|
PART ONE: DRIVERS – Sebastian
VETTEL (Ferrari), Kimi Räikkönen (Ferrari), Romain GROSJEAN (Haas), Sergio
PÉREZ (Racing Point Force India)
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Romain, welcome to Monza, but I would like to take back to last weekend
in Spa where you scored for the fourth time in the last five races. It seems
that you’re getting some momentum now in that Haas car, so I just wanted to
ask what has changed and why are you happier with it now?
Romain GROSJEAN: Good afternoon. I think the car has been quick since
Melbourne to be fair. In the first part of the season I made some mistake
that I shouldn’t have done and I got some bad luck as well – there were
plenty of times where we could have been in the points. Recently the run is
going well and I’m hoping that continues, but to be fair the car has been
fast since race one. I think the first races were up and down and they
shouldn’t have been that way.
Q: Thank you. Sergio, if we could come to you now, please. You were
instrumental in saving Force India, so tell us what the result at Spa last
weekend meant to you and how it will likely impact on your future with the
team?
Sergio PÉREZ: It was great to see everyone so happy after the tension that
we had, not knowing what was going on with all the jobs, including mine and
so on. So it was great to get that kind of result for the team. It just
shows the potential my team has and I was very proud of that performance. In
terms of my position it doesn’t change. I’ve got a contract and I keep
performing and I keep delivering at my best. I try to score as many points
as possible for the team, to try to get us further up on the grid. It
doesn’t change from that perspective.
Q: Thank you and good luck for the weekend. Kimi, coming to you, a man who
is seeking his 100th podium in Formula 1 this weekend. A lot of the tifosi
here at Monza will be wondering what you’re doing next year, so the
inevitable question: when will know more about your future?
Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN: I don’t know. At some point, that’s for sure. Probably you
can expect anything in here, that’s what I’ve learned over the past, so
yeah, we’ll see, I don’t know.
Q: Do you want to come back for more, Kimi? Are you still enjoying the
challenge of Formula 1?
KR: I enjoy the racing; I don’t think that’s a secret. The rest not, but
that’s part of the job. Do I want to race? Yes, otherwise I wouldn't be here
today. I don’t see that’s suddenly going to disappear. Who know, it might
be, but I doubt it. Like I said, I don’t know, so we’ll see what happens.
Q: Thank you Kimi, good luck this weekend. Sebastian, thanks for waiting,
coming to you now. Spa was a dominant performance by you and Ferrari last
weekend. Do you think that pace will translate to Monza this weekend, given
the high-speed nature of the track?
Sebastian VETTEL: I don’t know. I think in the end it was less dominant than
you might think. In the end, we did well, and it’s good to see that we are
able to improve our car. We had some bits and a new engine. So we’ll see.
Monza in many ways is a bit similar to Spa, but then again obviously if you
look at the track and the actual corners, not just the straights, it’s quite
a bit different. We see in the past, I remember some good races here with
great podiums but for sure we want more than a podium, but I think we will
see what we get starting tomorrow and getting into the rhythm for the
weekend.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Frédéric Ferret – l’Equipe) A question for Kimi and Sebastian. Can you
tell us the feeling to be a Ferrari driver at Monza. And another question
for Seb, what is the feeling when you win in Monza, even not for Ferrari?
KR: Obviously the driving doesn’t change. It’s our home grand prix, so it’s
more busy. We have a lot, a lot of support, a lot of tifosi here, so that
obviously makes it a lot different. But if you purely talk pure driving,
racing, it’s the same job than any other place. It just happens to be our
home race. Obviously it’s an important race for us, for the team, as any
race, but it’s for sure special. You feel it straight away when you come
here, today or yesterday, in the show in Milan, it’s great. Hopefully we get
a strong result from the team not just for us but for all the fans and
tifosi.
Sebastian winning here at Monza? Of course it’s 10 years since your first
ever F1 victory?
SV: Yeah, it depends which colour, or which engine you have in the back. I
mean the first win was overwhelming in many regards. I didn’t realise at the
time that I was obviously racing for an Italian team and had a Ferrari
engine in the back, so I guess it was sort of OK for the crowd and they were
happy too. I thought they were happy because it was me and it was a good
race. But then two or three years after I won again in a different colour,
they weren’t very happy, so I was wondering a bit what’s going on, because I
hadn't done anything wrong, quite the opposite. The story of Monza is in the
heart of Italy and where all the tifosi are. I think the last podiums I had,
in the right colour, were quite amazing and obviously it’s definitely
something I want to achieve, to win here with Ferrari. Others have done it
before me and I want to join them.
Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Romain, Guenther told us earlier that both
you guys will have the new floor, after changing last weekend. Can you just
explain what the difference was last weekend between then and how you came
to the decision to have it on your car here?
RG: Yeah, so last weekend we both had the update on the car and we were not
very competitive on Friday, so on Friday night we decided to revert one car
to the old spec, just to see the difference and to try to understand and
gather a lot of data, which we did. The guys went to the factory and
discussed with the aerodynamic department and it was clear that the new
package is a good step in a good direction and that we should run it. It
does require a bit of adjusting in the set-up, which Kevin did over the
weekend using it and which now we know, so I think now we are going to use
that new package which should be more competitive.
Q: (Adrian Rodriguez Huber – Agencia EFE) A question for Checo. After all
this emotional rollercoaster, what do you expect this weekend here?
SP: Yeah, I think we have a competitive car, we proved that in Belgium. We
are coming to a similar track in terms of what you run around here, so I
think we should be quite competitive, and the aim is still the same – to try
to be the best of the rest and I think we have a good chance of doing that
again.
Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Kimi, your greatest feeling here, is it
pole in 2006, as you have not won here?
KR: Hard to say. I don’t think it’s been very good over the years, but I
always enjoy coming here. First of all, it’s a nice, great circuit, it has a
lot of history. It’s close by from home, so easy to come. I had some good
races here for sure, not perfect. I’ve been on the podium with Ferrari once
or twice. That’s been good. Not exactly what we wanted but important, so
yeah…
Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines, Racefans.net) Kimi, you’ve always struck
us, over the last 18 years or whatever you’ve been in F1, as a very private
individual, yet you recently authorized a biography. I’ve read some excerpts
that have been translated and it seems to be fairly open about your
lifestyle etc. Why are you willing to open yourself to the world like that?
KR: Probably you had a wrong translation. What about that? No, how is it
secret, because I lived through it and there have been an awful lot of
stories about it, a lot of things. I don’t know how you think it’s such a
secret. I don’t think… it’s something that I decided to do. It’s just a
short story until now, it’s not such a big thing in my view. Like I said, I
lived through it and it just happens to be now it’s in a book. Probably most
of the things a lot of people know, maybe not all, but I don’t feel that
there is something different in my view, but obviously probably for you guys
it is different
Q: (Daniel Horvath – Racingline.hu) Kimi, as the oldest driver on the grid,
what’s your personal feeling, how long can you perform at this level?
KR: Hard to know. I don’t feel that I drive any differently than 10 years
ago. I think I drive pretty well, in my books at least, and that’s enough
for me. I wouldn't be here if I didn’t feel I can drive as well as I feel
that I should. That my tool to measure and decide when it’s enough. Who
knows. I don’t know. Maybe I wake up one morning and I just don’t know how
to go fast any more. I don’t think there is a time. It’s more feelings and
how do you feel yourself doing it – good or bad. People always say that the
speed will disappear but until this day I feel that it hasn’t disappeared
for me. But maybe there is a morning you wake up and it’s just not there
anymore. It could be like that but I don’t think you just put a date, you
just turn this old or that and it’s just not there. If you have it, you have
it and if not… that’s it.
Q: (Phil Duncan – PA) Seb, do you feel any greater pressure performing in
front of the Ferrari fans and how important do you think a win here would be
in terms of your championship chances and the momentum that a victory in
front of the Ferrari fans would bring?
SV: I don’t know. If you win you score more points than others, that always
helps. You don’t have to be a genius to make that out. Obviously here for us
it’s a different story, so I think it’s a bit isolated from the rest of the
year in terms of how special it is for the whole team. There are a lot of
friends, a lot of family from all the guys here. We are in Italy, in the
home country of Ferrari and I think everybody, not just us drivers, not only
the Ferrari drivers, everybody can feel and sense that there is something
special going on and I think we have probably the two most special seats
this weekend but there are a lot of seats and there will be a lot of people,
so to be honesty, looking forward to it. Yesterday was a great way to start
the weekend, with the event we had in the city and there were a lot of
people and to see how excited they are is definitely different than any
other race where I thought people were already excited, but they’re more
excited here. So looking forward to getting out in the car and just to look
for the same sort of satisfaction and feeling we had last weekend. The car
is performing so we hope it stays that way and to make it even better.
Q: (Fulvio Solms – Corriere dello Sport) A question for Sebastian. Why after
your victory in Belgian nobody in your team, neither you nor anybody else,
remembers so big a figure like Sergio Marchionne?
SV: I don’t think that’s fair from you to say. One is the comments we give
in the press but we are aware just how big he has been, not just for our
team, but for the whole group behind and obviously knowing him he was a big
supporter of Ferrari, of racing, and he was interested in going ahead and at
some point you have to let things rest and look forward and I think that’s
probably the way he wanted it to be and it’s probably a sign of respect,
that you’re not trying to dig something up and especially in times like now,
let things rest.
Q: (Alessandro Sala – Tercer Equipo) Question for the men in red, the first
one to Sebastian. If this year you should be World Champion, we should read
next year ‘my five titles’ biography? And for Kimi, both Ferraris first row,
at the beginning of the first variante, which should be your move if you are
side-by-side with Sebastian?
SV: I’m not planning to write a book. I’m not sure I can compete with Kimi.
I haven’t read it because it’s in Finnish but… yeah… I mean. If that would
be an idea for the headline, obviously that would be great if it happens to
be like that but there’s a lot of would and should and could. So, not
interested at that point. Yeah, as I said, I don’t think my book is as
exciting. Maybe need to wait more years.
KR: I don’t know. We’ll see. Obviously our aim is to be with both cars in
the front and then see how it plays out – but obviously we know what we can
do. We can race each other and we always try to beat each other but to be
fair at the same time. I don’t see anything different on that
Q: (Giles Richards – The Guardian) Sebastian, given the advantage you
enjoyed at Spa, is it something you think Mercedes can come back from – or
do you think you’re going to hold that power advantage to the end of the
season?
SV: Well, first of all, I find it quite nice that we get put in this
position. I think people forget that maybe for the last five years, Mercedes
has been absolutely dominant, especially in terms of power unit, and
obviously, it’s nice from them to put us in that position because it means
they believe they are not the strongest any more. So, it’s good to be up
there with them and be a match but I don’t think we can take anything for
granted. I don’t think we are anywhere near in the place they have been in
the last years. So, I think we have to work hard to make things happen, and
we are determined to work hard this weekend to put ourselves in the same
position again, that we have a great pace in the weekend and especially in
the race on Sunday.
Q: (Livio Oricchio – Globoesporte.com) To Sebastian and Kimi, it’s more or
less in the line of your last answer, Maurizio Arrivabene said that it’s
very important for Ferrari to push Mercedes, they are not used to it over
the last four years at least – but it’s also true that many people believe
you have the best car, and many Italians say Ferrari has a great chance of
being World Champion this year. If you go outside you hear this from many
Italians. You feel this pressure that will exist?
SV: Not really. We know our car best and I think we have a lot of people on
board telling us how good our car is on which point of the track, at which
point of the year, similar to other teams. I think we know what’s going on.
We know we have a great car. I think we have a good car that seems to have
worked so far on more or less every track. Some better, some a little but
worse but I think we are aware we have a good package but we cannot rest on
that. I think we need to make it happen. Kimi and myself in the car, all the
engineering crew at the track, everybody back in Maranello to try to put
everything together. So, I don’t think you can compare to maybe the position
other people have been in years ago. It doesn’t matter, I’m also not keen to
compare because we’re looking forwards and we want to do our thing. As I
said, looking forward to getting in the car. It’s a great feeling when you
step inside the car and you know that you can fight for first position, for
the podium, for victory on Sunday. That’s what you want as a driver but for
the rest I think it’s healthy not to overthink.
KR: I don't think there’s any more pressure. I think all the pressure is
that we want to do well: ourselves; our team. So that’s normal pressure that
we put unto ourselves and something that we want to achieve. So, I don’t
know. Is our package best? One weekend yes, next might not be. It’s that
close that small differences will dictate who’s fastest over that weekend or
the race on Sundays. If you don’t get everything right, you might not win.
So, it’s very close. Certain conditions; certain circuits, one is a bit
better for one team and the next one for the other team. We’re talking small
differences in the end result. So, we can only do our best and see what
happens, where we end up on Sunday.
Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Question for the two Ferrari drivers.
Everyone’s talking about the engine improvement this year but it has been a
collective growth from the team. Maybe not necessarily from last year but
especially if you look back to 2016 when there wasn’t the progression from
’15 to ’16. So if you look at the work from 2016, how much has the team
changed? Is it as much down to the way the team has reworked its structure
as well as obviously improvements on the engine side.
SV: Well, I think 2016 was a key year for us. Obviously it wasn’t great in
terms of performance, especially after ’15, we finished second in the
Constructors’, you naturally want to be closer, a lot closer and we were
not. We lost a place. But I think in terms of setting ourselves up for the
future ’16 was the most important year so far – at least since I’m with the
team. Obviously ’17 we had a rule change that helped us to use that
restructuring in general that’s been going on. I think we, since then, have
been able to improve on all fronts. Whether it’s the car, the development
throughout the season to keep the pace up; whether it’s engine power and its
components. So, I think things are going in the right direction but I think
the opponent that we had years ago was very , very strong, still is very,
very strong but y’know it’s good to see we are getting stronger and, in some
areas, maybe caught up. In some other areas maybe have a little bit of an
edge. In the end that’s where we want to be – and beyond that. I think
that’s our ambition: to be up there and to be at least on the level so we
can fight for it and to keep that level throughout the year, and if there’s
a gap then to increase that gap. I think that things are looking in the
right way but saying that, we still have a lot of things that we can
improve, and still have potential that can be unleashed, a lot of processes
that I think can be improved, so we have to work and focus on those and go
step-by-step.
Kimi anything to add?
KR: No.
Q: (Jonathan McEvoy – Daily Mail) To Seb. Lewis made some remarks after the
last race about that he couldn’t explain how fast your … how fast you were.
Would you… I mean presumably you take this opportunity to say that
everything in the Ferrari is above board and legal and b) does that give us
a glimpse into Lewis’ mindset that he’s not quite sure how to deal with the
Ferrari and the strength of it at the moment?
SV: I don't know. I think you need to ask him but I think he said in the
press conference something with tricks – but then I think he said quite many
times as well that he doesn’t want it to be interpreted in the wrong way and
I think – maybe he did – I’m not so sure but for all us, in terms of is the
car legal or not, there’s the FIA responsible for it and I think we have
several checks throughout the weekend to prove that. So as long as I don’t
hear anything from that front then I believe it’s fine. Same for the others.
So, as I said, maybe it’s more a question for him. And for us, it’s to keep
out head down. If there’s something like momentum, then to use that momentum
to make sure we go forwards.
Q: (Ian Parkes – New York Times) Question to Seb and Kimi. Given the
performance in Belgium from Ferrari, and given the comments that emanated
from both Mercedes and Lewis post-race, do you think you have Mercedes
worried for the first time in five seasons, for the rest of this season.
And, if so, how can you play on that and make it to your advantage.
SV: To be very honest with you, I don’t feel anything related to Mercedes. I
feel Ferrari, and especially this weekend – and that’s what I want to enjoy.
I don’t know in which state or mind they are. I think, y’know, we are
obviously up against the best if you fight for the front positions. And
Mercedes have proven to be the best over the last years. I think they have
been for many reasons. What we want to do, obviously, is to beat them – so
we need to be better than them. I think that’s what we need to focus on. In
which shape they are, and so on, I think it’s more for them to answer. As I
said, this weekend, I don’t feel anything with Mercedes. I feel Ferrari – so
looking forwards to that.
Kimi, anything to add?
KR: No.
Do you feel you’ve got Mercedes rattled?
KR: I don't know. You need to talk to them. Obviously, I don’t know. I’m not
really interested in what their thoughts are. We do our stuff and try to do
the best that we can and obviously improve and go forwards.
Q: (Alessandro Bucci – ItaliaRacing.net) A question for each driver. Which
is, or which are, your favourite Italian Grands Prix during your career.
RG: I haven’t had really any good ones here! I try to remind… 2009: no.
Where did we end up in ’12 and ’13? ’12 I didn’t race. ’13 I can’t remember.
We were not very fast on low downforce. ’14 I’m not talking about… no,
nothing outstanding here.
SP: For me it was a great race 2012. Making it into the podium. Into the
last laps, beating both Ferraris to the podium was a great race that I
definitely remember well. Obviously the podium here is very special. It’s a
nice experience. The atmosphere from the tifosi was very special,
definitely. My biggest memory was 2012.
KR: I enjoyed going to Imola also. Good racing. I don’t know. I’ve never had
very good races at either places but that was a really nice circuit to race.
It’s close by. I call it an Italian Grand Prix. Here, not one that would
probably be better than the others. Some decent, let’s say.
Seb, how about you?
SV: Personal one, obviously 2008. I don't think that… well, we’ll see, maybe
there is a chance that something better comes up but when it comes to my
racing here, I think 2008, the first win ever, it always stands out to be
something special. The way it happened as well. Then in memory, or what I’ve
heard about I think the ’88 Grand Prix will never be beaten in terms of
importance for this country, for the tifosi, for racing here. And I
remember, was there a race with three cars finishing close to each other?
Was it the tightest finish? Five cars? That must have been a great race. I
wasn’t there, obviously. By a long way! None of us what – but I think that
must have been a great race to watch and follow. And then, as I said, the
’88, what it meant, obviously for Ferrari.
Q: (Barbara Premoli – Motorinolimits.com) Question for Kimi. I know you
won’t answer me –but I need only to see your expression. In Monza, we have
always had a big announcement. So, we have to expect something? Lift the
cap! Look at me.
KR: Better glasses maybe? You need to talk to the team. It’s not up to me.
That’s about it. Not my decision in the end. |
