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DRIVERS – Jean-Eric VERGNE
(Toro Rosso), Charles PIC (Marussia), Vitaly PETROV (Caterham), Pedro de la
Rosa (HRT), Michael SCHUMACHER (Mercedes), Jenson BUTTON (McLaren)
Jean-Eric, this is a new circuit for you in Formula One but I understand
you’ve raced here before?
Jean-Eric VERGNE: Yeah, I think it’s my favourite track. I’m really happy to
be here in F1, to learn this track in and F1 car. I found it amazing in
Formula 3 and World Series. So I can’t wait to drive tomorrow in this car,
it should be nice.
So you’ve been here in Formula 3 and World Series by Renault?
JEV: Yes. I won three races in F3 in the same weekend here and last year I
won as well. I finished second and first. It’s generally a good track for
me, so hopefully I make a good run here as well this weekend.
A lot of people feel that with the problem with the technical director at
Toros Rosso that development might have finished but I understand that’s not
the case.
JEV: So far everything is OK. The team is still pushing really hard. I don’t
have much to say about it.
You have some updates here though?
JEV: Yeah we have some good updates. Well, I don’t know if they’re good, but
we have some and also we’re testing some new things for next year’s car –
front suspension. So, everything is still going on quite well in the team
and we’re looking forward to this weekend.
Charles, obviously you’ve raced the first half of the season – how do you
feel it’s gone as far as you’re concerned?
Charles PIC: Quite good. I am quite happy about my first half of the season.
Everything was new for me. So, first races were not easy because everything
was new and there were a lot of things to learn. But I am quite happy with
my progress and quite happy with the team’s progress because the start of
the year was not easy. We were not able to make the winter tests. They
worked really hard and made a lot of improvements and even if you cannot
always… it’s not easy to see because the position is not changing but we are
trying to close the gap. So, really looking forward to the second part of
the season and to updates coming from the summer, so we’ll see how it is and
on my side I will be focused to keep pushing hard and improving myself.
I guess you measure yourself on your team-mate obviously but also on the
people either side of you and in front of you. Are you happy with the gap
between yourselves and Caterham?
CP: Yes, we are not in the position yet to fight with them but it was much
closer for the last two races – Hockenheim and Budapest. It’s great and I
hope that with the update it will be even closer this weekend.
Vitaly, the one problem you’ve had so far is qualifying in relation to your
team-mate, whereas in the races you seem to have beaten him. Is that
something you intend to tackle in the second half of the season?
Vitaly PETROV: Of course I will try my best. What is good is that I know the
problem, so we will try to fix this problem in the second half of the
season, so I will try to get close to my team-mate and then we will see.
One of the things you did during the break was visit some cities in Russia.
It seems that you’re going to all sorts of cities that most of us have never
heard of. What’s the idea behind that programme?
VP: First of all it was part of my private sponsor, called Russian
helicopters, so I visited two big cities, the first one is Rostov and the
second one is Ulan-Ude. Actually, it was a good visit because it’s the first
time I’ve been there. You know, Ulan-Ude is very close to China. It’s like
if you go across the river you will be in China. From Moscow it’s six or
seven hours flying. I visited the biggest lake in the world, it’s called
Baikal. Unfortunately I was just there for one day. This lake it’s line is
for 365 kilometres and length, it’s quite… I don’t how much it is. Actually,
it was a good experience and I hope that I will go back there maybe, one
day.
Pedro, the team has obviously made strides forward, what are your own
ambitions for the second half of the season and what about your thoughts
professionally for the second half of the season?
Pedro DE LA ROSA: Professionally? You mean racing? Well, I think that we’ve
made progress; we’ve managed in this first of the season to go in
qualifying, from not qualifying in Australia outside the 107 per cent, to
103.4 per cent in Valencia, so I think that’s a very, very aggressive
improvement. However the positions are similar. In fact we’re qualifying in
more or less the last two positions and then it’s difficult for us. Although
we’re closer to pole position we still haven’t made enough steps on the
positions regarding the qualifying and the race finishes. So that’s where we
are concentrating: we still have to make the car quicker in the second half
of the season. We don’t have anything new for the next few races. We will
have an upgrade for Singapore. That’s where we are – but we are definitely
happy with what we’ve done and what we’ve achieved, although it may not look
like it in the results. We’ve still can do a lot better in the second half.
And how important will the break have been to the team? OK, you’re saying
they won’t have brought anything for the immediate races – but for future
races?
PdlR: I think the break is nothing as we haven’t been able to work or gain
any advantage from the break, so for us it doesn’t make any difference.
Before the break we knew that the upgrade was coming in Singapore, if
everything goes to plan – and after the break it’s still the same. Until
Singapore I think we will be more or less in the positions that we’ve been
so far, and then wait for Singapore for this next upgrade.
Michael, another milestone here at Spa: 300th grand prix weekend. What does
that mean to you? Does that mean a lot to you at this stage or will it in
the future?
Michael SCHUMACHER: It’s certainly an interesting, beautiful, nice number to
be around. A number that I didn’t think about, that I would do that, at the
time that I retired at the end of 2006. And now here we are and I’m counting
the 300 – because at one point it was the talk about whether there would be
somebody able to beat Riccardo Patrese’s record of 250-whatever. I said
‘forget that, it isn’t interesting for me’, and here we are. And suddenly…
it isn’t anything that I’m challenging or looking for to have just a number
on my board but being the 300, yeah it’s a beautiful side-effect.
I think you’ve seen the poster down the road which says ‘Michael, make it
400’. What chances?
MS: I guess I can say not. It’s obviously nice that the fans are still with
me and encourage me to go on. This morning I had a beautiful welcome,
becoming the honorary citizen of Spa, that is something very special to me.
And that’s why the 300 becomes special – because it’s in Spa. It all
happened to me here in Spa. First race, first victory, some beautiful
victories and interesting races and 2004 the seventh title, last year the
20th anniversary and now number 300 and being honoured. So it’s a full
package. Spa has always meant a lot to me. I always called it my living room
– now I can officially call it my living room. It’s good.
But should we never say never?
MS: For the 400? We probably say no for that one.
Jenson, during the break, not only an Iron Man but your own triathlon as
well. But the triathlon didn’t end quite the way you wanted to – perhaps we
should share that story?
Jenson BUTTON: I think we should move on from that one!
The whole of Britain knows about it, so how about the whole of the world.
JB: I did a triathlon for [charity] Help for Heroes and it was quite cold in
the water. People were wearing wetsuits, I’d left mine in the hotel so I
decided to try to squeeze into my girlfriend’s… which felt OK until I got
into the water and then it tightened up in… certain areas. So that was the
end of my race. I had a panic attack in the water! So yeah, good and bad
memories but it was a great event and I think everyone had fun and we raised
a lot of money for Help for Heroes. In the end it was fun but the most
important thing is what we raised.
Your aims for the second half of the season? How do you see the second half
of the season? People are talking about perhaps driver orders that you’ll
help Lewis…
JB: I’m I think 40 points behind Lewis, so you’d say that I’m going to give
up on fighting for the Championship just because I’m 40 points behind my
team-mate? Lewis is 40 points behind Fernando and I still think he thinks
he’s got a very good chance of winning this Championship, so no, we go
racing as always and try to do the best job we can. The last two races for
us before the break were very good: I had a second in Hockenheim and
obviously Lewis’s win in Hungary – so we come here positive we can get a
very good result. So, no, that’s definitely not the situation and we want to
get as many points for ourselves but also for the team. The team
championship, the Constructors’ Championship is very, very important to
McLaren and it’s something that we’re going to work on as much as we can.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR:
Q: (Mike Doodson - Honorary) Michael, congratulations on the 300. When you
were with the red team, I think you set a record for reliability. I think it
was something like more than 50 races without a single mechanical
retirement. With the current team, things have been quite the contrary. I
wonder if you have thought about trying to move elsewhere, which is what
somebody, let's say 20-years old would be doing at that stage of his career?
MS: I haven't thought about that. Maybe I should! First of all, you have
those moments when things do run against you and I have mentioned that at
any time I have full trust in the guys because they all do their utmost.
Nobody wants to retire, everybody does their best job but then we have
prototype cars and unfortunately things like this do happen. I don't mind
too much about this, because I was aware, reasonably early in the season,
that we wouldn't be fighting for the championship so to retire is not a big
deal for me at that moment, not being in the championship anyway. Much more
important is that if you would be in the championship, then it would
obviously bother me much more. So, no, I look forward to the rest of the
season. We still have a lot to go through and a lot to improve on, a lot to
understand. The team is pushing hard to go forward in order to make our
process a much more reasonable step forward compared to what we have been
doing. Already we have achieved quite a bit more but I think it needs a bit
more of that. And then reliability.
Q: (Adrian Huber - EFE) Michael, congratulations again. You said just now,
forget about the 400 but having all the records in Formula One, can we maybe
think about 326/327? Can you remember all of your races? How many can you
remember without looking at the stat sheets?
MS: I don't know how many I would remember; certainly not all of them, that
is very clear. How many it will be in the end? We will have to find out.
Don't know yet. Certainly go to the end of the season.
Q: (Paolo Ianieri- La Gazzetta dello Sport) My question is similar: when
does the point come when you decide if you're going to continue or if
Mercedes decides whether they want to stay with you? Do you already have a
deadline, or are you already starting to talk about it?
MS: I think we made a very clear statement some time ago that by October we
will be able to give an indication and nothing has changed since then, so no
news I'm afraid.
Q: (Ian Parkes - PA) Jenson, just following on from the earlier question and
your answer regarding not supporting Lewis at this stage, Martin Whitmarsh
has today suggested that there could come a point at some time this season
when you might be asked to support Lewis. Is that something you would
consider further down the line if the situation dictated, or does your
personal attitude just say no, I'm not going to do that at all?
JB: Personally, I think it's a pretty pointless conversation right now. If I
was 40 points behind Lewis in the championship and he was leading, do you
think they would turn round and say 'you've got to support your teammate'?
It's not a big margin, it's less than two wins. Half the grid is in front of
their teammates. All their teammates are not going to turn round and say
'yes, we're going to help my teammate win the championship' because you
still think you're going to have a good chance. And until that chance is
gone you're going to fight for it. I'm not here to just race around and just
help my teammate win a championship because none of us are. We're here to
fight and we're here to do the best job we can for ourselves first of all
and also for the team. I think it would be a pretty boring championship if
there's only twelve of us actually fighting for a victory and the rest of us
were there to help our teammates. It's not the sort of formula that we
should want. So yes, I'm going to be fighting all the way until I either win
the championship or it's not possible.
Q: (Vladimir Rogovets – Znamya Ynosty) Michael, we know that all drivers are
very very superstitious. Do you have a mascot without which you cannot sit
down in the car? Maybe for Spa you have a very special mascot.
MS: I've had one for more than 20 years. It's my wife. She comes tomorrow.
Q: (Oana Popoiu - F1Zone.net) Michael, do you remember the feeling you had
on your first podium, and how was it different after that?
MS: I think it was in Mexico, if I'm right? Is it right? '92? Was it two?
Yeah, '92, OK, so there you go. Is it different? Probably a little bit but
no matter what, up there it's always special. It depends on the
circumstances. If you are a regular podium contender and you have the
package to win races then you end up being third, you have less joy up there
obviously versus not expecting to be there at all and then being third. So
it really depends on the circumstances. Remembering Valencia, yes, it was a
beautiful feeling, for myself, for all the guys, the team for everybody, it
was beautiful. It was that way in '92.
Q: (Gabor Joo - Indexonline) Michael, you have 299 races so far. Can you
single out one which is your favourite?
MS: I keep talking about Suzuka in 2000, both for the quality of the race,
for the end of the race and for the whole meaning of that result obviously,
so it was a total package of many circumstances, why that race turned out to
be a very special one for myself and then for so many others.
Q: (Pierre van Vliet - F1i.com) To all of you: Spa is a very historical
circuit where Grand Prix racing started back in 1925. Have you ever been on
the old track having a look at the 14 kilometer layout like the fast Masta
downhill between Malmedy and Stavelot?
JEV: I was too young.
MS: Even not me!
PdelaR: Why me? Unfortunately not.
Q: (Frederic Ferret - L'Equipe) Michael and Jenson, why is Spa so particular
for drivers, why do you like it so much?
MS: There are many reasons, particularly for me because I started in the
days when corners like Eau Rouge and Blanchimont were extremely challenging
corners, because the cars were built in a certain way and the circuit made
them absolutely on the edge. It's one of the old character tracks with lots
of history. It is going through the natural countryside that we are in, the
up and down like a rollcoaster so there are so many variants that make it so
particular and so special. We all, as race drivers, prefer high speed and if
you have a challenging high speed corner it's special, and if you go through
Eau Rouge... even nowadays it's probably a little bit too easy flat out
except maybe in the race sometimes, but the sensation, the forces that go
through you in a cornering sense and in a vertical sense, that is a
combination that you don't find everywhere.
JB: I think there are many different things: the history of the place. When
you used to watch Formula One, you would see the greats racing around here
and the circuit has changed over the years, even since I've been racing in
Formula One, but it still feels very special. This circuit is very very
flowing and there are only two corners that are below third gear and that's
very unusual, especially when you have so many corners on a circuit and it
is one of those circuits which you just love driving. Whatever car you're
in, it's just such a great feeling driving around a circuit like this. I
think there are only a couple of other circuits like it. One is Suzuka, one
was Silverstone. I think it's changed a little bit now. It's lost a little
bit of the flow but those three really stand out for me, to be a real fast
flowing circuit, and a circuit where we just love driving out of the pits
and knowing you're going to tackle.
Q: (Livio Oricchio - O Estado de Sao Paulo) Michael, you are here for your
300th Grand Prix. Do you still have the same passion as you had at the
beginning for the first races, and are you able to deliver in the same way
as you used to do when you started in Formula One?
MS: I think that by saying yes I answer both of the questions. I have the
same passion for what I am doing, yes, absolutely. Formula One is the
ultimate racing and if you're involved, you're only involved because you
want to do the best that you can do. Obviously we all depend on our
machines, but nevertheless, within your machine you have a certain frame
with which you can prove yourself and that's the challenge and that
challenge you like to outbrake that frame and you like to do anything on top
of that. That's the particular moment that you can have and the great thing
in sport is that you have immediate feedback: whether you do achieve or you
don't achieve. There's been plenty of satisfaction that I've had over more
than 20 years now and I still enjoy it.
I would probably think that my capacity to achieve is better, because I have
a much better view and understanding, a lot more experience. If we have
problems, it takes me less to come to the point with the team in explaining
those problems and that's helpful.
Q: (Walter Koster – Saarbrucker Zeitung) Michael, for the second time, you
are now an honorary citizen in Maranello and now here in Spa. What are the
conditions which are necessary to fulfill this reputation and do you have
special duties? Please explain to us concerning this subject?
MS: The only thing I can say is that both moments, the idea and invitation
from those citizens that they offered me this honour and I was definitely
pleased to achieve it, but I have no obligations and I'm just happen to have
received such an award.
Q: (Paolo Ianieri- La Gazzetta dello Sport) Next week, after Spa, we have
Monza, another special for you, Michael. Is there any particular souvenir of
the Italian Grand Prix that you remember? Which has been your best race?
MS: We obviously had a very beautiful ending in 2006 at the time. In both
ways, I do remember it being special, because we were behind in the
championship and in that race we put ourselves back into the championship
fight. Then came the beautiful celebration, obviously my message to retire
after the race so it was a very particular weekend.
Q: (Ian Parkes - PA) Jenson, it was only a year ago that you did your 200th
Grand Prix but given the number of races in the calendar, do you see
yourself emulating Michael and hitting 300?
JB: Yeah, there's no reason why not. It's four and a half years of racing.
Yeah, it's possible. I really don't know how I'm going to feel in a couple
of years' time. Now, of course, the hunger is there. If I lose that, that's
when I'll stop. If I'm in a position where I get the choice to retire it's
the best position to be in, but it's a long time before I need to start
thinking of that.
Q: (Oana Popoiu - F1Zone.net) Jenson, you never won at Spa and you've had a
bit of misfortune here. Do you think that's maybe a little jinx?
JB: Not really, because that was really only one year. I think you mean
2010, with Sebastian. I love racing here. It's a great circuit to race on
because to qualify here when you get everything out of the car is such a
nice feeling because this place is really unforgiving, so you're always
living on the seat of your pants. It's a great place to race. There are a
lot of possibilities for overtaking, in wet and dry. I've had quite a few
podiums here but never on the top step. Hopefully that opportunity will
arise very soon.
Q: (Patricia Sanchez - La Gaceta) We've been hearing about F1 with electric
cars. What would you think about that sort of competition, and how would you
like to drive a noiseless car? Is that safe for you?
MS: Looks like none of us has heard anything about that. We have partially
electric cars already. We have KERS!
Q: (Patricia Sanchez - La Gaceta) My question is basically about having a
Formula One race with no noise. Would that be the same feeling for you? If
it happens.
JB: If. I'm sure we could try and make some sort of noise that we like. It
would save our hearing, because these things are pretty loud. We wouldn't
need earplugs, which is quite a good thing. I don't know. I don't know what
the possibility is of having a completely electrical car, how many
manufacturers would be involved.
PdelaR: I must say I've heard about it, it's Formula E, and it's obviously a
new era, and we should be open-minded to the fact that we're used to racing
with noise, but I remember a few years ago, going to indoor karting in
Finland and racing with electrical cars for the first time which was an
incredible experience because you were racing, you were braking for turn
one, or accelerating on the straight and then you had a kart next to you and
you didn't hear it, which was shocking, because we are basically from the
noise era, but we should be open-minded. Let's wait and see how it develops,
because it could be extremely interesting...
JB: Can you hear a Formula One car coming?
PdelaR: Absolutely, yeah. You can feel... yeah, especially when I'm shown
blue flags, I can hear you guys!
JB: You get out of the way straightaway. I've seen you Pedro!
PdelaR: I mean karting, karting, karting, indoor karting. I don't know how
it will feel with single-seaters, but for sure you can still hear something.
Maybe when you get very old you won't but...
JB: You tell me, Pedro!
PdelaR: Anyway, my bottom line is it's a new era, it's an interesting
avenue, we should be open-minded and let's wait and see how it looks like,
because we've never seen a fully electrical single-seater and I'm really
looking forward to that.
JEV: I have no idea. Maybe it will come. To be honest, I haven't heard about
it, so I don't know how it is, I don't know how it's going to be. I know I
did a kart race last year in Bercy with electric karts. It was quite a fun
race. We could hear other noise as well. The funny thing is that we could
hear the whole crowd around the stadium. But I have no idea how it would be
in F1 or single-seaters.
MS: That's actually a good point. It would be the first time that we could
hear the crowd and not the crowd us.
JB: I think you've got to ask the fans more than us. It would be a big
difference for the fans. I know there are the obvious reasons for doing it
which are very important, but for the fans, they would miss something, with
the buzz of the sound of an F1 car, because that's the first thing you
notice when you come and watch an F1 car, it's the sound. |
