PRESS CONFERENCE

Kamui, so far this season a couple of good races and a couple not so good. What’s been the difference between them?

Kamui KOBAYASHI: Of course it’s definitely the car. We had quite good performance at the start, quite a good start to the season. Unfortunately, we also some races where the strategy was not really going well. It’s not let’s a bad thing for my season. I had a great start but I think we have to work hard especially on the long runs.

Yesterday, Fernando talked about drivers having more respect for one another. Do you think that’s the case? Should drivers leave more space for each other?

KK: Maybe. I don’t know. It’s always difficult to say.

You’re quite an aggressive overtaker

KK: Yeah, but for me I’m doing something quite normal. It’s not special. I’m just doing my job. Maybe it looks aggressive but I never crash with anyone. I never crash and stop the car. There may be contact but it’s always quite OK. Maybe it looks aggressive but it’s not aggressive in fact.

And of course, you’ve been on the receiving end as we remember from Spa last year.

KK: Spa last year? Where? Ah, with Lewis, you mean? That’s what I mean that was just an accident you know. I didn’t expect both cars to make contact because there was no point. I didn’t expect Lewis to come across and I just stayed on my line. It was just sudden, you know. There was no way to avoid that. That was something special though, it’s not really a racing accident and not aggressive stuff from me, so…

Nico, on paper you’ve been beaten by your team-mate so far this year. How are you feeling about it?

Nico HULKENBERG: Well, the first four races have been quite tough to be honest. I would have liked to take more than two points out of the first four races. We have been quite unfortunate in some races, such as Melbourne, where we had a first-corner incident and there was very little I could do and then a clutch failure issues in Bahrain. These were two races where we potentially could have finished in the points. But I’m looking forward, I’m bedding in well with the team. I think the team is doing a good job in putting everything together and if we get a bit more luck then I think it will be good.

How do you feel about team development? Are the developments coming at a reasonable rate as far as you’re concerned?

NH: Yes, definitely. We bring some new parts, probably like every other team, here and we have to wait and see where the new parts put us but obviously we’re hoping it’s a step forward. I think it is a step forward but just how big a step we’ll see over the next two days.

Pedro, we see a new team that has recently moved to new premises and taken on a lot of new staff. What sort of role do you see yourself playing in the development of Hispania Racing Team?

Pedro DE LA ROSA: As you’ve said, everything is new. We’re establishing ourselves; restructuring the team; we are growing. But really I’m not playing any different role than any other race driver would do. I’m part of the team; I’m a race driver; I’m experienced. If they need my advice on anything, I am there. But I’m not playing any special role other than driving as fast as I can and giving good feedback about the car.

You spent so long at McLaren are you not trying to put some of those influences on the team?

PDLR: Gradually I will. That’s the aim and that’s what I’m here for as well. But so far the team has been extremely busy trying to move into our new premises in Madrid, establish a structure, a ‘basement’ as I say, and after that we will grow gradually and that’s when I think my input will be, if possible, more beneficial. But so far the objective has been clear. We have to establish ourselves, we have to put he ground for building more floors on top of us but so far I’ve been very discreet and not in a very important position.

And where do hope the team will be at the end of the year?

PDLR: I have no idea really. We are improving race by race. We have made the car a lot quicker. Don’t forget at the first grand prix we did not qualify and gradually we have been closing the gap to pole position. That’s what we have to aim for: race by race, closing the gap, making sure that our car is a little bit quicker than it was at the previous grand prix. After that, at the end of the year, we will see. We don’t have to set ourselves any targets other than making the team more competitive race by race.

Kimi, you were plainly a little frustrated that you could have won at Bahrain but didn’t. Is that a true appraisal of your feelings about Bahrain?

Kimi RAIKKONEN: Yeah, I think once you get so close, you’re not happy with second. If you’re 20 seconds behind then it doesn’t really matter but we had a chance but at least for the team it was a good weekend.

You’re a two-time winner here, both from pole position. Do you think a win is possible here? You’ve said you team will be winners at some stage.

KR: Well, the rules are different, so you don’t have to be on pole now to win. We’ll try. I don’t know how it will go. It’s very difficult to say before the weekend starts. The teams are very close. So if everything goes smoothly then we can be up there. But small difficulties in some areas and you’re suddenly much further back. We try to do everything right and then see what happens.

You didn’t test at Mugello as apparently the team hadn’t brought major modification, but for this race have you at least brought modifications that will at least see you maintain where you were at the opening rounds?

KR: We should have some new parts and we’ll see what happens.

Fernando, another winner here in 2006. How did you feel the Ferrari was in testing? Did you feel it was a lot different?

Fernando ALONSO: No, not really. We didn’t have any big improvements in the car, so what we tested were different set-ups and things we missed from winter testing. It’s been quite difficult for us with a lot of problems on the car and not many laps. The Mugello test was to complete what we had left from winter but in terms of improvements, we had minimum changes on the car so it felt the same?

Did that set-up research, as it were, make you feel more comfortable with the car, more competitive?

FA: Well, we’ll see. Obviously we had some ideas in terms of setup and some different possibilities that we were not introducing in the first four races because we didn’t have the opportunity to test them. So, it was good in Mugello: some of them were positive; some of them were negative so it’s good to know. As much information as you have is better preparation for the next grand prix. Obviously we arrive more prepared now than how we arrived in Australia with only three tests in the winter. But to make the car faster I think in terms of setup you cannot find much. If you want to be running at the front it’s more aerodynamic parts and updates in the car. Hopefully they come but we need to wait.

You know this circuit pretty well, you had a very good start to the race last year – do you think we’re going to see more overtaking on the circuit now, what with more KERS and a longer DRS as well?

FA: I think it will be similar to last year, to be honest. I saw some numbers of previous races here. On average like four or five overtaking manoeuvres in the last nine years and last year there were 57 – so it was a big change. The race this year will be similar to last year because of the degradation, the DRS and the KERS. With all the possibilities that we have now, as we had last year, for sure we will see some more overtaking. This changes also a little bit the philosophy of this circuit. As Kimi said, pole position was 60 per cent of the victories, now pole position is obviously the best starting position but it’s not crucial anymore because with this year’s tyres it’s less important.

Sebastian, you broke the mould last year by winning from second on the grid, where you’ve started for the last three years but you won last year from there. This is such a performance track, is this a track where you’re really looking for an indicator for the rest of the first half of the season? If you’re competitive here you will be elsewhere?

Sebastian VETTEL: Well, I think if you are competitive here I think it means that you have been previously. It’s a track that we usually know quite a lot from winter testing, we have some data to compare to, so it’s very familiar. But it doesn’t mean if you are competitive here you are competitive everywhere. Equally, if you are not competitive here it doesn’t mean you will never be competitive. I think it’s similar to other tracks. Really, if you think which sector you’re talking about, which speed range of the cars. I think you have sectors on every track where you could get an indication. As I said, I think it’s the fact that we know a lot about this track, we have a lot of data to compare against, to see if we did a step forward compared to the winter and how big the step was. Surely then you have to consider different temperatures: it’s a different time of year so it’s also difficult to compare black and white – but yeah as a rule of thumb probably this circuit does give you an idea because simply you have all the corners you find somewhere else, you have tight chicanes like in the last sector, hard braking for the hairpin, fast corners like in the first sector. You have a bit of everything.

And yet everyone has been here, everyone knows exactly what sort of setup they would require. Is it perhaps one of the toughest races in that respect?

SV: Yeah it is. But as I said as well, you race here in May, it’s quite different if you look at the temperatures compared to February or March, so yeah, it does have a big change on the setup, so whatever you might have found out over the winter in testing, it might not work in the same way or the same style it did during testing. Also, you need to consider that the cars you launch are quite different to the cars you race at the first race, and then, you know, you race around May or June later in the season. So, yeah, it’s a bit wishy-washy because of that – but overall it’s a track we know fairly well from a driving point of view as we’ve done a lot of laps here. We should know our way around here.

Questions from the floor:

(Alex Popov – RTR TV) Question for Pedro and Fernando, about the Spanish Grand Prix in general because here and there we read about the difficult situation in Valencia, the difficult situation in Barcelona and now we have two grand prix but in the worst situation we will finish with no grand prix at all. Your thoughts about it.

PDLR: I’ve said a lot already since the first time we were told that Spain would have two grands prix, that it was a historical moment and a unique situation and we should be very, very proud of it. I still say the same answer: we still have two grands prix in Spain this year, and we should, all of us, be very proud, very happy and maximise this moment and then wait for the future to tell us what will happen – which is completely out of our hands, you know? This is all I can say. I’m very happy to be here, this is a Spanish Grand Prix, but also a Spanish Grand Prix with a Spanish driver in a Spanish team – so let’s forget about what might happen in the future because, as I said, I have absolutely no control over it.

(Mike Doodson – Honorary) Gentlemen, Michael Schumacher persistently criticises the Pirelli tyres, or at least the policy of Pirelli. To us and the fans it’s clear that Pirelli has been a major ingredient in the improvement of the quality of the racing this year and last year. Do any of you share Michael’s concerns about the tyres or do you think he’s just making excuses for not winning?

FA: I think Seb should answer, being German.

SV: Yeah? I think, y’know, we get a completely different impression inside the car than you might get outside the car. So, you’re always talking of two different worlds. I think for us quality of racing, if you compare racing today, you have to, I think, look after your tyres a lot more than probably you had to three, four, five years ago. For us, if you take, for instance, 2009 where we were allowed to refuel, we had new tyres and the tyres lasted longer, in that they didn’t see that much degradation. It’s a different quality inside the car because you can push nearly every lap similar to qualifying, whereas now I think the racing is different: we fuel the cars up, they are much heavier, and if you have a heavier car there’s more stress for the tyres, so it puts the whole thing in a different window. If you put a new set of tyres on with 20 laps to go, or 15 laps to go, which is, let’s say, the stint length, earlier, a couple of years ago, it’s a different world for the tyres. The tyres do see more degradation and then we start to slide and then one guy slides more than the other because he puts his tyres on two laps earlier. It creates a different type of racing, more overtaking, which I imagine is seen as better quality from the outside, simply because things happen. I think it depends what you really want. We have more overtaking. Fernando is good with numbers, so like Fernando said earlier. I think the races today – over the last two years since we have changed a couple of things – has become much better. Also for us. I had a race here where I was following – how many laps is the race, 66? – I think I was following Felipe [Massa] for 60 laps out of that and I couldn’t pass. Nowadays you know that your chance will come in the race and that’s changing the position inside the car as well.

Fernando…

FA: I don’t know. I agree with Seb but I don’t agree that Michael has continually criticised Pirelli. Michael said one thing and what has been written in the press has maybe exaggerated what he said. I read what he said and I don’t see any big problem with that.

Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Fernando, you have a very different car from this race. Let’s suppose this car does not correspondent to that criteria…

FA: We’ll see, we’ll see after the race, because we don’t know what car we have. Obviously we have new parts, but everybody has new parts. Because it’s Ferrari, there are quite a lot of expectations every race we go to. It seems like only Ferrari is bringing new parts. We have a step forward, we believe, on what we had in Bahrain, but we also know that it’s not the last step we have to do. It’s a continuous work, that we need to start here in Barcelona, making a step forward and try to improve our qualifying position and our race pace, but in Monaco we have to bring new parts. In Canada (we have to) bring new parts. So we will not bring a new car to every race as it seems that we brought here in Barcelona.

Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) But just to finish the question: if the car does not correspond…

FA: I answer you on Sunday.

Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Yes, but just to finish: considering your car has completely new ideas, a revolutionary car, do you think this could be the end of the season for Ferrari and you will start thinking about next year’s car?

FA: I don’t think so. I don’t think so. We need to see how the car works here and if it works fine, it will be a good step, the first step of many that we have to do during the next couple of races. If the step is not good enough, because the others improved the same or more than us so we remain in the same position, we need to work harder, for Monaco and for Canada, and bring more new parts in a more aggressive approach or whatever, because the championship is long and we will never give up in May, after four races.

Q: (Livio Orricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Do you think the basis of this car could be used for next year’s car?

FA: I think so. Yes.

Q: (Gary Meenaghan – The National) For all of you: if you look at the drivers in 1992, there were only two non-European countries represented. If you look at the same field twenty years later, this year, there are seven non-European countries represented. Is there a chance that in a few more years, the majority of the drivers will come from outside Europe and how do you think that will impact the sport?

KK: It’s difficult to stay. For drivers I think it’s very difficult, everywhere, Asia especially. I don’t know for the future, but at the moment I don’t know how many Europeans there are now? 17. We have to see. It’s very important for a programme for the development of drivers. I think that this programme is quite weak everywhere. I think for the future, they definitely have to work a lot. It’s very difficult to find how young drivers come to Formula One. I don’t know how it can be changed for the future but I definitely think we have to work on programmes for driver development.

Q: A huge German presence on the grid at the moment, Nico. Can you see that being maintained by a young driver programme in Germany?

NH: Which young driver programme? Is there one? I don’t know. We don’t keep track of that statistic. I think it will always be a good mixture between European and non-European drivers in the future.

Q: (Andy Benson – BBC Sport) To anyone, but Fernando and Sebastian particularly: following the rulings in the two Nico Rosberg incidents in Bahrain – one of which Fernando was involved in – are you clear in terms of what’s allowed and what isn’t when it comes to defending your position?

FA: Yes.

Q: (Andy Benson – BBC Sport) Has your understanding changed between before Bahrain to now?

FA: No, maybe I did…

SV: Fernando made it pretty clear. He said ‘you have to leave the space. All the time you have to leave the space!’

FA: Yes. Yes.

SV: It was clear, no?

FA: As I did last year with Sebastian. In Monza.

Q: (Andy Benson – BBC Sport) That isn’t what happened in Bahrain.

SV: He just thought my car was slimmer.

FA: But you passed. You passed.

SV: I think the rule is clear. You can argue. I think there were two incidents with Nico in Bahrain, one with Fernando and I think Fernando made his point clear afterwards. And with Lewis, and I think Lewis got past, so I think you can talk for hours now, but if you saw the situation in Bahrain, it’s exceptional, because you have a kind of asphalt run-off. Yes, it’s pretty dirty but we always try to go on the limit, the one who is overtaking, the one who is defending. Surely sometimes you need to respect that the guy is there and you need to leave the space. I think if it would have been grass, it would have been a different story. You wouldn’t go there in the first place. In Fernando’s case I think he would have made the same point.

Q: (Carlos Miguel- La Gaceta) Fernando and Pedro, if a fan of Formula One in Spain is thinking about coming here on Sunday, what are your goals for the race? What can you offer to the people?

PdelaR: Well, from our point of view, you know our goal is to fight and to improve from where we left it in Bahrain and that’s all we can offer, we can promise. We cannot promise victories – we leave that for Fernando – but we will promise, wherever we finish, we will do it with the pride of being here and doing a serious job, giving it all, and maximising what we have.

FA: Same thing. And giving 100 percent. We cannot promise anything. This is not a mathematical problem, it’s a sport, we all try to do our best so we will work hard, we will take care of every detail this weekend as we do normally, trying to do a serious job and hopefully finishing in the best position possible, but you cannot promise anything.

Q: (Alan Baldwin – Reuters) Leaving aside whether or not it’s a home race for you guys, how much of a difference does it actually make for you to be back in Europe again? Kimi, you don’t actually like the travelling very much out of Europe, do you?

KR: Yeah but I I arrived in China on the Thursday morning, so arriving for a European race on the Thursday morning is no different really.

PdelaR: I’m biased answering this question because it’s back to Europe, but especially it’s back to Spain, so for us, it’s a Grand Prix that arrives a little bit too early in our development programme, as far as I’m concerned. We have been improving since Australia but we probably need more Grands Prix to offer a more competitive show to our fans. That’s the only downside, but nevertheless, we are here, we are in Spain. It’s our home ground and we are very happy to be here. I’m looking forward to it. I used to live ten minutes away from the track and this is something that – when you grow up – you can always listen to the engines, so the Formula One cars, when you wake up every morning during the weekends – for me it’s a very special event, absolutely.

Q: Kamui, not so easy commuting from Japan.

KK: For sure. I’m used to being here a lot of times. I came to Europe 17 years ago and I’ve been here to Barcelona a lot of times. After long trips being back in Europe in Formula One is always great and it’s always great to see the motorhomes in Barcelona. This is always great and it’s always good to be back in Europe for Formula One.

SV: I think for all of us we’re happy to race in Europe. Surely we have races overseas which we enjoy. For instance, we all love going to Australia. Yes, it’s a long trip but once we are there I think we all enjoy being there and it’s the same here. In the end, I don’t think it makes a difference how long you travel. Yes, it is more convenient if you are only an hour, an hour and a half or two hours on the plane rather than twelve and then another twelve. As I said, I think every country we go to, there is a strong culture for motor sport. We hope for a lot of excitement and for a lot of people to come. It makes us feel very special when we are on the grid, to see that the grandstand is packed and usually around here are a lot of fans, cheering, especially for Fernando and the Spanish drivers, but it’s the same when we go to Silverstone, they’re cheering for their drivers. I think we can be very happy everywhere we go, and hopefully put on a great show so that the people enjoy it as well and they come back next year.

Q: (Alex Popov – RTR TV) Gentlemen, after testing at Mugello, Vitaly Petrov criticised the circuit, because he expressed concern about its safety, so do you think he was wrong to express his concern like this? He was criticised by other drivers, because he expressed concern. Is he wrong?

FA: I think everyone will have his opinion. I’m not someone to say that Vitaly is right or wrong. It’s more maybe the safety commission’s job or whatever. Personally, everyone will have their opinion, as I said. I like Mugello, I like the layout, I like the feelings, the emotions that you have driving there. As I said after the test, driving one lap in Mugello is like driving one hundred at another circuit, for adrenalin and how much you enjoy the lap. We were in Italy, with a lot of Ferrari support. I enjoy those three days testing so much, but in terms of how safe the track was or not, I don’t have the information to give an answer.

NH: Personally I enjoyed Mugello very much. I think it’s a very different circuit to all the others that we go to. You always feel like you’re flying there, a lot of fourth, fifth, sixth gear action which is great to have. Like Fernando said, whether you feel safe or not is a very personal thing. I think it was OK.

KK: That’s a great circuit. There are a lot of very safe circuits like Abu Dhabi without gravel, but this circuit had gravel and if we made a mistake we ended up in the gravel which is good for drivers and good for training and testing. The test was something we had to try and in the race, of course we have to stay on the track and it’s difficult to take a lot of risks but during testing we can take more risks to improve our driving. It’s great for me.

SV: Well, the first time I heard that he was saying something about safety at Mugello. I think we all loved the track because it’s different – like Nico said, there’s a lot of high speed corners. Sure, if the speeds are high, there is higher risk. There is obviously quite a lot of run-off but surely here and there you would like to have more. As long as nothing happens, everything is fine; if something happens… it’s always easy to say something after there’s an incident and say this and that. I think it was not as if we felt we were scared. We left the garage feeling safe. I think if we would race there one day, potentially yes or no, then surely here or there you can argue to make improvements for safety, but I think they did everything they could on the day.

Q: (Vanessa Ruiz – Radio Estado ESPN) Nico mentioned that Mugello is different from every other track that you guys race on in the year so does this very fact make it less useful to have tested there instead of somewhere else?

KK: Difficult. I think maybe it’s not really useful for mechanical stuff but definitely useful for aero development at least, because we can test the aero on the straights. Difficult to see the stability in the corner. Basically I think this was a good test.

SV: I agree. I think it was good to test some parts of the car, not for some others, but like all the other circuits. When we test in Jerez, test in Barcelona, we try different things. I remember in the old days testing in Paul Ricard. Some days we test on the 50s lap circuit because we were testing for Monaco Grand Prix: different tyres and different parts, so every test is welcome for different areas of the car, but it’s good. For people who don’t like Mugello there is a very easy solution.

 Despite not collecting a single point in Melbourne, the Williams team will travel from Australia to Malaysia in upbeat mood.
The famous British outfit’s slide from its race and title-winning days hit rock bottom in 2011, scoring just five points all season and only finishing ahead of the three struggling new teams in the constructors’ championship.

But Oxfordshire based Williams has restructured for the 2012 season and is now led technically by former McLaren chief designer Mike Coughlan, and in Australia the newly Renault-powered FW34 qualified comfortably in Q3.

In the race, Pastor Maldonado was pushing Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso for fifth place when he crashed heavily on the very last lap.

If he had made it round to the chequered flag, Williams would have scored more points in one hit than it managed all last season.

“The car was considerably better than anything I have seen in recent years,” said team chairman Adam Parr.

Referring to Maldonado’s crash, the team’s new driver mentor Alex Wurz told Austrian ORF television: “Of course nobody is happy.

“The bad news is that we have to leave with no points, but the team has made a huge leap forwards.”

Jaime Alguersuari, the former Toro Rosso driver turned radio co-commentator, called Williams’ step compared to 2011 “giant”.

“No doubt about it, Williams are the big surprise,” the Spaniard told Mundo Deportivo when asked about the new field of 2012.

“Last year their car was really, really, really bad, and so they have taken an exceptional leap.”

Charlie Whiting has vowed to do what he can to ensure next year’s cars are not as ‘ugly’ as the 2012 generation.
“It’s an ugly regulation,” said Red Bull’s Mark Webber, referring to the compromise reached between the FIA’s push for lower nose heights, and the teams wanting to keep the old monocoque dimensions.

It has meant every 2012 machine, with the notable exception of the McLaren, has a conspicuous ‘duck head’-style bump in the middle of the front of the car.

“We only got a sense of what was coming in December,” Whiting is quoted by Brazil’s O Estado de S.Paulo, “when it was too late.”

The Briton said the new rule for 2013 would have to be agreed by the end of June.

“I promise to do everything I can so that the representatives of the teams agree to a change,” said Whiting.

 Marussia’s new car for 2012 does not feature a ‘step’ on its front nose.
Every team on the 2012 grid, including HRT who are yet to release their 2012 car, responded to the FIA’s new height regulations by designing an awkward ‘step’ between the monocoque and the tip of the nose.

The one exception, until now, was McLaren.

But Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport reports that the 2012 Marussia, which will be seen for the first time in Barcelona next week, also has a clean aerodynamic line at the front.

The former Virgin team works closely with McLaren, including using the famous British team’s test rigs and wind tunnel.

“In fact, there was little difference in theory between the two solutions. So why take risks with something that we do not know?” a Marussia team source is quoted as saying.

Timo Glock has already driven the new step-less Marussia in the McLaren simulator.

“We don’t have too much experience with the simulator so we hope that it’s right, but we will not be too optimistic — that’s not to say that I’m disappointed,” said the German driver.

“I think we have a good base to build upon,” added Glock.

“We have been focusing for a long time on finding the errors with the previous car and getting over them,” he is quoted by Speed Week magazine.

 Amid all the ‘ugly’ talk, Alan Jones doesn’t mind the look of F1′s field of 2012.
With McLaren the notable exception, every team has incorporated an awkward ‘step’ into its nose design as the optimum solution to new FIA rules.

Paul Hembery, Pirelli’s motor sport director, recently decried the look as “pig ugly”.

But 1980 world champion Jones doesn’t think so.

“I don’t think aesthetics matter, and anyway I don’t really find them (the 2012 cars) particularly ugly,” the Australian told GMM.

“There’s a couple of interpretations of the new nose that aren’t as nice as some of the others, but there are a few out there that don’t look too bad at all,” said Jones.

“And I’ve never seen an ugly car in the winner’s circle,” he smiled.

Meanwhile, another former world champion – 1982′s Keke Rosberg – described McLaren’s solution as aesthetically pleasing, but hopes the British team has not made a mistake by going a different route to the rest of the grid.

“At least it’s nice looking and I wish the others would have done the same,” said the Finn.

“Jenson Button is quite a big guy and he has said he is sitting significantly lower than last year.

“If it (McLaren’s solution) suddenly becomes a problem for them, with the chassis already homologated then that’s just what they’ve got,” he told the MTV3 broadcaster.

The holdup on Nico Hulkenberg’s contract extension for 2011 is because Williams wants him to commit for a very long time, according to a German report.

It has been reported that the British team is contemplating replacing the 2009 GP2 champion next year with the Venezuelan pay-driver Pastor Maldonado.

But Sir Frank Williams has now described 23-year-old German Hulkenberg as “exceptional”, raising doubts about the reason for the delay in his re-signing for 2011.

According to Sport Bild, the Oxfordshire based team wants him to sign a new five-year contract.

The deal will reportedly include a EUR15 million ‘out’ fee in the event that Hulkenberg wants to switch to a different team before the five year term is concluded.

Sir Frank Williams sounds unlikely to oust German rookie Nico Hulkenberg for the 2011 season.

It has been suggested the 23-year-old could make way for Venezuelan pay-driver Pastor Maldonado.

But in an interview with the BBC, the Oxfordshire based team’s founder, boss and biggest shareholder Williams heaped praise on Hulkenberg.

“It was a little disappointing, maybe, in the first few races, perhaps because he was being over-cautious,” he said.

“But lately he has become very competitive and we have just seen the beginning of something exceptional.”

And when asked if F1 spectators will be seeing more of Hulkenberg, Williams added: “Absolutely. We do hope so yes.

“He won all the way up to Formula 3 and GP2, he has won every single championship and in the right team, hopefully us one day, he will win the world championship as well in formula one.”

The latest rumour is that it might instead be Rubens Barrichello moving aside for Maldonado, but Williams also had praise for the veteran Brazilian.

“He has enormous experience. He is now, without doubt, the most experienced driver in the pitlane and he does demonstrate that very frequently,” said Williams.

“His technique is very understated, he’s a very smooth driver. He likes to be mollycoddled emotionally a little bit, and he likes being told how good he is, but we don’t have any problem in telling him, we believe strongly in him.

“He’s good fun and very experienced and that is a great value to any team,” he added.

The competition between the development departments of the Grand Prix teams will be played with the same intensity as the position of duels on the track. Indeed, the pressure to succeed, under the working Formula 1 specialists in recent years grown more and more: Who wants to stay competitive and at the top, must evolve continuously. The cars are compared to the season opener in Bahrain has become consistently faster by about one second.

“The racing teams have realized that the incessant development is during the season just as important as the conceptual design of the next car,” said James Allison, Technical Director at Renault. “Today we hold for our R30 to each Grand Prix, a new package ready parts, whose size is roughly equivalent to those improvements we have introduced in the past, every third or fourth race.”
“We are there but no exception. Every team that wants to stay at the top, must rise to this challenge. This means for our colleagues in the workshops that they have to work so hard, and at such a high time pressure than ever before . The new front wing, which will celebrate its debut in Valencia, provides an ideal example of this: He is already the eighth variant, which comes this year for use – in the ninth race of the season! ”

But where does this escalation? A major factor provided by the new technical regulations, which came at the beginning of last year in force, so is still relatively young, always – and therefore much room for improvement, provides the enabling virtually every week important development steps. This applies in particular to the aerodynamics. Furthermore: Since modifications of the engine are not allowed to search for possibilities for improvement focused almost exclusively on the chassis of the cars.
“As further develop all vehicles on the grid with incredibly high speed, always, we need to bring any improvement found immediately able to use in order to remain competitive,” says Allison. “Previously, we have combined the optimization of a package, which is then flowed into a stage of evolution of the car. This we can not allow today. Each Grand Prix that you wait means lost performance.”

“The heavy workload meets each individual,” said Allison. “The workshop is constantly under the high pressure, constantly develop and produce new parts and need. We are therefore constantly faced with the difficult task of finding a healthy balance between major stages of development and reasonable workload.”

It seems almost an irony of fate that this once again increased rates of development associated with the prohibition of testing during the season goes. But while earlier, thousands of miles on the Grand Prix circuit in Barcelona have been scrubbed to run the team today in the central simulation computer at full speed to check for new parts and votes for their usefulness.
“Thanks to this advanced tools we can use the advantage that we bring some modifications on the track, set with an accuracy that is different from the real output by less than 0.5 percent,” said Allison. “For mechanical parts, we rely on computer simulations, whose results are then verified on test stands. With special durability testing arrangements, we can expose those individual components of loads and forces that occur in the context of a Grand Prix.”

Besides the incessant improvement of the current Grand Prix racer to run the latest from the beginning of summer and work on for next year seater. “We stand every time a difficult compromise on how much we already want to invest in the future without losing its competitiveness in the current season,” says Allison.

Cosworth has played down reports Williams is set to switch to Renault engine power in 2011.

It has been suggested that Grove based Williams is unhappy with the performance of the 2.4 litre V8, especially its degradation as it ages.

But Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport reports that the British independent engine maker, also the supplier to the three new teams, has commenced a programme to improve the deficiencies.

And Cosworth’s business director Mark Gallagher said: “We have a three year contract with Williams, and there is no evidence they want to end this relationship.”

He also said all of the candidates to be F1′s 13th team in 2011 “with one exception” have been in talks with Cosworth.

Auto Motor und Sport reports that Cosworth is the cheapest engine supplier on the grid, with its engine costing EUR 5.5 million per year compared to the 9m price-tag for Mercedes, Ferrari and Renault power.

The publication said Nicolas Todt’s hopeful ART team wants to be powered by Ferrari.

But Gallagher insists that Cosworth provides a highly reliable product, while the input of Rubens Barrichello has helped the marque to improve the engine’s driveability.

As for the loss of horse power in the middle of the engine’s life, Gallagher revealed: “We have found the cause and brought a solution to the FIA for permission to make the change.”

(GMM)

Jun.18 (GMM)  Red Bull’s Mark Webber has led more laps this season than any of his competitors.

In total, drivers on the 2010 grid have led 491 laps in total at the eight grand prix venues.

Australian Webber has led 210 of them, a full 93 more than his highly rated teammate Sebastian Vettel.

It means the Adrian Newey-penned RB6 has only failed to lead 33.4 per cent of all the racing laps so far.

However, it is McLaren leading both the drivers’ and constructors’ championships at present, despite the MP4-25 only leading 26 per cent of the laps.

And although with only one victory compared to his teammate’s two, Jenson Button (73) has led significantly more laps than Lewis Hamilton (55).

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso (18 laps) and Nico Rosberg (17) are the only other drivers to have led laps so far in 2010, with the exception of Sebastien Buemi, who went to the front of the field for one lap in Canada before making a pitstop.

Jun.14 (GMM) Jacques Villeneuve is unlikely to find a seat for his formula one return with the Renault team.

The boss of the Enstone based outfit, Eric Boullier, says he respects the 1997 world champion but thinks he will struggle to be accommodated with a top team.

French Canadian Villeneuve, 39, came close to returning to F1 this year with Stefan GP, and has announced he will try again to find a seat in 2011.

He is reportedly close to Renault’s team owner Gerard Lopez and shareholder Eric Lux, and the related Gravity Sport Management.

“Jacques is a world champion and a driver of exceptional talent for whom I have great respect,” Boullier is quoted by Canada’s Rue Frontenac.

“There is no doubt he could help a team looking for a driver with his profile. This was not the case for us,” he explained.

Boullier thinks Villeneuve, who has not raced in F1 since losing his BMW seat in 2006, would struggle if he came back.

“The current regulations that limit private testing greatly affect the potential return of a non-active driver.

“A driver who leaves competition loses his normal speed, his reflexes are a bit dulled as are his physical abilities to take the car to its maximum potential.

“That’s just natural. Whatever you do in sports, the specific skills needed to race in F1 must be constantly maintained,” he added.

The Grand Prix of Canada is traditionally a race where there is a number of incidents. This year’s edition after a year break made no exception dar. a rare circumstance but then it was reported: There was no safety car phase. Otherwise, the fans were many – see, fortunately harmless incidents – and especially a lot of tire problems, which determined the race significantly.

In the end, as in Turkey two weeks ago, Lewis Hamilton in the lead – ahead of McLaren-Mercedes team-mate Jenson Button. After China and Turkey, the team was happy about the third double victory of the season and twice the championship lead.

Fernando Alonso on the podium there as a third party also succeeded in the Ferrari. There were points behind Sebastian Vettel for Red Bull, who had again to struggle with technical problems. Mark Webber came in fifth place.
Nico Rosberg was sixth at the Mercedes in front of Robert Kubica in a Renault, Sebastien Buemi in the Toro Rosso, Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India driver Adrian Sutil and team-mate.

At the start of the race was able to retain their top positions, while the back of the box were some collisions. Vitantonio Liuzzi in his Force India collided with Felipe Massa in a Ferrari. Even Pedro de la Rosa was in Sauber in a collision with Vitaly Petrov involved in the Renault and had in the pits to pick up a new front wing, as well as Massa. Nico Rosberg in the Mercedes was “only” 13 to the Rank returned.

De la Rosa’s team-mate Kamui Kobayashi crashed his Sauber into the “Wall of Champions” after one to overtake Nico Hulkenberg failed in the first chicane and he jumped over the curbs. The Japanese were forced to leave the car a short time later.

The order after the first three laps before Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button, Mark Webber, Robert Kubica, Adrian Sutil, Michael Schumacher, Nico Hulkenberg, Jaime Alguersuari and Sébastien Buemi in eleventh place. Nico Rosberg 13, Timo Glock 19th and Felipe Massa 23rd

In the fifth round, Webber was able to pass on button. In the sixth round Rosberg and Trulli were already on the pit stop. A lap later followed Button, Sutil and Hülkenberg – while Vettel was in front much faster than Hamilton and attacks launched. Now the soft tires began to significantly sacrificing performance.

In the seventh round of Hamilton and Alonso entered the pits – so that the two Red Bull took the lead. It started off a bit earlier and Alonso came alongside Hamilton in the pit lane, who was taken off later. That should look at the race closely, because who goes first in the pit lane has right of way actually.

Nico Hulkenberg experienced a setback in the eighth round, when he started up under braking for the hairpin curve on a front man and in so doing damaged the front wing. In the tenth round Kubica came into the pits, which, however, was already on the hard tires. The Pole had to bring up again the hard tires. The race management reported in the eleventh round of a drive-through for Vitaly Petrov. The Renault driver had made an early start.

The order after eleven laps before Vettel Webber, Schumacher, Buemi, Alonso, Hamilton, Button, Kubica, Sutil and Kovalainen in tenth place. Hülkenberg twelfth, thirteenth Rosberg, Glock ranked 16th and Massa on 22 Rank. Meanwhile, Barrichello tried the box on an unscheduled stop, and was the last to return to the track.

In the 13th Schumacher came round to the pits. The Mercedes driver was at eye level with Kubica back on the track. No one had the other go first, so the following two at the chicane drove through the grass. In the 14th Webber came round to the stop, one lap later, Vettel. Unlike Webber Vettel put on the soft tires! Meanwhile, Schumacher came into the pits again – unscheduled. May have been damaged during the battle with Kubica a tire.

The order for 25 of 70 laps: Hamilton 0.7 seconds ahead of Alonso, 2.5 ahead of Button, Vettel 3.5 before, 5.7 ahead of Webber, 16.6 before Kubica, Sutil 17.3 before, 18.0 before Buemi, 20.1 before Rosberg, Schumacher before 34.9. Hülkenberg with +48.3 seconds to rank twelve. Massa 18th Glock and 20th

In the 27th Hamilton and Kubica came round to the second stop, one lap later followed by Vettel and Button. Sutil was forced to a slow lap to the pits to come – the right rear tire had burst. In the 28th Round the stewards announced a drive-through penalty against Nico Hulkenberg – the Williams driver had been in the pit lane too fast. In the 29th Circulation also contributed Alonso into the pits.

In the 32th Round had to leave Pedro de la Rosa’s Sauber with a technical defect end of the start-finish straight. In the 34th Schumacher came round to his third stop and picked up the soft set of tires.
At the halfway point of the race shaped the distances as follows: Webber 11.6 seconds ahead of Hamilton, 13.1 ahead of Alonso, 15.6 ahead of Button, 16.4 ahead of Vettel, Kubica before 32.7, 36.4 before Rosberg, 40 , 1 before Buemi, 54.5 before Alguersuari, 62.3 before Schumacher. 66.6 before Hülkenberg in eleventh place, followed by Sutil (+68.9 seconds). Glock 21st (+2 Laps).

At the head of Webber began from the 39th to get round problems with the tires – in some cases he drove over a second slower than the second placed Hamilton. Vettel, meanwhile, turned in fifth place lying on the provisional fastest lap. In subsequent rounds the times Webber could stabilize somewhat. In the 48th Round Vettel radioed to the pits, “How am I to pass, when I slow down?”. What he radioed his team: “We are trying to solve a problem.” Even the Heppenheim had extremely fluctuating lap times.

In the 49th Webber his lead lap was going on and had Hamilton in the neck, while Vettel in this round, only one could drive 1:21.2 – one second faster than his teammate. A lap later, Webber was due – Hamilton, at the conclusion of the start-finish straight past the Australian. Webber came at the end of the round to the pits to switch on the soft tires. Timo Glock had his car in the 55th Round park in the pits.

The distances to the 55th Lap: Hamilton by 2.4 seconds ahead of Alonso, 3.6 ahead of Button, 8.4 ahead of Vettel, 19.7 ahead of Webber, Kubica before 47.1, 54.3 before Rosberg, one lap before Schumacher, Buemi, and Hulkenberg Massa and Sutil on the 12th Rank. In the 56th Alonso lost round one position and thus rank second to Button. While lapping him Chandhok stood in the way, which the Spaniards lost momentum.

In the 61 Lap Schumacher grabbed Buemi and thus came to the eighth rank forward. In the 64th Round Massa tried to get past Schumacher, the Ferrari driver while touching the rear of the Germans, so the front wing was damaged. Massa fell through the pit stop at 15 Square back. The race will investigate the incident after the race.

The order of four laps to go Hamilton ahead of Button, Alonso, Vettel, Webber, Rosberg, Kubica, Buemi, Schumacher, Liuzzi and tenth on the field. Eleventh Sutil, Hülkenberg 13th, 15th Massa In the last round, it still managed the two Force India drivers to get past Schumacher.

(Totalmotorsports)

Force India’s test and reserve driver Paul di Resta will this week sit out another morning practice session.

The Scot has tested during the initial track session at every grand prix event this year with the exception of Bahrain and Monaco.

Di Resta, 24, had to defer to the race drivers in Bahrain because of the altered track configuration, and Monaco “due to the challenging layout of the circuit”, amid the need for Adrian Sutil and Vitantonio Liuzzi to maximise their cockpit time.

Force India confirmed on Tuesday that the DTM driver, who raced in Valencia between the Monaco and Turkish grands prix, will sit out Friday’s session at Istanbul Park because the car will be fitted with “some new development items”.

The Silverstone based team is sixth in the constructors’ championship, 35 points behind Renault.

“It was a late call from the team but I completely understand their decision as there are some new upgrades coming through this race that really need the drivers’ and the team’s attention,” said di Resta.

Team racer Vitantonio Liuzzi last week scotched rumours he is in danger of losing his seat to the highly rated rookie di Resta.

“I am not worried about these rumours; speculation is always at the door and all over the papers,” the Italian told espnf1.com.

(GMM)

Apr.29 (GMM) Jacques Villeneuve says he is happy for his former teammate Jenson Button, as the reigning world champion continues to lead the world of formula one.

The pair had an initially acrimonious relationship as BAR teammates in 2003, but Villeneuve has since declared his admiration for the Briton’s talents.

French Canadian Villeneuve, 39, said he has been particularly impressed this year with Button’s driving in the wet, including wins in Australia and China that have given him the world championship lead.

“Jenson was always quick in the rain but now he’s becoming increasingly recognised as the best in the field,” he told Canada’s Rue Frontenac.

“Michael always had that reputation in the past but I think Jenson has passed him now in the minds of observers,” added Villeneuve.

“But I also don’t forget about Alonso, who did an exceptional race on the wet track of Shanghai,” he said.

Villeneuve said Button’s “really great start” to 2010 with McLaren proves his world championship was well deserved.

“To change teams and stay among the best shows that it was no fluke,” said the winner of 11 grands prix. “I am really happy for him.”

As for his former nemesis Schumacher, Villeneuve thinks the seven time world champion’s comeback so far has been “disappointing”.

“This is his first big disappointment. He did well at first for a guy who has not raced for three years, but then the results were disappointing.”

But he still thinks Mercedes was right to entice the 41-year-old German out of retirement.

“Michael is useful even if he’s not winning, and nobody can take away his seven titles or that he is one of the best in history.

“And when Rosberg beats him with the same equipment, it cements Nico’s reputation much more than if he were beating someone else,” added Villeneuve.

Apr.21 (GMM)  Toro Rosso has vowed to buck the current trend in formula one by not working on a F-duct device.

With the exception of the sport’s three new teams, it is believed the Ferrari-powered STR5 will therefore soon be the only car on the 2010 grid not exploiting the downforce-spoiling concept pioneered by McLaren.

Technical boss Giorgio Ascanelli said Toro Rosso’s decision is based on financial considerations.

“If I have ten euros and am hungry, I would buy two sandwiches instead of three grams of caviar,” he is quoted as having told the Italian magazine Autosprint.

So far, Sauber, Ferrari, Mercedes and Williams have tested F-duct-like devices on their 2010 cars, with varying levels of success.

Mercedes’ Ross Brawn said in China that those teams who are hoping to match McLaren’s straight-line advantage are now “learning just how complex” the integration of an F-duct is.

Ascanelli added: “You might see some benefit after five months of development, but in that time we can improve and develop other parts of the car.”

It is believed Red Bull, Red Bull and Force India will be the next teams to run F-ducts on their cars at forthcoming grands prix.