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TEAM REPRESENTATIVES: James ALLISON (Mercedes),
Ayao KOMATSU (Haas), Enrico GUALTIERI (Ferrari), Pierre WACHE (Red Bull
Racing)
Q: James welcome. Lovely to see you. Now, it's
been a fairly up and down season for Mercedes so far. Are you close to
achieving some kind of consistency with the W15 now?
James ALLISON: Well, I'm not sure that I've noticed too much of the up, but
I think after a pretty uninspiring start, we are starting to get to grips
with it a little bit. Today was a better day thus far. Let's see if we can
sustain that through the important parts of the weekend.
Q: You're running some new parts here. Are you seeing some improvements that
weren't there at the last race in Miami?
JA: I'd say cautiously yes, but it's a gradual thing.
Q: And James, looking at bigger picture stuff. How difficult is this period
for you compared to other moments of pressure during your career?
JA: I don't think it's any more difficult for me than it is for all of us in
the team. It's always tough when a car isn't where you want it to be. And
that is not an enjoyable situation. On the other hand, once you do start to
get your head around it and start to move it forward, that then becomes
extremely pleasurable. So hopefully we've got the worst of the grim feeling
behind us and are now on the upward slope of that.
Q: There are a lot of staff movements at the moment. You've had some big
players come, you've had some big players go. Would you call this the normal
ebb and flow of a Formula 1 team? Or are you gearing up to a new era and
needing some new skill sets?
JA: No, I think it's more in the normal ebb and flow of an F1 team. The
teams are big these days and in any given year you are shipping out a whole
bunch of people and shipping in a matching number. That will be true in
nearly every team.
Q: All right, look, final one from me. A lot of speculation about George
Russell's teammate next year. Would you go for youth over experience?
JA: Well, happily, it's not me that makes that choice. So I'll just take the
fifth on that one and leave it to the bigger dogs in the team to answer
that.
Q: Alright, James, thank you. I'm sure there'll be more questions for you in
a minute. While we're talking youth, Ayao, could I come to you now? Ollie
Bearman has just driven FP1 for you guys. What was his programme? How
impressed were you?
Ayao KOMATSU: It was a kind of a standard FP1 programme. So you have two
sets of tyres; two runs on low-ish fuel. The first run, getting to know the
circuit, getting to know the car and then the second run, the softer tyres
for doing a bit of a quali-type simulation. Then last run is high fuel,
looking at tyre management and consistency. Again, he's done another very,
very good job. You know, he's so calm. He understands what he needs to
deliver each session, each run, each lap. And he's able to absorb the
information so quickly, you know, either from himself from the previous lap
or the engineer's feedback. So again, I can't really fault him today. Great
job.
Q: And Ayao, what has he got to do to get a race seat with Haas in 2025?
AK: I think continue to deliver like this. You know, like I said, we haven't
looked in the detail yet, but, you know, but at first glance we can't fault
him, what he's done today. And that was the case last year when we ran him
in two sessions as well. So, yeah, if he continues to perform like this, for
sure, it's difficult to ignore.
Q: Let's keep talking drivers for a second. Nico Hülkenberg said last time
out in Miami that you tried quite hard to keep him for next year. Just how
much of a loss will his departure be for the team?
AK: Of course, we’ll feel it. And it really depends who you're going to get
for next year as well. But since Nico came with us last year, he's been
providing us with amazing reference in qualifying and also his feeling in
the car, feedback, especially for teams like us, you know, not as big as
these guys, where some of the methodology or procedure is not as refined or
detailed. You know, the driver plays a bigger role, if you like, in telling
us how we should develop the car, where the strengths or weakness of the
cars. So, yeah, again, we will feel it, it's a big loss and that's why I try
to keep him but you know we are all adults and we all understand the reasons
for him leaving and we push together you know like we've been doing before
until the end of the season.
Q: One final driver question from me. it's about Kevin Magnussen now and
penalty points. He's on 10 out of a maximum 12. Have you asked him to rein
it in a little bit from now on to avoid getting a race ban.
AK: Yeah, I mean he doesn't want to get a race ban either. So of course we
spoke about it, you know, away from the race circuit. And then yeah, this
weekend of course we try to keep it as clean as possible. He has to be
cleaner than, let's say, his baseline clean, if you like. But yeah, of
course he's aware; we are aware. So it's not our intention to get him a race
ban. So we'll see, but he knows what he needs to do.
Q: Thank you. I'm sure there'll be more questions for you in a minute.
Enrico, if we could come to you now. You are, of course, Technical Director
of the Power Unit, but if I could just push you into a slightly wider
technical remit just to start with and talk about the upgrades you're
running here at Imola this weekend. We've just had FP1. Are they doing what
you expected?
Enrico GUALTIERI: Yeah, as you said, I'm an engine guy, so I couldn't really
comment too much on the technical upgrades. But I think that anyway, it's
still early days. We decided as a team to bring the upgrades here for being
a common session. So we are just at the beginning of the Friday session. We
did what we intended to do in terms of plan. So now it will be a huge
analysis of the data for FP2 and then immediately after FP2. And then we
will see and hopefully we can build on these upgrades later on for the
session and for the season.
Q: Talking of intentions, Charles is running power unit number three this
weekend. Why is that? Was that intended for this race all along?
EG: Yeah, it was not intended in terms of a defined plan. But after Miami
race, our usual post-race checks didn't fit completely on our standard
values. So nothing to be worried about at this stage. But simply we decided
to minimise any kind of potential criticality over this day, that is quite
an important one. So we simply decided… as you know, being frozen, the
engine, we cannot put it on the dyno, so we need track experience to confirm
the possibility and the capability of the engine to go on. We will use the
engine again over the season and being the third unit, fundamentally equal
to the second one, is just managing the pool. So we will use it again over
the next Fridays and then we'll go on with the standard plan.
Q: And can we push it further ahead now and talk about 2026? Just how is
progress in the power unit division with regard to those new technical
regulations?
EG: Yeah, it starts to get more intense over this month. For sure, 2024 will
be the year in which we will have to put everything together. We are going
on in the development of each different and every component. So it's getting
intense, it's getting enjoyable and it's getting more and more challenging
because there is a huge challenge in front of us and in front, I think, of
every power unit manufacturer. So this year will be the one in which
everything has to be put together in order to come into the 2025 to go over
the validation period.
Q: Can you tell us what you're running on the dyno?
EG: It's difficult to say because I think that everyone is doing maybe
different programmes. So we are using at the dyno some components, some
units. But as I said before, everything still has to be put together and we
will do over the next months.
Q: Enrico, thank you for that. I'm sure there'll be more questions for you
in a moment. Pierre, thank you for waiting. Now, that was a slightly scrappy
first practice session for Max with those two offs. What was he saying about
the car?
Pierre WACHE: Yeah, I think he's clearly having some issues in Turns 11, 12
and 14. Something we are looking at. I think the guys are there at the
moment, while we speak, to look at the data, to see what we can do on the
set-up to help him. But I will not say it's a normal Friday for him, but
it's a normal Friday as an engineer, to try to improve the car for next
session.
Q: Now, the field has converged in recent races. Does Red Bull feel pressure
to find performance from RB20 or will the natural evolution of the car be
enough to keep you ahead?
PW: We feel pressure to put performance on the car. I think all the people
here feel the pressure to put performance on the car. It would be a dream to
think that we can sleep on it and think we can wait and win the championship
like that. In this business, you have to go ahead, otherwise you go
backward. For sure, we are looking to put performance on the car. It doesn't
matter if last race we win or not. It's our business and our mentality.
Q: The team was saying back in Bahrain at the first race that the car would
look very different at race seven. That's where we are now. Is that upgrade
being delayed or what's the situation? When can we expect a big upgrade from
Red Bull?
PW: First of all, I think it's an upgrade we have here. I think the
visibility of the upgrade is maybe not as apparent from outside, but I think
it's something interesting for us. And what we put on the car and how we
develop the car, it will depend on our tools’ response to the performance.
And we will decide not to make it apparent first, but to make performance on
the car. It's how we work. The plan is not is not fully defined and is
mainly dependent of what we found.
Q: Quick question about some staff movements. First of all, I don't know
whether there will be movements on the driver front but would you like to
see Checo retained in 2025?
PW: Well, I think I will come back to what James said. It’s not on my side
to say that. Clearly, at the moment he's doing a fantastic job. He's very
close. In Suzuka he was very close in quali. The choice for the future is
not mine. At the moment I have not complained on that aspect.
Q: And of course, Adrian Newey is leaving the team at the start of next
year. How will his departure affect your day-to-day business?
PW: I think with knowing Adrian… I think everybody knows in this business,
Adrian is a big man in this business and maybe the most successful engineer
in F1. I think it's a big effect for us, but the team was prepared. It's not
like we expect him for 20 years more. We have to build the team around and
make sure that we are prepared for this eventuality.
Q: What will you miss about working with Adrian?
PW: His experience, for sure. Clearly, he doesn't give away anything. He has
a mentality of a racer. That is very, very nice to discuss with him on that
aspect.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Christian Menath – Motorsportmagazin.com) Enrico, why didn't you run the
Miami engine in FP1 with Charles? Is it because you didn't want to risk to
lose mileage with the upgrade?
EG: Yes, thank you. As I was saying before, after the Miami race, our
analysis didn't fit completely with the usual outcome. So just for
precaution, given that we cannot put the engine on the dyno to get any
additional experience to confirm or not. We will reuse it in the next
Fridays. And yes, definitely it was just to minimise any kind of potential
risk or simply downtime in track timing for this important event, for the
upgrades and for building on data analysis for that.
Q: (Samarth Kanal – The Race) For Ayao, it didn't seem like Haas or Niko
Hülkenberg were particularly complimentary about Kevin Magnussen's race
craft in Miami. So has Kevin Magnussen helped or hindered his case for
remaining at the team in the future?
AK: I don't think it's defined by one race. And then, of course, he was
trying his best to help Nico in his mind. And then whether we completely
agree with that methodology or not is another matter. Then again, like I
said, I spoke to Kevin in private away from the track. No pressure. A really
good conversation. We understand each other completely. And then honestly,
this year Kevin is so engaged, you know, from the word go he understood what
he needed to do to help the team and what he did in jeddah as well was
amazing. So OK, Miami wasn't the cleanest race from him but it doesn't
change the fact that he's been an amazing team player and contributing to
the team.
Q: (Jon Noble – Motorsport.com) James, one of the challenges of these ground
effect cars is the balance with the performance in high speed and low speed,
that you get a car that performs well in one, it doesn't in the other, then
you solve the weakness and it limits the strength. How far down are you in
understanding that kind of aspect on your car and are the upgrades that are
coming over the next few races, how much will they address that issue and
improve it, do you think?
JA: I think we're gradually getting there. This track is probably one of the
easier ones in that regard because the range of cornering speed is not that
high. So it's a thing that all of us face and I think we've been a little
slower than others to address it. But I think that you'll see over the
coming races that that will be a thing that increasingly we put to bed.
Q: (Umberto Zapelloni - Il Foglio) James, can we have some news from the
engineer point of view of the first test of Kimi Antonelli on your old
Formula 1 cars, if you have something to say?
JA: Well, I have had the great pleasure of listening to the engineers
describe the interaction with him. Just a young, enthusiastic driver, very,
very fast, metronomic in his pace. Has not been in an F1 car until recently,
but made it look like he'd been in one for ages within a lap or two. He came
at this generation of cars, the ground effect cars, with an open mind. Yeah,
he feels all the same things that you'd expect him to feel. But he's not
sort of polluted by the previous cars. So he just takes them as they are and
tells us what he is feeling as weaknesses and strengths. and lets the
engineers work to try to improve those things. But he looks like a very
promising young driver.
Q: (Daniel Moxon - Daily Mirror) A question for James, please. You mentioned
the ebb and flow of staff turnover earlier on. This week we had confirmation
that Jerome D'Ambrosio and Loic Serra are heading to Ferrari. Today we
learned that there's another departure as well in the chief aerodynamicist
Gioacchino [Vino]. Is there any concern at all over the loss of so many key
players in such a short space of time and are you able to explain why these
people have decided that now is the time that their future lies elsewhere?
JA: I don't think there's any point in me offering a commentary on
motivation. Clearly, a team needs to have a critical mass of experienced and
good people. And we would not wish to see experienced good people leave us.
But we also are gathering experienced and good people at a similar rate. So
I guess it's our job to try and make sure we act in such a way as everybody
would rather be with us than anywhere else.
Q: (Carlo Platella – Formula Passion) Yeah, another one. Another question
for James. A few races ago, Toto said that Mercedes has a problem with the
physics of this car. Do you agree with him? And maybe has the view changed
in the last races?
JA: Well, I guess any car that's not on pole has a problem with its physics,
because all of us are basically trying to understand the physics of racing
cars better than our competitors. And if we're not at the head of the pack,
then it's because we've done that less well than the others. It's probably
easier for you to judge whether we're getting on top of our physics by
watching whether or not we're getting close to the front. So, with a bit of
luck we'll be a bit closer here at this weekend by the time the summer break
comes along noticeably so and then we can discuss whether or not our physics
are improving.
Q: (Ian Parkes – New York Times) Question for you, Pierre. With regard to
Adrian, you mentioned that the team has been planning for his potential
departure for quite some time now. Would it be fair to suggest that, yes,
while he will be missed, that the structure that's being put in place right
now will continue when he eventually does depart, he perhaps won't be missed
as much as is being portrayed.
PW: It's difficult to answer that for sure. It's what we are planning for.
It's what we are working for. But the future will tell us after all we are
in the competitive environment. As the people say, they are working hard to
catch us. We are working hard to stay ahead. Now the team has to, and any
way before it was a team effort to deliver this car. It's not one person
that delivers this car. I would say yes, we are prepared to work as a team
to deliver a car after if one person leave, it's a shame, but you know, and
even more this type of person like Adrian, that is big important on it. But
you know, we were prepared for that for sure. And I think it's something we
have to prove around the year and next year.
Q: (Edd Straw – The Race) One for James. Obviously, it was around 12 months
ago. there was a fairly major car change changing some of the conceptual
underpinnings of the car, most of those in terms of what wasn't visible. But
what's your overview of the progress made since that shift and where you are
now? And are you at a point now where you're confident you've got a car that
if you just keep working with it, you can get to the level you want to? Or
are there still a few fundamentals that need to change or be understood to
be able to open up that fruitful development?
JA: So from this last year to this, we shifted a few things that you
definitely can't shift in the middle of a season and you have to do across
the winter. And I think those changes were helpful ones. I don't really
think there's too much in terms of the hard points on the car, the stuff
that takes a season, that can only be changed across the winter. There
aren't too many things of those that are crying out for adjustment. And
mostly, it's just a question of hard work to get ourselves in a more
respectable place.
Q: (Edd Straw – The Race) One for you, Pierre. There's obviously a lot of
talk about how Adrian Newey works with the team. Could you just explain how
you and Adrian work together, how that actually operates in reality so
people can understand it a bit better?
PW: It's difficult to say. Yeah, I think you... The way we work together
change around the years because depending of how the implication was done in
Formula 1 and the implication on different projects he has and the team
adapt based on his implication in the different project, then for sure what
what we try to do is to make sure that we are exchanging together about how
what the direction we are going with the car. I'm not sure that I can
explain how we work together on a daily basis, but he's clearly more
oriented on the aero side, that clearly on this side was clearly more linked
than maybe on my side, that I was more on the vehicle dynamics side, my
expertise coming from there. Then for sure we exchange about how the
interaction between each other was, like all the aerodynamics and vehicle
dynamics people are working together. I don't know if it answers your
question, but it was a big part, a big name in the team. Then, for sure, we
exchanged a lot, especially in terms of direction of development and in
terms of how we run the weekend.
Q: (Antonio Spina – F1 in Generale) This is a question for Enrico. After the
FP1, can we say the upgrades on the car are actually working quite well, or
is it too early to say?
EG: Yeah, I think that it's too early. Honestly, it's the usual standard
weekend. So, you know, everyone could be on different plan. We are focused
on our plan. So now it's time to analyse and to see all the results that we
can get right now and for the next session.
Q: (Dan Lloyd - Race Car Engineering) Question for James. To what extent are
AI and algorithms being used in the background by Formula 1 teams, perhaps
in terms of speeding up background processes like purchasing and production
to get upgrades out quicker? Is that something that's perhaps a bit of a
hidden battlefield in the sport at the moment?
JA: I don't know how hidden it is, but in the area you just mentioned, ERP
systems, our own in SAP, are starting to deliver that capability. And I
think that when we as Mercedes and the grid in general have organised
themselves to exploit that capability, then it will be easier to predict
what you might need when and how much it will cost and it'll be more
efficient. But that's I think a little bit ahead. The areas where it's
already kicking around the place are in aerodynamics, a bit in race strategy
and it's increasingly being used to create surrogate models, to create a
filter of ideas, so that you can hopefully run your ideas through a trained
machine learning cluster that will give you an idea whether it's better than
your last idea or give you a higher percentage chance that that idea might
be slightly better than the baseline. And therefore, if you make that work
effectively, then gradually your rate of finding lap time gain will be
somewhat steeper. So it's already in all the teams, and it will gather pace
in the seasons to come.
Q: (Samarth Kanal – The Race) Just out of interest, the FIA technical
regulations say that some materials can be used and some can't be used, like
beryllium can't be used in certain manufacturing. So are you exploring new
materials in that sense? And if so, which ones? And is there any room for
those to be explored in the upcoming technical regulations?
JA: Yeah, the sport has a dilemma with materials. Material development is
very, very expensive. And so if we all plough money into finding a material
that isn't generally available, eventually it will become available to all
of us and all we will have done is lifted the cost base of the sport. But
there'll be no relative competitiveness along the way. So there's some good
sense in restricting where we can play. There's also good sense in
restricting things that have very good engineering properties, but are very
poisonous, for example. You don't really want to make cars out of them, even
though they'd be quick. And so it makes sense to have this list, but it does
mean that you're then working in a smaller field for materials innovation.
There is nevertheless still work that goes on, because there is a mechanism
to bring materials into that list in case it's obvious that the world has
found materials that would be beneficial in F1, which we're not having to
develop ourselves because the world has done that for us, and we'll import
them in and the cars get better as a consequence. Within the restricted
material list itself, there is still room for optimisation and making sure
you're choosing the right thing for the right task, and that's mostly the
playground we all play in.
EG: Yeah, I wouldn't have said it better than James. But anyway, no, it's
exactly like he said. And honestly, on the power unit, we did the same
process, actually, for the 2026 regulation as well. And I fully agree with
James. Finally, restricting the list of materials, it's a good thing at the
end, also considering the budget cap that we are facing for 2026 for the
power unit. But still, it doesn't limit anyway the capability of the
engineering to find within this constraint the properties and the
characteristic of the material that we can get for our design. This is
exactly what we are working on.
Q: (Kacper Koncewicz – Parcferme) question for Pierre. You mentioned that
the teams are so big these days. How much of an impact can one person have
in a technical structure?
PW: Everybody has an impact. And for sure, the higher up you are, because
you are the person giving the direction you have a higher impact. However,
the main aspect is that in the team, the main thing you have to do is
[create] the smooth working together you need to have between the different
departments and the direction is clear. Then if you don't lose this aspect,
I think you could be in the right path. The main thing is, are you sure that
the direction is correct? You will judge if some people have a big impact or
not, but the main aspect of the team is to make sure that this aspect is
respected. |
