over the years here. I think the layout obviously helps
that, and conditions have been always tricky. I think everybody has got more
used to it since the early days, but nevertheless I think the racing has
been good and that’s the main thing. Obviously all the rest, it doesn’t
matter because we are here for racing and if that’s good then that’s fine.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Flavio Vanetti – Corriere della Sera) Question to Sebastian. A 28 point
gap is tough for sure, but in some ways could it help you because there is
maybe less pressure and you don’t have anything to lose?
SV: I don’t look at it that way. I think it depends on the points you have
at the end of the year or not, so yeah. As I said, if you would choose you
want always to be ahead. I would rather not be a little bit behind, but
overall it doesn’t change anything for how you tackle the last six races
from here.
Q: (Jonathan McEvoy – Daily Mail) Leaving aside yourselves, who would you
each nominate as the most able driver out there, the best?
MV: I find that one really difficult. I think you can only compare with your
teammate, because you don’t know what’s going on in the other teams. Also,
the car you know, it can suit you better, so I don’t know to be honest.
SV: I agree with Max, I don’t want to answer.
KR: I think it’s pointless to answer this one. It’s up to you guys, you’re
very good on it at least over the years, so do it again and we can obviously
read it then.
Q: (Ysef Harding – Xiro Xone News) Question for all three of you. Nineteen
years of Malaysian Grand Prix, this is the final one. What have been some of
your fondest memories of this race?
SV: Obviously it’s a while ago, but for sure one of the nicest ones was
2015, my first win with Ferrari. It certainly was very special -- we came
here early in the season, at the very beginning of my time with Ferrari.
There’s still a lot of very nice memories coming up, I’m thinking about that
day, and how the race happened, what happened after the race. I had a really
good time. I think the other races, I’m not sure I remember all of them, but
2013 obviously was a bit of a special one -- which came with a bit of noise
after the race -- but still I think it was a good race.
MV: Well, I haven’t done that many races but I always enjoy coming here.
It’s a good track, and I think last year it was good to be second. I would
have preferred to win, of course, but still you know for the team it was a
great day. That’s my fondest memory. Hopefully this weekend will be better.
KR: Obviously I won my first race here, it was a while ago now, but it
obviously meant a lot. Then there was the win in 2008 with Ferrari, I mean
it was a good fight with Felipe and obviously good memories, some bad
memories over the years, but that’s when you go many times in the same place
that will happen -- you have some good years and some not so good. But it’s
been pretty good.
Q: (Jerome Pugmire – Associated Press) Question for Sebastian. You seem to
have got over Singapore quite quickly, quite easily. How do you put that
frustration aside so easily?
SV: Well, I think it would have been more difficult if I had lost the car
somewhere in the race and it’s obviously different but with collision at the
start like that, I think we all three after the race, that was when we had
to go to the stewards. What can you do? The lights went off, obviously, we
did our starts, everyone was trying to move at the start and it was the way
it happened. It ended up really bad for all three of us and that was it.
Obviously I could continue a little bit more, but the damage was so bad that
I had to stop anyway. Not much you can do -- I think it’s part of racing.
It’s also not the first time I’ve been in a situation like this and probably
it will not be the last time. Hopefully it won’t happen again, but it’s part
of racing. It happened, there’s not much you can do, and therefore not much
point in trying to look at it again and again, I think it’s much better if
your time and energy is spent looking forward.
Q: (Livio Oricchio – GloboEsporte.com) This is more or less in line with the
last question to Sebastian and Kimi. Sebastian, you are the leader of the
championship since the beginning of the season till Monza, and then you lost
it and you saw your one race lead to 20 points. What is the psychological
impact of that in you and in the team? Will you discuss it so that it does
not interfere in the rest of the season?
SV: I don’t think it’s necessary to discuss. As I said, with things like
this happening, what can you do? We could have had major problems with the
car, or I might have made a mistake, and it might be a different story.
There’s something you need to change, some way you need to react quickly to
make sure it doesn’t happen again, and it might be a different story.
Looking at it now, obviously there’s been one race where we didn’t finish.
Certainly didn’t help that Lewis scored a lot of points, but that’s the way
it goes. Certainly we would all three love to have had a different race,
championship yes or no. We just want to race, and that’s what we set out to
do in Singapore. All three of us didn’t get very far.
Q: (Jonathan McEvoy - Daily Mail) To Sebastian. At the beginning of this
race, will you go about it in any, will you try to protect your lead, maybe
be slightly less rash? How will you, what will be going through your mind on
lap one of the race? And b, everyone’s saying -- all the experts -- that the
next five races or so all suit the Merc rather than the Ferrari. How do you
respond to that? You obviously I guess believe it’s all still alive?
SV: Some might say that in order for them to remain experts we have to prove
them wrong every now and then, otherwise they will maybe be out of a job if
they are never wrong! The second thing is I wanted to say it was flattering
that you said ‘when on Sunday you are starting from the lead’ -- providing,
obviously, that we qualify on pole, so it’s nice to have you on board as a
fan! Not really. Every start is different, and the way Singapore happened
you can look at it again and again; it doesn’t matter. First of all it’s
done, and second I think it was pretty unfortunate for all three of us so we
want to move on. Having said that, I can’t promise you now what will be on
my mind on Sunday when I leave the grid, but normally I don’t, I never
thought about the last race, so I’m pretty sure I’ll be focussed on seeing
what I can do on that race start on Sunday.
Q: (Lennart Bloemhof - Volkskrant) Question for Max. It was obviously not
your first frustration this season. Do you still expectations for this race
or is that already something you completely don’t have before a new race
because of all the frustration you have?
MV: I’m here, I always try to do well. It’s not my year in terms of Sunday
finishes, but in general you have to try to stay positive, and to look at
the positives. I think the speed is there, so we need to try again here in
Malaysia, and see how competitive we are. It’s a bit difficult to say. But
last year I think was pretty alright, and we’ll just try again.
Q: (Lennart Bloemhof - Volkskrant) Question for all three drivers. How do
you guys cope with the heat during a race weekend like this? Do you have any
tips and tricks during the race? Is the preparation different?
KR: I don’t think it’s an awful lot different, really. It’s obviously a bit
more hot than other races, Singapore is quite hot. At least myself, I don’t
feel that we do an awful lot different things and it’s probably drink a bit
more, but that’s about it. It doesn’t feel too bad in the past, at least in
the car, you more feel it in the practice when you keep stopping in the box
and all the heat comes from there, but during the driving it’s not too bad.
Q: Sebastian? How much do you need to drink before the race in terms of
litres?
SV: I don’t know, I generally try and hydrate, I think everybody does.
You’re always thirsty, and you sweat a lot, but you stay hydrated -- there
are no big secrets. I think at some point you try and not to drink too much
because you don’t want to stop during the race doing another stop if you
know what I mean, yeah. Once you go normally you sweat so much that it’s not
really a big problem. Normally they say you should drink around two litres a
day, at least, here I think it’s at least double on race day, maybe a bit
more.
Max, any special preparations?
MV: I agree with what Sebastian and Kimi said.
Q: (Jerome Pugmire – Associated Press) Question for Max. When you say you’re
looking at next season, and we’ll see what happens after this, do you have a
specific target in mind in terms of race wins? What are you actually aiming
for next season?
MV: I want to be able to fight for the championship. If you win one race and
you win the championship, that’s wonderful. It’s a bit difficult to say at
the moment, when you’re not in that position. Hopefully we are next year,
but it’s a bit too early to say so. We just have to wait and see till we go
to Melbourne.
Q: (Jonathan McEvoy – Daily Mail) To Seb. How would you feel about Max
joining you one day at Ferrari. And to Max, how would you feel joining
Ferrari with Seb.
SV: I don’t know. I feel that you need to be prepared to race anyone on the
grid, so obvioiusly Max is still quite young and has more years left than we
have, but yeah, you never know. Obviously I have a longer contract now than
him but Formula One… some things they take time. Other things they tend to
change very quickly. So it’s a bit pointless to look too far into the
future. For now I think we are pretty calm inside the team: myself; everyone
– because we know what’s going on this year, what’s going on next year and
then I think it’s more for the team as well…
Max, your side of that.
MV: Yeah, I mean, to be honest I don’t want to look too much in the future.
I just want to focus on the job I have now and try to finish it off in a
good way this season and then for next season, I know where I am and, well,
before we finish next season is still such a long time, so, just have to
wait.
Q: (Livio Oricchio – GloboEsporte.com) Sebastian and Kimi, the last results
of the team were not so good: Monza and Singapore. Do you think it’s due to
circumstnaces of the competition or maybe again Mercedes did a step forward
that Ferrari didn’t and could not follow it, concerning the project of the
six rounds to the end of the season?
SV: It’s normal. It’s the way that people look at the races. If you then
highlight the last two, certainly they were not good. We’re not proud, not
happy with them. Singapore is fairly quickly explained: didn’t make it very
far and then in Monza I think we didn’t do our best, Saturday and Sunday,
probably a bit of a combination and, equally, Mercedes was very strong. So
yeah, it’s been very tight all season. At Monza we didn’t have a very good
weekend and lost a little bit, but still, I think we had a very good
recovery from the Saturday that we had. So, yeah, I think it you look at
those two races you can argue that they were not great – but I think it’s
mostly Singapore where we didn’t race. Monza, I think third was not that
bad, given that we were just not competitive to fight for the win.
Kimi, your perspective.
KR: Not really different. Singapore, Seb was first in the qualifying, I was
fourth. So, if you purely compare to Mercedes, it was better. Obviously the
race didn’t go that way but I don’t see why you would look at everything so
negative. It’s your question, obviously. It’s up and down: some circuits are
better for one guy and others for other guys – but it’s a normal story,
every year it’s the same thing: some races go better, others not and there’s
so many reasons for those. In the end the whole season is one season and in
the end wherever the points are, are the best. It’s pointless to look at one
race here, one race there. It’s over the whole year.
Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) A question for the two
Ferrari guys and one for Max. The two Ferrari guys, I would like to know if
you talked, after the Ferrari race to the president Marchionne. What did he
say to you? And the second question, if you think you have the same chance
here as Singapore, and for Max, if you lost the last chance to win a race
this year, due to the characteristics of the track there in Singapore – or
there is some other track that you can stay in front, and fight for the
victory?
OK, Sebastian, have you spoken to the president?
SV: No, I haven’t. Not spoke but I’ve been in contact. Obviously not a great
day, as you can imagine. Fairly quickly, the response also from the whole
team has been very positive. It’s been a bad day, no doubt about it but I
think by Monday – Tuesday, everybody moved on and there has been a lot of
excitement in the factory. We had family days last weekend which obviously
is very special for all the team members and all the Ferrari employees, so
there has been a lot of positives, to be honest, and yeah, what’s done is
done. You have to look at what’s coming. And that’s what we are excited
about. The car is strong this year, we know that, we’ve seen that, so
there’s plenty of positives to look forward to. And, yeah, I think that
partly answers your second question, if the car will be competitive here. I
think there’s so many things on paper and you tend to look and you tend to
say one way or the other – but we have to go here, and that’s the good thing
about racing, the part that I enjoy. You go here and you find out. That’s
what you fight for, you fight for every centimetre, every tenth that you can
find somewhere, over a lot of laps in the race or over one lap in quali, to
make the difference. So, I’m sure that, as a team, we can make that
difference.
What’s your feeling Kimi? Is this a track that you think the Ferrari, as you
feel it, will go well around, compared to Mercedes?
KR: Very hard to answer. It’s like any weekend when we go we don’t really
know our self any more than any of you guys. You are always guessing a bit
how it’s going to be and hoping the best – and then we will see tomorrow
some ideas. To be honest, some weekends you seem to start a bit better and
more straightforward and everything seems to go more easily, and some you
have to… you struggle a bit to find the right way and then come Saturday it
turns out to be pretty OK, so, it’s impossible to really answer. I’m feeling
we should be OK here, but I might be wrong. I might be right. I don’t know.
Max, did you feel that was the last, best chance to win a race – or is there
another one that you can see that Red Bull might win before the end of the
year?
MV: It was definitely a good opportunity of course in Singapore. But never
say never. A lot of things can happen. As you can see, the lights go out in
Singapore and there are immediately three cars out. So, yeah, you have to
stay positive and we’ll see what happens.
Q: (Jerome Pugmire – Associated Press) Question for Sebastian. I just wanted
to get your thoughts on Charles Leclerc who’s going to drive in first
practice for Sauber. Quite a promising driver, lot of expectation
surrounding him.
SV: Well, I mean, in terms of expectations, I think he has proven enough so
I don’t think you need to have high expectations. Obviously he’s helped us a
lot developing this year’s car, done a lot of work on the simulator and had
a fantastic season so far in GP2, bit up and down at times but the speed I
think has been quite incredible. I’m sure he’ll do well. I don’t think he
needs a word of advice, or yeah, any sort of expectations. He looks like he
loves racing, enjoys that, and that, I think, for me is the key recipe.
Q: (Louis Dekker – NOS) for all drivers, what will you miss from Malaysia
next year when we are not returning?
MV: I think the track in general. I always enjoyed driving the track, so I
think that’s the biggest part we’ll miss. The heat, to be honest, maybe not
so much.
SV: I don’t know, I don’t think there’s one specific thing. It’s the mixture
of the circuit, the conditions, the element of rain at any time during the
day being possible. Yeah, I think it’s provided very good racing. I’m not
obviously involved in why we’re not racing here any more but, who knows,
maybe we’re back after a year break or two. I don’t know.
KR: To be honest, I don’t know if we’re going to miss it. It’s a nice
circuit but the only thing you see is the airport, the hotel next to the
airport and the circuit, so you can choose from that what you’re going to
miss.
Q: (Arjan Schouten – AD) Question for Max again. You already mentioned your
birthday. Is there time in a busy race weekend to spend some attention on a
birthday, to do something for a birthday – or not?
MV: Well, it’s so humid here and warm, you make a cake but who wants to eat
cake on such a warm day?
SV: I do!
MV: I’ll bring it to the garage before quali.
SV: ten to three…
MV: It’s fine. Do I need to serve you as well in the car?
SV: Yeah, five to three.
MV: OK, I’ll wait a bit in Q1 and then go out…
SV: No! Actually the quali’s at five…
MV: OK, that’s a plan then… |
