about the race

International Scale

Nam quam nunc, blandit vel, luctus pulvinar, hendrerit id, lorem. Maecenas nec odio et ante tincidunt tempus. Donec vitae sapien ut libero venenatis faucibus. Nullam quis ante. Curabitur ullamcorper ultricies nisi. Nam eget dui. Etiam rhoncus.n
nSed fringilla mauris sit amet nibh. Donec sodales sagittis magna. Sed consequat, leo eget bibendum sodales, augue velit. Viva la vida penci design.

News feed https://www.fia.com/rss/press-release en ERC - Crugnola 0.7sec in front in bid for Roma glory https://www.fia.com/news/erc-crugnola-07sec-front-bid-roma-glory Sport news<p style="text-align: justify;">Last year’s winner, competing in a Pirelli-equipped Citroën C3 Rally2, carried an advantage of 0.8sec into Saturday’s running following his fastest time among the ERC contenders through the Colosseum super special in the centre of Rome on Friday night.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Slovenian Boštjan Avbelj cut that gap to 0.1sec when he went quickest through this morning’s opening test, Alatri, only for Crugnola to respond on the first run through the 28.74km Santopadre - Fontana Liri stage to beat Tempestini by 2.7sec, the multiple Romanian champion moving into second place as Avbelj slipped back.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">And the defending Italian champion was quickest again on SS4, Guarcino – Altipiani, to lead Tempestini by 11.2sec as crews returned to Fiuggi for the midday service halt.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Tempestini’s reply was quick and emphatic with his stage-winning performance on SS5 lowering Crugnola’s lead to 9.4sec before the overall positions were reversed following the repeat of Santopadre - Fontana Liri.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><img class="media-element file-default panopoly-image-original" data-delta="2" src="/sites/default/files/styles/panopoly_image_original/public/270424_tempestini.jpeg?itok=nxWaj7Wh" alt="" /></p><p style="text-align: justify;">While Crugnola, running 21<sup>st</sup> on the road, conceded he’d been too careful avoiding the rocks that had been dragged onto the stage in certain sections, Tempestini went 11.1sec quicker on a stage he described as “one of our favourite stages”.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Although he was 2.4sec slower than stage winner Simone Campedelli through SS7, he was quicker than Tempestini and returned to the overnight halt in Fiuggi leading by a scant 0.7sec.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">“For sure we can do more but it’s like that,” Crugnola said. “I’m happy with my performance about today, we are doing a good job for the Italian championship but we will see tomorrow because I think it will be quite tough.”</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Tempestini, who pilots a Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 on Michelin tyres, said: “I’m happy with our day, it was a good one, we enjoyed every single stage. It’s the first time in this car on the Tarmac and since last year in Barum we didn’t drive the Rally2 car on Tarmac.”</p><p style="text-align: justify;">With his confidence restored following his crash in Sweden and a tough outing in Estonia, Mathieu Franceschi moved from fifth to third on SS6 having made tweaks to his pacenotes for the afternoon loop, while also adjusting the set-up of his Škoda to make it more “precise”.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Simone Campedelli overtook defending ERC champion Hayden Paddon for fourth by winning SS7 with Efrén Llarena, who was satisfied to be “in the fight”, in sixth as a mere 9.2sec covered the top six after seven sun-soaked stages, despite reporting he almost went off the road on SS7.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Avbelj, whose fastest time on SS2 marked his maiden stage win in the ERC, remains in the frame for his first European points in seventh.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Making his first start at Rally2 level in the European championship, 2023 ERC4 champion Roberto Daprà is eighth on his second outing in a Fabia RS Rally2 after making changes at midday service to dial-out understeer. The ACI Team Italia driver suffered a damaged tyre on SS5 and spent the afternoon in the knowledge he’d depleted his supply of replacement tyres.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Rally di Roma Capitale rookie Mads Østberg, who was hampered by a pop-off valve issue this morning, is ninth with Andrea Mabellini 10th for Team MRF Tyres despite a heavy hit when he went wide on a right-hander during SS3.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Double ERC champion Giandomenico Basso had been struggling to pinpoint why he wasn’t closer to the front in his Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 but then dropped out of eighth place when he picked up front-left tyre damage two kilometres from the finish of SS7.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Filip Mareš is one place behind Basso in his Hankook-equipped Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 after he went second fastest on SS5.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Simon Wagner, who was plagued by understeer this morning, Miko Marczyk and Jon Armstrong round out the points-paying top 15 with Erik Cais overcoming illness and on off on SS2 in 16th.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Filip Kohn leads FIA ERC3 in his Ford Fiesta Rally3 with Giorgio Cogni (below) ahead in FIA ERC3 driving a Peugeot 208 Rally4.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><img class="media-element file-fia-image-full content-details" data-delta="1" src="/sites/default/files/styles/content_details/public/05_erc_rome_al_cogni_393.jpeg?itok=0HZUUNJs" alt="" /></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Sunday’s route consists of six stages over a competitive distance of 93.66 kilometres. The action begins with the 5.90km Fiuggi stage from 07:50 local time. The rally-deciding Monastero - Jenne Power Stage is due to begin at 16:05.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"> </p> <a href="/championship/european-rally-championship">European Rally Championship</a><div class='category-icon news'></div><a href="/tags/erc">ERC</a><img src="https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/news/main_image/05_erc_rome_al_crugnola_369.jpeg" width="1280" height="853" /><a href="/taxonomy/term/2043">SEASON 2024</a><a href="/taxonomy/term/12">Sport</a><a href="/family/rallies">Rallies</a>1SportEuropean Rally ChampionshipRalliesSEASON 2024ERC01<span class="date-display-single">Saturday, July 27, 2024 - 9:08pm</span><span class="date-display-single">Saturday, July 27, 2024 - 9:08pm</span> Sat, 27 Jul 2024 19:08:00 +0000 rrodgers 53200 at https://www.fia.com F1 – Verstappen dominates qualifying in damp conditions at Spa as Leclerc inherits pole https://www.fia.com/news/f1-verstappen-dominates-qualifying-damp-conditions-spa-leclerc-inherits-pole Sport news<p>Max Verstappen dominated a wet qualifying session at Spa-Francorchamps beating Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc by almost six tenths of a second, with under pressure Sergio Pérez putting in a good performance to take third. However, with Verstappen set for a 10-place grid penalty for the race, Leclerc grabs pole for tomorrow’s Belgian Grand Prix. </p><p>"It was a nice qualifying. It was raining a little bit but we could do a decent qualifying,” said Verstappen, who will start the race from P11 after taking a fifth ICE of the season this weekend. “I know that I have to start 10 places back so this was the best I could do today. We'll go from there. I don't know how quick we are going to be but I hope that we can be in the mix to try to move forward.”</p><p>The opening session of qualifying began on a damp track, on Intermediate tyres but with no rain falling and Verstappen was quickly to the fore. The Red Bull driver posted a lap of 1:56.003 on his opening lap to take top spot from McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, with Pérez in third. </p><p>With a little less than seven minutes remaining, Piastri jumped back to top spot with a lap of 1:55.549, 0.454 ahead of Verstappen who was starting another flyer. And when the Dutchman crossed the line, he returned to the top of the leaderboard with a time of 1:54.938, six tenths ahead of Piastri. </p><p>In the final minutes, Piastri once again stole top spot with a lap of 1:54.835. Verstappen went for a last attempt but the Dutchman came across a slow Guanyu Zhou on his flyer and as Alpine’s Pierre Gasly took P2, Verstappen eased through in third place having used just one set of Inters during the session, with Pérez in fourth. </p><p>At the other end of the table, Haas’ Nico Hülkenberg and Kevin Magnussen were ruled out in 16<sup>th</sup> and 17<sup>th</sup>respectively, with RB’s Yuki Tsunoda exiting in P18 ahead of Williams’ Logan Sargeant and the Sauber of Zhou. </p><p>Alex Albon kicked things off in 1:54.724, but he was swiftly demoted by Lando Norris who went almost three tenths of a second quicker than the Williams driver. Verstappen, though, was going even quicker and he jumped to top spot with a lap of 1:53.857, six tenths ahead of Norris and eight clear of Albon. </p><p>Verstappen then shaved two hundredths of a second off his first flyer to cement himself into P1 but further back, Pérez, was flirting with trouble.</p><p>The Mexican bolted on more fresh Inters and jumped to fourth but as the track improved further and better times flooded in elsewhere, he began to slide down the timesheet. And when the order settled after the final shake-up, the Mexican scraped through to Q3 in tenth place, just 0.003s ahead of Williams’ Alex Albon who was eliminated ahead of Gasly, RB’s Daniel Ricciardo, Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas and Stroll. </p><p>At the start of the top-10 shootout, the Red Bull pair were last out on track and on new Inters Verstappen powered to the top of the order with a lap of 1:53.159, six tenths of a second ahead of Pérez who put in a strong lap on used tyres to post a lap of 1:53.765. That put the Mexican over two tenths clear of Hamilton who was on fresh tyres. </p><p>And with only the Ferrari cars with fresh inters for the final runs, Verstappen’s opening time proved untouchable as claimed top spot in qualifying, meaning that after his penalty for taking a fifth ICE of the season, the champion will start from 11<sup>th</sup> place on the grid. </p><p>Behind him, Leclerc, one of the few to have a fresh set of Inters for his final run, edged ahead of Pérez by 0.011s in the final moments to claim P2 and a front-of-the-grid start for the race. Pérez, third in the session, will line up on the front row for the first time since the Chinese Grand Prix in April.</p><p>Behind Checo, Hamilton qualified fourth ahead of Norris, with Piastri in sixth place. Russell took seventh in the second Mercedes ahead of Sainz, while Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso ended the session in ninth place ahead of Ocon. </p><p><strong>2024 FIA Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix – Qualifying</strong><br />1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1'53.159 <br />2 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1'53.754 0.595<br />2 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1'53.765 0.011 <br />4 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1'53.835 0.081 <br />5 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1'53.981 0.227 <br />6 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1'54.027 0.273 <br />7 George Russell Mercedes 1'54.184 0.430 <br />8 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1'54.477 0.723 <br />9 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1'54.765 1.011 <br />10 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1'54.810 1.056 <br />11 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1'54.473 0.719 <br />12 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1'54.635 0.881 <br />13 Daniel Ricciardo RB/Honda RBPT 1'54.682 0.928 <br />14 Valtteri Bottas Sauber/Ferrari 1'54.764 1.010 <br />15 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1'55.716 1.962 <br />16 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 1'56.308 2.554 <br />17 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1'56.500 2.746 <br />18 Yuki Tsunoda RB/Honda RBPT 1'56.593 2.839 <br />19 Zhou Guanyu Sauber/Ferrari 1'57.775 4.021 <br />20 Logan Sargeant Williams/Mercedes 1'57.230 3.476 </p><p> </p><p> </p> <a href="/championship/fia-formula-one-world-championship">FIA Formula One World Championship</a><div class='category-icon news'></div><a href="/tags/f1">F1</a><img src="https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/news/main_image/dppi_00124015_916.jpg" width="3281" height="2401" /><a href="/taxonomy/term/2043">SEASON 2024</a><a href="/taxonomy/term/12">Sport</a><a href="/family/circuit">Circuit</a>1SportFIA Formula One World ChampionshipCircuitSEASON 2024F101<span class="date-display-single">Saturday, July 27, 2024 - 6:46pm</span><span class="date-display-single">Saturday, July 27, 2024 - 6:46pm</span> Sat, 27 Jul 2024 16:46:00 +0000 jhynes 53187 at https://www.fia.com F1 - 2024 Belgian Grand Prix Post-Qualifying Press Conference Transcript https://www.fia.com/news/f1-2024-belgian-grand-prix-post-qualifying-press-conference-transcript Sport news<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>DRIVERS</strong></p><p style="text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>1 – Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing)</strong></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>2 – Charles LECLERC (Ferrari)</strong></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>3 – Sergio PÉREZ (Red Bull Racing) </strong></p><p style="text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>TRACK INTERVIEWS</strong></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>(Conducted by Billy Monger)</strong></p><p style="text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Q: Checo Pérez, a good qualifying for you there. P3, but you will line up second on the grid for tomorrow's race with your team-mate's penalty. How was it out there for you?</strong></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Sergio PÉREZ: </strong>Yeah, it was very tricky at times. Obviously, as always, you know, in these conditions, it's so easy for it to go wrong, as it's been going in the last few qualifyings in these conditions. And, yeah, I mean, it was good to finally put it together. Unfortunately, we didn't have any new tyres for Q3. We were a bit out of sync in Q2, so we were also quite lucky to make it in P10. And I think P2 is probably the best position you can wish for in Spa, you know. It was the same with Charles last year, so I'm going to be trying tomorrow to be the same. And, yeah, it's a long race ahead of us. It looks like it's going to be dry, so we'll see.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Q: And going into the race tomorrow, obviously qualifying has been a part of your season that has been under pressure, especially the last few races, it hasn't gone to plan. What was your mindset going into this weekend, knowing that Spa is a circuit that in previous years has suited your car pretty well?</strong></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>SP:</strong> Yeah, you know, I mean, like I've always said, you know, every weekend it's a new opportunity to do better, every day, you know. Tomorrow is a new opportunity for us to do even better than today and go for that win.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Q: And that opportunity… You mentioned the race tomorrow. You will be starting on the front row. What can you do tomorrow, Sergio? Are you capable of winning this race?</strong></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>SP: </strong>We'll see, you know, it's a very long race ahead of us. I think tomorrow degradation will be quite tricky, and graining with this new tarmac. I think there are a lot of unknowns still, but I’ve got a good feeling for tomorrow, so we'll see.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Q: Congratulations. Good luck tomorrow, Sergio. Charles Leclerc, second in qualifying today, but you will line up on pole position tomorrow. Pretty similar to last year in that regard.</strong></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Charles LECLERC:</strong> Yeah, I mean, exactly the same. It's good. I mean, I definitely did not expect that this weekend. Obviously, with the tricky conditions, we could do something above our expectations. So, yeah, it's a good day for the team. Now we need to focus on tomorrow and see what will happen whenever the rain is gone.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Q: So do you think the conditions today, the fact we had the mixed conditions out there – and it looked tricky from the driver's point of view – do you think that helped you make the difference today?</strong></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>CL:</strong> Yeah, I think that without this rain, probably P5 was the position we were fighting for, with the Mercedes especially. But obviously with the rain, it helped us a little bit. But I'm not going to complain. I'm really happy. I'm very happy with the lap in Q3. And it's good to be back on the front part of the grid. But now we've got to finalise that tomorrow.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Q: And tomorrow you'll be starting from pole. What's your approach going to be going up through Eau Rouge on that first lap if you're still in the lead? Because it could be a tricky race to lead the first lap around here.</strong></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>CL: </strong>Yeah, it's not the easiest first place to keep on the first lap here. But honestly, I will see it. Every start is different. And then once I'll be in the car tomorrow through Eau Rouge, I'll decide what's the best thing I can do. But obviously, I'll try to keep that first place.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Q: Good luck for tomorrow.</strong></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>CL:</strong> Thank you very much. Thank you.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Q: Max Verstappen, another pole position for you this weekend. Unfortunately, you won't line up in pole position because of the grid penalty. But talk us through that lap because that was exceptional out there.</strong></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Max VERSTAPPEN: </strong>Yeah, it was a nice qualifying. Luckily, the weather was okay. It was just raining a little bit, but at least we could do a decent qualifying. Yeah, everything worked well. Every tyre set that we were on, we could just do good lap times. I was, of course, also thinking about Q3, not knowing if it was going to dry out, so I was trying to keep two new sets for Q3, and luckily we escaped in Q1, Q2, so... Yeah, very happy. I mean, the car was working quite well in the wet. Yeah, I could just do my laps and try to do clean lap times in the wet, which is always quite tricky. But tomorrow, of course, I know that it's quite a different day. It's going to be warmer, normally no rain. So it's all about tyre degradation. And, yeah, we just need to make sure we're good on that. I know that, of course, I have to start also ten places back, so this was the best I could do today. And then go from there. I don't know how quick we're going to be. I hope that we can be in the mix, you know, to try and move forward.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Q: Coming into this weekend, you probably knew within the team that you were going to take this grid penalty and make the decision that you have. You've started out of position here in Spa. What's your approach going to be down into Turn 1? Because it's a tight corner. It can really get a bit chaotic at times there.</strong></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>MV:</strong> Yeah, the race can be lost, of course, in Turn 1, so just need to see what happens, you know, in the start, naturally, and just go from there. It's a very long race, it's very hard on tyres, and just need to try and manage that as good as we can, and hopefully then we can be competitive tomorrow.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Q: It's been a couple of races since you've won a Grand Prix. Starting where you are tomorrow, do you think you can bounce back after last weekend and get a race victory? How quick is your car in race trim?</strong></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>MV:</strong> We are not making it easy on ourselves, and especially, of course, in the battle that we're in. I know that today was a great day, but it's in the wet. We need to be quick in the drive tomorrow. But yeah, it's going to be a tough battle. Yeah, we'll try to do the best we can. Hopefully, we can battle the Ferraris and the Mercedes, of course, ahead. And if we have a bit of luck, of course, maybe we can challenge the McLaren.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>PRESS CONFERENCE </strong></p><p style="text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Q: A very warm welcome to the fastest three drivers in qualifying for the FIA Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix. In third place, Sergio Pérez. In second place, Charles Leclerc. And fastest in Q3 once again here at Spa, Max Verstappen. Well, very well done, Max. You were extremely quick in all conditions. How hooked up were you and the RB20 today?</strong></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>MV:</strong> Yeah, it was a good day. Of course, yesterday we tried a few things with the car. I think we learned from that. And today we tried to put on the car what we thought was best. And I think, as you could see, we ran maybe also a little bit more downforce compared to some competitors. So naturally, of course, in the wet, probably it's a little bit more stable and that can help, of course, around here. But overall, I think the laps were good in qualifying all the way from Q1 to Q3. I passed Q1 and Q2 only on one tyre set, so I think that was important because that gave me, of course, a better opportunity for Q3. Yeah, everything was working well, but, of course, today is not as important because tomorrow is going to be dry, it's going to be warmer, and we need to be good on tyres and, of course, starting 10 places back. It is going to be, of course, a little bit more tricky. I don't expect it, of course, to be like the last two years. Naturally, looking at the cars around us being quite quick. So, yeah, we'll just try to move forward, try to fight Ferraris, Mercedes, and with a bit of luck, maybe the McLarens, but it all depends on our pace ourselves.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Q: Max, one question about Q3. You were six tenths faster than anybody else after the first runs. Why did you go out again? Was it just to be sure?</strong></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>MV: </strong>I had another tyre set, so I was like, let's try and go faster. I'm not sure what happened. I was very close to my lap time in places, like gaining, losing. Maybe it just rained a little bit more and it just didn't give me the same grip. But I mean, both laps are almost identical. So when you have the tyres, I mean, you can try and get a better lap out of it.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Q: You've said who you hope to be battling with in the race tomorrow. Just strategically, what is going to be your approach?</strong></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>MV: </strong>Survive lap one and just go from there. I mean, we also have a bit of a different tyre strategy to the other cars, so we have to wait and see how that will evolve in the race. But, yeah, we'll see what we can do. I mean, I'm not as confident as I was the last two years around here in coming back to the front. I still see it more as a damage limitation race. That's how it is. But at least today was the best possible we could do in terms of the starting position for tomorrow.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Q: Are you more confident in the car here than you were at the Hungaroring last weekend?</strong></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>MV:</strong> I think overall the balance is a bit better, yeah. If it's going to be enough to be the quickest, I'm not sure. But yeah, hopefully we can just have it all a bit more under control.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Q: Alright, very well done today. Charles, let's come to you now, tomorrow's pole sitter. But let's talk about Q3. You pulled together a beautiful lap right at the end of the session. Just how good was it?</strong></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>CL:</strong> It was a good lap. As Max said, the rain picked up a little bit at the end of Q3, which maybe there was a bit more to find on the first part of Q3, but obviously anyway, P1 was out of reach for us today. It's a lot better than what we expected coming into the weekend, and especially after yesterday, that was a very difficult day for the team once again. So yeah, the tricky conditions helped us today.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Q: What about the asphalt? So much of it is new this year. How was that performing in the wet weather?</strong></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>CL:</strong> I mean, the old asphalt seems to be drying up pretty quickly, whereas the new asphalt a little bit slower. So that was a little bit tricky. But all in all, it was fine. I think there was quite a good grip on the new asphalt, which made it quite fun to drive in wet conditions.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Q: So, Charles, let's throw it forward. Pole position. Are you more confident coming into this race than you were at the same point last year?</strong></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>CL: </strong>I cannot remember about last year. Too long ago, and so many things have happened since then. Then for sure, if we are looking for tomorrow, it's going to be a tricky race for us. It will be dry conditions. And on dry conditions recently, we've been struggling a little bit more. However, the McLaren is a bit further away than what we wanted. There's Checo right behind. That will be the main target, and then we'll see how it goes after the first stint. But it's a good starting position. It's also a track where you can overtake quite easily, so we'll need the pace, and that we’ll only have the answer tomorrow.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Q: Very well done. Thank you. And Checo, well done to you as well. That was a great qualifying session for you. Are you much happier with the car this weekend?</strong></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>SP:</strong> Not initially. We tried a lot of things. We kept throwing things at it. And it's never ideal when you don't have progression. And once again, today we threw at it a lot of things. I think we found a nicer window, a little bit similar in the direction of Hungary. But we were a lot happier with the car, so I think… Although, I mean it's on Inter conditions but the balance in the medium high-speed was feeling positive, in the right direction. So let's see tomorrow. I think tomorrow is going to be a very different day and let's see where how much we are able to improve.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Q: Given that you only just crept through Q2 were you surprised by your pace in Q3?</strong></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>SP:</strong> I think already I was quick in Q1, Q2. The problem was our run programme. We finished a lap before everyone. I think I was P4 or something. But then, you know, when you give a lap away, everything was really, really close. So we were very lucky to be able to make it. I think it was, yeah, it was definitely a mistake on our run programme to left us vulnerable, basically.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Q: Alright, and just your thoughts on the performance of the car in the dry?</strong></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>SP:</strong> I think yesterday McLaren looked very strong. But at the same time, we are not that far away. So we've done some changes in the direction of tomorrow. So we'll see. I think after the first stint, we will have a good idea.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR </strong></p><p style="text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Q (Christian Menath – Motorsport-magazin.com) I think you went for the bigger rear wing as the one you had in FP1. Some people might think it's a strange choice given that you have the 10-place grid penalty, but is it the case that with the DRS effect so big nowadays that it doesn't make a huge difference in the race then?</strong></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>MV:</strong> I felt a bit more confident and comfortable on the FP1 wing. So I hope that that is also going to be the case tomorrow. Tomorrow is a bit warmer as well, so naturally probably a bit more sliding. I just hope, yeah, that it's better for me. But when you look at the McLaren, for example, they run a very skinny wing. Seems to work for them, but it didn't really work for me yesterday. So yeah, bit of a different strategy also there. And I guess we'll find out tomorrow how it will work out. I mean, I have to pass cars. The DRS effect is quite big around here, but at the end of the day, I think it's more important just to be good on tyres around here. Because if you're good on tyres, you can pass people.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Q: (Scott Mitchell-Malm – The Race) Checo, after the last couple of months, I think this is your best qualifying result since China. How kind of satisfying is that for you, given the criticism that you've had, the fact that Red Bull has said that they wanted to have some conversations over the summer break? It's perfectly timed. And I think, as Tom alluded to, it could have been so different had that run plan cost you in Q2.</strong></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>SP:</strong> From my point of view, it doesn't change anything. You know, I've always said it's not where we are now, it's how you ride the waves and where we finish in Abu Dhabi. I mean, there are a lot of drivers that haven't been able to maximise their performance lately, but obviously, the scrutiny on my side has been quite a bit higher. It doesn't change anything from my point of view. I think tomorrow is a new day, a new opportunity. It would have been the same if I was knocked out in Q2. Tomorrow is a new opportunity to do better. And it's the way I see it. It's tomorrow what really counts. And if I don't have a good race tomorrow, I will try to have a good one in Zandvoort. It's how it is, this is a sport and sometimes it goes your way, sometimes you have to fight and nothing goes in your direction, but I think it's just the nature of the sport.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Q: (Jake Boxall-Legge – Autosport) Another question for Checo. Obviously, fantastic result today, really good race in Hungary as well. Do you feel like confidence is starting to come back to you after, I guess, a very difficult period for you?</strong></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>SP:</strong> More than confidence, I mean, it's not like I forgot how to drive, you know, from five, six races ago. It's just that you see it with a lot of drivers. Sometimes you're not able to maximise the full potential of your car. And for that reason, you end up lacking that, let's say, confidence to extract the maximum out of the car you have. I think we've been taking good step forwards in the right direction since Hungary. I think Silverstone was already quite good, I had a really good Friday. So I think the season… The car is going in the right direction for now and hopefully tomorrow we are able to finish it off with a strong result. And still, there is a long way to go in the season. So yeah, just head down and I think like I've said before, you know, the team and myself are focusing on and what we’ve got to do. At the end of the day it's getting the most points we possibly can and the rest couldn't care less to be honest.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Q: (Carlo Platella – FormulaPassion.it) A question for Max and Sergio. How much do you think today result is due to track, weather conditions or a different set-up strategy?</strong></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>MV: </strong>I think it's all down to the drivers!</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>SP:</strong> Confidence.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>MV:</strong> No, well, like I mentioned before, we run a bit more downforce, so for sure that is good for today. One lap pace is of course important, but it's more important to be good on the tyres tomorrow. I feel like most of the last qualifyings, we have been quite close over one lap, even when I was still not entirely happy with the car or the balance. But then in the race, sometimes there have been bigger differences for me. So it's important that tomorrow we are good on tyres and competitive, of course, as well.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>SP: </strong>Same.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Q: (Luke Smith – The Athletic) Max, I know you said it's still a damage limitation race for you, but compared to Thursday when you seemed quite downbeat about your chances of winning, given where the McLarens are starting as well tomorrow, do you feel a little bit more optimistic that you could still win tomorrow's race? </strong></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>MV: </strong>Looking at their pace yesterday in the long run, it's incredibly strong. They look very comfortable out there. Of course, they are starting a little bit further back, I think they're so fast they will quite quickly challenge for the front, for the lead. And it also depends a bit, of course, how I get through lap one and stuff. But I would already be happy if we can match that race pace. So starting a bit further back, also being on different tyres, I don't know how that is going to work out. Most teams around us have two hard tyres, we don't. I don't know if that's better or not, of course, for the moment, but we'll find out tomorrow. But, yeah. It's definitely still a damage limitation.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Q: (Leonardo Pasqual – Funoanalisitecnica.com) Charles, how did you improve the balance of your car from Q1 to Q3? And how did you work to put more temperature on the tyres?</strong></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>CL:</strong> We didn't change the balance that much actually from Q1 to Q3. I think where we improved quite a bit was to put the tyres in the right window. That was super important and in those conditions that's always where you struggle. So this we did some modifications especially on the out lap and how much you push and where you push. And then I felt more at ease, and that helped me for Q3. So, yeah, it was all about fine-tuning the out lap and putting the tyres in the right window.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Q: (Lawrence Edmondson – ESPN) Another question for Charles. How surprised are you by this result? Because obviously it's been a while since we've seen you in the top three. Was it just a case of, like you say, getting the tyres in the right window in the wet, or is this something of a bigger step for Ferrari?</strong></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>CL:</strong> No, I'm very surprised. And actually, even when I finished the lap, I didn't feel like it was worth a second place. I mean, it was a good lap, a clean lap, and that's what you need in those conditions. And I believe that especially when you get to Q3 in the last lap, everybody knows that this is the lap, and that pushes people to maybe do more mistakes. On my side, it was a clean lap, but not an incredible lap. So yeah, I'm very happy to be P2 but I definitely did not expect that. I think as a team today P5 will have been a bit of a good result and today we are P2 and tomorrow we will be starting on pole. So that's a good thing. But as I said we don't have any magical solution for the race pace and it will be a bit of a tricky day tomorrow.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Q: (Scott Mitchell-Malm – The Race) Do you think that when you look at the comparison of your car to McLaren, do you think that the McLaren is now the best all-round car, but it's now about optimising things, and actually they're so closely matched that conditions, track characteristics is the thing that will swing the battle between the two teams?</strong></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>MV: </strong>Well, I think if you look at the last five, six races, they for sure have been the best. I mean, quite clear. And I mean, that's fine. Fair play to them. I think they have done a great job. From our side, yeah, we have a bit of work to do, a few things also to analyse over the break. From race one all the way to here, what we have done. And then, yeah, try to fight back from Zandvoort, see if we can actually improve the situation, try to turn it around, try to be more competitive. I think the battle is in a way still quite tight. So, you know, when you make small mistakes, it definitely can swing quite quickly. And yeah, we have to try to use that in our advantage as well, because it's so difficult at the moment. But we'll see. I mean, there are so many races left and so many things that can happen. You can have the best possible preparation into every single weekend, but even then things can catch you by surprise. So you just have to remain focused, calm, and try to improve.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>SP: </strong>Yeah, I think they've been the best car, let's say, for the last five races or so in different types of circuits. They've been strong, certainly in the race pace, and I think the break comes at a good time for Red Bull because we've got a lot to analyse on our season, the directions we've been taking, and hopefully get the balance a little bit more together for the second half of the season. More than any other upgrade, I think getting the balance in the right window will be the main key and the main focus to see what we've done, the upgrades we have brought to see where exactly we are, because I feel like we've been a little bit lost lately.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Q: (Carlo Platella – FormulaPassion.it) Charles, how was the situation with bouncing during the weekend?</strong></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>CL:</strong> Today, it was fine. But obviously, in wet conditions, it's always a little bit less of an issue. Yesterday, we struggled a bit more with it. But I don't expect this to be an issue tomorrow during the race. So this is a positive. So yeah. But if it was a dry quali, I would have expected it to be a bit more of a struggle for us.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>ENDS</strong></p> <a href="/championship/fia-formula-one-world-championship">FIA Formula One World Championship</a><div class='category-icon news'></div><a href="/taxonomy/term/1041">Formula 1</a><img src="https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/news/main_image/dppi_00124015_916_0.jpg" width="4794" height="3196" /><a href="/taxonomy/term/2043">SEASON 2024</a><a href="/taxonomy/term/12">Sport</a><a href="/family/circuit">Circuit</a>1SportFIA Formula One World ChampionshipCircuitSEASON 2024Formula 100<span class="date-display-single">Saturday, July 27, 2024 - 6:27pm</span><span class="date-display-single">Saturday, July 27, 2024 - 6:27pm</span> Sat, 27 Jul 2024 16:27:00 +0000 aterzian 53188 at https://www.fia.com F1 – Verstappen quickest as heavy rain disrupts FP3 in Belgium https://www.fia.com/news/f1-verstappen-quickest-heavy-rain-disrupts-fp3-belgium Sport news<p>Max Verstappen topped the timesheet in a rain-affected final practice session for the 2024 FIA Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix, as a crash for Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll brought out the red flags before the session was suspended for a second time due to the conditions. </p><p>At the start of the wet session Verstappen was first out on track to try to get some data ahead of what is expected to be a wet qualifying session. Running on Intermediate tyres, the Dutch driver managed to cross the line in 2:03.232, almost 20s slower than his best time from Friday’s dry sessions.</p><p>Verstappen completed three more laps, getting down to 2:01.565 which left him top of the timesheet, 1.4s clear of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and the second McLaren of Lando Norris.</p><p>Norris has a nervous moment when he slid off track at at Malmedy and bounced through the gravel, with McLaren later opting to change the floor on his car due to the incident.</p><p>With a little over 10 minutes on the clock, the red flags then came out when Stroll crashed at Raidillon. The Aston Martin driver aquaplaned on the steep run up the hill and he spun through the run-off and hit the barriers with the left front of his car, breaking the suspension. </p><p>After a 10-minute delay, the session resumed but with the conditions now worse, all drivers remained in the pits and as the rain continued to fall race control stopped the session for a second time just ahead of the two thirds mark. </p><p>That ended meaningful running. The session was resulted in the final two minutes to allow drivers to make practice starts and a clutch of drivers headed out on extreme wets to test the conditions and try out an unlikely start from the grid on the blue banded tyres. </p><p><strong>2024 FIA Formula 1 Belgian Prix – Free Practice 3</strong><br />1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 2'01.565 4 207.414<br />2 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 2'02.998 1.433 4 204.998<br />3 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 2'03.175 1.610 5 204.703<br />4 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 2'03.372 1.807 4 204.377<br />5 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 2'05.250 3.685 7 201.312<br />6 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 2'06.033 4.468 4 200.061<br />7 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 2'06.037 4.472 4 200.055<br />8 Valtteri Bottas Sauber/Ferrari 2'06.492 4.927 7 199.335<br />9 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 2'06.751 5.186 3 198.928<br />10 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 2'07.103 5.538 3 198.377<br />11 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 2'07.443 5.878 3 197.848<br />12 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 2'08.040 6.475 5 196.925<br />13 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 2'08.071 6.506 4 196.878<br />14 Daniel Ricciardo RB/Honda RBPT 2'08.410 6.845 5 196.358<br />15 Yuki Tsunoda RB/Honda RBPT 2'09.444 7.879 7 194.790<br />16 Zhou Guanyu Sauber/Ferrari 2'11.109 9.544 7 192.316<br />17 Logan Sargeant Williams/Mercedes 2'11.220 9.655 3 192.153<br />18 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 2'15.163 13.598 2 186.548<br />19 George Russell Mercedes - 2 <br />20 Carlos Sainz Ferrari - 2 </p> <a href="/championship/fia-formula-one-world-championship">FIA Formula One World Championship</a><div class='category-icon news'></div><a href="/tags/f1">F1</a><img src="https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/news/main_image/dppi_00124015_753.jpg" width="4840" height="3227" /><a href="/taxonomy/term/2043">SEASON 2024</a><a href="/taxonomy/term/12">Sport</a><a href="/family/circuit">Circuit</a>1SportFIA Formula One World ChampionshipCircuitSEASON 2024F101<span class="date-display-single">Saturday, July 27, 2024 - 2:05pm</span><span class="date-display-single">Saturday, July 27, 2024 - 2:05pm</span> Sat, 27 Jul 2024 12:05:00 +0000 jhynes 53146 at https://www.fia.com F1 – Norris and Piastri give McLaren one-two in second practice for Belgian Grand Prix https://www.fia.com/news/f1-norris-and-piastri-give-mclaren-one-two-second-practice-belgian-grand-prix Sport news<p>Lando Norris beat team-mate Oscar Piastri by two tenths of a second to give McLaren a 1-2 in second practice for the 2024 FIA Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix, with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in third place, just 0.002 behind the second McLaren. </p><p>At the start of the second hour of practice, Verstappen quickly moved to the top of the timesheet, using the C3 Medium tyres to work his way to an early benchmark of 1:43.339. Norris, meanwhile, was in second place, on Soft tyres and two tenths off Verstappen on Softs tyres. </p><p>As the first quarter of the session elapsed the field headed back to the pits to prepare for qualifying simulations, which were kicked off by Carlos Sainz. The Ferrari driver duly took top spot from Verstappen with a time of 1:43.098, before Piastri moved well ahead of the Spaniard with a lap of 1:42.475. </p><p>Verstappen then emerged on the C4 Soft rubber but despite again looking quick, the championship leader couldn’t dislodge Piastri from P1 and the Red Bull driver slotted into second, just 0.002s behind the Australian. </p><p>Charles Leclerc then went almost three tenths of a second quicker than team-mate Sainz to put the Ferrari drivers fourth and fifth, before Norris at last reappeared on a new set of softs. The Briton put in purple times in the final two thirds of his lap to post a time of 1:42.260s that put him 0.215s clear of Piastri.</p><p>With the Ferraris four and fifth, George Russell took sixth for Mercedes, with Alpine's Esteban Ocon and Haas’ Kevin Magnussen seventh and eighth respectively. Then came Sergio Pérez, with the Mexican 1.244s down on Norris and a full second off team-mate Verstappen. The top 10 order was rounded out by Lewis Hamilton in the second Mercedes. </p><p>Outside the top 10, Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso were 11<sup>th</sup> and 12<sup>th</sup> respectively for Aston Martin, with Valtteri Bottas 13<sup>th</sup> in an updated Sauber ahead of RB’s Daniel Ricciardo who had to return to the pit lane late in the session due to a suspected loose roll bar. </p><p><strong>2024 FIA Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix – Free Practice 2 </strong><br />1 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:42.260 19 246.571<br />2 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1:42.475 0.215 23 246.054<br />3 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:42.477 0.217 26 246.049<br />4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:42.837 0.577 23 245.188<br />5 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:43.098 0.838 25 244.567<br />6 George Russell Mercedes 1:43.290 1.030 24 244.112<br />7 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1:43.401 1.141 23 243.850<br />8 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1:43.485 1.225 21 243.652<br />9 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:43.504 1.244 24 243.607<br />10 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:43.519 1.259 25 243.572<br />11 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:43.532 1.272 21 243.542<br />12 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:43.538 1.278 24 243.527<br />13 Valtteri Bottas Sauber/Ferrari 1:43.675 1.415 24 243.206<br />14 Daniel Ricciardo RB/Honda RBPT 1:43.823 1.563 21 242.859<br />15 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1:43.829 1.569 24 242.845<br />16 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 1:43.846 1.586 21 242.805<br />17 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:43.892 1.632 23 242.698<br />18 Logan Sargeant Williams/Mercedes 1:44.226 1.966 24 241.920<br />19 Zhou Guanyu Sauber/Ferrari 1:44.302 2.042 23 241.744<br />20 Yuki Tsunoda RB/Honda RBPT 1:44.348 2.088 24 241.637</p> <a href="/championship/fia-formula-one-world-championship">FIA Formula One World Championship</a><div class='category-icon news'></div><a href="/tags/f1">F1</a><img src="https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/news/main_image/dppi_00124015_584.jpg" width="4983" height="3322" /><a href="/taxonomy/term/2043">SEASON 2024</a><a href="/taxonomy/term/12">Sport</a><a href="/family/circuit">Circuit</a>1SportFIA Formula One World ChampionshipCircuitSEASON 2024F101<span class="date-display-single">Friday, July 26, 2024 - 6:34pm</span><span class="date-display-single">Friday, July 26, 2024 - 6:34pm</span> Fri, 26 Jul 2024 16:34:00 +0000 jhynes 53090 at https://www.fia.com F1 - 2024 Belgian Grand Prix - Friday Press Conference Transcript https://www.fia.com/news/f1-2024-belgian-grand-prix-friday-press-conference-transcript Sport news<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>TEAM REPRESENTATIVES:</strong> <strong>Bruno FAMIN (Alpine), Laurent MEKIES (RB), Frédéric VASSEUR (Ferrari), Alessandro ALUNNI BRAVI (Kick Sauber)</strong><br /> <br /><strong>Q: Alessandro, can we start with you? Your team was front and centre in the news cycle coming into this Grand Prix. with the news that Matti Binotto is replacing Oliver Hoffman and Andreas Seidl. What can you tell us about why this change has been made?</strong><br /><strong>Alessandro ALUNNI BRAVI</strong><strong>:</strong> First of all, good afternoon to everybody. As you know, I think that as a part of the complete takeover by Audi AG of all the shares in the Sauber Group, there has been a realignment of the control structures, aiming at redefined responsibilities, to have an efficient decision-making process with a clear management structure. In order to reach this goal, there has been also a new leadership team that has been put in place with Mattia Binotto, that has been appointed as a CTO and COO, reporting directly to the Audi AG CEO, Gernot Döllner. So I think that this is a very important, again, proof of the commitment of Audi into the F1 project. Mattia has a proven track record. He has a vast experience, more than 25 years in Formula 1, having led important project, first as an engine a leader of the engine department at Ferrari, then of course overviewing the technical department until his appointment as a team principal in 2019. So I think that is an important decision that give again the sign of the Audi commitment and that should help the team to bring our team up to the F1 speed in terms of decision process, in terms of leadership, and I think it is an important and good move for all our team.<br /> <br /><strong>Q: Alessandro, you talk about the leadership and the reporting structure. Can you tell us from your point of view, what was it like working with Andreas and Oliver?</strong><br /><strong>AAB: </strong>First of all, let me say thank you to Andreas and Oliver because, of course, they have helped the team to start the project for the entry into Formula 1. So the first thing is for them, and to thank them about their contribution. I think that as of the Audi takeover, there was a need for a change of speed into the F1 project. We know that there is a lot of work to be done ahead of us, but we know also that it's important that we appoint people that can help us to have a clear management structure. In order to work in a very integrated way between Hinwil and Neuburg, Because, of course, this is the target, you know, to work as a Formula 1 factory team. And this is something that will be even better implemented through the appointment of Mattia. And, of course, it's not for me to comment on the individual, you know, background and the reason why. But I think that we need to not judge what has been done, if not thank Andreas and Oliver, but we need to look at the future. We need to look at the next steps. As I mentioned, there is a lot of work ahead of us. And I think that with Mattia, we can achieve the targets that are both the targets of Audi AG and all the people working in Hinwil and in Neuburg.<br /> <br /><strong>Q: So looking at the future, are you expecting Mattia to do things differently?</strong><br /><strong>AAB:</strong> Every person has a different approach. It's not a matter of just the profile, the background, the personality, of course. I know Mattia from many years, thanks to the partnership we had when Fred was our team principal at Sauber and the relationship with Ferrari. I think he's very competent with a very proven background. And I think that he has a vast competence, especially in the technical matters. The message is clear. He will be leading Sauber Motorsport. He will have a full responsibility and accountability for the sporting success of the Audi factory team. I think he has all the characteristics in order to reach this goal and guide our structure towards 2026 and onwards.<br /> <br /><strong>Q: OK, thank you very much for that. I'm sure there'll be more questions for you on this topic in a moment. Can we come to the other team that was creating a few headlines coming into this weekend, Bruno and Alpine? But before we get into the power unit business and other things, I just did want to ask you about FP1 and Esteban Ocon's problem. What were his issues?</strong><br /><strong>Bruno FAMIN:</strong> Good afternoon everyone. It was a leak on the cooling circuit of the battery. It was super difficult to access and we had to remove the engine to access that part.<br /> <br /><strong>Q: Thank you for clarifying that. Let's stick with the power unit because there's been a lot of speculation about what you're going to do in the future. What is going on? What's the latest?</strong><br /><strong>BF: </strong>The latest is that we have presented a project. In fact, the project is not the power unit. The project is much bigger than that. It's a transformation project at the level of the Alpine brand. You know, the Alpine brand is developing, has a huge, huge project of development, with seven new models in the coming years with high-end technology. Very, very ambitious to build this new sporting brand and to make it known outside of France, everywhere in the world. And then the project which has been presented at the beginning of the week to the staff representative in Viry-Châtillon is to reallocate the resources from one side to another, one side being the development of the Formula 1 power unit, which is being made in Viry, to dedicate those resources and skills to developing new technologies for the brand, for the new product of the brand. And then, one of the consequences of this project, if it's accepted, would be then for Alpine F1 team to buy a power unit instead of developing its own power unit. And then we'll have more resources to develop the brand and a different power unit to race for the Formula 1 team.<br /> <br /><strong>Q: Okay, a couple of questions on that. Can you tell us who you're speaking to? And does this apply for 2025 or 2026?</strong><br /><strong>BF: </strong>The project which has been presented to the staff representative in Viry and to different governance bodies, is talking about ‘26 onwards on the power unit, clearly. And of course, we are talking to different PU manufacturers. And for the time being, of course, nothing is done because, again, it's a project. We cannot… We have to follow, you know, in France, unions, we have a social process, very strict to follow. And we have to follow it very strictly. And we cannot take any decision until having reached the end of that process. For that, I mean, we are talking to some PU manufacturers, but we cannot sign anything until this process is over.<br /> <br /><strong>Q: One final one from me. There's also been speculation in the Formula 1 paddock about your future as the team principal of Alpine. What can you tell us?</strong><br /><strong>BF: </strong>I read that, yes! You know, for the later year, I've been doubling my activities with one, the VP motorsport role, where I am managing Viry-Châtillon, with all the endurance, Dakar and Formula E projects we are managing there. And on top of that, acting as the managing director of BWT Alpine F1 team. And considering the stakes of the new project I was just mentioning about Viry, I think it will be much more useful for the company to dedicate my time, to concentrate my time to the Viry activities. I mean all the other motorsport activities and to the transformation project, if it's confirmed, because it will be a huge impact on all the Viry people. Let's not forget that the guys in Viry are making an amazing job. We all know that since 2014, we don't have the best engine in Viry, but it's one of the engines which improved the most since 2014. And now, we're still not exactly at the top, but the improvement has been very good. And the job which is being done in Viry to prepare the 2026 engine is incredible. We fixed a very high target and I am confident that we can reach that target. The figures we have from the dyno are very good. All the people are very involved, very professional, very skilled. And it's a very difficult situation there. And I think all the people, they are worth that we dedicate the necessary time to be with them in this project, which is huge. And that's why I will finish. My answer is a bit long, I know, but the topic is important. And, you know, we have a new executive advisor, since sometimes. I have no problem with Flavio. The little time we spend together, I have absolutely no issue, no problem. Everybody knows him. He has his own way. He has his own goal. I have no problem. But I think it will be clearer on that side if I step down from the team principal role of Alpine F1. And I will dedicate my time… Then I will step down from the team principal role by the end of August and be fully dedicated to the Viry-Châtillon activities from the 1st of September.<br /> <br /><strong>Q: Bruno, thank you very much for explaining that. I'm sure there will be more questions from the floor in just a moment. If I could just come to the other two members and I'm sure we'll come back to you, Bruno, in a minute. Laurent, just very quickly, one question from me. A lot of speculation about drivers. Are you expecting to have a new driver in your team when we go to Zandvoort after the summer break?</strong><br /><strong>Laurent MEKIES:</strong> Well, yes, there have been a lot of speculations. But you know what? What we kept saying is, look, guys, we spent the best part of the first part of the season just to get the car better, just to give a better car to Daniel and Yuki. And we have always said there is, from a team perspective, there is no rush. As much as there is excitement out there, there is no rush in choosing the drivers for next year. Now, equally, we are getting to the middle part of the seasons. Yes, it's been very public. I think we've made it very public that we will sit down in the summer break in order to discuss the drivers' futures. It doesn't mean that there is necessarily a change in Zandvoort, but it's only fair that halfway through the season we sit down and we look at what's the best way to move forward.<br /> <br /><strong>Q: Okay, thank you for that. And Fred, just coming to you, one question for me. Just what have we learnt in FP1? It seemed that the car was better in Hungary. Is that going to translate to the Belgian Grand Prix this weekend?</strong><br /><strong>Frédéric VASSEUR:</strong> I think it's a bit early stage to do a conclusion now, but more than everywhere else, the engine mode and the level of fuel and so on are crucial in FP1 in Spa. We'll have a better picture perhaps tonight.<br /> <br /><strong>QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR </strong><br /> <br /><strong>Q: (Christian Menath – Motorsport-magazin.com) Questions for you, Alessandro. What does the reshuffled Audi mean for you? Mattia, as you mentioned, is CTO and COO. You're a team representative. Will there be a team principal as well, or will Mattia take that role? What's the plan for that? </strong><br /><strong>AAB: </strong>I think that it's clear that Mattia is the leader of the team and of course it will be part of his decision to establish the management team. I don't think that this is relating to a single individual. I think that Mattia will start the 1st of August. He will have time to understand if the current management team and the entire organisational structure is what is necessary to bring up to F1 speed all our group. I think that what I can say is that Mattia has the full support of everybody at Audi, including myself, to have a quick integration and to have a full understanding of what is the current Sauber team and what, in our opinion, could be helpful to do the very next steps.<br /> <br /><strong>Q: (Filip Cleeren – Motorsport.com) Just to follow up on that, Alessandro. We've often seen car manufacturers come into F1 in the past and almost get too involved in the running of the F1 team itself. So by Mattia coming on board instead of Oliver and Andres, is that sort of a scenario that Audi is trying to avoid? And will Mattia have a wider reign than Andreas to make the changes that he thinks are needed?</strong><br /><strong>AAB: </strong>I think that we have said that there has been, after the complete takeover of Sauber Group, a realignment of the control structure. Targets are clear to have defined responsibility, to have efficiency in the decision-making process. And I think the fact that Mattia will be the clear, we have a clear leadership, reporting directly to Gernot Döllner, is an important sign of this new process that will, I think, help us to even further accelerate this transformation process. So I would say it is not a new dynamic, but it's a correct dynamic that we need in order to perform all the tasks and also the challenges that are ahead of us.<br /> <br /><strong>Q: (Scott Mitchell-Malm – The Race) A question to Bruno. You’ve now seen the Viry side of the operation and the Enstone sides up close. Since the Renault works team came back into F1 in 2016 it's just seemed to have failed to effectively integrate both sides to the level enough to be a top team in Formula 1. From what you've seen up close why do you think that is?</strong><br /><strong>BF: </strong>I think the story of this team is quite complex. Everybody knows it more or less. It's up and downs, stop and go. And I think it's very difficult to try to build something altogether like that. I think during the last year, I think we made quite a lot of good progress, trying to make this advantage, because I think it was an advantage to be able to do both, to make it work. But yeah, I think the reason is very complex and is located in the complex history of the team. But it has nothing to do with the project which has been presented to Viry people. I think it's really, a project in order to give even more chance for the Alpine brand to develop itself, to use the incredible skills we have in Viry. And I have no doubt that if this project is confirmed, Enstone will work well with any other PU manufacturer.<br /> <br /><strong>Q: (Luke Smith – The Athletic) Bruno, two questions to you. Firstly, could you give a timeline on when you anticipate announcing a new team principal? Have you identified who will be taking over your role? And secondly, with the customer engine deal coming in, again, a timeline for when you think there'll be an announcement there?</strong><br /><strong>BF: </strong>It's not to me to talk about, to answer that first question, at least. After, I think for the timeline, the timeline is what I said. We need to finish the social process in Viry, and it can take one week, it can take two months. We will need to finish that process and after I think the soonest will be the best for the team, of course, because everybody in Enstone needs to know how to design and with what to design the 2026 car, for sure. Very good people there as well, very constructive co-operation with them and that's for the timeline.<br /> <br /><strong>Q: (Carlo Platella – FormulaPassion.it) A question for Lauren, Fred and Alessandro. What are your thoughts about the prospect for Formula 1 of losing an engine manufacturer, as Renault Alpine?</strong><br /><strong>LM: </strong>I think it's always a bad news when you lose an OEM. And of course, from what Bruno is saying, the OEM will stay as a team, but obviously, one of the big targets of these new regulations in 2026 was to attract more OEMs. So ultimately, if it goes as Bruno said, it means that we'll get plus one with Audi and minus one with Alpine. So I don't think it's a good news. However, it comes, luckily, at a time where there is many manufacturers in Formula 1. So I would say that the sport can well afford this change. But it's never a good news when we lose a PU manufacturer.<br /><strong>FV: </strong>I'm more focused on the people of Renault. I know very well the company that I spent years with them. I started my career in 1992 with Renault and I'm profoundly attached to Renault and I think it's a shame.<br /><strong>AAB:</strong> I fully agree with Fred, because I think in this moment that is, of course, critical, and I think we can share this feeling with Bruno, people are important and we need to be focused on them. Then for me, what I think is also maybe something to understand, it seems that this is a decision that is not linked, of course, to the new PU regulation or to the trajectory that Formula 1 is taking towards 2026. I think that the PU regulations are very attractive for new manufacturers and of course Audi is the perfect example that thanks to this new regulation there is an interest from the automotive, you know, to be in Formula 1 because it's the pillar of the technology and the best, you know, testing bench for the future mobility technical solutions. So I think that is something different from the decision from Renault. And I think as a Formula 1, we need to be clear on this, you know. Sometimes it can happen. But now, as Fred said, is important the people. And I hope that the project that Bruno is developing will go forward because Bruno himself and the people at Viry-Châtillon that I also know personally deserve.<br /> <br /><strong>Q: (Jon Noble – Motorsport.com) Bruno, I know the final decision hasn't been made yet about the future of the F1 project, but the direction of travel seems quite clear and where it's heading to. But why does no longer being a manufacturer make sense now when it's been part of Renault for almost 40 years in Formula 1?</strong><br /><strong>BF: </strong>Because we are at a very specific crossroads where the project for developing the Alpine brand is now very concrete, very clear. We know the resources needed for developing it. And on the other hand, we know that for the 2026 car generation in Formula 1, it's now that the chassis regulations have been published a few weeks ago. It's now that we have to decide, because again, the guy designing the chassis needs to know with which PU they are going to use. It's not why before, it's because now the question at the Alpine brand point of view is how do we use in the best possible way for developing the brand the resources we have.<br /> <br /><strong>Q: (Henry Clark – Daily Mail) A question for Fred. Lewis will be your driver next season and yesterday he appeared to suggest that Max's behaviour last week over the team radio was not befitting of a world champion. If your driver was speaking like that over the team radio, would you be pulling him aside after the race for a word?</strong><br /><strong>FV:</strong> I don't see the link with Lewis on this, I'm sorry. I don't know if I have to be politically correct or not, but at the end of the day, we have also to keep in mind that we are the only sport in the world where the guys are speaking on the radio during the effort or the race. I'm not sure that if you put a microphone on a football player, it would be much better. Even on the referee sometimes. It means that we have also to calm down with this. Or we have to switch off the microphone, but I'm not sure that it will be a step forward for the show. But I will discuss with Lewis about it.<br /> <br /><strong>Q: (Ian Parkes – New York Times) Bruno, you mentioned that French unions are notoriously strict. Presumably that's with regard to protecting the workforce at Viry. They want to ensure that every person there has a safe future, pretty much. But given how slow that they do work in the French unions, is there any danger that there could be a delay in the naming of a new power unit supplier?</strong><br /><strong>BF: </strong>It's the French labour law, which are a bit strict, to correct, if I was not correct enough the first time. No, I don't expect any delay. The process will take some weeks and it will be quite fast anyway. We are following all the mandatory steps and there is no reason not to make it properly. A very important thing in the project which has been presented: every single employee will be offered a job. There is no redundancy at all. And we are doing everything to make potentially, because again, it's still a project, but if it's confirmed, to make a very difficult moment as less painful as possible. But we know it's never easy, this kind of thing.<br /> <br /><strong>Q: (Edd Straw – The Race) Another one for Bruno. As you've said, it is an advantage to do the car and engine. You've explained the reasons why with this project you may change the way Viry is doing things for the Alpine brand. Is that not confirmation that Renault and Alpine is no longer prioritising Formula 1 success, because you've sacrificed performance potential? and therefore what's the point of pushing on with the Formula 1 team? and is this a move towards selling?</strong><br /><strong>BF:</strong> There is a bit of potential in developing the integration, but it's quite theoretical at the end of the story, because now all the PU manufacturers are working very closely, very early in the project with the teams, and all the integration are incredibly optimised. And if we take a Ferrari or Mercedes engine, I'm quite convinced that all the integration, all the packaging will be already very, very good. Then to answer the question, no, the Formula 1 project remains a key project for the Alpine brand. It's thanks to Formula 1 that we want to develop the brand awareness globally. That remains, but the project is just reallocating the resources to develop the brand better always based on the pillar of motorsport and mainly Formula 1 to develop the awareness.<br /> <br /><strong>Q: (Adam Cooper – Adam Cooper F1) Fred, it's taken about 18 months, but you and Mattia have swapped teams in effect. You know him very well, you know Sauber very well, you know the challenges of running a team in Switzerland. Can you give us your thoughts on him going there with the skill set he has? and maybe Lauren can comment on Mattia’s qualities as well?</strong><br /><strong>FV: </strong>Honestly, not. I'm focused on my team, on my guys, and I know perfectly the fact that it's difficult to do a Formula 1 team, but not only in Switzerland. I think it's tough everywhere. And Mattia did a very good job at Ferrari in the past, that it was successful, that the team was successful, and I wish them all the best. But it's not up to me to make any comments on the potential of Mattia and Audi.<br /><strong>LM:</strong> I mean, Alessandro has mentioned it earlier. In terms of skill set, there is no question that Mattia has everything to make it work there and probably anywhere else. So, you know, I guess these guys are going to become an even stronger competitor as a result in the near future. <br /> <br /><strong>ENDS</strong></p> <a href="/championship/fia-formula-one-world-championship">FIA Formula One World Championship</a><div class='category-icon news'></div><a href="/taxonomy/term/1041">Formula 1</a><a href="/tags/f1">F1</a><img src="https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/news/main_image/e29a259f-1cf4-1a26-4b14-df0068107338.jpg" width="3872" height="2581" /><a href="/taxonomy/term/2043">SEASON 2024</a><a href="/taxonomy/term/12">Sport</a><a href="/family/circuit">Circuit</a>1SportFIA Formula One World ChampionshipCircuitSEASON 2024Formula 1F100<span class="date-display-single">Friday, July 26, 2024 - 4:46pm</span><span class="date-display-single">Friday, July 26, 2024 - 4:46pm</span> Fri, 26 Jul 2024 14:46:00 +0000 aterzian 53077 at https://www.fia.com F1 – Verstappen quickest in opening practice at Spa ahead of Piastri and Albon https://www.fia.com/news/f1-verstappen-quickest-opening-practice-spa-ahead-piastri-and-albon Sport news<p>Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen topped the timesheet in the opening practice session for the 2024 FIA Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix, beating McLaren’s Oscar Piastri by over half a second, with Williams’ Alex Albon third.</p><p>Verstappen, who is set to take a grid penalty for Sunday’s race after electing to take a fifth ICE, beyond the four allowed for the season, was quick out of the box in FP1, with the Dutch driver seizing control of top spot in the early running on Hard and Medium tyres, eventually working his way down to 1:44.524 on the C2 Hard compound Pirelli rubber. Mercedes’ George over three fliers, round which the Dutchman had to produce the very slow cool-down tours Russell and Lewis Hamilton slotted into second and third respectively with Piastri fourth ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. All were running Medium tyres. </p><p>Russell then emerged on the C4 Softs and he moved ahead of Verstappen with a 1:44.225. Verstappen though was also circling on the red-walled tyres and he powered to a time of 1:43.372 that returned him to a top spot he held on to for the remainder of the session. </p><p>Piastri then crossed the line to bump Russell back to third down to third, but the Australian only managed to get to 0.531s off Verstappen. Albon then arrived to further drop Russell down the order with the Thai driver again demonstrating Williams’ strength on low downforce circuits with a time of 1:44.099, 0.727 off Verstappen and over a tenth clear of the Mercedes. </p><p>Fourth placed Russell was followed on the timesheet by Hamilton, with Leclerc in sixth. Under pressure Red Bull driver Sergio Pérez finished the opening session in seventh place, just under a second off his championship-leading team-mate, while Lando Norris finished eighth in the other McLaren. Ninth place went to Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and the top ten order was rounded out by Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll who finished over a tenth clear of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly.</p><p>There was trouble for Gasly’s team-mate Esteban Ocon, however. The French driver who yesterday announced that he would be driving for Haas in 2025, missed almost the whole session after encountering a problem during his early practice start, with the team investigating a suspected water leak.</p><p><strong>2024 FIA Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix – Free Practice 1 </strong><br />1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:43.372 23 243.919<br />2 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1:43.903 0.531 24 242.672<br />3 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:44.099 0.727 21 242.215<br />4 George Russell Mercedes 1:44.225 0.853 23 241.922<br />5 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:44.279 0.907 21 241.797<br />6 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:44.306 0.934 25 241.734<br />7 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:44.329 0.957 22 241.681<br />8 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:44.415 1.043 24 241.482<br />9 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:44.574 1.202 24 241.115<br />10 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:44.699 1.327 20 240.827<br />11 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1:44.833 1.461 22 240.519<br />12 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:44.921 1.549 19 240.317<br />13 Daniel Ricciardo RB/Honda RBPT 1:44.950 1.578 23 240.251<br />14 Valtteri Bottas Sauber/Ferrari 1:45.155 1.783 21 239.783<br />15 Logan Sargeant Williams/Mercedes 1:45.311 1.939 20 239.427<br />16 Yuki Tsunoda RB/Honda RBPT 1:45.564 2.192 23 238.854<br />17 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 1:45.645 2.273 19 238.671<br />18 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1:45.812 2.440 19 238.294<br />19 Zhou Guanyu Sauber/Ferrari 1:45.995 2.623 23 237.882<br />20 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault - 1 </p> <a href="/championship/fia-formula-one-world-championship">FIA Formula One World Championship</a><div class='category-icon news'></div><a href="/tags/f1">F1</a><img src="https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/news/main_image/dppi_00124015_408.jpg" width="5209" height="3334" /><a href="/taxonomy/term/2043">SEASON 2024</a><a href="/taxonomy/term/12">Sport</a><a href="/family/circuit">Circuit</a>1SportFIA Formula One World ChampionshipCircuitSEASON 2024F101<span class="date-display-single">Friday, July 26, 2024 - 3:43pm</span><span class="date-display-single">Friday, July 26, 2024 - 3:43pm</span> Fri, 26 Jul 2024 13:43:00 +0000 jhynes 53072 at https://www.fia.com WORLD RX: BATTLE OF TECHNOLOGIES RESUMES AT THE RED CAULDRON https://www.fia.com/news/world-rx-battle-technologies-resumes-red-cauldron Sport news<p>The FIA World Rallycross Championship’s ‘Battle of Technologies’, which sees fully-electric cars race head-to-head against sustainably-fuelled combustion engined machines, resume at Nyirád’s famous Red Cauldron this weekend in a World RX double header.</p><p>Johan Kristoffersson began the defence of his world title with victory at the opening rounds at Höljes and will be looking to increase that advantage at the World RX of Hungary in his KMS – HORSE Powertrain-run Volkswagen Polo KMS 601 RX.</p><p>This will be the Swedish driver’s first appearance at Nyirád – unlike Hansen World RX Team brothers Timmy and Kevin Hansen who have raced there before. They will be eager to put a disappointing opening race meeting behind them and unleash their team’s full race-winning Peugeot 208 RX1e potential.</p><p>CE Dealer Team by Volvo Construction Equipment duo Klara Andersson and Niclas Grönholm are tied for second place in the points table after claiming a runner-up finish apiece in Sweden. The former was particularly impressive as she came within a whisker of pipping Kristoffersson to victory on the opening day, registering her finest result to-date in World RX. Both drivers tested a FIA RX2e Championship’s ZEROID X1 car at Nyirád earlier this year and will be hoping to translate that recent experience into a successful weekend.</p><p>Kristoffersson’s team-mate Ole Christian Veiby is right behind the CE Dealer Team pairing in fourth, having battled back from a stall at the start of Sunday’s final in Höljes to stand on the World RX podium for the eighth time in his career – although the Norwegian remains in search of his maiden win.</p><p>Former Hungarian Rallycross Champion Jankó Wieszt is a new addition to the grid, racing an ex-GCK Renault Mégane RS RX; a car not seen in the World Championship since 2021. The 29-year-old will be aiming to exploit his local knowledge around an old-school circuit that is unique on the calendar, with its Red Cauldron nickname stemming from the distinctive colour of its unsealed surfaces, having been built on the site of a disused bauxite quarry.</p><p>In addition to the World RX double-header, the event plays host to the second round of the 2024 RX2e, Euro RX1 and Euro RX3 championships, with no fewer than 18 Hungarian drivers entered across the three categories.</p><p>They’ll be out to impress on home ground, chasing the likes of RX2e, Euro RX1 and Euro RX3 leaders Nils Andersson, Patrick O’Donovan and Nils Volland.</p><p>Characterised by technical curves and dramatic elevation changes, Nyirád welcomed the FIA European Rallycross Championship from 2006-2013 before rejoining the Euro RX schedule in 2022 following a near decade-long absence. This weekend marks Hungary’s FIA World Rallycross Championship debut.</p><p><img class="media-element file-fia-image-full content-details" data-delta="1" src="/sites/default/files/styles/content_details/public/worldrx_01_2024_lm_driver-name_-390.jpeg?itok=oxF5_agK" alt="" /></p><div class='category-icon news'></div><a href="/tags/world-rx">World RX</a><img src="https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/news/main_image/wrx_01_2024_lm_kevinhansen_72.jpeg" width="7950" height="5300" /><a href="/taxonomy/term/12">Sport</a>1SportWorld RX00<span class="date-display-single">Friday, July 26, 2024 - 9:59am</span><span class="date-display-single">Friday, July 26, 2024 - 9:59am</span> Fri, 26 Jul 2024 07:59:00 +0000 adezaluski 53040 at https://www.fia.com ERC - European gladiators to take on the greatest of all time in Rome https://www.fia.com/news/erc-european-gladiators-take-greatest-all-time-rome Sport news<p style="text-align: justify;">Giandomenico Basso (pictured below), a double European champion, was voted best of the best ahead of 15 other ERC legends in an online poll to mark the championship’s 70th anniversary celebrations last year.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Despite turning 51 in September, Basso remains at the peak of his powers with one victory and two podiums so far in the Italian championship, which shares the billing with the ERC on the all-asphalt Rally di Roma Capitale.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">After topping the ERC Greatest Driver poll with 85 per cent of the final vote, Basso said: “The European Rally Championship has always been in my heart and, whenever I could, I did my best to honour this competition.”</p><p style="text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><img class="media-element file-fia-image-full content-details" data-delta="1" src="/sites/default/files/styles/content_details/public/giandomenico_basso.jpeg?itok=9NadB2T3" alt="" /></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Basso, who became European champion in 2006 and again in 2009, scored his 32nd ERC podium when he finished runner-up spot on Rally di Roma Capitale last July. He’s one of the favourites for victory aboard his new-for-2024 Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 but faces opposition from 27 other ERC priority drivers in headlining Rally2 cars.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">They include defending ERC champion and current points leader Hayden Paddon, his predecessor Efrén Llarena, World Rally Championship event winner Mads Østberg, double 2024 ERC podium finisher Mathieu Franceschi, V-Híd Rally Hungary winner Simone Tempestini, ERC3 champion Jon Armstrong and rising Italian star Andrea Mabellini (pictured below).</p><p style="text-align: justify;">For Mabellini, the event takes on added significance. Not only does it provide another opportunity for the 24-year-old Team MRF Tyres driver to demonstrate his huge potential, it’s also a chance to compete in front of his home fans, even though he lives some four hours from event hub with co-driving partner Virginia Lenzi.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">“It’s not an easy rally but nothing in the ERC is easy against these big guys,” Mabellini said of the high-level competition. “They’re very fast drivers and the weather will be very hot like always, but I will try to find a way to be on top, especially on some stages.”</p><p style="text-align: justify;">After tyre damage on the penultimate stage denied him a shot at the top five in 2023, Mabellini is more than aware of the pitfalls that can strike on Italy’s ERC counter.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">“For sure the overheating factor is crucial and it’s not easy on the Tarmac you have,” Mabellini said. “It’s so abrasive and with a lot of heat it’s not easy.”</p><p style="text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><img class="media-element file-fia-image-full content-details" data-delta="2" src="/sites/default/files/styles/content_details/public/andrea_mabellini.jpeg?itok=ZryymsHX" alt="" /></p><p style="text-align: justify;">“It should be like a dream [result], but it will probably remain like a dream,” he added. “We know perfectly where we are, we are improving and for sure we will try to develop more to get something a little closer to the others.”</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Of the bulging 90-car entry list, 42 crews are eligible for ERC points. Click <a href="https://www.fiaerc.com/a/news/w28264_Huge-interest-in-ERC-as-Rally-di-Roma-Capitale-lands-90-entries"><strong>HERE</strong></a> to find out who else will be in action on Rally di Roma Capitale.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Newcomers increase the competition in ERC3</strong><br />Kerem Kazaz, Filip Kohn, Martin Ravenščak and Igor Widłak continue their pursuit of FIA ERC3 success in Rome with the quartet also eligible for the <strong>ERC Fiesta Rally3 Trophy</strong>, a new-for-2024 contest from M-Sport Poland in partnership with Pirelli and Gulf Race Fuels.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">ERC rookie Hubert Kowalczy brings Renault Clio Rally3 power to ERC3 with Aleksandar Tomov stepping up from ERC4 to ERC3 in another Clio Rally3.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>ERC4 to the fore as wheelchair user Lupu returns</strong><br />The ERC4 category for front-wheel-drive Rally4 and Rally5 cars attracted an eight-car entry. It includes Michael Rendina, the son of event organiser Max Rendina, former Italian Junior champions Giorgio Cogni and Davide Pesavento, Italian 2WD champion Gianandrea Pisani, female drivers Cristiana Oprea and Ekaterina Statieva, Martón Bertalan, who used to play futsal with Liverpool midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai, and Ciprian Lupu. Lupu, who is tetraplegic, became the first wheelchair user in Romania to be issued with a competition licence and made his ERC debut on last year’s Rally di Roma Capitale with the aid of hand controls having gained experience in his national championship. He finished 17th in the ERC4 category and 10th among the RC5 class contenders.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><img class="media-element file-fia-image-full content-details" data-delta="3" src="/sites/default/files/styles/content_details/public/250724_lupu_1.jpeg?itok=RXPSz8c5" alt="" /></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Rome is where the heart is</strong><br />Once again the focus of Rally di Roma Capitale will be on the Eternal City this Friday (26 July) when it hosts the opening ceremony and first timed test in front of the Colosseum, one of the most famous landmarks in the world. There’s also a spectacular driving parade through the capital’s streets prior to the competitive action getting under way with crews setting off in 15-car convoys from the Bocca della Verità and passing by several famous sites. Fiuggi, located to the southeast of central Rome and made famous by its natural spring water and the healing powers it possesses, takes over as the event’s hub on Saturday and Sunday. Two loops of three stages are run on each leg with the 28.74 kilometres of Santopadre - Fontana Liri Saturday’s longest stage and the 32.30-kilometre Rocca di Cave – Subiaco stage covering the furthest distance on Sunday. The event concludes with the new Monastero - Jenne Power Stage, described by event organiser Max Rendina as, “very difficult but also spectacular”, from 17:05 local time.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>How to watch?</strong><br />Fans across the globe can experience the excitement and drama of the ERC with every stage of every rally broadcast <a href="https://www.rally.tv/">Rally.tv</a> platform. In addition, the ERC is broadcast in a number of countries around the world and fans are advised to check local listings for details.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Rally di Roma Capitale 2024: the key numbers<br />Stages:</strong> 13<br /><strong>Competitive distance:</strong> 189.52 kilometres<br /><strong>Total distance: </strong>797.68 kilometres</p><p style="text-align: justify;"> </p> <a href="/championship/european-rally-championship">European Rally Championship</a><div class='category-icon news'></div><a href="/tags/erc">ERC</a><img src="https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/news/main_image/erc_rally_di_roma_capitale.jpg" width="3200" height="2129" /><a href="/taxonomy/term/2043">SEASON 2024</a><a href="/taxonomy/term/12">Sport</a><a href="/family/rallies">Rallies</a>1SportEuropean Rally ChampionshipRalliesSEASON 2024ERC01<span class="date-display-single">Friday, July 26, 2024 - 8:10am</span><span class="date-display-single">Saturday, July 27, 2024 - 8:10am</span> Fri, 26 Jul 2024 06:10:00 +0000 rrodgers 53124 at https://www.fia.com F1 - 2024 Belgian Grand Prix - Thursday Press Conference Transcript https://www.fia.com/news/f1-2024-belgian-grand-prix-thursday-press-conference-transcript Sport news<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>DRIVERS – Lance STROLL (Aston Martin), Kevin MAGNUSSEN (Haas), Carlos SAINZ (Ferrari), Daniel RICCIARDO (RB), Valtteri BOTTAS (Kick Sauber)</strong><br /><br /><strong>Q: It's been a busy news cycle since we were last gathered in Hungary. And Valtteri, can we start with you, please? And the news that Andreas Seidel has been replaced by Mattia Bonotto in the team. What's your reaction, first of all?</strong><br /><strong>Valtteri BOTTAS:</strong> Yeah, quite sudden news. I believe everything happened pretty quickly, but obviously those high-level decisions, we as drivers and many of the team members don't know really what's going on behind the scenes. But yeah, quite unexpected, but obviously welcoming Mattia to the team. And at the same time, I want to thank Mr Seidl and Mr Hoffman for their contribution to the team.<br /> <br /><strong>Q: How do you expect this change to affect the day-to-day running of the team?</strong><br /><strong>VB: </strong>It's a bit of a reset again. It's not a secret that when there's a new leadership, it will always take a bit of time, first of all. Mattia needs to know what are the weaknesses, what are the strengths, what are the priorities for short- and long-term improvements, and that's going to take a bit of time. Again, it's the third time now in three years, within three years, that we've had change at the top, so not a new situation, and the team shouldn't be too affected at this point. I think it's more the stuff for the future, and obviously time will show what will happen.<br /> <br /><strong>Q: In case Mattia is watching this, put a little bit more flesh on the bone. What do you think are the priorities, both short-term and long-term, for the team?</strong><br /><strong>VB:</strong> I don't want to go too much into details. Obviously, some things are internal, but we know that compared to, let's say, at the moment, to the big teams, we're still lacking a bit of human power. We could do with more people, but at the same time, the team has been hiring and growing recently quite a bit. There are certain areas that we definitely need to focus on, at the factory but also with the car performance. We're at the moment not where we need to be and that's basically we needed some new upgrades and into the right direction.<br /> <br /><strong>Q: Just a quick word on the upgrades that you've been running recently and how you think the car will perform here at Spa?</strong><br /><strong>VB: </strong>It's going to be, even though it's a long lap, I think it's going to be still close where we are. We did make a step in Budapest. Again, it's a very different type of track. So I wouldn't say too detailed predictions, but hopefully we're going to be in the mix and fighting close to top 10 like we did on Saturday in Budapest.<br /> <br /><strong>Q: Alright. Valtteri, thank you. I'm sure there'll be some more questions for you in a minute. Daniel, let's come to you next. So management changes at Sauber. Are you expecting any driver changes at Red Bull?</strong><br /><strong>Daniel RICCIARDO:</strong> So predictable, Thomas, so predictable. I don't know. Yeah, honestly, I don't know. But like always, just focus on myself and what I can do. Every race or few races, the narrative changes and that's the sport we're in. Things are happening quickly and you’ve just got to try and, I think in these situations, focus on yourself and get the most out of that and then see where the wind takes me. No changes from the approach. Coming into Budapest, I knew it was going to be two important weekends coming up before the break and obviously hit the break with a bit of momentum. So yeah, that's where my head's at. So try and do well.<br /> <br /><strong>Q: Daniel, you want to focus on yourself. So let's focus on you.</strong><br /><strong>DR: </strong>Sounds selfish, doesn't it?<br /> <br /><strong>Q: Well, it's just a lot of people talk about your results. I'm not sure too many people ask you about how you're feeling about the situation and how you feel you are driving at the moment. Is this the best we've seen from Daniel Ricciardo for a wee while?</strong><br /><strong>DR:</strong> I mean, I'm definitely happier where I am now than the first few races this season. You know, I think I was... I felt good all season, but it wasn't quite clicking, for lack of a better word, you know, the first few races. And I think then I've been able to get more out of myself, certainly the last few races. And I think it's trending in the right direction. And I think that's obviously important. Of course you want to be awesome every race, but I knew obviously after the first few that I still had to find a little bit, but I'm definitely happier. I'm more comfortable with where I'm at and yeah, just showing those signs of speed that I know I have. And that's obviously… All of us are trying to extract that out of ourselves every weekend and some weekends come easier than others. But I think, yeah, I'm certainly sitting here now, much happier than probably, I don't know, two or three months ago.<br /> <br /><strong>Q: And in Hungary, it looked like the team had got its Barcelona upgrades working. Was that circuit specific or do you feel you'd actually made a step forward with setup and genuine car performance?</strong><br /><strong>DR:</strong> I mean, the circuit helped us, because I think we were pretty strong already from Friday. And we hit the ground running, and we didn't really have to chase it. It just came, and that was that. So some circuits certainly help. But it's still so unpredictable. Did we know we would be really strong in Budapest? Not necessarily, but yeah, I think we've a bit more time now, we've understood everything and we, yeah, you just, I guess it helps getting to the weekend with a better understanding of the package and then knowing, okay, we pretty much know the window of what this car likes, the set-up. Okay, it's a big downforce circuit, so let's see what that does, but... We had a bit more confidence, I guess. I feel like I just repeated myself a lot. But yeah, we'll see. I don't know. It's the midfield, the midfield mystery. It's always pretty unpredictable where we are.<br /> <br /><strong>Q: Alright. Well, best of luck this weekend. Thanks for that. Carlos, let's come to you now. The last time you and Kevin were in a press conference together, Kevin said you were the cork in the bottle. of the driver market. And I did want to start by asking for your thoughts on the news that Mattia Binotto is going to Sauber Audi. You've worked with him before at Ferrari. Does that complicate your decision further?</strong><br /><strong>Carlos SAINZ: </strong>So predictable, Thomas. I think, first of all, I'm not up to date with everything that is going on at every team but of course I think the arrival of Mattia to any team is positive, mainly because he has the experience of what it takes to build a team that is a top team nowadays, like it is at Ferrari. And he has that experience from Ferrari that he can bring into Audi. And I'm sure it's a great asset for them. And that's why they hired him. And yeah, of course, I wish him all the best there.<br /> <br /><strong>Q: The offer from Audi has been on the table for a while. You haven't signed it. Does this open them up as a real opportunity for you again?</strong><br /><strong>CS:</strong> Not really. I think my future is still being discussed and obviously analysed very carefully. And there's changes to a lot of teams that I'm looking at for next year pretty much every week. So there's changes, evolution on the team market as much as there is on the driver market. And I'm just going to keep giving myself time to take the decision to analyse all these things that keep changing. without giving you too many clues here.<br /> <br /><strong>Q: Okay, just a quick one on car performance here at Spa. It seemed that the car was performing better in Hungary. Do you think that will translate to this circuit as well?</strong><br /><strong>CS:</strong> Completely different circuit to Hungary. I think Hungary is somewhere closer to, for example, Barcelona in terms of the downforce and the corner speeds. But yeah, I think now Spa is going back a bit more towards Silverstone kind of track. And last time we were in Silverstone, we struggled as a team. So yeah, encouraged to see the progress in Hungary, or we were a little bit quicker in Hungary, especially in the race. But let's see how we are in Spa and if we can keep trying to get closer to the, I would call them now top two teams, because it's clear that McLaren and Red Bull, when they switch it on, they have three or four tenths advantage over us.<br /> <br /><strong>Q: OK, best of luck this weekend. Thank you for that. Kevin, let's move to you. You have a pretty efficient car. So are you confident coming to Spa?</strong><br /><strong>Kevin MAGNUSSEN: </strong>I don't know about confident, but I'm looking forward to this track, given the nature of the car and the strengths that we've had this year. I think this track looks, on paper, pretty good for us. But as Daniel said, the midfield is so tight these days that it's super unpredictable where you're going to be. We've had races where we didn't think we were going to be good, and then we ended up being pretty good. Yeah, I think you can't take anything for granted right now. So just going in with an open mind again and try to do a good weekend.<br /> <br /><strong>Q: Kevin, when you look back on the opening half of this season, how do you sum it up? Because the car does seem to be good one weekend, not so good the next. Why do you feel it's been so unpredictable from race to race?</strong><br /><strong>KM:</strong> Well, I think we're still not consistent enough, but from last year, we improved consistency. Last year, especially in qualifying, we were able to be good, but every time on Sunday, we'd just fall to pieces. And I think we've changed that situation so that it's actually almost the opposite now. we look better in the race than we do in qualifying often. And certainly on Sunday, we're a lot more consistent. But again, with the field so tight together, it only takes a small little mishap and you're qualifying far off your optimal position. And that's been a big driver to the inconsistency this year, I think.<br /> <br /><strong>Q: Kevin, final one from me. 2025: you've made it very clear that you want to stay in Formula 1. There are, of course, still lots of opportunities in Formula 1 next year. But if that doesn't happen for you, where else are you looking? Are we looking at the FIA World Endurance Championship? Are you looking at IndyCar or all of the above?</strong><br /><strong>KM:</strong> Yeah, all of the above. I think everything is on the table in that case. So, yeah, it's hard to... I'll see what's available out there and make my mind when I get there. Right now, I'm in Formula 1 and there's still a couple of seats open for next year that I'd like to see where all that ends up and then look at things afterwards.<br /> <br /><strong>Q: Okay, best of luck with that. Thank you. Lance, coming to you now. We were talking about consistency with the Haas and you've scored points in the last two races. So does that point to you finding some consistency with the Aston now?</strong><br /><strong>Lance STROLL: </strong>Yeah, I mean, I think we improved the car a little bit the last few races for sure. Hungary wasn't our most competitive event. I think we were a bit better in Silverstone. I think we're better on the longer straights. So I'm hoping we can be good this weekend.<br /> <br /><strong>Q: I was going to say, does that translate to Spa? Are you as confident as you can be coming into a Grand Prix weekend?</strong><br /><strong>LS: </strong>Yeah, for sure. I'm looking forward to it. It's a great track. It's a place I always enjoy coming back to. And yeah, we've been quick on the straights this year, so hoping we can have a strong weekend.<br /> <br /><strong>Q: And Lance, both you and Fernando have spoken about unpredictability with the car. What are your goals for the second half of this year? What do you want to see happen in the team?</strong><br /><strong>LS:</strong> I just think we, you know, we’ve got to keep working on the car, making it better, putting on downforce, you know, working on the balance, just the usual things. So, yeah, just keep chipping away every week.<br /> <br /><strong>QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR</strong><br /> <br /><strong>Q: (Nelson Valkenburg – Viaplay) A questions for all. Given Lando's race last week, if you would have been in his position, what would you have done at the end of the race?</strong><br /><strong>LS: </strong>Difficult one.<br /> <br /><strong>Q: That means...</strong><br /><strong>LS: </strong>Difficult one.<br /> <br /><strong>Q: Kevin?</strong><br /><strong>KM:</strong> I mean, it depends on the situation, but it would have certainly been tempting to hold on to it. But, you know, it totally depends on where you are with the team and what sort of history there is behind as well, I guess.<br /> <br /><strong>Q: Carlos, you've got some history with Lando?</strong><br /><strong>CS: </strong>Not that kind of history, for sure. We were not fighting for easy one-twos at my time in McLaren. A team order is a team order. And I think the team always comes first. It's been that way, the way I've approached my Formula 1 career over these last 19 years. And yeah, a team order, as much as it hurts, and it must have hurt to have let Oscar by, it's a team order. And yeah, analysing the situation, if they give you an undercut for free on your team-mate, most likely than not, you need to let your team-mate by. Because if not, you wouldn't be in front of him if it wasn't for that undercut.<br /> <br /><strong>DR: Thank you. Daniel?</strong><br /><strong>DR: </strong>Yeah. I mean, I agree. I think these things come around. I think the advice he was given was also good. Because in the heat of the moment, you don't kind of see it all, so to speak. It's like you see a win in front of you, and that's it. You know, they're talking about the championship and we win as a team and you might need Oscar's help and this and that. And I think that's kind of the perspective sometimes you need, I guess, in the heat of the moment. And yeah, that's a thing. Also, as Carlos said, it's a team game and you do need the team to help you. And there'll be times where, again, it comes around and it'll work in his favour. As much as you don't want to hear it, of course, at times, and yeah, we're all here to win. I think long-term play, it's definitely the smartest one.<br /> <br /><strong>Q: Valtteri, you've been in this exact situation.</strong><br /><strong>VB: </strong>I've been there, mate. Yeah, it's...<br /><strong>DR:</strong> Russia, 2018?<br /><strong>VB: </strong>There were a few. You know, I think everything's been pretty much mentioned already and agreed that there's certain rules, depends on the team, depends on the situation, but normally it comes back to you. So obviously I would give the place back because I'm an amazing team player.<br /> <br /><strong>Q: Any regrets?</strong><br /><strong>VB: </strong>No. In my whole life, no regrets.<br /> <br /><strong>Q: (Craig Slater – Sky Sports) I just want to pick up on that with the two ex-McLaren drivers, Carlos and Daniel. I mean, if they end up losing the championship by seven points, the driver's championship, won't that be seen as a mistake? And they are facing accusations of not being ruthless enough to win? Is that a kind of naive viewpoint, do you think, based on the way things are?</strong><br /><strong>DR: </strong>It's hard because I think, you know, if in that case, obviously we're talking about Lando and Oscar here. So in the case of Lando staying in front and then it fractures the relationship, not only with the team, but then with your team-mate and Oscar, you know, there's not three races to go. There is still half a season to go. Yeah, I just think with that and looking ahead at the rest of the season, yeah, there will be times where Lando might need to lean on Oscar. And if you fracture that still with a half a season to go, I think that's where it becomes difficult. So, yeah, look, maybe me as a young kid in Formula 1 would have thought very different about this. But I think with age and a little bit of experience and wisdom, I think this is the way you have to look at it.<br /><strong>CS: </strong>Yeah, I personally think you guys are being very tough on McLaren. I think if you see where McLaren were a year and a half ago and where they are right now, it's something to admire and something that only them have achieved with the way that they've developed the car, developed the team and put themselves in a position to even be considering fighting for the championship. Whether they will win it or not by seven points, those seven points might be somewhere else, not only in the event of Hungary, might be because they started the season further behind maybe than what they wanted and not in that exact race from Hungary. Personally, I admire a lot Andrea Stella, the way that he's handling the team, the way he's handling every situation, how calm everything looks in McLaren, even if you guys are pushing them to fight for bigger things. But I think they are in the right trend and right now they are the strongest team in Formula 1, so hats off to them.<br /> <br /><strong>Q: (Rachel Brookes – Sky Sports) This is for all of you, except Daniel, because you've already answered it. So not predictable. I want to hear from you all how you assess your first half of this season and what you're looking to improve on, whether it's you or the car in the second half of the season, please.</strong><br /><strong>LS: </strong>Yeah, the usual stuff, you know, some good races, some disappointing ones. And yeah, you know, for the second half of the season, just trying to build on the first half, get more competitive as a team, try and score points week in, week out. So just keep pushing to the last race.<br /><strong>KM: </strong>I think coming into this year we thought we were going to be the last team on the grid and we haven't been. so I think it's been a positive surprise. There's always, when you look back at this stuff, things you could have done better but I think everyone can say that, so I feel like we've had a good first half of the season. The second half I think with the couple of upgrades we've had this year, they've actually worked. And it's the first time in Haas' history that we brought upgrades to the car that made it faster. So that's a real step forward there already. So hopefully we can keep that going. I don't know. We're on a good trend, I think. So hopefully we can just keep that going.<br /><strong>CS: </strong>Yeah, I guess on a personal level, it's been a season full of ups and downs, as I think anyone here can say, but some very good ups at the beginning with a competitive car that was allowing me to fight for a lot of podiums, a race win, and I truly enjoyed that. And I wish we can get ourselves back in that position as soon as possible. On the personal side, it hasn't been easy having to deal with, first of all, having to miss a race, but mainly with all the discussions about my future going on in the background. I've said many times it's not ideal for any athlete sitting here right now to perform at the highest level of their life without knowing where you're going to be next year. Yeah, I do believe there's still potential inside me, whether… If I take this out of my head, but given the circumstances, I think I've been performing at a good level with everything that's been going on. And I'm still enjoying myself every weekend and trying to be grateful and appreciative of the position that I'm in and just trying to nail every weekend and go into each race like it's the last and in the meantime having to handle everything behind the scenes about my future.<br /><strong>VB: </strong>it's been challenging year for us it's. we still haven't scored a single point which wasn't the target going into the season. So we wanted to see an upwards trajectory, what's the word? Yeah, trend in the performance from last year. And it hasn't happened. And we started the season with not that easy car to set up. And even by the pure pace, we were not quite there. We've made some improvement since, but more like baby steps instead of big jumps, unlike some other teams around us. So we definitely have a clear direction. for the second half where we need to improve the car, but that's just now what we need to do. We need to make it faster. And a lot of that obviously comes from nowadays from the wind tunnel and the design office, et cetera. But yeah, about my performance, I've been happy and my job for the remaining of the season remains to extract everything I can off the package every single weekend. That's my job.<br /> <br /><strong>Q: (Moritz Steidl – Servus TV) Daniel, you've been linked to Red Bull Racing last year as a reserve driver, and you did a lot of marketing stuff. How strong is this bond, and how much of communication flow is still going on? that might help you also to drive for them sooner or later?</strong><br /><strong>DR: </strong>Yeah, I mean, I still speak with Christian and Helmut on that side still quite a lot. And yeah, I mean, a lot still goes through them, honestly. So that's that. I mean, other parts of the team? Not really, because obviously I'm here and I focus on this stuff here with my team and my engineers and everything. Obviously, last year I was exposed t,… I was inside the driver's meetings, like the post-session debriefs, and asking all the engineers some questions and whatever, but clearly that's not the case now. But yeah, the Christian and Helmut side still, and It's good to see them after a good result. Helmut still is, he’ll let you know when the result's not good, but yeah, I definitely feel happy being back in that and under that kind of microscope, if you will, and in that environment with a little bit of that pressure, it's fun. But yeah, that's probably the best way I can answer it.<br /> <br /><strong>Q: (Roldan Rodriguez – DAZN Spain) A question to Carlos. Some people miss the old days with the lighter car. Nowadays, the last days, we know that the FIA increased the overall weight of the car by two kilos for the next year. I would like to know, how do you evaluate that?</strong><br /><strong>CS: </strong>Obviously, two kilos is not a big change. The problem is when you start adding two kilos on top of another two, another two, another two, which I think is where the trend has been in Formula 1 over the last 10 years to keep adding two kilos here, three there, five there, and then the cars have become 800 kilos heavy. In the past, they were around 600. Work is going on, I guess, for ‘26. At the same time, I think this weight has made the cars also safer because there's a lot of impact structure and a lot of work being done on the driver safety, which I'm never going to deny that I want that safety to be as high as possible. But anything that we can do to bring the weight back down, I think every driver here will appreciate it. We hope that the FIA and the teams are taking that into consideration when deciding future rules, not only the ‘26 ones.<br /> <br /><strong>Q: And Roldan, it's worth mentioning that those two kilos are for driver health in 2025. Alright, any more questions?</strong><br /> <br /><strong>Q: (Albert Fabrega – ESPN Latam) Following this matter, have you been in difficulties to accomplish the weight target that the team said to you on the last year? So with these two kilos extras, it's going to be easier for you to reach the targets. Anyone?</strong><br /><strong>CS: </strong>Me personally, no. But I did have to be careful with the amount of muscle you put on and the food that you take. But I've always been on the limit of that weight. But I can imagine being a Nico, an Esteban, or who else is tall?<br /><strong>DR:</strong> Russell.<br /><strong>CS: </strong>Russell. I wouldn't be very happy if I was 180 something centimetres. So yeah, I understand it's been done probably for the heavier drivers because they were, or the taller drivers, because they were always struggling a bit more than medium size like me.<br /><strong>DR: </strong>Yeah, on that as well, it's definitely, they can't help being tall. So it is unfair if they have to kind of dehydrate themselves just to make the weight, so to speak. But even us, if we're not, even reaching that weight it is nice that we have the freedom to yeah be the athletes that we need to be and it's not like ‘oh, we have to watc out, we can't do too much strength training or…’ So, having a little bit of freedom now around our training and uh that's I think that's a big benefit for a lot of us.<br /> <br /><strong>Q: (Felix Goerner – RTL Television) Carlos, what will be your best option, your wish for next year's cockpit? Is it Red Bull? Is it Audi? What is your favourite one? And to Daniel, very short: in three words, what do you like in Spa, the track? Three words.</strong><br /><strong>CS: </strong>My best option for next year would be a championship-winning car, which has been my number one priority since these talks about my future have happened. And the likelihood of that, we all know that is small, but that's always been my target. And if that doesn't happen, I'll choose what's best for my near future, for sure.<br /> <br /><strong>Q: Who's going to win the championship next year?</strong><br /><strong>CS:</strong> I need to go and check, see what's out there!<br /> <br /><strong>Q: Daniel, three words.</strong><br /><strong>DR: </strong>First word, waffles. Second word, Pouhon. And third… Eau Rouge is two, so I have to just...<br /><strong>CS: </strong>Raidillon.<br /><strong>DR:</strong> Ah, he helped me. Raidillon. Oui.<br /> <br /><strong>Q: (Diego Mejia – Fox Sports Mexico) Question to Daniel. You've been working with Max in the past. I think you had a brief chat during the Drivers’ Parade in Hungary. Were you surprised to see him come so publicly against or strong against the team during the race on the radio?</strong><br /><strong>DR: </strong>So I heard the in-race radio stuff. I didn't hear any TV pen or post-race stuff, so I don't know if that continued. But yeah, I heard, let's say, the little conversations between him and GP. Look, sometimes it's hard to explain why we… Okay, I’ll put myself in this position. Some races I'm super calm and other races I'm agitated and everything frustrates me and annoys me. So sometimes our actions or the way we feel is not always predictable. Yeah, I mean, I don't probably have enough… I mean, the context is, you know… I think there was one where GP said something about bringing the tyres in. Obviously, Max didn't. He just probably pushed straight away. And that's, you know, I would say that's coming from a place of frustration. So something leading up to that has probably made him just be like, I don't care anymore. I'm just going to push and see what happens. So obviously, it's probably built up frustration through the race. But yeah, it happens. I don't know. I don't really know how to answer it. Yeah, going back and forth, having conversations through the race, yeah, it's probably not ideal, but yeah, I guess we've all been there at times where you, you know… For me, the race was frustrating on Sunday. For whatever reason, I chose silence to let that do the talking. And, okay, on the in-lap, then I said a bit more, but in a way I just couldn't be bothered chatting about it through the race because for me, like what was done was done. So any talk I had kind of felt a bit hopeless or helpless. So that was my way of handling my frustration in that race. So it can vary. It's race-to-race dependent, I guess. It's a hot and sometimes very flustered environment in the cockpit.<br /> <br /><strong>Q: (Graham Harris – Motorsport Monday) Question for Carlos. You've said publicly that you're frustrated by people asking you where you're going and when you're going, and the whole thing was caused by Lewis saying before the beginning of the season that he was leaving. You will obviously take your time in deciding where the right team is, but if you don't get the right offer, is there any chance that you would consider a year out and a sabbatical?</strong><br /><strong>CS: </strong>Absolutely no, sabbatical is not even in my head. I'm happy in Formula 1, I love Formula 1 and I would rather go down to a midfield team and use my skill, in the peak of my career, to try and help a midfield team to find the right way than taking a year off or being third driver for anyone, you know. I’m competitive and I know I can still bring to a midfield team that side of me.<br /> <br /> <br /><strong>Q: (Jake Boxall-Legge – Autosport) A question for Valtteri, please. We've spoken a lot about your team's kind of future movements, Andreas and Oliver leaving, Mattia coming in. We put this to your team-mate earlier, and he suggested that perhaps all of the discussion over the future, all of the investment into the future was kind of detracting from the here and now, and this is where the team is having problems. Is that a sentiment you agree with, or is it a little bit reductive from that standpoint?</strong><br /><strong>VB:</strong> Well, definitely the last year or two, it's not been really stable. We've not being really super stable as a team because there's been lots of people leaving, lots of people joining. Now another change in the leadership. So for sure that doesn't help the here and now moment. And even the previous shake-up, it was made for the future and more like for long term. But with the change again, yeah, I think if we've had the same, let's say, leadership and so on for the last few years and that stability, then maybe there's more time to focus on the issues and solving them. But yeah, this team, to me, it's been pretty clear that all the decisions in the last year or two has been made to be competitive from ‘26. I know it's not ideal in some cases, and like for me, unfortunately, many times fighting towards the back end, but like I said earlier, my job is still to do the very best I can and at the same time push the team and contribute the best I can. That's all I can do at the moment.<br /> <br /><strong>Q: (Christoffer Linden – Vasabladet) Valtteri, to follow up on that, has it ever felt like it's like two separate teams within the team or is it still a unified team?</strong><br /><strong>VB: </strong>I wouldn't say that it feels like two separate teams. Obviously, yeah, there has been a change again and now everyone needs to get to know Mattia better. And yeah, looking forward to actually start working with him. But no, it still feels like one team. But yeah, for sure, like I said, it's not been super stable lately. But hopefully from now on, things will be a bit more stable and there's a clear direction.<br /> <br /><strong>Q: (Luke Smith – The Athletic) Daniel, a question for you. Talking to Christian and Helmut, what impression have you got from them about the possibility of you returning to Red Bull Racing in the near future? And for you and your hunger, when you rejoined the grid about 12 months ago, that was the ultimate target, to get back to that team. How much has it spurred you on that? it now looks like that door might be open for you again?</strong><br /><strong>DR: </strong>Yeah. I mean, I know that it's… I don't want to say you're as good as your last race, but there is, like, when it comes to these moments, these races are more critical than any other. So as I said, coming into Budapest, and this wasn't anything I'd heard from them, but even just myself, just telling myself, ‘look, these could be two very, very important races in my career and just leave it all out there and do everything I can’. Because look, obviously going up, that's, as I said last year, that's like my goal. I'd love to return, but you know, there's also talks that will I even be here? So it's like, there is so much to kind of fight for. And yeah, I think for that, I just really made a point to every race you prepare. And of course, you do what you can. But I just made a point for these two coming up that, yeah, leave it all out there. And that's that. So yeah. We'll see.<br /> <br /><strong>Q: (Dan Lawrence – Motorsport Monday) Question for Daniel. You've been back at Team Fienza for about 12 months or so now. Obviously, you were there a long time before that, as Toro Rosso, where it was very much a junior team. But we're now over half a year into the sort of rebrand as Visa Cash App RB, where it's trying to form its own identity, be more than just a junior team. So how have you really seen that develop? And how would you compare the leadership? from Franz Tost to now Peter and Laurent?</strong><br /><strong>DR: </strong>Yeah, it does feel different, you know, and I think it's easy to kind of rebrand it and say we’ve got a new look and with this and that, but your actions have to follow. And I think, you know, Laurent, Peter, Alan, a lot of guys that have come in have done that, you know. It's not that what was happening in the past with Franz, in that example, wasn't the right thing, but a change sometimes is good. You bring in new ideas. They've all spent time in other teams, organisations. And yeah, it's just a new way of looking at things. And I think that in itself and their intentions and the way they go about it has made people kind of stand up and say, alright, this isn't a junior team anymore. We're making, kind of, big boy decisions and we're taking risks and we're setting targets and high targets and ones that we realistically think that we can attain. So, it's cool. It's cool to see it. I'm probably too, in a way, like honest in myself that if it felt like a junior team still, I wouldn't feel comfortable here. I'm 35 now. So, I think I would feel a bit out of place. And I certainly don't. So I think that's also a good way to probably comprehend it.<br /> <br /><strong>Q: (Ivo Pakvis – Panorama) Question to Carlos and Daniel. Are you both surprised at the level of success McLaren is currently having? Or were those factors contributing to that success already visible when you were driving there?</strong><br /><strong>DR: </strong>I mean, I won a race there, so I don't know what you're talking about! I had heaps of success there. Oh, it's hard. Obviously, most of my time there was a bit more of a struggle or a challenge. So, look, did I predict this? I'm not going to say yes, because I don't think I did. So I guess from that point of view, it is a bit of a surprise that in two years, less than two years, they are probably currently the quickest package on the grid. But I also don't look at that like, ‘oh man, like if only I could have had that’. That's the sport, that's how it is. And I think as Carlos said before, you take your hat off to them. Anyone in this sport that's doing well and developing and making such a big step in a short amount of time, you have to compliment that.<br /><strong>CS: </strong>Yeah, I wouldn't say I would have ever predicted it. I think when I left McLaren four years ago, I did have the feeling the team was going in the right way and it was a very good place to be and I enjoyed my time there. So, when I left, I left with a feeling that it was more maybe a matter of time – it was going to take them two years, four years, six years to be McLaren again, which we all know how much success they've had in history. But I do feel they were the right people at the time to lead that team towards the front of the field again. And yeah, it took three to four years since I left. And especially this last year, I think, is when they've shown the real strength and the big steps, which have come in a very short amount of time, but very, very big. And as Daniel said, hats off to them.<br /> <br /><strong>Q: (Ian Parkes – New York Times) Question for you, Valtteri. Speaking with Zhou earlier, he stated that Mattia's arrival offered him a reset with regard to his discussions over his future, bearing in mind he'd been previously having those talks with Oliver and Andreas. Is it the same position for you? And additionally, how much are you still waiting for Carlos to your right to still uncork that bottle?</strong><br /><strong>VB: </strong>I've got a bottle opener in my back pocket, so... No, joking aside, it is going to reset a bit the talks, because we have previously been in communication with Andreas and Oliver, and now it's Mattia, who just will officially start next week, I believe. So yeah, for sure that will change some things, so we need to… We need to speak. And yeah, I think the big part of the remaining driver market is waiting for Carlos' move. That's no lie. But also not completely relying on that. It's a bit of a complicated situation, but let's see. I'm sure the cork will pop at some point.<br /> <br /><strong>Q: (Carlos Miguel – Marca) A question for Carlos. It's service information. Can we go on holidays calm and quiet without surprises about your future? Or we can stay with the telephone in the middle of August?</strong><br /><strong>CS: </strong>Do you honestly think I'm going to answer that question? After all this time, I'm now going to tell you if I'm going to decide tomorrow or in five days or before the summer break? I cannot honestly give you the answer, and I cannot answer that question. It's as simple as that. I don't know. I don't know if it's going to be before or after the summer break. I don't know.<br /> <br /><strong>ENDS</strong></p> <a href="/championship/fia-formula-one-world-championship">FIA Formula One World Championship</a><div class='category-icon news'></div><a href="/taxonomy/term/1041">Formula 1</a><a href="/tags/f1">F1</a><img src="https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/news/main_image/dppi_00124015_069.jpg" width="6000" height="4000" /><a href="/taxonomy/term/2043">SEASON 2024</a><a href="/taxonomy/term/12">Sport</a><a href="/family/circuit">Circuit</a>1SportFIA Formula One World ChampionshipCircuitSEASON 2024Formula 1F100<span class="date-display-single">Thursday, July 25, 2024 - 3:58pm</span><span class="date-display-single">Thursday, July 25, 2024 - 3:58pm</span> Thu, 25 Jul 2024 13:58:00 +0000 aterzian 53028 at https://www.fia.com

Our Next Destinations

Aisa Granpix World Tour

Donec quam felis, ultricies nec, pellentesque eu, pretium quis, sem. Nulla consequat massa quis enim. Donec pede justo, fringilla vel, aliquet nec, vulputate eget, arcu. In enim justo, rhoncus ut, imperdiet a, venenatis vitae, justo. Viva la vida penci design lorem ipsum dolor.

South America New Race

Donec quam felis, ultricies nec, pellentesque eu, pretium quis, sem. Nulla consequat massa quis enim. Donec pede justo, fringilla vel, aliquet nec, vulputate eget, arcu. In enim justo, rhoncus ut, imperdiet a, venenatis vitae, justo. Viva la vida penci design lorem ipsum dolor.

The Best Teams

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo, car racing penci.

5 Decades Of Experiences

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo, car racing penci.

The Newest Cars

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo, car racing penci.

Multi-milion Awards

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo, car racing penci.

Talented Drivers

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo, car racing penci.

Racing and Travel

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo, car racing penci.

pre-sale tickets are available

about us

Maecenas nec odio et ante tincidunt tempus. Donec vitae sapien ut libero venenatis faucibus. Nullam quis ante, viva la vida penci.n
nLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aenean commodo ligula.

Upcoming Events

20 OCT

Online coference for 2021 Upcoming F1 Summer Tour Worldwide, with new technology and details

15 NOV

Online coference for 2021 Europe Championship from UK, with livestream available to watch