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TEAM REPRESENTATIVES – Dave
RYAN (Manor), Robert FERNLEY (Force India), Franz TOST (Toro Rosso),
Guenther STEINER (Haas), Christian HORNER (Red Bull Racing), Jock CLEAR
(Ferrari)
Jock, let’s start with you, welcome. You arrive with this weekend with some
updates, how pleased are you with the way that they’ve performed so far?
Jock CLEAR: So far, they’ve performed as expected. Obviously you don’t
arrive with these things fresh out of the box. It’s done a lot of work on
the dynos back at home. It’s been fully calibrated. We should know what to
expect and the good thing about today is that we’ve had no surprises in that
respect. It’s doing what it said on the tin.
Now, the last few races have been affected by less than ideal qualifying. Is
that just a case of Red Bull moving ahead and that your updates haven’t
moved you ahead enough?
JC: It’s difficult to say. Like all of these things in F1, it’s never one
specific thing. It’s generally a combination of a number of things.
Obviously Red Bull have made improvements and have qualified strongly
recently. We’ve underperformed in Quali 3, having felt we had the pace to
compete right at the front and then dropped away at the end. Was it a tyre
issue? Was it set-up? That’s the conundrum we have to try to unravel and I
think we are some way to doing that now. I thing that some of things we have
looked at in the last couple of weeks, after Barcelona and Monaco, are
pointing us in the right direction. But it’s all relative and our pace is
always going to be judged by the people that are right at the front and
until we’re right at the front we’re not going to be satisfied. So we just
keep searching for that performance.
Thank you for that. Robert, coming to you, great result in Monaco. Do you
feel that the team is back punching above its weight again after a faltering
start to the season? Is that down to the most recent upgrade package?
Robert FERNLEY: I don’t think that we’re punching above our right. I think
we’re working to reality really in terms of where the team is. The resources
have been built up. Vijay has invested heavily in the team over the last few
years and we’re moving forward as a team as a whole. We may be
under-resourced in terms of personnel but I think we do a good job in terms
of assets. I’d like to think we’re punching where we should be. And as far
as Monaco is concerned it was a great result but we’ve got strange races,
with Monaco, Montreal and an unknown in Baku and I think until; we get back
into the standard circuits it’s unfair to make a judgement.
You’re currently breathing down the neck of Williams. Do you feel you can
potentially finish ahead of them in the championship this year?
RF: Williams are an extremely good team and it will be extremely difficult
for us to do so. Of course that’s our goal and we’re not going to give up on
anything and Williams is our target but we’ve got Toro Rosso breathing down
our neck, so I don’t think there any room to manouevre anywhere!
Thanks for that. Christian, obviously Daniel was clearly very upset about
what happened in Monaco, coming after Barcelona two weeks before. As an
experienced manager, how hard ahs it been to get him to keep the faith?
Christian HORNER: I think he’s been pretty good actually. I think it took a
couple of days after the race to get the emotion out of what happened.
Obviously the whole team was gutted about being in such a string position in
the Monaco Grand Prix, which isn't your standard race, and then to obviously
lose what looked like a certain victory, Obviously a huge amount of analysis
has gone into what’s happened, why it happened, and as with all these things
it’s never a straightforward scenario. I think the way that Daniel has dealt
with has been very good. After taking a couple of days out, he’s now focused
fully on the positives: the fact that the car is competitive; the fact that
we were able to qualify on pole – our first pole since 2013 – and the fact
that the upgrades with the engine and chassis are all working in harmony
with each other bodes every well for the rest of the year. Of course there
is disappointment over Monaco but a lot of optimism for the future and the
future races.
You’ve signed again with Renault. With the development you see there and
with the importance of aerodynamics in the 2017 regulations, do you see next
year bringing Red Bull potentially back into contention for regular wins and
a tilt at the title?
CH: I think we’re on a good trajectory. I think all engineers relish changes
within the technical regulations and that applies to the chassis guys as
much as it does to the engine guys and I think that what we’re seeing is
that the engines are converging. I think that the guys in Viry have done a
great job over the last six months really. Progress is coming on the engine
front and with a shake-up on the chassis regulations, inevitably some teams
will get it right and some teams won’t. Hopefully, we’ll be one of the
former. It’s exciting and it certainly exciting and it feels that we are on
a trajectory that is moving more and more towards competitiveness.
Thanks for that. Dave, coming to you. How are you feeling about the battle
with Sauber at the moment? How close are you to challenging them do you
think?
Dave RYAN: I think we’re pretty close. We had a pretty good day today. We’re
working hard at it and they’re our obvious target. We’re bringing a lot of
parts to the car and I’m pretty hopeful that very soon we’ll be with them,
if not this race then in a couple of races.
What about your drivers? It’s interesting that Haryanto has outqualified
Wehrlein three times this year. How do you evaluate their performances?
DR: Both drivers are doing a really good job. We are six races in and as you
say qualifying has gone one way or another. But as we all know qualifying
does bring different challenges at different times. They’re doing a great
job and they will get better as time goes on.
Thank you. Guenther, coming to you, first race in North America for the new
American Formula One team. How does that feel and has it changed anything
about how the team has approached this weekend?
Guenther STEINER: No, it hasn’t changed, because the race team is based in
England, so it hasn't changed a lot. For us… the good for me is that it’s
the first time I don’t have a jet lag and everybody else has got one, so I’m
pretty happy, because I live in the States. Otherwise everybody is happy to
be there. North America is the home of the team. We are very happy to be in
Canada and we look forward to go to Austin in October.
A third of the way through your debut season – some great results, some
difficult moments, generally underwhelming in qualifying – how do you assess
your start and what have you lined up for the rest of the season?
GS: I think we know now were we are roughly in the ranking. There will not
be big changes if we don’t come up with something special. We are still
learning. We got a lot more stable. We know now what we can achieve and what
we cannot achieve. I think we can always be in a position to score points,
if other people… a race is race, things can happen, and if we are there to
wait to get into it, we can. So, we are not changing a lot. We try to get
better, especially in qualifying; I think our race performance is better
than our qualifying performance. Again, it’s a learning phase. We are pretty
happy with the whole team, how they developed over the past three months,
from where we came. It’s our seventh race. I keep forgetting myself. It’s
only our seventh race, while we compete with people who are here for years.
All in all, we just keep trying to do a better job and then get prepared for
the new car coming next year.
Thank. Franz, back to Renault power next season. Tell us why that’s the
right move for Toro Rosso?
Franz TOST: The main reason we decided to go back to Renault is to use more
synergies with Red Bull Technology and for this we need a common power unit
as a basis and I think Toro Rosso can profit out of this change, because we
can get nearly the whole rear part from Red Bull Technology –the gearbox,
hydraulics, also suspension systems, and this will help us make another step
forward.
Daniil Kvyat is back with the team. How is he adapting to being back to the
team and do you expect to have either of the current drivers in the team
again next season?
FT: I don’t know yet. We have only done six races yet and this is a decision
that will be made by Red Bull at the end of the season, which driver will be
with Toro Rosso in 2017. So far, I must say that Daniil has recovered very
fast. He is quite happy to be in the team. He got more and more familiar
with the car and the team and I expect a very good second half of the season
from him.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Jerome Bourret – l’Equipe) You are of course used to back-to-back races
but these ones are a bit particular, with a long trip to Baku. May I ask you
if this makes your life more difficult or is it business as usual in the
preparation?
JC: Yeah, the facts are it does make our lives more difficult, because it’s
a lot more complex. You’re going to somewhere you don’t know. But again,
it’s the same for everybody and actually we relish the challenge really. The
logistic battle is just the same as the battle there out on the track. Teams
are big now and getting there and getting prepared is actually one of the
challenges we are going to take on and try and do as well we can and
hopefully that will give us an edge. It looks a very exciting circuit. The
stuff we’ve done on simulators and the photographs we’ve seen, it looks like
it’s going to be a great place to race. I think both drivers are really up
for that kind of street circuit. The environment there sounds really good.
People who have been there are really raving about the place, so actually
we’re excited to get there and see what it’s like. Obviously a track that
you don’t know is always going to throw up some surprises. It’s never going
to be exactly the same as your simulator so we’re all going to learn a lot
in the next 10 days and we’re looking forward to it.
Guenther, is there less of a disadvantage for a new team when everyone is
going to a new track?
GS: I don’t think so. The good teams are good for one reason: because they
can get well prepared. They spend a lot more time than us. I think as Jock
says, we are as well excited. It’s a new place. We haven't seen it. There
are positives, negatives being reported. We go ourselves to look at it and
then come away with an opinion. Again, our preparation is maybe less than
the big teams are doing because we have other things to prepare, because for
us everything is new! But in the end it should be more of a level playing
field for us but the good teams know what they are doing and they will be
very well prepared and better than us, but we will do our best.
Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) It’s no secret that Formula One has an
unequal pay structure with, for example, Red Bull and Ferrari in common with
three other teams earning premiums from Formula One’s revenues, Haas not
earning anything, even if they finish in the top ten this year and the three
at the back basically receiving payments on a take-it-or-leave-it basis when
the contracts are drawn-up. It’s inevitable that Formula One is going to
have to address this issue going forward, so possibly all of you – Jock you
may not be in a position to comment – but the rest, if you could please give
me your thoughts on how you see Formula One’s optimum pay revenue structure
after 2020 please.
CH: Well… of course if it was a world like all the journalists live in where
I’m sure you’re all paid the same for doing exactly the same job, then it’ll
be a very easy scenario of distributing the money but as with all these
things, the commercial rights holder holds the financial keys. It’s down to
the rights holder to decide how they’re going to distribute the revenue and
then it’s down to the teams to decide whether they want to compete or not.
It’s still some way away. 2020 we’re talking about, which is the end of this
agreement – but I would envisage that talks would start over the next 12
months or so – or 24 months – but impossible really to predict. But of
course every team is going to do the best for themselves. You can’t blame
the teams for the distribution of the revenues. It’s the job and
responsibility of the management within the teams to do the best that they
can for their teams. So, the distribution of it will come down to what the
promoter decides to do.
Robert?
RF: Well, I’d probably come at it from a slightly different angle to
Christian, as you would probably expect and I’d hope we’d do things
differently. The idea of privileged teams going away, negotiating with CVC
and deciding how much to skim off the top before distribution to other
teams, for me is not acceptable. I would like to think the Commercial Rights
Holder this time does it in a more transparent way. The Premier League is a
perfect example of where you’ve got a performance-related programme that’s
very fair and transparent. There’s no need for negotiations: we’ve got a pot
of money needs to be done; split it in a proper manner; make it transparent.
Teams take it or leave it.
Guenther?
GS: I disagree with Christian. I think the last one in should get most!
Joking aside, I think it should be more equal – but the best ones should get
more because you’re better, you’re winning. It’s also in the Premier League
or any football. Is it distributed wrong in the moment? People negotiate it
and, as Christian said, if the management did a good job to negotiate for
their own company, you cannot blame them, there’s nothing wrong with that.
It’s more like the rights holder negotiates on their side and needs to keep
the other ones happy. The people in the back, next time, need to make sure
that we are happy as well going forward. I think there will be in something
between but again once we start to negotiate I think it will get a little
bit more transparent, that deals are done altogether. But again, the teams
which are good and are winning and are there for a long time… if you were in
there position you would ask for more of the revenue. It’s something in
between. Between being completely equal for everybody and unbalanced. But
let’s see what the next 12-24 months brings when negotiations start. I think
they should start pretty soon because they normally take long, so that we
are not getting to a point where people are forced into taking a decision to
stay or to leave, or to take what is there or to leave. So, next time we
will be involved. This time we knew what we were going into. So we cannot be
happy or unhappy: we took the fact it is what it is, because other people
negotiated – but next time we will play a part in it and voice our opinion.
Franz?
FT: I hope that the private teams get more money because the manufacturer
teams anyway have a lot of money, and that we can close the gap from the
performance side. Because it is simply a question of the financial
situation.
David?
DR: Yes, for sure it would be nice to think it could be made more equitable.
The difference between the front teams and the back teams is too big. I do
believe the leading teams should get more money but I think the gap is just
massive at the moment and it needs to be looked at in a slightly different
manner.
Jock, are you able to speak on this?
JC: No, obviously not a huge amount of experience in that area and it would
probably not be right of me to comment.
Q: (Francois David Rouleau - Journal de Montréal) My question is for
Ferrari. How important is it for you guys to launch the new turbo here in
Montréal?
JC: It’s somewhat a strategic decision because obviously the different
aspects of the car benefit different circuits in different ways. We try and
bring a development to the car as soon as possible and accelerating that
development, bringing those things to the track as fast as possible has some
risk involved. Were we to try and get that turbo to Monaco, the benefits
would not have been huge around Monaco and the risk would have been another
two weeks less of development. So it’s a balanced risk that we’re always
working on in all of our developments and Canada were that risk was decided
to be worth taking. It’s a circuit that will benefit the upgrade that we’ve
bought; it’s a circuit where we should be able to clearly see the benefits
for ourselves – and that’s important to justify and to close the loop on
that development from the factory point of view. Had we brought it to
Monaco, as I say, it’s debateable whether we would have seen much benefit
and whether we would have exactly been able to pick the bones out of it.
We’ve brought it here as a strategic decision: this is the kind of circuit
where it is going to benefit us and, as I say from the earlier question,
we’re seeing that today in our data. So we’re happy.
Q: (Jeff Pappone – Inside Track) I just want to pick up on something
Christian said earlier about the engineers always wanting to be challenged
and the new regulations are going to do that – but with the engines coming
together and coming closer, could there not be a really good case made for
continuing to work inside the chassis box that they have now and the racing
won’t be a little separated next year as everybody tries to figure out the
new regulations?
RF: I think we went through a significant process in trying to improve the
racing, improve the aesthetics of the car and generally get Formula One to
be a little bit sexier – which is what we were asked to do, by the
commercial rights holder in particular. I think overall we’ve done quite a
good job of that. It’s a balance, as you rightly say, between trying to keep
the competition. As one of the teams that could go either way on that, it’s
one I feel, a bit like Christian, that we relish the challenge – even though
it’s quite a significant challenge to us. So I think overall it will be
beneficial and I look forward to ’17 very much.
Jock, you want to give us an engineer’s view on this?
JC: Yeah, from an engineering point of view, as Christian said earlier, we
all relish all sorts of development in any area and any change in
regulations is seen as an opportunity to steal a yard on the opposition.
We’re excited about next year in every respect. You just get on with what
you’ve got to get on with. So we don’t really look at the bigger picture. As
engineers we don’t look at the bigger picture of whether this is going to be
holistically a better solution for the sport. The engineers themselves just
say ‘right, this is the challenge that the regulations have now set me,
let’s get on with it,’ and that’s what we’re doing at Maranello quite
aggressively now.
Q:(Alexander Govorov – Championnat.com) I have a question to Franz Tost.
Franz, you just said Daniel Kvyat is quite happy at Toro Rosso but at the
same time you cannot deny that he is going through some difficult time in
his career. What can the team do to help him get over this time?
FT: First of all, if you’re in Formula One, it’s not always going up,
sometimes there are some obstacles and you have to find a solution how to
jump over them. Dany has come back to us, he feels well in the team, he
knows nearly all the engineers and what we have to provide him with is a
competitive car. Currently I think we have a good package together. It’s not
so easy here in Canada. I don’t know what’s going on in Baku because there’s
a very long straight – but nevertheless I expect that he, in the second half
of the season will show some very, very good races and that he is able to
come back and show a good performance because he is a very high-skilled
driver. He has to come over this difficult period. We have to support him
from the mental side and I think the team is pushing hard. I am convinced
Daniel will come back with a smile on his face.
Q: (Graham Harris – Motorsport Monday) Franz and perhaps also for Christian:
in Monaco, Carlos was doing rather well and he got let down by arguably two
not so good pit stops. This is not the first time that it’s happened to a
Toro Rosso driver. Are you looking at anything specific to improve your pit
stops like Williams put their programme in and they’re now king of the pit
stops?
Is there something you’re working on or is this something that you’re just
addressing generally?
FT: Of course we have to work on the pit stops. The front right wheel was
removed too slowly in Monaco therefore Carlos lost one second. This was the
reason why he came out behind the train of Perez, Vettel and Hulkenberg,
otherwise maybe he could have finished in third position. We have done
around 55 pit stops before the race, as preparation, and nearly all of these
pit stops were between 2.4s and 2.6s. During the race, unfortunately, the
front right wheel locked and therefore they couldn’t remove it as fast as
they wanted to. Today, I think we did 17 pit stops. The fastest was 2.1s but
not only one, there were three or four with such a good time. We also made
some pit stops during the free practice; they were between 2.4s and 2.5s. If
they can repeat this in the race, we shouldn’t have a problem. We have also
had some really good pit stops during the season but unfortunately in Monaco
the pit stop was not good enough.
CH: Obviously in any competitive sport you’re always pushing the boundaries
and when you push the boundaries sometimes mistakes happen. At Red Bull, we
push the boundaries, we push them constantly and when you live life on the
edge sometimes you fall over. The most important thing with that is to learn
from it, put procedures in place to learn from those difficult days and
inevitably human error will creep in now and again. We do our best to
mitigate it, we do our best to eradicate it. Red Bull’s had a tremendous
history of success in the pit lane. I think we’ve got the Guinness Book of
Records fastest pit stop. Generally, we’ve been rock solid in the pit lane.
Monaco was one of those unfortunate perfect storms of things going wrong.
We’ve analysed it, we’ve learned from it, we’ve put procedures in place to
try and ensure it will never happen again but of course you can’t guarantee
that. All the teams push the limit and that’s what sport and Formula One is
all about.
Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Before posing my question, Christian,
just to comment about your journalism perfect world issue. We generally get
paid on the basis of performance and quality but none of us gets paid a
premium for turning up to every race until 2020.
CH: Are you sure?
Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Absolutely, absolutely.
CH: There are a few guys that I....
Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Well, that’s maybe your PR people.
Getting back to my question: when we do negotiate these new contracts going
forward, one of the other issues that’s got to be negotiated is the
governance structure which has been very very contentious and in fact the
subject of an EU investigation. Again, to the five of you, what would be the
ideal governance structure in your opinions please?
RF: I feel quite strongly about this. First of all we’ve got a payment
scheme that only pays into ten teams so we have to decide if we’re going to
have ten teams, eleven teams or twelve teams and then once that payment
scheme is sorted out as to that level, because even this year you are going
to have a situation where perhaps eleven into ten doesn’t go. But if we move
on from that, each team really is paying the same amount of money to put the
show on. There’s very little difference between what Ferrari, Red Bull, Haas
have to pay in order to be able to get here, to put the show on, to put a
chassis in place, get the two drivers out. The difference is the development
costs and the development costs are something that even though we would like
to control it we’ve been unable to do so. So I think that as each team is
paying roughly the same amount of money, each team should have a say in
what’s going on so I am a great believer that the strategy group should be
replaced, as it was before, with each team represented.
CH: Well, my view is quite simplistic on this. The business belongs to the
promoter. It’s down to them how they want to promote the sport and how they
want to generate the funding and then obviously the distribution. They’ve
got to make a decision of can they afford a big offset of payments or should
it be more evenly distributed but that’s their business, that’s their job to
decide what is the best for the sport. I think the promoter should say this
is what I want Formula One to be, this is what I want the cars to look like,
this is the show that I need to put on to bring the fans into the sport, to
bring in the sponsors, to put on a great show for TV and make Formula One
the spectacle that we all know that it can be. I think the governance should
be very clear that the FIA are the regulator and so having understood what
the concept of the sport should be from the promoter, the regulator should
regulate that. They’re the policemen at the end of the day and their role
should be very clearly defined. And the teams are the competitors. I think
where it all gets very blurred is when everybody starts messing in everybody
else’s business and I think that’s where we constantly run into trouble. If
you keep it simple, keep it straightforward, then it should be a very
straightforward negotiation. It won’t be, we all know that but that’s an
idealistic view I would have.
DR: I have to say that one of the things that’s quite different since I’ve
come back is the way the regulations are formulated. It’s difficult not
being involved in any of the discussions early on and you get presented with
the regulations to vote on it or not. That’s how it is and that’s how we
have to deal with it but it does seem a bit strange that you can be
participating in a sport and other people dictate the regulations that you
then have to abide by.
GS: In a simplistic world or in a sensible world, what Christian says is
right: the people decide what we have to do but in the end, we want a say in
it as well or everybody, so I think the governance should be that all the
teams have the same say like it is suggested we should all have the same
money, everything is equal, which will not happen and again, I think the
better ones should get more money but a say in the sport, I think the sport
could do away with the strategy group but then again, I wasn’t there when
the strategy group was introduced and don’t know the real reason why it was
introduced so I’m a little bit careful to say that. But I think if you want
more say but then we don’t want more say, we need to make our minds up here.
What do we actually want? I think it will all come out when the next
negotiations start for after 2020 to see where it goes but until then,
again, we knew when we came into it how it is regulated, how the governance
is and we were happy with that and I think we get involved only when the
time comes up to say we want to change it and we give our opinion. I hope we
can sort something out. We are happy and the sport has got a good future.
FT: The FIA should make the regulations without asking the teams too much
because that’s useless, everybody has his own opinion, everybody does not
want to lose his advantage, therefore we have all these discussions and the
commercial rights holder should distribute the money in a fair way, also
without asking too much.
Q: (Matthew Walthert – Bleacher Report) For Dave and Robert and anybody who
wants to answer: there was a lot of excitement yesterday with the big
Heineken announcement and I’m wondering from your perspective with smaller
teams if there’s any concern when these big global sponsorship deals are
done for the whole series that perhaps it takes away opportunities for your
teams to find new sponsors?
DR: I went to that presentation yesterday and I thought it was great and I
think it will be great for Formula One so no, I don’t have a problem with
that level of involvement, no.
RF: Probably the same as Dave. We’ve got to remember that all sports are
changing and Formula One isn’t excluded from that and that’s I think the
reason why we have to look at a better distribution of the income model
because sponsorship is now getting confused a little bit between circuit
sponsorship and the team sponsorship. The teams are finding it harder and
harder to land the bigger sponsors, it’s more competitive. I think Heineken
is fantastic for Formula One. I like it where it is and obviously the teams
will benefit from that but in order to get it more balanced, we need to get
the distribution right because the mix between TV money if you like and
sponsorship money is changing and has changed hugely over the last couple of
years and we need to address that.
CH: Yeah, just to pick up on that, the great thing about the Heineken deal
is that it’s a great brand, it’s undoubtedly a significant amount of
investment into the sport over the next few years and every single team will
benefit from that, through the distribution portals that the money filters
its way into the team. Every single team will benefit from Heineken’s
involvement in the sport. I think it’s a positive thing, I think it’s a good
thing, there are some great brands involved in Formula One now and hopefully
we can put on a good show for them.
FT: Heineken is a very well known brand all over the world and as more such
big companies join Formula One the better it is, either with teams or at the
race track advertising there, this doesn’t matter. The important thing is
that they are involved in Formula One. |
