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DRIVERS – Valtteri BOTTAS
(Mercedes), Marcus Ericsson (Sauber), Sergey SIROTKIN (Williams), Charles
LECLERC (Sauber)
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Marcus, Sauber announced this week that Antonio Giovinazzi will be racing
next season but you’re going to be remaining with the team in 2019, so just
give us your reaction to the news about what’s happening next year.
Marcus ERICSSON: Yeah, it’s obviously disappointing to be not racing. It’s
all you want to do; you want to race. It’s not good news for me, obviously.
Still, I’m happy to be able to continue my relationship with the team but
then yeah, let’s see. I want to race still, so I’m looking at different
options on how to keep doing that and looking at everything really, what I
can do, in what series and what it could be – but it’s still a bit early.
It’s quite fresh, this news, so I need to look at my options. Overall, of
course, I would like to stay.
Q: You said on social media ‘it’s not the end of the story – just the start
of a new chapter’ but does it feel like it’s the end of the Formula One
chapter, in your eyes?
ME: No. My goal is still to come back into Formula One. I think for 2019
that’s not going to happen but hopefully after that there will be
possibilities to come back. That’s still the goal, to come back to Formula
One.
Q: Sergey, moving onto you next. You raced here in what was GP2 but this
will be your first Russian Grand Prix as a Formula One driver – so it must
be a special weekend for you.
Sergey SIROTKIN: It is. It’s going to be special, for sure. Obviously being
here almost every year, since F1 came here, I raced here in GP2 but it’s all
quite different form being here as a race Formula One Driver. I can feel it
already now, it’s a lot of attention, a lot of support, which is very nice
to feel as a driver, it’s very nice to feel especially in the situation we
are this year. I mean, it’s a lot more activity, it’s a bit of… y’know… I
would say it’s a bit more difficult to manage all of that but I mean, I try
to get the best from it, I try to get energy from it and keep going. So, it
is a pleasure to be here and race in front of the home crowd.
Q: That’s the specifics of this weekend – but more generally, do you know
what you’ll be doing in 2019 yet?
SS: I definitely know what I want to be doing. I’m not sure I can guarantee
something right here, right now, but, I mean, I think it’s quite obvious,
with the way everything is developing, I think it’s quite obvious what I
want and it’s something that should happen quite soon. Yeah, I have no
guarantees right now, right here, but at the same time I’m not too much
worried about the future, let’s say.
Q: Valtteri, this will be Sergey’s first grand prix here in Formula One and
this was the scene of your first Formula One victory for Mercedes last year
– so does it bring back special memories, returning to Sochi?
Valtteri BOTTAS: Definitely. You never forget the first time. It was a good
memory and it will be nice to be back here. Strong track normally. I’ve had
pretty decent races so in that way it’s a nice approach to the weekend.
Q: You had more wins after this win here during last season but 2017 was the
last time you won a grand prix. How do you go about turning that around this
weekend?
VB: No wins for me this year yet but there’s still a bit of the season left
and I come here with only one thing on my mind and that is being on the pole
and winning the race.
Q: Charles, you’ve a few weeks now to digest where you’ll be racing next
year, and you called it a dream come true, to be moving teams. Can we ask,
in those dreams, have you started thinking about your first grand prix
victory yet?
Charles LECLERC: No, not yet, it’s still very far away. First of all, I have
to finish this season on a high, which is for now the main importance to me.
There are still six races to go, so I’ll first try to focus on that.
Obviously, it’s a dream come true to be racing for Ferrari next year – but
I’m trying to take it out of my mind to focus fully on the end of this
season.
Q: Focussing on that then, what is it you want to do with Sauber in these
final six races. What are the things you still need to learn and work on
ahead of your move?
CL: I think you can always improve. To learn, I still think I can learn in
everything. So there is still a lot to learn. The target for the end of the
season is to try to keep our form. It’s not going to be easy, because, as
the team already mentioned, we started to focus, or the team started to
focus, on next year’s car and I believe some of the other teams are still
pushing a little bit to gain some positions in the championship – so it’s
not an easy situation to be in, but we will try to keep our form.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Question for Marcus. The confirmation that
you would be reserve driver obviously followed pretty immediately after
Sauber confirmed its driver lineup. So, it’s not like you had to face
speculation in public about what you would be doing or if you would drive
for another team. So, how much notice did you get have? How aware were you
that was coming? And did you have much opportunity to look at maybe Williams
for next year or staying in F1 in a race role?
ME: I think when Kimi signed, I think that was bad news for me. I was still
hoping but then obviously over the past weekend I got the information that
Antonio had signed for the other car. And then yeah, my management were
looking around a little bit but we decided to continue with Sauber and the
relationship there, which we think is important. And then yeah, we go from
there basically.
Q: (Andrey Kirsanov – Sputnik News Agency) My question is to Sergey
Sirotkin, to our champion. As you know, the last edition of Formula 1 in
Singapore, Lewis Hamilton from Mercedes, he won this edition. So what are
your expectations for this edition in Sochi, how are you preparing and who
are your main rivals in this time?
SS: Tricky question because everybody speaks that we are coming here to
Sochi and that it should be a special event and so on and so on, but at the
end of the day, in terms of preparation, how you build up your weekend, how
you prepare yourself and how you do all your work with the team, it doesn’t
really change much at all. It doesn’t matter if you go to Sochi or you go
wherever else, every time you try to do your job, you try to do it as good
as you can. If I could do anything better than I could I would do it a long
time ago, I wouldn’t wait for here. So, I wouldn’t say there is anything
different. I wouldn’t say anything different in terms of our opponents or
whatever. So yeah, again we just try to do the best from where we are and
maximise the situation and I’m afraid that’s it.
And your main rivals?
SS: It’s exactly the same as any other single race. First of all I think we
should look at ourselves because I think it’s that type of track where we
can have surprises, in both ways, in a good way and in bad way, and
depending on that it will put us either closer or further away from the
teams we want to be fighting with, so it’s quite difficult to say. But
there’s not much movement around the field now anyway, so I would say
nothing is going to be much different from what we saw in, let’s say, the
recent three, four or five races.
Q: (Valery Kartashev – Racing News Agency) My question is to everybody. In
Singapore, Lewis Hamilton said his passion for music and the fashion
industry helps him to stay motivated, so my question is: do you have
something outside Formula 1 that helps you to stay motivated and recharge
the batteries?
VB: Yeah, I think everyone definitely has some things they have time to do
between the races. I think for me personally it’s been always… I love
sports. It’s a way of staying healthy and a way of getting rid of stress
that we can experience with this sport. If I have free time, which I didn’t
really have since the last race, but if I have, it’s nice to see the family,
friends that you don’t normally get to see. Personally, I love nature, so
sometimes a proper escape to hiking or some mountains or something is nice.
ME: Yeah, I’m a bit the same like Valtteri. I enjoy sports in general. I
recently opened a paddle centre, so I play quite a lot of that with my
friend. I enjoy that a lot. And then, I’m an ice hockey freak, so I watch a
lot of ice hockey.
CL: First of all, what motivates me is the results. To me, it’s just trying
to work as hard as possible to get the best result possible then on track.
Then what relaxes me is just staying with the family and friends in Monaco.
Nothing special to be honest.
SS: I would repeat what Valtteri says. I mean most of my life is anyway
dedicated to the cars, so anything related to that – I’m never really going
far away from it. Again, some type of training. I do like also to stay with
the family, to go to see some nature, to be as switched off as possible at
certain points from racing. So nothing really much unusual I would say.
Q: (Livio Oricchio – Globoesporte.com) To all drivers, I start with
Valtteri. You started third position and you became first before… at the end
of the straight you got a good two from Sebastian, overtook him. And we saw
this year also, Sebastian starting behind Lewis in Spa, the same situation;
he overtook him after the starting grid and a long straight. Circuits like
this, it’s interesting to maybe start from second position or even third
rather than pole position?
VB: Yeah, it is tricky one here. It is an extremely long run into Turn 2.
Last year I missed the pole by, I think, less than one tenth, which maybe in
the end was good, I got a nice tow. But you also need a good start for that.
I think still you would like to be on pole because from pole if you get a
good start there is… I think if you look at the past, 2015 and 2016, who
started on pole could keep the first place into Turn 2. It is a tricky one.
Now I think there is a bit of resurfacing done, which affects position one
and two. Normally when there is new tarmac it means there is more grip so
potentially you would like to be in the first two places.
Marcus, you’ve raced here before, is this a circuit you can make big gains
at into Turn 2?
ME: Yeah, I think when it’s a long run into the first braking zone, it’s
obviously important with a good start but then you need to look for a good
tow, especially these days with the heavy downforce cars, it can make a
difference. But as Valtteri says, you still need a good start, to get the
momentum on the people around you. But it definitely opens up a bit of a
mixture of positions, because it’s such a long run, you know. Some other
tracks, like Singapore, even if you do it a good start it’s difficult to
make up from it, but here it can really make a difference and you can gain
quite a lot of positions.
Charles, it will be the first time you race here, so is this something you
look at when you come to a new circuit?
CL: Yeah, you do, but it’s quite difficult to speak when you don’t know the
track. Starts haven’t been my strong point this year; I think I struggled
quite a bit. But to know there’s a long straight will for sure help
overtakes after the start, but apart from that I don’t really know what to
say. I don’t know this track so…
Sergey, did you have a similar experience in GP2?
SS: I don’t really remember how it was in GP2, but for sure this kind of
track, the speed you approach Turn 2 for the braking and the speed you
actually want to brake down to for the apex, it’s quite a big offset, so you
can still do something. But again, it all should start with a good launch
initially. Without that, it doesn't matter how long is the straight you
won’t really be able to do much.
Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) In Singapore we had blue flags as a topic in
the race and afterwards. It seems to have split opinion on their merit in
Formula One. What are your respective thoughts on blue flags? Should they be
dropped or do they still have a place? Could it be implemented differently?
What do you think?
SS: Firstly, I don’t think I’ve ever experienced it as the leading car,
obviously, so I can imagine that for the leaders it’s as painful as it is
for us. It’s one story when you’re just finishing your race and you’re not
really fighting but there are some other occasions when we’re still fighting
for positions and for us it’s quite painful to find a good safe way for
ourselves, first of all, to let the leading cars pass by. Honestly, I don’t
think I have the best experienced to comment if I wish to keep that or if I
wish to get rid of it but yeah…
CL: Well, in Singapore first of all, I would like to thank Sergey because if
my strategy worked that well it’s thanks to him also.
SS: It was a pleasure.
CL: I think if it’s done well, it’s the right thing to have in Formula One
but then in Singapore it was a bit of a mess, I think. At one point, the
marshals were waving yellow flags at me for several laps but I had nobody
behind or more than one second or quite a lot more, actually. If it’s done
properly I think it should stay but we just need to fix this issue for next
year in Singapore.
ME: I think it’s always difficult with the blue flags and there are always
arguments between the top cars compared to the guys they are lapping and
it’s always two opinions there. I think we’ve tried 1.5 seconds, we’ve been
down to one second and now I think it’s 1.2s. It’s difficult to find the
perfect solution. I think it changes from track to track. In my opinion I
think 1.2s is a good compromise. It’s never going to be perfect, but I think
it’s just part of the sport, part of the race and I think as it is now I
think is the best solution in my opinion, that’s the most fair for both the
top and the guys who are getting lapped as well. I can also understand the
frustration in the case of Valtteri in Singapore, obviously, because it’s a
track where it’s very difficult to get close enough but at the same the guys
who they are lapping are also having a race and fighting for points so it is
a very difficult subject but I think where it is now is a good compromise.
VB: Well yes, first of all I’m definitely happy to keep the blue flags. I’ve
been on both sides, really. I’ve been blue-flagged many times as well. I
think honestly, as Marcus says, it really depends on different tracks.
Sometimes this new 1.2s rule is good and sometimes it’s a bit tricky to get
close enough to trigger the blue flags, like what happened to me in
Singapore but it is also going to be a compromise, it’s never going to be
perfect. In the end, for all the lead cars lapping, it is the same.
Sometimes you get more luck with it, sometimes more unlucky and that’s how
it goes. For now it’s fine.
Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Sergey, what are your thoughts on the recent
success of Russian drivers you met before, in two years’ time in the Formula
One paddock? Is it a question of growing motor racing culture in your
country or the chance to have big companies to support you?
SS: I think it’s a good question. I think it’s a bit of both generally, the
racing getting more and more popular which obviously gives more chances,
initially, for the drivers first of all, more like a base and I think we
will see it even more in the future. Same for the companies: there are more
and more companies and different organisations and so on starting to be
interested in supporting the racing, whatever it could be. It could be
drivers’ sponsorship, it could be like that here. Many companies supporting
the track activity here in Sochi or other things similar in Moscow or
whatever. Yeah, there’s definitely a lot more movement around this sport
nowadays than there’s been, even when I started so it’s a good way to keep
going and to improve it. I think it’s still just beginning and I think
what’s going on on the base what we have today is going to come in quite a
few years and I think it will be quite an impressive improvement. |
