2011 Formula 1 SingTel Singapore Grand Prix (Singapore)

[Nebojsa]

Nezvanicni treninzi danas od 12 i od pola 4.

[Vanja #66]

Aj neka neko umesto mene odrzi evidenciju danas sa slobodnim treninzima, od pola 1 sam van kuce, a vracam se tek uvece...

[Nebojsa]

Na stranim sajtovima su ponovo pokrenute glasine da ce Baton sledece godine voziti za Ferari, zapravo sada je prica jaca nego ikad. Baton zeli da produzi jer nema ugovor za sledecu godinu, ali Meklaren nista ne nudi jer izgleda ima neku rezervnu varijantu, jos se ne zna koga... Pretpostavlja se da je u pitanju jedan od vozaca iz Mercedes programa (Di Resta, Hulk - nemaju ugovore za sledecu godinu, FI ce objaviti vozace tek u decembru). Sa druge strane, Ferari je nezadovoljan Masom kao sto smo svi verovatno svesni i nece im biti problem da plate vise ako ce dobiti dobrog vozaca za sledecu godinu. Pogotovo nekog ko je dobar sa Alonsom, takvih nema mnogo. Zanimljiv razvoj situacije, treba to pratiti.
Meni je ovo izgledalo kao nasumicno povezivanje nezavisnih tacaka, ali sada izgleda ozbiljnije. Ferari zeli, Baton nema nista protiv iako je Meklaren i dalje najpozeljnija ekipa. Kao sto rekoh, odjednom postaje zanimljivo u najjacim timovima iako smo mislili da ce biti zatisje pred buru i najzanimljiviju transfer zimu svih vremena, 2012 na 2013. Mada opet sve moze da bude samo strategija u Dzenosonovim pregovorima, videcemo.

[Tony_G]

Ferrari bi bio mnogo ozbiljniji sa Buttonom umesto Masse, ali mislim da se McLaren ne bi bas usrecio sa Di Restom ili Hulkenbergom, mozda senzacionalni povratak Kimija u McLaren? Kimi i Lewis u istoj ekipi... Ko zna sta ce biti

[Nebojsa]

Ferrari bi bio mnogo ozbiljniji sa Buttonom umesto Masse, ali mislim da se McLaren ne bi bas usrecio sa Di Restom ili Hulkenbergom, mozda senzacionalni povratak Kimija u McLaren? Kimi i Lewis u istoj ekipi... Ko zna sta ce biti

Meni je to isto palo na pamet nego nisam smeo da kazem ;)

Ako hoce neko da uskoci

http://us2.chatzy.com/300711426065

Trening je odlozen n pola sata zbog popravci na stazi. Amateri

Jucerasnja konferencija za medije:

Spoiler

Singapore GP - Thursday - Press Conference

22 SEPTEMBER 2011
DRIVERS - Sebastien BUEMI (Toro Rosso), Timo GLOCK (Virgin), Sergio PeREZ (Sauber), Daniel RICCIARDO (HRT), Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes), Sebastian VETTEL (Red Bull)

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Timo, this is probably a circuit that you quite like giving that you finished second here in 2009.

Timo GLOCK: Yeah, definitely. It is one of the best races in the calendar. For me the best or the top three. It is just a really good track. Here if you do one mistake you end up in the wall and it is quite different to all the other tracks and in 2009 it was one of my best races here, finished on the podium, second. Looking forward to be back again.

Q: What are your thoughts about this year given that it could be wet. So far, we have escaped the rain but would that be a great leveller? Is it something you would like?

Glock: For us it would be good. It opens up a bit of chance for us. I think in wet conditions it is more difficult here. We will have to see. I think we had one little - I would say -wet practice last year and I felt quite happy with it. It is good fun here so we have to see what we can do if it's wet.

Q: Is that what would make the difference for you do you feel? Or is the car still developing?

Glock: We have a little update here again. I think Monza was quite positive for us. It went in the right direction and the numbers were quite okay. It should be slightly better here but it doesn't change our position. As I said, if it rains, in wet conditions, the races are different and others maybe make mistakes and that's where we have to be on top and finish the race.

Q: Sergio, your first time here. Your first impressions?

Sergio PEREZ: Well yesterday I went to walk the track even though it wasn't completely finished. I think it is a very difficult circuit to learn. I am looking forward to driving at night. It will be my first experience doing a night race and it's a street circuit and I always enjoy to drive on the streets.

Q: Both cars retired with gearbox problems in Monza. Was it the same gearbox problem and presumably now it's been sorted whatever it was?

Perez: Yeah, of course. We try to find the problem and we found it. Now we are looking forward. We lost some good points in Monza due to this. But the team is very confident and looking forward to try and catch the competition, which is Force India. We try to get back the position and hopefully we can score some good points here.

Q: The last two circuits you've thought of as not being good circuits for you. Is this a better one or is a street circuit a street circuit and it's the same for everyone?

Perez: Well I think in a street circuit a driver can make a little bit more difference so let's see how it goes. This is the first time in Singapore for me. I hope we can go well. The last races we have been quite good in terms of pace. Very unlucky not to get a result, but it is looking good and hopefully we can do a good job here.

Q: Daniel, first time here. Again, your first impressions?

Daniel RICCIARDO: Bit the same as Sergio. I am looking forward to another street circuit. It is my preferred type of circuit. I really enjoy Monaco and Macau and these ones. It is always nice to come to a new one. Lots of corners. It is going to be quite difficult to remember where it all goes, but I spent some time on the simulator so it should help me out. I think it is going to be quite physical as well. Drivers I have spoken to say it is one of the harder ones over the season. The humidity and the length of the race, it always seems to be pushing around two hours, so good challenge.

Q: What about in the wet?

Ricciardo: Another good challenge. Should be fun.

Q: There are so many different things here. The lack of grip, the heat, but what's the main impression from the simulator?

Ricciardo: I think it's going to be quite hard on traction. Lot of stop, stop, start. Some other corners where you are turning and braking as well so quite easy quite easy to lock an outside front tyre. I guess until I drive I won't know really where the time is going to be made or where it is going to be lost. But definitely challenging and I expect it to be quite bumpy as well. A typical street circuit. Never easy but always a good challenge and always something the drivers enjoy.

Q: Probably the closest race to home so far. Are many people coming up from Western Australia?

Ricciardo: Yeah, it is only a five-hour flight or so from home. Sounds long for European based people but very close for an Australian. My family and a few friends out to enjoy it. Whether they will be watching the race or up in one of the hotels gambling or drinking a few beers, I don't know but it should be good to have some support.

Q: Sebastien, what is the main thing to take into account for drivers here as there are so many different things: anti-clockwise; it's a street circuit; temperatures get cooler during the evening; humidity, all that sort of stuff.

Sebastien BUEMI: I think it is going to be a very tough race. Like you said all those points are making it a little bit harder for the drivers and the teams. We will have the super soft tyres and the soft as well so we will have to look after the tyres especially in the first few sessions. The weather is a bit unpredictable. We don't know if it is going to be rain or not. It takes a long time to dry up as well so you have got to take this into consideration. Then I think the circuit is quite bumpy so you have got to have in a way a soft car, you need to have a lot of downforce but you need to find a good compromise which is never easy with so little running. But still I think it is going to be a very good weekend and we will definitely enjoy it.

Q: For you this is a bit of a milestone. The 50th grand prix. Does that make you feel as though you are just beginning or are you feeling fairly experienced?

Buemi: I think you always learn whether it is 50 or 100. I don't know. At the end of the day you learn, you have got more experience, you know better what to do. It's the third time for me in Singapore and I think it is going to help definitely. Like we said it is a difficult race and you have got to have a bit of experience if you want to come around it pretty well.

Q: As we said before the car seems to be improving. Have you got further modifications here?

Buemi: We have got a few things, but the main difference is the fact that we will have a lot of downforce here compared to Monza. We closed the gap quite a bit on Force India and Sauber so I would say the fight with them is pretty open for us. Hopefully we will have a good race, but the qualifying we need to see it improve quite a bit but then normally the race pace is quite good so we will see.

Q: Sebastian, you have been second here on the grid, second in the race itself. Is this a good race or a bad race or an average one? Most of them seem to be good for Red Bull Racing?

Sebastian VETTEL: I think it is a very good race. One of the best we have in the season. It's a night race so very much looking forward to it. The circuit, as we touched on already, is one of the toughest for the drivers. To keep the focus it is extremely important so it should be a good race.

Q: Obviously you will be looking at the same two teams as usual, McLaren and Ferrari, but Fernando Alonso seems to be particularly keen here. He has won here twice.

Vettel: Yeah, I mean we will have to see. I think it will be a long weekend. A very long race. Nearly two hours. It is longer than all the other races that we have during the season. Ferrari were very competitive here last year. I think we were equally matched. I couldn't get past on the track, so hopefully this year it is the other way around. I think it will be a long weekend. On this circuit it is hard to predict who is really going to be very competitive. Obviously I think we will be fighting McLaren and Ferrari but also I think Mercedes could have a good chance here so we will see. It is a circuit where the car is important, but I think the driver can make a big difference as well.

Q: Is there still a flow of development parts coming?

Vettel: I wouldn't call it a flow. But we have some bits.

Q: A trickle then?

Vettel: Yeah, we have some bits. You always try to improve the car. It is not another step on Monza package as it is a completely different circuit but it is a step on the car we had on similar tyres of tracks, street circuit, so we will see.

Q: You could actually win the championship here. What are your thoughts on that?

Vettel: As you said would, could, should. So far we haven't won anything. We are in a good position but still some way to go. We have to race and do our normal job and try to achieve our best. It is one of the most difficult tracks for the car, for the drivers. It is a long, long way to the chequered flag. A lot of people talk about it but certain things have to happen. It reminds me a little bit of the situation we faced in Abu Dhabi where people came up every two or three minutes giving another option that is possible. Out of I don't know 1,467 options this could be one. It's not the objective for this weekend. The target is to optimise our performance and then either we get surprised or not?

Q: So we could say you are not in a hurry?

Vettel: Generally our target going into the season was to defend our title. We are in a very good position. There is no reason that the target should change. It doesn't really matter when, it matters to us that it happens and that is what we are working on.

Q: Nico, this is a circuit I think you really enjoy. You have qualified third here and finished second as well.

Nico ROSBERG: Yeah, in general I have had very good experiences here in the past few years. Often been right at the front. I had my best ever position here in 2008 second place so it's a track I enjoy and I hope I can do similarly well again this year.

Q: What is it about the circuit that's so enjoyable?

Rosberg: It's just a street circuit. I go well on street circuits. It's just a big challenge and a lot of fun and quite tough.

Q: When it comes to the circuit and the car is it a good one for the car do you feel?

Rosberg: Not sure. For sure the last couple of races have been good for the car like Spa and Monza where we have seen some progress but here probably a bit less so. But we need to see. We have a few new bits coming here to Singapore and that will improve the car so it remains to be seen. It's a possibility.

Q: In many ways you are quite a traveller. Do these final six grands prix excite you? The very thought that we are away from Europe now and it becomes a massive World Championship in itself.

Rosberg: Of course I find it very exciting to go to see new places, especially. For example, India is going to be a very nice experience. Never been there. Look forward to that and even coming here is great. Singapore is a fantastic place and Japan. It's great venues that we have on the calendar.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Ian De Cotta - Today) Sebastian, I know you said 'it happens when it happens' but is there any pressure on you to realise the championship in Singapore?

Vettel: I think there's always pressure on me and on us because we want to achieve our best every single weekend and achieve our maximum so if there's a possibility or chance to win, then we want to go for it. I don't feel any extra pressure trying to win the championship here or trying to win it in one particular place. As I said earlier, we have to just remind ourselves what was the target going into the season and the target was not to win the championship by Singapore or any other race; the target was to win the championship itself. That's why I think this race is as important as all the other ones, to be able to win the championship.

Q: (Frederic Ferret - L'Equipe) Sebastian, last year you were stuck behind Fernando; do you think that DRS could help you to overtake him this year and overtake everyone?

Vettel: I think we have to wait and see. Sure you might have a better chance with the DRS, simply because of the fact that if you're close enough, the car behind is allowed to use it and the car in front is not, like at all the other places. But we've seen this year, firstly depending on distance - so how big the DRS zone is, and secondly, where the DRS zone is, meaning which circuit, which straights and so on. It can make a big difference, so we will have to wait until we find out here.

Q: (Marco Degl'Innocenti - La Gazzetta dello Sport) I would like to know from you all - except Sebastian - what is your personal opinion about the next possible World Champion, Sebastian Vettel? How do you judge him as a driver and fellow?

Buemi: I've known Sebastian for quite a long time now. He's been winning everything that he has raced in so I think he's doing a really good job, especially last year when he clinched the title in the last race. This year's he's had the perfect season, nothing to say. It's been a wonderful season, winning nearly all the races. He's just getting the maximum out of the car and the team. He's done the best job of everyone.

Rosberg: Good driver and deserves to win.

Glock: There's not much to add on that. I think Sebastian won the title last year, had a lot of ups and downs. This year, I think he's just managed to have a near perfect season up until now. I have my money on him to win the championship this weekend so he has to push for it.

Rosberg: How much did you put on him?

Glock: I'm not telling you!

Rosberg: I heard 20,000, is that true?

Glock: Not really, no.

Perez: I think he's really a complete driver, and I think he deserves to win the championship this year.

Ricciardo: Seb sets a good target for us younger drivers, definitely. I think if we can repeat or maybe even one day try and do better, I think it's the ultimate. He's definitely set the benchmark, particular for us Red Bull Juniors. We'll try and follow.

Q: (Livio Oricchio - O Estado de Sao Paulo) Sebastian, this weekend will you take the same risks that you take in other races or will you be more conscious of this race?

Vettel: Well, it depends. It depends on the race that you're in. I think one thing is clear. It always depends - given the risks you take - it always depends on the chances you see. If you see that there's a gap and a chance to pass a car in front, then you go for it. If you think at that moment whether you decide to go for it or not that the risk is too high you don't do it. It would be wrong to drive around with the handbrake on, just say 'OK, I need to finish, I need to finish.' On the other hand, it would be wrong to go into the race and say 'now I need to risk something.' So I think you should just race. In the end, we have a long season, a lot of races. Surely sometimes you will make mistakes, it's natural. But I think the more races you do the more experience you get, ideally the fewer mistakes you make. As I said, we try to get the best out of this race and if we find ourselves in a good position, able to win, and there's a chance and a gap, we have to go for it. If not, there's no need to try something stupid.

Q: (Bob McKenzie - The Daily Express) Jenson is quoted today as saying that despite being fit, that because the race is at night, because of the humidity, the concentration levels, the race is actually a bit long and drivers would like to see it shortened. I wonder what the view is with everybody up there?

Rosberg: Jenson can always stop if he gets a bit tired!

Vettel: I think it's fine as it is. It's the usual distance. Sure the speed is slow here because the average cornering speed is quite slow, so we need a lot of time to manage the 61 laps in the race, but it's one of the biggest challenges we have, so the focus has to be extremely high throughout the race. It's very hot, the humidity is very high. It's very tough for the drivers, the whole thing happens at night, it's more difficult for your eyes. I think it deserves to be a tough challenge. It's long but it's OK.

Glock: It's definitely one of the hardest races but I'm used to [how it was in] 2005 when I did ChampCar. Every race was nearly up to two hours. If you do Milwaukee oval race and you have 225 laps to do, that's a long one. But I have to say, last year here was one of the toughest races for me because I was eleventh at some point in the race and I could hold up a lot of guys behind me and these 15 laps were some of the hardest I think I have ever had to drive. It's all about staying focused and quite similar to Monaco. As I said, if you make a mistake, it's over.

Q: (James Allen - Financial Times) Sebastian, going back to the DRS question earlier on, if you had had DRS last year, knowing what you know about it from this season, do you think you would have been able to get past Fernando, and secondly, there was quite a bit of banter between you and Fernando after the race in Monza about putting you on the grass. Was that always good humoured? You mentioned it a few times, did you feel it was a little bit marginal in the end?

Vettel: First part: it's hard to know. The cars were different last year but I think with DRS I would maybe have had a better chance. On the other hand, Fernando would not have waved me past so I would still have had to make the pass. I don't know. The race is done, we can't change the result. Overall I'm happy with last year's outcome, it's OK.

For Monza, I think he didn't expect me to go on the left, so trying to go on the inside for the second chicane so initially he didn't see me, but as soon as he saw me, he didn't back off but he at least pulled to the right and gave me enough room. It was borderline but I know that if I want to get past, I have to try something. Actually, the lap before was more critical, when I was on the right, on the outside for the second chicane and he moved a little bit under braking to the right side and there wasn't much room for me. We talked about it after the race and I think it's fine. Generally, if you race people like Fernando and people with a lot of experience and people you respect a lot, you can really push the limits and really go wheel to wheel without thinking about it, because you know that the guy will see you and will know that you are there and will give you just enough room - not a lot but just enough.

Q: (Andy Benson - BBC Sport) Sebastian, on that subject, I understand you went to see the stewards about Fernando's driving after Monza.... that's not true?

Vettel: No.

Q: (Michael Schmidt - Auto, Motor und Sport) As you mentioned already, this is a street circuit like Monte Carlo. For those of you who know this circuit, what are the differences from Monte Carlo in terms of driving challenge and driving technique? Is it more or less difficult here?

Glock: I would say Singapore is quite a bit longer than Monaco, but in general it's not that different -maybe it's slightly more bumpy here. And that's it really. It's at night yeah, but that's the difference.

Vettel: In a way it's tougher than Monaco. Obviously I haven't been around that long - maybe you should ask Michael - but I think over the last couple of years we have resurfaced (Monaco) again and again, and tried to make it smoother and better, safer. We've just been here a couple of times - this is the fourth time - but it's much rougher than Monaco in a way. It's very bumpy. At some places there's not a lot of room for mistakes - generally there's little or no run-off on street circuits but I think that given the lap is so long and there are so many corners, it's quite hot, it's humid, I think it makes it a tougher challenge in a way than Monaco. It's a different track, but I think it's tougher around here.

Q: (Heikki Kulta - Turun Sanomat) Nico, which is more difficult: to catch Massa in the championship or keep Michael behind?

Rosberg: My target is to catch Massa, for sure, but that's going to be a challenge. It's also difficult to keep Michael behind, and I just need to keep on scoring points consistently and don't get taken out in the first corner.

Q: (Gary Meenaghan - The National) Do you think that night racing is an unnecessary expense or is it something more circuits should look to try and consider?

Vettel: I think it makes it very cool around here, it's something very special, something we all look forward to. Here and obviously Abu Dhabi, we start just when the sun goes down. It's exciting for us and I think it's also more exciting to watch, in a way. It doesn't meant that all the races have to be night races now, because then it wouldn't be something special, so I think the rhythm we have is very fine and with one or two - maybe three - races in the future per year. I don't know where. It could be very nice.

Q: (Dieter Rencken - The Citizen) I would assume that you've watched either all or part of the re-run of the Italian Grand Prix. What are your comments about Michael Schumacher's driving? Was it within the bounds of sporting good behaviour; what are your feelings?

Buemi: I think that he was really quick on the straight, first of all, and that Lewis had a completely different rear wing setting so that he was on the limiter a lot, which is maybe a better compromise for them in qualifying, but worse in the race. I don't think it was unfair, I think that what he did was quite fair. It was on the edge, at the limit, but I still think that the biggest problem was that McLaren were really short on seventh gear.

Vettel: I think it was fun to watch, that's one thing. Whether it was too hard or not.... in a way it's very easy for us to understand Lewis's frustration: if you are behind, know that you can go quicker and you're stuck because you're short on ratios and the other car is very quick on the straights, and you can't really get past. I saw the race and one move was arguably a little bit too much. I don't know if Michael saw him or not, but out of the first chicane, when Lewis tried, with the speed he had, to go on the inside, it looked like Michael didn't see him so he had to go on the grass.

Q: (Mat Coch) To Sergio and Daniel: having come from the junior categories, what's the style of racing like in Formula One compared to the feeder series?

Ricciardo: I think it's definitely different. In a lot of junior categories you go 110 percent from the green light to the finish and you don't have to worry about other factors coming into play. Fuel effect isn't really anything and your tyres last the race. I think, for me, the more difficult thing, or the different thing to get used to, is maybe at times driving more conservatively. You're always tempted to push 100 percent/110 percent but you have to think about what's best for the tyres and for strategy and situations, so that's probably a brief summary of the differences that I'm experiencing.

Perez: Yes, I think you have a lot more things in Formula One, like different tyre compounds and you have to drive in a different style on each of them, to try to make them last as long as possible. It's a bit similar to GP2 in that way, in that you have to save the tyres a bit, but you also have to be on the limit and try to save the tyres as much as possible. You are always changing your style during the race. This is something very important and important to learn, and you've got to learn during the races, because to make them last and be fast, you have to be changing your style every single lap, every single corner.

Q: Is the track behaviour, is the driving behaviour very different?

Perez: Well, I think it's a combination, it's a combination of both. I would say it's quite different.

Kovaleinen malo zapalio kocnice, trudi se zbog denie

[MLADOSTLE]

Prosle godine u Singapuru se isto zapalio Kovalainen.

[Nebojsa]

Dakle ovako, jedna od besmislenijih trening sesija da mogu da se setim. Trajalo je samo sat vremena i cesto je prekidano. Prvo i osnovno, glupi i neodgovorni Singapurcani



Ovaj ivicnjak je pravio puno problema. Ostecen je tokom neke od prethodnih trka i ocigledno je popravljen lose. Zbog toga je i kasnila i skracena je sesija. Vajtning se raspravljao sa osobljem na stazi, trzio je da se bolje resi taj problem pre pocetka treninga. Potpuno je bio u pravu jer prvi put kada je Masa napravio gresku i presao preko njega, dobili smo ovu krajnje nebezbednu situaciju. Prekinuli su svima ritam i cisto sumnjam da su odradili svoje programe. Srecom pa je kraj sezone, i sama trka nije presudna za sampionat, jer bi u suprotnom glave padale.
Od ostalih zanimljivosti u tom kratkom periodu kada se vozilo, Veber i Glok su se sudarili, Veber izgubio jedan prednji kraj. Kovaleinenu se zapalile kocnice i to je isto prekinulo trening na nekoliko minuta. Kao sto sam vec rekao, Masa pomerio taj jedan ivicnjak. Na stazi je mnogo prasine i prljavstine, pravi je izazov voziti, tek ce biti veselo u nedelju sa opiljcima od guma. Treba im jedna kraca kisa da to sve spere. Ostajem pri tome da je ovo besmislena staza i proklinjem onog ko je ubaci
Sto se tice samih rezultata, iako ne moraju biti uopste indikativni iz prethodno navedenih razloga i opisanih uslova, vidi se razlika izmedju najjacih ekipa i ostatka. Trening je uzeo Hamilton i on i Fetel su bili debelo ispred ostatka karavana. Veber posle kontakta, Alonso, Baton dobri ali ne dovoljno blizu. Ostali nisu vredni pomena, zaostali su preko 3 sekunde. Ovim ritmom, 107% ce biti peilican izazov za Virdzin i Hispaniju. Rezultati i prolazna vremena po sektorima:



http://en.mclarenf-1.com/index.php?p...854&s=6899&p=3

[Iceman]

alonso ce da pobedi ovde..... tu nema price..

[Vanja #66]

Zbog tog ivicnjaka jos vise zelim kisu, neka pada 40 dana!

[Iceman]

bice zanimljivo jedva cekam

[Vanja #66]

Hoho SoneNS, kakav avi!

Drugi trening - mnogo volim sto vidim, moz da bidne svasta nesto...

[Nebojsa]

Danas trening br 3 u 1, kvalifikacije u 4. Kisa je padala, videcemo u kojem je stanju staza. Najavljuje se i za danas celog dana i sutra. Teske odluke pred FIA i direkcijom trke. Videcemo kako je resen problem sa ivicnjacima, juce su tokom drugog treninga ostetili nekoliko bolida, a situacija sa prvog treneinga vam je poznata.

Jucerasnja konferencija, zanimljiva prica o motorima za 2014 i o Robertu Kubici, odnosno vozacima Renoa (boldovano)

Spoiler

TEAM REPRESENTATIVES - Riad ASMAT (Team Lotus), Jean Francois CAUBET (Renault Sport F1), Robert FERNLEY (Force India), Norbert HAUG (Mercedes), Gerard LOPEZ (Lotus Renault), Sam MICHAEL (Williams)

Q: Bob, first of all, what happened to Paul di Resta today?

Robert FERNLEY: We had a problem with the brakes, the machining of the brakes and the hydraulics. Paul has a lot of steel, he’ll bounce back tomorrow.

Q: Obviously the performances are improving and Vijay Mallya has emphasised that. The thing is carrying it through to next year. That is the task isn’t it?

RF: Well, I think next year is a completely different programme. What we had to do at the beginning of this year was to take a step backwards in order to understand where we lost our way at the end of 2010 and what you see now is the evolution of all that work coming through. Obviously with the change of regulations with the blown floors next year is a completely different ballpark.

Q: Have you already started work on next year? When are you finishing development on this year’s.

RF: We started work on next year’s some time ago. This is probably the last major upgrade that we will do for the 2011 car.

Q: And the battle with Sauber?

RF: Very hard. They are very competitive. They are not going to give in easily, so we will have to work as hard as we can.

Q: Is that something you look forward to?

RF: Yes, very much so. They are a good team, working hard. I mean all the teams in all fairness in that midfield area are incredibly competitive and we are going to have to work very, very hard to hold onto sixth place. Sam managed to beat us last year by one point. I don’t want to repeat it this year.

Q: Jean Francois, you are heading for a World Championship victory I am sure. That is almost certain, but what are Renault’s feelings about it?

Jean Francois CAUBET: I think if we win the championship this year it will be the 10th time in 20 years. We think we did a good choice to sell engines and stop managing a team and I think the long-term strategy we will have with the Red Bull team is a good thing for future of Formula One and Renault.

Q: What is Renault Sport’s position within the Renault group as it were?

JC: Renault Sport is doing only Formula One. We were 200 people last year. We will be 250 next year. It is a key point and the board is pushing Formula One in Renault now for the long term. I think that is good news.

Q: Is that expansion because of the new engine?

JC: Yes, I think we have 25 people coming from Renault mainly to develop the electric side of the V6 but we will have 40 next year and one team is 10 people more.

Q: Riad, a new job as CEO. Tell us about your new job and what it concerns?

Riad ASMAT: Well, I guess we have expanded in actually owning a car company as well as an engineering business and ever since certain developments that is the new role. I look into not just the Formula One side of things but the actual road car and engineering business from this point. A bit more work actually.

Q: So you are in charge of everything?

RA: Well, technically!

Q: You are from Malaysia but also Singapore as well. How do you see the Singapore Grand Prix?

RA: I think it is one of the best on the calendar as well. Just having family from Singapore helps. I am assured support in one form or the other. It is just next to Malaysia so we represent Asia to a certain degree and we hope we will be able to push our name, our brand, into the region.

Q: There are rumours of a name change but also a change of location for the team, whatever it might be called. It has been for so long in Norfolk it is difficult to imagine that Team Lotus will be elsewhere.

RA: I’ll take the one question first which is the location. Our home in Norfolk, in Norwich in Hingham, and that is, for sure, never going to change. That will be maintained as one of our parts but as a team that is growing and progressing we need to have a look at how to get more efficiencies out of the team and one of the main areas is to be in the motorsports belt of the UK. It is something we are looking into and when the time is right we will make the necessary announcement. But for sure Hingham is our home.

Q: Will you keep facilities there?

RA: Yes, we bought the place and it is home for us. We will never go away. On your second point?

Q: The name change?

RA: Name change. No decision as yet. We are still Team Lotus as you can see but as my shareholders have mentioned we are open to anything and we will see how it progresses from this point.

Q: Gerard, we hear about new facilities and new investment in the team. Can you tell us a little bit more about that?

Gerard LOPEZ: Yes, we essentially wanted to bring the place we are in right now, Enstone, up to the best standards in Formula One and it was missing a couple of things. One was the wind tunnel, which was still only 50 per cent scale. The second one was the driver simulator and then also a couple of logistical areas so we have decided essentially to expand the factory. Improve the wind tunnel up to 60 per cent, which is the maximum allowed and build the new simulator.

Q: Is that really state-of-the-art or even better than anybody else’s?

GL: I think everybody else that is a state-of-the-art team has the 60 per cent tunnel so I think that is matching essentially the best. On the simulator, as far as we know, it is probably going to be one of the very best simulators in the business.

Q: Are there plans for further investment?

GL: We have to invest every day essentially, just because it is a Formula One team so things become obsolete quite quickly. I think we have maxed out in terms of personnel. When we took over there were about 480 people. There are 520 I believe now, so we increase that number. The investments will continue essentially as much as we need to, to try and be where we want to be, which is a top three team in Formula One.

Q: Your third driver is the new GP2 champion Romain Grosjean. What are your plans for him?

GL: It’s a question that I need to take from a different angle, also of a management company that manages his career. I think the plans for a GP 2 winner, especially one that wins it in such a convincing manner, is to be in Formula One. We are going to try and help him sit in a Formula One car next year.

Q: Actually you were in a difficult position until quite recently of having five drivers for two cars potentially.

GL: And more. There’s people that are interested just in case. But right now we have a commitment to Robert (Kubica). He has done amazing things for the team. We know what he is capable of and I think any team would take him if he is capable of delivering the same thing. Our commitment is to try and see if he can come back and we will wonder about anything else afterwards.

Q: Sam, a sad moment for you isn’t it, leaving Williams?

Sam MICHAEL: It’s been a great 11 seasons with them. I think they were such a prestigious name and it has been an honour to work with Frank (Williams) and Patrick (Head). This weekend is the last race and the main thing for me is that we finish everything off properly which we are doing. I leave Williams with a very good relationship with the company. I have nothing but good memories of the place but it is time for a change after so many seasons.

Q: When exactly do you join McLaren?

SM: That’s not decided yet. That is something being discussed privately so it’s not really appropriate to go into that here.

Q: But you’ve got a bit of gardening leave have you?

SM: Well, as I said, I better not discuss that here.

Q: Tell us about the technical challenges of this circuit?

SM: Well it’s a street circuit, so it has very low grip. There is always a lot of oil on the circuit so you always get a lot of progression of lap time during the weekend as the Formula One tyres pick up a lot of the debris and contaminants on the surface. It is similar to Monte Carlo, which is like that as well. The most important thing is slow-speed corners, getting rid of understeer, making sure traction is good. There are no real high-speed corners compared to a normal closed circuit. It’s a maximum downforce track and quite a few kerbs as well around this place. You can do a lot of damage there. Normally quite difficult to overtake around a track like this but with DRS and the tyre situation there should be plenty of overtaking on Sunday.

Q: Is it a little less bumpy than before?

SM: The track itself is. The actual tarmac, but the kerbs are just as big. They are hitting the kerbs even harder now.

Q: We have seen quite a lot of bits and pieces coming off most cars.

SM: That’s right. A lot of that is because they are trying to take more and more kerb as there is lap time in it.

Q: is that something we have seen today or are we going to see that for the rest of the weekend?

SM: Well I think today you will see a lot more of it as the drivers are trying to find out how far they can go and how much damage they can get away with. Then tonight you will repair your car and tell them where you can and can’t drive.

Q; Norbert, Michael Schumacher’s performances over the past couple of grands prix. Two fifth places.

Norbert HAUG: Well I think he was excellent in the last two races. He was very good in some of the other ones, probably not at the right position. Our current car is not capable of doing a much better job and I think especially in the races, especially after the starts, nobody overtook more cars than Michael did in the first lap. He is an excellent starter, still a fantastic racer and the more we improve our technical package the more he will deliver. I think we know from Nico (Rosberg) what he is capable of doing so we have a very strong driver combination. I think a lot of people got excited in Monza. It was fantastic to watch and the guys like us who like racing enjoyed it very much. I can understand Martin (Whitmarsh). I had a word with him afterwards. I can understand Lewis (Hamilton) but if they had been in our position they would not have acted differently and I guess 99 per cent of the television viewers enjoyed it. Probably more than that.

Q: Do you expect those sort of performances to continue for the final six races or was that just the two ow downforce circuits?

NH: Well it certainly fitted much better to the current package we are having. This race here in Singapore, first of all it is a fantastic event I have to say and hopefully it stays forever on the calendar. It is producing the most spectacular television pictures. It is so unique and we all have to thank the organisers and Bernie (Ecclestone) for making this event happen. But it is a challenging track. It probably looks not such a typical street course but you could see what happened today. The walls are very close. The drivers push to the limits. We discussed that right now so I think there will be a lot of surprises here. For us, it will be challenging. We made a good step between first practice and second practice. We’re heading in the right direction. Hopefully there is a little bit more to come but we honestly cannot expect a Monza or a Spa like performance under normal circumstances. But, having said that, this race will have safety cars probably. You need to be there. There is a chance of rain, whatever, so that can be quite a mix up in the field and we need to be prepared. Michael will deliver. There is no doubt he is as committed as ever. I think we have to see that he was outside of Formula One for three years. The formula changed a lot. There is no testing and so on and so on. He gets more mileage and he gets better and better and I think not a lot of drivers could have done a better job than he did in the last two races. His race speed, if you compare it to Nico, looks very balanced and Nico is – and I think Sam can describe that as well – certainly one of the most talented, most experienced ones. One of the definitely top five drivers and if you can compare yourself after a comeback, after a break of three years, with one of the young superstars, then you are heading in the right direction. For me it is a little strange to say Michael will create surprises because he won everything, he won more than anybody else, but believe me the better our car goes the more he will deliver and he is fully committed. He is an asset to the team, doing a fantastic job, keeping the together, motivating everybody and we are 100 per cent pleased to have him with us.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Joris Fioriti – Agence France Presse) A question to all of you. What do you think of Sebastian Vettel’s performances this year. Don’t you think that his domination harmed the sport a little bit and would you want him in your team?

RF: Let’s take it a step at a time. I think Sebastian has done a fantastic job this year as have Red Bull and it is up to the rest of the teams to challenge them. I don’t think Red Bull should be asked to slow down. We need to get our act together and to be competing with them so hat’s off to them and well done. There have been many, many years when a driver has dominated or a team has dominated so I think you have got to look at the overall package this year of racing and I think it’s been outstanding across the board. I think the show is probably the best it’s been for a long, long time. The fact that one team and one driver has dominated I don’t think has detracted from that. Would I like Sebastian in our car? I think we have got two or three rather good drivers. I am quite happy with what we have thank you.

JC: I hope that when Sebastian will have the title, if it is this grand prix or the nest grand prix, he will push a little bit more as I am sure the race will be more interesting at the end. For Renault, it is difficult to ask the engineer to slow down the engine or blow up the engine. I don’t think so.

RA: Well he has done a fantastic job again. I think it is also the team that has done their part. Again, their domination I refer to Bob’s point. We have seen domination and it is up to us to push ourselves. We are from behind but we hope to achieve some sort of success in the future. On him being a part of our team, I don’t think we can afford it, but we have got a good couple of drivers right now and we are happy with what we have and we will push on from there.

GL: I would concur – not trying to be boring – but I think they have the best car and they have somebody who can use it to the maximum, so he deserves to be where he is. I actually know him quite well for a long time already, so I can pretty much tell you that he deserves to be where he is today. And I will say the same thing as far as the drivers go: we have drivers that we like but he’s a great guy.

SM: I think he’s done a fantastic job for the second year in a row now. It’s not the races when Red Bull are dominant, it’s the ones when they are not that show that he’s really something special. He’s won races when perhaps maybe they shouldn’t have won and he’s managed to drag… although the car’s clearly very good, they haven’t been dominant at every single circuit and some of the races that I’ve seen him win this year have been pretty impressive. So definitely hats off, he’s deserved it.

NH: Sebastian is certainly a very special guy, very talented guy. I’ve known him since his early days in Formula BMW ADAC, the supporting races of DTM. Then he was a Formula Three driver with Paul di Resta. He learned a lot, he’s a very focused guy, a very intelligent guy, a very demanding guy and an absolutely nice chap. We absolutely have to take our hats off to him. He’s great, he deserves every single point he has got, probably more because he was unlucky here and there and he deserves what he has got. I don’t think that the World Championship isn’t interesting; in fact I think that this is one of the most thrilling seasons ever and I’ve been around for quite a while. The Pirellis have done a good job, the DRS has done a good job, there have been lots of surprises. There was Jenson Button being last in Canada for example, and then winning, doing lap times two seconds quicker than anybody else all of a sudden. There was Michael’s performance there, as an example. I could continue for hours. There were lots of surprises in Formula One this year, which nobody would have expected, even the specialists. There was always a certain dominance in Formula One. There were the Williams days, I remember, the McLaren-Mercedes days, the battles with Ferrari and now it’s the Red Bull days with Sebastian and also Mark doing a good job. But for sure, no dominance will last forever. We know that from the past. Everybody else will work very hard. We have a good relationship with Sebastian, friendship, I respect him very much and I think it’s the same the other way around. We are, as I pointed out, very satisfied with the drivers we have. We want to climb up the ladder with the combination that we have, make another step next year and then we will see where we are.

GL: It’s been one of the surprises for me in Formula One. The fact that any time we have a new driver, any time we announce something, any time I take a trip to Brazil or Russia or whatever, suppose I’m looking for money for the team. The fact is that we’re involved in a lot of businesses. This one, as a matter of fact, is one that we hope is going to be break-even at some point in time. It’s not but it’s not one that needs to make money for us. We make money somewhere else. I used to answer this giving examples and so on. To be honest, I don’t care any more because if it was reality we wouldn’t be there for a long time. I think the team that we took over had about 480 people. We saved those jobs and added about forty jobs to those. Facts speak for themselves. As I said, I used to get quite angry every time I would pick up something like that. Now it’s almost like crying wolf and nobody cares. The fact is that the facts are there: we are investing, we’re adding sponsors. Our drivers, whenever they get called pay drivers, I actually feel bad for them, not for us because at the end of the day, there is no driver that I think or I hope could bring enough money to actually carry this kind of team forward. I find it disrespectful to those guys. I used to find it disrespectful to us, to be honest with you. Now I don’t any more so now what we do is we get on with the things that we have to do. We make the investments that we have to make and at the end of the day we will see – in terms of results – what will be in the future and hopefully we will be wherever our investments carry us, which is to be one of the top three teams.

Q: (Chris Lyons – Associated Press) Sam, I know your interest is much more on the sporting side than on the financial side of things, but on a broad principle, Williams going forward in the years to come – not just next year but in the years to come – are they in a situation where they will be able to make decisions on drivers based purely upon what they bring to team in terms of ability or is Williams in that situation now where it’s got to look more towards sponsorship and the financial aspects rather than just pure talent?

SM: If you take the first part of your question about Williams financially, they are obviously entering a lot of different areas of their business such as WHP with the hybrid power system – that’s standing out to be a very… an industry that’s going to open up a lot over the next few years. They already have contracts with major motor manufacturers, so that’s one area that’s quite strong. They’re obviously investing pretty heavily in Qatar. There’s the new Jaguar programme as well. There’s lots of different areas that Williams is diversifying into to ensure… which a lot of other teams have done as well. McLaren is a good example, earlier than Williams, and that will continue to be more and more profitable as years go on. That will help Williams put themselves into a good position. Other teams have done it, there’s nothing to say that Williams can’t either so I can’t see that that will be an issue for them in the future.

With respect to their finances, if you then come to their drivers, if you look at the two drivers this year. We’ve got Rubens who is obviously an experienced guy, a multiple Grand Prix winner. Although Pastor Maldonado is a rookie, he’s GP2 champion and he’s run pretty close to Rubens all year. If you take out the first four or five races, which is entirely normal for any rookie, I would normally say that a rookie needs a couple of years, but you can definitely start to see the signs as to whether the guy is capable or not by mid-season and I would definitely put Pastor Maldonado in that category. And if he wasn’t in that category, he wouldn’t have kept his drive going forward. So I can see the guy having an even stronger year next year when he knows all the circuits, because he’s still on a slope. He’d never turned a lap around here before this evening, so I would say that to say that Williams are taking their decisions on drivers from a financial point of view is not really correct at the moment, because otherwise they wouldn’t be choosing the drivers that they have. I think Williams will make the choices that are best for the company and the best results. That’s what it will come down to.

Q: (Dieter Rencken – The Citizen) Question to Norbert and Jean-Francois regarding engines, both at the moment and 2014 onwards. We used to have a situation where there was a maximum number of teams that an engine supplier could supply. In 2014, we could possibly have as many as five manufacturers supplying twelve teams and when you look at it, somehow five into twelve doesn’t work that well, particularly when you’ve got one manufacturer supplying four teams with engines. What do you people think the maximum should be allowed, both from a sporting and a financial, commercial point of view?

NH: For me it should be an open market, that’s it, basically. I hope we’re in a position to have five engine manufacturers, that would be very pleasing for all of us, I think. This is even more competition, but maybe we have less than five, we will see. It doesn’t look bad at the moment. The rules are heading in the right direction; over a five year period there will be lots of cost saving. All us engine manufacturers work very constructively on that point together with Ferrari and Renault, especially Cosworth also and our target is to save thirty percent budget over a five-year period which is challenging but which is achievable. For us, if five teams chose the engine X, then they should do so, it should be a free and open market.

J-FC: By regulation, today it’s four teams, but I share that same advice, I am pushing for an open market because we are in Formula One and regulations cannot solve all the problems. I think the key point is not how many teams, the key point is which teams because when we are dealing with top teams, it’s not easy to have one or two top teams when you provide the same engine. The problem is more with who and how many teams.

[Iceman]

na ovom 3-cem treningu ocekujem da ce se boriti za prvu poziciju rbr i ferrari...ovog puta meklaren ce biti iza njih 4-oro...ali nikad se ne zna...jedva cekam kvalifikacije i da vidimo sta ce se dogadjati

[Vanja #66]

Cekaj da vidimo hoce li biti ista zbog kise... Ne bih ja tek tako lako otpisao McLaren pored Masse i Webbera...

[Nebojsa]

na ovom 3-cem treningu ocekujem da ce se boriti za prvu poziciju rbr i ferrari...ovog puta meklaren ce biti iza njih 4-oro...ali nikad se ne zna...jedva cekam kvalifikacije i da vidimo sta ce se dogadjati

Realno niko se nece boriti, mislim da ce se probati kisni setapi, pa ce vremena biti manje vise u drugom planu ;) Ako uopste bude treninga i kvalifikacija, ta refleksija moze biti prilican problem. U takvim uslovima ne ocekuj puno od Ferarija, oni su pokazali da najbolje funkcionisu sa supermekim i u toplim uslovima, ni jednog ni drugog nece biti vrlo verovatno. Zapravo su ovi uslovi nesto najdalje u odnosu na tu konfiguraciju.

Ipak trenutno nema kise i dobro je vreme, ali trenutno... Videcemo jos gde to ide.