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TEAM REPRESENTATIVES – Bob
FERNLEY (Force India), Stefano DOMENICALI (Ferrari), Eric BOULLIER (Lotus),
Martin WHITMARSH (McLaren), Norbert HAUG (Mercedes), Christian HORNER (Red
Bull)
Gentlemen a subject we can’t escape, unfortunately: This grand prix is
definitely one of the best organised, the drivers all say that. We’ve had a
lot speculation from both angles, negative and positive, but I’d like to
your views regarding the security situation. Are you comfortable with how
things are evolving?
Martin WHITMARSH: There have undoubtedly been difficult times here but from
a pure team perspective, we’ve been comfortable with the situation. Clearly
we race as an international sport all over the world and we have security
concerns and issues at a number or races and we take that very seriously,
and we’re cautious, and we try to take the right precautions. But ultimately
we’re a race team. We’re here to go motor racing and that’s our number one
priority.
Norbert HAUG: Absolutely the same.
Christian HORNER: Martin’s summed it up perfectly, I think. Formula One is a
sport at the end of the day and it’s wrong for it to be used politically.
We’re here to race, we trust in the FIA, in the decisions that they made,
and we’re comfortable with the decisions that they have made. For us, it’s
about trying to extract the maximum from this weekend as a sporting team in
a sporting championship. The calendar is obviously set by the FIA.
Eric BOULLIER: I think everything has been said by the first row, so, as far
as we are concerned, as Lotus, and regarding the specific question, we are
fine.
Stefano DOMENICALI: You are speaking about security and I would say that we
have received all the guarantees from the organisers, the federation, the
embassy, and it is pretty clear at the moment that it is like that. We don’t
seem to be the target of anyone that is protesting. We are here for the
event that is racing, the race of the F1 World Championship and we are here
to make the best of it. From a political point of view, the only thing I can
is that there are a lot of things going on and we really hope that all the
dialogue that has started within the different parts will do the best thing
in the shortest time possible for everyone. This is really the hope that we
have, as sportsmen and as a man of the world.
Bob FERNLEY: I completely agree with the guys. Hopefully, the Formula One
programme has brought the world’s media here, it gives a good platform for
debate and hopefully it will help with the healing process for Bahrain, and
that’s why we’re here.
We’ll go on to the sporting side. Martin, if I can start with you. You’re
leading both world championships. How have things evolved today for you in
terms of free practice? You’re not perhaps quite as competitive as we
thought you would be.
MW: No, I think it’s been a tricky day. The wind changed direction. I think
from about half way through that [afternoon] session there was a tailwind
through turns four, five, six and seven, which made it quite tricky for the
drivers. I think we weren’t happy with where we were in terms of grip,
generally. But that’s what Friday is about. It’s about learning how to set
the car up for this particular circuit and these particular conditions. I
think the wind is going to be quite significant. It often is here. If you
recall it is an island where the wind can change quite dramatically from 10
o’clock in the morning until midday and then drop off in the afternoon, so I
think that makes it, with all the other challenges of selection of top gear
for the race and for qualifying… wind direction is going to quite an
interesting challenge and if you get that right I think you’ll be in good
shape. So, overall, I think, we’ve got some reasonable data and the trick is
to put that to good effect and make sure we can dial in and have a
competitive car tomorrow.
Norbert, obviously a fantastic weekend for you last weekend and you still
seem to be up there?
NH: Well, I think it’s quite difficult to judge. I would not really read too
much into the quickest time on Friday, we saw that before. I think people
run various programmes, different programmes, but I think we are heading in
the right direction. We learned quite a lot. The challenge is how to use the
tyres, how to set up your car and then do the necessary amount of laps for
the race and decide on how many stops you will do. You get the first
impression of that on Friday. I think the team learned quite a lot. I
haven’t seen the analysis so far, we’ll probably know a bit more later.
Currently, I really cannot judge where we are. We should not read into the
fact that we are first today that we are the big favourites for tomorrow and
Sunday.
Christian, so on the same basis should I not read too much into the fact you
were up in the top four today?
CH: I think it’s been a sensible day for us, we’ve worked through a
programme. I think this year the tyre has dominated performance and I think
it’s crucial to try and understand how the tyres work, how to get on top of
those tyres and I think we’ve learned a lot over those first three races.
Each of the races has been at a different nature of circuit, different
conditions. We’ve seen the form of all the teams moving around a lot and the
midfield making a big step as well. And that’s produced some great racing, I
think last weekend was a phenomenal race and that adds to the challenge.
We’ve worked through our programme today, both the drivers seem reasonably
happy with their cars and obviously a lot of information to look over
tonight before we go into the final practice tomorrow.
Eric…
EB: We had a heavy Friday today with a lot of parts to evaluate. Parts of
the upgrade from Shanghai, we had to use them back on the car. Also, a very
heavy programme with the tyres. It’s clear that the key for performance is
the tyres and also the degradation for the race, as we saw in Shanghai, so
we had early runs in practice and obviously heavier fuel load runs as well.
Any change Stefano?
SD: No, I think we have already said what we have to say. For us hopefully
this will be the last grand prix of the most difficult start that we’ve had.
But that’s the way it is. At the track the only thing we have to do is try
to maximise the package that we have and understand the tyres and prepare
for the race. That will be crucial, as we already said, in this condition
the only objective we have at the moment is to try to score the maximum
points and considering that we have been third in the Championship it means
a lot. It means that we have to stay focussed. Unfortunately it’s very
painful for us but that’s the way it is. So heads up and work hard.
Bob, limited running, obviously…
BF: Well, we had a very busy morning and as you know we didn’t run in FP2,
we slightly rescheduled our programmes, but we’re very comfortable. The data
was collected this morning for what we need and we’re very comfortable for
FP3 tomorrow.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
(Kate Walker – Girl Racer) I have question for Norbert: Reuters reported
yesterday that Aabar are considering a complete withdrawal of their Daimler
stake, could you please comment on that, let us know what you know?
NH: I just hear the speculation and read the speculation. Nothing more.
…There’s no discussion in Stuttgart?
NH: Nothing more to say, no.
(Simon Cass – Daily Mail) Probably a question for all of you gentlemen. The
thing that seems to be said is that politics and sport don’t mix but even by
some of your answers that you gave previously, it’s quite obvious that they
do. Given that, wouldn’t it have been better to try to wait another year for
Bahrain to progress a little further before coming back to have a race here?
Martin, as the spokesman of FOTA?
MW: I didn’t know I was the spokesman. I think, again, the calendar has been
set for some time, we are the competitors, it’s a race in the calendar, we
are here to race. Period.
Does anyone have more to add to that? Christian? Norbert? No.
(Kate Walker – Girl Racer) Since arriving I’ve been contacted by a number of
Bahrainis who are actually supportive of the race, have you and any of your
team members found similar contact from the citizens of Bahrain?
MW: I think there is a lot of support for the race from all parts of society
here, so I think that’s positive. Clearly often the majority aren’t heard on
these occasions but I think there’s a fair amount of support, you can feel
it here. I understand they’ve sold out the grandstand so presumably that’s a
tangible sign of support.
CH: I think the guys here have been very welcoming. They look after the
teams very well and hopefully we can put on a good show on Sunday. I think
at the end of the day it’s a sport, we’re a sporting team competing in a
sport that competes at 20 venues around the world. We’ll do our best as we
do in all of those other events to do the best job we can on Sunday.
Q: (Edd Straw – Autosport) Christian, Stefano and Martin, as the
representatives of the top three teams last year, setting aside the safety
of F1 personnel, if there is any bloodshed or injury or worse this weekend,
among protestors, that are clearly aimed at having an anti-F1 element,
should F1 be held responsible in any way, is F1’s presence here acting as a
trigger?
MW: I don’t think we’re going to comment on that. We are here to take part
in a race. I think we’ve made our position clear. So unless anyone else
wants to add anything, I think we are here to race.
CH: I echo Martin’s comments.
SD: We need to be positive in life. It seems that we are looking for
something to happen and this is what we don’t want, as I said. This is
really the objective that all of us here in the paddock should have, to be
honest.
Q: (Dieter Rencken – The Citizen) The stock answer that keeps coming back
when we ask about this race is that ‘it’s on the calendar.’ There is a
sporting commission, there is a technical commission, there’s also a
calendar commission. Now the first two actually go through the Formula One
Commission and then onto the World Motor Sport Council. The calendar
doesn’t. Do you people believe that there is a need for the teams – for the
Formula One commission, certainly – to have some input and to ratify
calendars?
CH: I think that’s a position for the promoter and the FIA at the end of the
day. When we enter a championship at the beginning of the year a calendar is
published and you have the choice whether to enter or not. It’s something
that historically has always been the same and it’s down to the promoter and
then the governing body that’s responsible for the safety of the drivers,
the safety of the spectators and the teams to decide where those venues are.
Q: (Dieter Rencken – The Citizen) The question was, would you like to have
input into it, as opposed to the procedure – I know the procedure?
SD: Normally it’s not like that, to be honest. If we have to race over 17
Grands Prix, we need to have the organiser and the F1 has to have clearance
from the teams so the discussion happens and this is related to the
opportunity that they have. Then of course, the responsibility of other
subjects is related to the national sporting authority, so the federation
and the organiser, but that’s the way it is at the moment.
EB: And if I may add something, we still have the opportunity to discuss
with the governing body and the promoters about some adjustment in the
calendar, not the location but maybe sometimes for logistical reasons we
have some input.
Q: (Dieter Rencken – The Citizen) Effectively, what we’re then saying is
that the teams are also responsible for the shape of the calendar the way it
is at the moment, including the Bahrain race.
MW: Well, you’re saying it, we’re not. Sorry, I thought you said
‘effectively you’re saying it’ but I don’t think we’re saying that at all.
The commercial rights holder and the FIA agree the calendar together. I
think you know that and so do we, so I don’t know why we’re having this
discussion really.
Q: (Dieter Rencken – The Citizen) But if it goes beyond 17, you have input.
MW: In theory we do, but as you know, the commercial rights holder… he has
to get the races into the calendar and typically we’re not consulted
individually on each race.
Q: (Kate Walker – Girl Racer) The Sunni/Shi’a schism is a conflict that
dates back over a millennia; how do you feel about being used as political
tools in this game?
MW: Listen, I tell you, we’re at the start of a fantastic World
Championship. There have been three outstanding races and there’s a great
championship ahead of us. We’ve had three different winners, it’s been a
fantastic start to the championship and I think we can have a fantastic race
here on Sunday. I don’t think that going into what’s happened over the last
millennia or the politics around the world is something that most of us here
are equipped to comment on.
Q: (Daniel Ortelli - Agence France Presse) We’re all talking about politics,
ethics etc. Do you agree that the main reason for having this race here and
being here today is that there is so much money from the Emirates in Formula
One and in some of the teams that you represent?
MW: Well, again, this isn’t part of the Emirates and I think the commercial
model of races, I think there is a lot of places in the world, and
fortunately most places which pay reasonable money to hold a Grand Prix, so
I don’t think there’s any particular premia in this part of the world.
Q: (Miran Alisic – RTV Slovenia) Excuse me, don’t you think that sometimes a
race – even a fantastic race – becomes irrelevant if something more
important happens somewhere?
SD: If I might say something about that, once again it seems really we (you)
want to find something to make sure that this event is not happening and
this is really what, hopefully, we, for sure, as a team, would like not to
see and that’s our approach, as I said. I don’t think it’s correct for us to
go into a political discussion on what is happening. Of course we need to
make sure that what has hopefully been started as a process in this country
will happen soon and this is what everyone is really looking for but more
than that, I think they will want to pull the things from different stories,
different angles. Let’s focus on our jobs and try, on our side, to speak
about the sport. This is really our task, to be honest.
BF: If I could come in there as well, I think the Bahrain programme has been
very very successful. As much as there is opposition to it, there is also a
huge amount of people that are for this process, for the programme to bring
through. As Force India, we are totally committed to this Grand Prix and to
bringing this programme to reality for Bahrain, and hopefully, as we said
earlier, it will form part of the healing process, and if we’re part of
that, we should be proud, not looking at ourselves and being negative.
Q: (Vanessa Ruiz – Estadao ESPN) Bob, your decision not to take part in the
second part of practice has been interpreted as many things and one of them
is a sort of field protest because of what happened to the team on Wednesday
evening. Is it to be taken as that or what?
BF: I don’t think it’s because of that at all. I think that what you have to
accept is that on Wednesday evening there was a very unfortunate incident
for members of Force India, and there is no question, it de-stabilised the
emotional element of our team. Yesterday evening we put a programme together
which addressed all the issues from the team, we sat down with them all, and
that meant a slight re-structuring of the programme in order that we could
make sure that there was comfort within the team and that we delivered a
very strong qualifying and race programme, and I have to say that Sheikh
Abdulla, Bernie, everybody has been enormously helpful in our process, but
we have, as a team, to make sure that we gel that together properly and it’s
nothing whatsoever to do with… It’s an internal matter that just needs
stability, we provided that stability and we’ve stuck with the programme
that we’ve had to put in place. It’s not a slight at all on the event, it’s
just about an internal structure of Force India. We’ve had to do that, we’ve
done it with pleasure and we’ve supported our team in that process and as a
result of supporting the team, the whole of our programme is now secure for
going forward for the Bahrain Grand Prix. |
