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TEAM REPRESENTATIVES – Matt
MORRIS (McLaren), Matthew CARTER (Lotus), Graeme LOWDON (Manor), Rob SMEDLEY
(Williams), Paddy LOWE (Mercedes), James ALLISON (Ferrari).
PRESS CONFERENCE
James, if we could start with you. Obviously you’re using development
engines this weekend, for the first time in quite a few years, the first
time we’ve seen it in Formula One. What are you hoping the engine this
weekend is going to bring and what did you think of your race pace in
particular this afternoon in the dry?
James ALLISON: I hope, like all of the fellows at this table, that what we
put on the car this weekend will make us competitive and strong in the
qualifying and in the race. The engine is a part of that, the chassis is
another part of that. It’s just another thing to make the car go quicker. So
I hope it will be strong and reliable all weekend and for the weekends that
follow, Race pace? It’s hard to know what to make of today. Normally these
free practice session have a sort of pattern and a rhythm to them; we all do
more or less the same programmes week after week and we get to have a feel
for where we stand based on that. But on a day like today when the weather
mucks things up and you can see the rain coming but you’re not quite sure
when it’s going to come people tend to work on slightly different programmes
and it makes it a little bit harder to judge. We think we went quite well
today but I also think these chaps [Mercedes] are probably hiding their
light under a bushel a little, so we’ll see.
Sebastian Vettel said yesterday that Ferrari is definitely getting the best
out of him. It’s the first time that you have worked with Vettel, what do
you think of what he said? And what are you doing to help Kimi Räikönnen to
deliver the qualifying performances that your team principal has called for.
JA: I hope that driver, team, all of us work well together all the time and
we try to get the best out of each other. I know that sounds trite but it’s
true nevertheless. Sebastian and Kimi are both very fast guys and therefore
always good to work with from a team’s point of view. It’s nice that
Sebastian’s enjoying his opening stint with us and I hope that we keep it
that way. With Kimi… very small things can distract a driver in qualifying
and they need absolute focus in those very important laps and we just try to
make sure that we remove any tiny operational defect on our side to give him
a clear path to focus on getting a good lap and that’s all we can do.
Coming to you Matt. We talked there with James there about development
engines, Honda has brought a development power unit here using up some its
available tokens, so what are the targets, then, for here?
Matt MORRIS: Like you say, we’ve used a couple of tokens, or Honda have used
a couple of tokens this weekend to increase the efficiency of the power unit
in general. It all seemed to work well today. The target is to keep
improving, which is what we’ve been doing since the start of the season, so
just more steady improvement.
You scored your first points in Monaco but clearly the objectives of
McLaren’s are higher than that. After a third of the season, can you say now
what success would look like at the end of 2015?
MM: It’s nice to score some points. We also realise we have still got a lot
of progress to make and some circuits will be better to us than others.
Monaco is one of the ones that has been good to us. In terms of what success
would look like? Yeah, wouldn’t it be great to get on the podium but I think
that’s a long way off. We’ve got a plan of both chassis upgrades and more
power unit upgrades throughout the year so we’ll just have to see.
Matthew, coming to you. Obviously both cars in the top 10 today, but quite a
frustrating series of differing issues, meaning that you’re not always
getting both cars to the chequered flag on Sunday and picking up the points.
Have you identified why this has been happening?
Matthew CARTER: No we haven’t. I think that there has been a lot of bad luck
and yeah, I think we can put it down to bad luck. There have been a few
driver issues, a few reliability issues and some bad luck. We’re hoping to
turn that round and to try to consistently get both cars in the points.
There’s obviously been a lot of speculation in recent weeks about the
possibility of the owners selling the Lotus team. Can you set the record
straight? What is the position?
MC: I continue to say the same thing. The shareholders have told me that the
company isn’t for sale. I think I’ve said in the press before that
everything is sale for a certain price. That’s as much as I can say. I
continue to reiterate that we signed a long-term contract with Mercedes Benz
and as far as we’re concerned we just continue down that route. That last
information I heard was that we were going to be sold by the end of May but
we’re still here and we’re still the same team.
Thank you very much for that. Graeme, coming to you, obviously announcements
this week of some significant new hirings in the technical department and a
new reserve and test driver. Can you tell us the strategy behind your team
building at the moment and whether Leimer will get a race?
Graeme LOWDON: Your right, we’re in a position where we're rebuilding the
team really. The start of this season for us has obviously been very unusual
and it’s not the sort of start anybody would plan by design but it’s what
we’ve had to deal with. In terms of the technical structure of the team, we
were lucky enough to have a number of people rejoin the team really very
quickly, who had been with us in the past. I think we had a very efficient
and effective technical team who were on a path to deliver a very neat car
and package for 2015. Obviously that progress was interrupted and we’re now
in a phase that is quite unusual – having to rebuild things whilst also
looking at the bigger picture and the bigger strategy. We don’t want to get
too focused on the day-to-day problems of getting back up to pace if you
like. So obviously with Bob coming on board, a very, very experiences guy
with a focus very much on the big picture, strategy going forward. Luca [Furbatto]
is a guy with a huge amount of experience, so that’s going to strengthen the
design side of the business. And Gianluca [Pisanello] as well. Bob and Luca
only started on Tuesday of this week, Gianluca has been with us for a few
races but is already contributing to the trackside operation really well. So
we’re in a very rapid period of rebuilding. We’ve just got to get this
period done as quickly as we possibly can. As far as Fabio is concerned, I
don’t know when he’ll be in for his first FP1 – that’ll be down to John,
it’s a driver call. But I’m very, very happy to have him on board. I think
he’s shown in junior formulae that he’s got the right credentials to be here
in Formula One and again, it’s just part of building the team back up to the
strength we want it to be.
Is it too for the new technical people to have any input on your 2015,
quote-unquote, car? Are you thinking of delaying that so that they can?
GL: That’s a very fair question and it’s a balancing act the whole time.
We’ve got to do what’s right for the team and there are an awful lot of
variables that have to be considered by the people whose responsibility it
is going forward. There’s no point having a dog and barking yourself. The
people who are joining the team now will have an input into those decisions.
It’s an ever-changing feast at the moment.
Paddy, coming to you. Well, we have to start with your afternoon. Fastest
for Lewis Hamilton, but then a big jump over the kerbs half way through the
session and he ended it nose first in the barriers in what looked like an
aquaplaning incident. Could you tell us a bit about the afternoon, why he
went out and how much damage there is?
Paddy LOWE: Yeah, it didn’t quite end the way we wanted it to. The simple
reason is we went out to do some practice race starts. That’s a normal part
of our P2 programme. Because the programme was very condensed in the short
window of dry weather that we had, we chose not to do those practice starts
in the dry period but then to go out before it became very, very wet indeed
and try and get two or three race starts done. Unfortunately the conditions
worsened quicker than we had anticipated and the conditions caught Lewis out
in an unfortunate manner. But we’ll get it sorted for tomorrow, it should be
all fine.
Q: Going back to the last grand prix, have you had to change anything in
terms of the protocols, the procedures from the pitwall and the
decision-making processes in light of what happened at the end of the Monaco
Grand Prix?
PL: Yeah. There was a mistake made and we always look at all errors and
decide what to learn from them and how that carries across to other aspects
of what we do. So, there were some problems with the software so we’ve fixed
some bugs that were in that, changed some of our communications and freed up
some of the people involved so they have a bit more capacity. So there are
changes. While I have the opportunity, I want to point out, there’s been a
bit of a story that I thought this wasn’t really a big deal. Of course it
was a big deal. I think the point I was trying to make was that it was a
single error, a small error which had, of course, a big consequence – but I
really need to stand up for my team of guys who’ve made very few errors over
the last couple of years, and just to put that in context. Formula One is a
complex business, a lot of things to get right and most of the time we do
that.
Q: Coming to you Rob, more than twice the points at this stage compared to
last year – but the feeling perhaps is one of not having been as competitive
in terms of battling at the front and fighting for the podiums. Last year,
from more or less this point onwards you put on a very strong run and
obviously had a lot of podiums. Does this need to be a turning-point race
then for Williams this year to try and achieve the same?
Rob SMEDLEY: No, I don’t think it needs to be a turning point. I think we
need to carry on the trajectory that we’re on. We’re always looking forward.
We’ve got Ferrari and Mercedes in front of us. We’re always looking forward
and trying to narrow that gap, and at the same time paying heed to the
incredibly strong competition we’ve got behind us with Red Bull. Great
organisation, won a lot in the recent past and just giving them the maximum
respect and ensuring that we’re always trying to increase that gap we’ve got
back to fourth. At the same time, trying to eradicate some of the gap we’ve
got in front of us with Ferrari and then Mercedes. So yeah, I don’t thing we
need to… it’s not a change of trajectory or any kind of strategic changes we
need or any step change. That would be a wonderful thing and everybody
sitting around this table would like a step change at some point in the near
future but I think we just need to keep doing what we’re doing.
Q: So, given that, will you just persist in chasing what you’re doing at the
moment? Continuous growth is what you’re saying rather than any kind of
gamble. Presumably you’ve had an internal debate about it. Is that the
resolution?
RS: I think we’re considering very carefully all the aspects of strategy
development of the business, if you like. Primarily, if I want to
concentrate on the car performance, of course if we carry on just doing what
we’re doing and we don’t change anything, making ourselves either more
robust or having slightly different approaches to certain elements of the
car performance, then it will be very difficult to close the gap in front.
So what we’re considering now is strategic decisions, if you like, and also
slightly different approaches technically as well as to how we want to
develop the car, how we’re going to develop the aerodynamics of the car, how
we go about understanding and improving tyre science, the mechanical car in
general. So I think we’re always evaluating and, as a group of people, the
senior technical people, we do understand that there is a certain
requirement that we will have to take, at some point in the future, some…
not risky decisions but there will have to be some risk management involved
for us to close the gap.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Graeme, you were recently quoted by
Autosport as saying the Strategy Group doesn’t have a strategy – or words to
that effect. Matthew, your team was in the Strategy Group and no longer is.
And recently the commercial rights holder has come out and said that
possibly the Strategy Group should be disbanded. Do the two of you agree
with that – and if so how would you replace it?
GL: Well, I guess the point I was trying to make is strategy is very
important for any business and any industry, and any group of businesses as
well. The other point I was trying to make is strategy: setting goals,
setting objectives, coming up with strategies, evaluating them and then
coming out with a strategy plan, that can then be articulated is not an easy
task. Very large companies do nothing but spend their time analysing and
evaluating strategies. So, one of the points I was making is it’s not
something that can just be achieved in a one hour meeting somewhere. Or even
a one day meeting or something like that. It’s difficult. It’s a difficult
job, a difficult task if it’s all done correctly. The idea of having a group
to help with that process is actually a good idea but – and this isn’t a
criticism, it’s an observation – there does not seem to be a strategy that’s
come out of the Strategy Group and therefore it’s not working. The simplest
thing in the world is to ask anybody in the group, ‘what’s the strategy?’ If
they can’t answer then it would suggest… y’know, if they can’t answer it, it
would be pretty difficult to articulate it or follow it. So, I’m not
suggesting there should be no strategy, or no Strategy Group or anything. In
fact, actually the reverse, pointing out it’s a very, very difficult task
but I think it’s incredibly important because it could set the blueprint for
this industry and the sport that we all love, to grow. I personally think
that’s a task that’s worth engaging with.
Matthew?
MC: Obviously we sat on the Strategy Group, we were one of the six teams who
sat on the Strategy Group last year and I attended a number of those
meetings. I agree with everything that Graeme says. There needs to be some
form of Strategy Group, there needs to be some form of strategy for the
sport in general. However, my personal opinion is that the composition and
the way that the Strategy Group is set up doesn’t work. There’s six teams
there that each have a vote and there’s six teams there that have completely
different agendas. And therefore to get anything through that forum is
almost impossible. And I sat there for hours and hours listening to debates
and nothing coming to the end of it. I think that’s been generally accepted
by the people that sit on the group as well as the people that govern the
sport. What the answer is, I genuinely don’t know. I think there needs to be
some form of governance and there needs to be a strategy. How they go
forward with that I don’t know.
Q: (Ian Parkes – Autosport) Question for Paddy, just getting back to Lewis’
incident. It was noticeable that the car was swinging around quite
considerably when it was on the crane, on the end of the crane. Was there
any concerns as you were watching that, and was there any additional damage
sustained by that?
PL: Yeah, I’ve only just come from the garage so… we were worried watching
that actually. I think there’s some minor damage to the rear end which came
from the crane handling but nothing serious.
Q: (Collin Hunt – formulaspy.com) Rob, Valtteri appeared to struggle with
grip at various times this morning, spinning at Turn Six and running wide at
the final chicane. What challenges does Williams face in solving this grip
issue and what’s the performance ceiling on Sunday with that in mind?
RS: I think the challenge Williams faces in solving its grip issues is the
same as all the other teams have in solving their grip issues. However much
grip you’ve got, you want more. Without wanted to defend Valtteri, this
morning I don’t think he was the only one who spun. It was very low grip,
the track, certainly for us. And watching down at Turn Eight where there was
a tailwind, Turn Eight, Turn 10, there was a lot of cars either going
straight on or spinning when they were getting on the power. We’ll just go
through the normal process of work that we always go through with both
drivers, as a team, and just amalgamate all the issues we’ve faced in terms
of performance over the day. We’ll analyse them, we’ll go through the
telemetry, we’ll look at what we can do here – you have to be pragmatic in
your decisions when you’re at the track – and hopefully get the cars set up
to be at least well balanced for tomorrow. I think both drivers come out of
P2 fairly happy with the balance of the car. They both had slightly
different balances, and yes, we can also always improve. But I think both of
them were reasonably happy by the time they’d run in P2 on the Option tyre.
Q: (Jeff Pappone - Globe and Mail) I’m just wondering if the rain is going
to make you take a step back and start over again tomorrow or have to go
back to a specific step through your programmes today because the track’s
going to change completely with the rain?
JA: It makes the weekend a little bit harder because none of us have got the
sort of tyre information that we would normally get in P2. Normally we would
have a good idea of how far and how hard you can push the tyres. Tomorrow
morning in FP3, it’s a shorter session, you want to be starting to get ready
for qualifying and not dicking around with tyres or long runs on tyres. It
just makes the weekend a bit more murky in terms of guessing how the race
will unfold. But I think very few of us will just reset the clock and try
and start the weekend afresh tomorrow. We have to concentrate on making sure
the car’s going to qualify well.
MM: I think that’s fair. It’s not really put us back. It’s a shame that we
didn’t get our long runs on the tyres today but we did some longish runs
because we knew the rain was coming so I don’t think it’s put us too far
back. Obviously the track will be a bit green tomorrow with the rain but
here’s a circuit that evolves a lot and again, it’s the same for everybody.
I don’t see any particular issue.
Q: (Craig Scarborough – Scarbs F1) Question for Paddy, Matt and James: we’re
looking at a new tyre manufacturer to come into the sport within a couple of
years. There seems to be a general consensus to go to much larger diameter
wheels. How soon are you going to need to know about that design decision
and whether you can fill the larger wheels with bigger brakes or bigger
ducts?
PL: There is a new tyre contract out for 2017 onwards and the subject of
bigger wheels has actually been raised over the last five or eight years,
but actually I would correct you, I think the broad consensus is that going
to bigger wheels is not a good direction. Certainly from a grip point of
view it’s not positive. Like for like, such tyres will have a lower grip and
the weight will go up considerably so it’s not an attractive direction
performance-wise, so I think generally we would intend to stick with the 13
inch wheels.
MM: It is a big change like Paddy said. It’s not just the tyre size, it’s
all the other parts that change with that, all the brake internals and what
have you. From our side, we relish change as any engineer does so yeah, if
that is going to change, we have a great knack of finding the best way
around it and then potentially it’s an area where if you do a good job you
can be competitive, so we’re happy if that was to go ahead.
JA: Scarbs, maybe you were thinking of the width of the wheel rather than
the rim? OK, as Paddy said, the rim diameter is going to stay where it is
but the width of the tyre is probably still up for grabs. We’re discussing
what that ought to be along with all the other aspects of the rules for
around about that time. I would say that sooner the better would be good for
things like that. Tyres are maybe the most complicated bit of the car and
the bit of the car that we have the least data about because we’re not
allowed, by regulation, to test them, either on the track or off the track,
so we have the data provided by the tyre manufacturer but that’s all and you
want that information good and early when you’re designing a car, not just
for the vehicle dynamics part of the car but also tyres are one of the
biggest aerodynamic components on the car and so having in your wind tunnel
tyres of the appropriate shape, size and squashiness is a big deal. So
sooner the better from our point of view but there’s still time from where
we are today. So as long as we get on with it from here it will be fine.
Q: (Kate Walker – motorsport.com) I’ve got a question for any of you
gentlemen who might be interested in answering it but particularly Graeme
because I know you’ve spoken widely about fan engagement before. In recent
weeks, we’ve seen the GPDA launch a fan survey; already responses have come
in from over 200,000 people from nearly 200 countries. I was wondering if
there have been any discussions within any of your teams about how we can
mobilise this global support in a time when Formula One access is becoming
increasingly complicated and expensive, to ensure the long term health and
do you have any interest in the data therein?
GL: Definitely interested in the data. I’ve said it before, the biggest
asset Formula One has is its fan base; it’s global and it’s massive and if
you don’t take care of it and treat it carefully – I’m talking as if it’s an
individual person but there’s millions and millions of fans and it’s the
root of this entire sport. Everything channels from that, so it’s very very
important to understand what fans want, not just now but in the future and
how they would like to integrate and engage with the sport. I don’t want to
bang on about strategy but in formulating a strategy, understanding what
your ultimate customer wants is pretty fundamental in any business and
therefore I think in ensuring that understanding what fans want is
increasingly important. If there are fan surveys, the design of those
surveys is really quite critical. I saw some data earlier today where there
was a statistic that said fans were keen to see refuelling return. I was
quite surprised by that, because if you asked the question in a different
way which could be ‘would you like to see half the number of overtakes
happen on the track?’ you would probably get a very different answer – you
would get a very different answer. So understanding what fans want is really
really important and it’s the root of everything else, so yes, extremely
interested in understanding all the views from fans and fan groups and
especially if it’s possible to get that level of detail across such a wide
geographical range as well.
PL: What’s great about Formula One is the spectrum of spectator we have from
the casual viewer through to the enthusiast who has a great hunger to
understand all the technicalities and I think that’s what makes the sport
extremely rich and why it’s been popular for so long. I think the thing
we’ve got to make sure of is that we keep giving the information to those
people who want to understand the technicalities so they can feel involved,
certainly something we can work harder on.
MC: It sounds a fairly callous thing to say but the more spectators we have
the more funds we have and the more sponsors that we attract to the sport
and that’s how we fund our businesses in this sport. It’s a fundamental part
of the sport and it’s self-perpetuating, that the more funds you get, the
more sponsors you get, the more sponsors you get the more money that’s
generated within the sport so it’s easy to under-estimate but it’s an
integral part of the sport. |
