Australian GP: Driver Preview Quotes - McLaren

DRIVER PREVIEW QUOTES - McLAREN HONDA FORMULA 1 TEAM

Fernando Alonso - “The start of a new season always gives us a range of feelings – great excitement to be racing again, and the sense of the unknown as we go into a formula with a brand-new set of regulations. We don’t yet know where everyone stands as testing was a proving ground for the teams more than ever before, and it’ll be interesting to see how quickly teams show their hand over the course of the weekend.

    I’m incredibly motivated for 2017 and I can’t wait to see what kind of racing this new shake-up of the sport will bring. We already know the sport is a lot more physical and the cars are more challenging to drive – from a driver’s point of view this is exactly what we were looking for in the new regulations, and I really hope this will translate to good battles on track. 

    After a difficult two weeks of testing we’re prepared to face a difficult weekend in Melbourne. We’ll do our best with what we have and there’s a lot of hard work and collaboration happening within the team, but the lack of time before the first race means you have fewer options for big changes. The first step will be to work on reliability before we can make any assumptions or predictions about performance, and we will try to enjoy the weekend as much as we can.”

Stoffel Vandoorne - “Since my position as full-time racing driver for McLaren-Honda was confirmed back in September, it feels like the Australian Grand Prix weekend has been a long time coming. It’s a great feeling knowing that I’m about to start my full first season in Formula 1 and it’s a dream I’ve been working towards for my entire racing career. 

    I’m looking forward to stepping into the MCL32 cockpit on Friday morning and I feel totally ready for the challenge ahead. I’ve prepared very well over the winter, worked a lot on my training and in particular my strength and endurance, and I’m incredibly motivated to work hard with the team to make improvements step by step. I’ll be pushing hard as always and I’m looking forward to getting back into the car. 

    In terms of performance, I’m not setting myself any particular targets, other than to keep my head down, learn a lot from the team and from Fernando, and do my best. I know the guys and girls at McLaren and Honda very well, and I feel very much part of the family, so there’s no sense of nervousness about starting my first full season as a Formula 1 driver. It’s my first time in Australia so I’ll be soaking up the atmosphere, enjoying the buzz of the first race of the season, and we’ll see how the weekend unfolds from there.”

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Article Posted By: Amy Hawk
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Australian GP: Driver Preview Quotes - Williams

DRIVER PREVIEW QUOTES - WILLIAMS MARTINI RACING

Felipe Massa - "Australia is a fantastic place to start the season, not only because it’s a beautiful country, but also because the people are so nice. So it’s always a big pleasure to go to Australia. It really is the perfect place to get started. It’s quite a tricky track though. It’s half racetrack, half street circuit, so it’s definitely not easy. It’s good to have a difficult challenge at the start of the season though. I’m just really looking forward to getting started! It’s always a very important race because it’s the first time all of the teams will be together and racing for real."

Lance Stroll - "I am really excited for Melbourne. It’s going to be quite an experience being my first ever Grand Prix. It’s a new track and I have never been to Australia. I am just really looking forward to it all and very excited to get started. I can’t wait. I have driven the track in the simulator and I have seen some videos, and onboards. It looks quite tricky. Even though it is a new track for me it’s a different track also. It’s kind of a road course, so the track really changes a lot throughout the weekend, so that will be a good challenge. I will just take it as it comes, push as hard as I can, enjoy it and look forward to the weekend."

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Article Posted By: Amy Hawk
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Australian GP: Driver Preview Quotes - Haas

DRIVER PREVIEW QUOTES - HAAS F1 TEAM

Romain Grosjean - “I enjoy Albert Park. It changes a lot during the weekend. It’s not a permanent circuit, so the grip is changing a lot. The race start is quite late, but it’s one of my favorite grand prix. It’s not an easy track to get on with. It’s very hard on fuel consumption as well. For the first race of the season, it’s going to be interesting.”

Kevin Magnussen - “It’s always important to have a good start to the year just to kick-start everything. It gives you a boost to have a good beginning. The end is important too, but it’s always nice to start off the year with a good race. We’ll do our best and see what we get.

    My goal for the season, and it’s the same for the team, is to try and improve on the result from last year, which was very good. Going on to then finish eighth in the constructors championship, with 29 points, was a great result for a first-year Formula One team. To improve on that, even just a little bit, would be a good target.”

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Article Posted By: Amy Hawk
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Australian GP: Driver Preview Quotes - Sauber

DRIVER PREVIEW QUOTES - SAUBER F1 TEAM

Marcus Ericsson - "I like Melbourne a lot as it is a fantastic place. The fans and the atmosphere there are just great – I always enjoy being downtown in Melbourne and on the circuit at Albert Park. I can't wait to finally kick off the 2017 Formula One season in Australia. After challenging pre-season testing with a lot of data collection and preparation, I am going to Melbourne with a positive mindset. Now we have to see how things work out during the first race weekend with the new car. The Albert Park circuit is a bit tricky with a mix of permanent race track and a street circuit. In general I think it is going to be a challenge to find the right set-up, but I am confident we will get this done."

Pascal Wehrlein - "The Australian Grand Prix will be very special for me and also for the Sauber F1 Team. It is the beginning of my new role as a Formula One race driver in the Swiss team, and I am sure when those five lights go out it will be a unique moment on the race day. During the second week of pre-season testing I had productive days, where I was able to get quite familiar with the Sauber C36-Ferrari procedures. After intense physical preparations in the last few weeks I am excited about going to Melbourne, and I feel ready and well-prepared for the challenging season opener. It looks promising at the moment for me, but we never know until we get to Melbourne. I have full trust in our teamwork."

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Article Posted By: Amy Hawk
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Australian GP: Driver Preview Quotes - Red Bull

DRIVER PREVIEW QUOTES - RED BULL RACING FORMULA ONE TEAM

Daniel Ricciardo - “It’s always good to be back on home soil and enjoy a bit of sunshine after winter testing. My home race is awesome in so many ways but it’s also super busy and full on, the week for me starts on Monday and doesn’t stop until Sunday night. It’s nice that there’s so much media attention at the start of the season and everyone is super excited to see how I go. I try and attend as many events as I can but I’m still there to do a job.

    We get a pretty big greeting from everyone when we arrive at track each morning, the fans are so enthusiastic! This year they have named a grandstand after me, the Ricciardo Premium Grandstand with views of turns three, four and five, which is pretty cool. It’s another bit of motivation for me to do well and I will of course give the fans a wave. It’s great to have such positive support and I’ve heard the tickets sold out pretty quickly for the stand. I will definitely embrace the weekend, have some fun with it and try and give the fans a reason to celebrate on Sunday.”

Max Verstappen - “We always arrive in Australia a bit early due to the time difference, this way we have a bit longer to acclimatise. The first two or three days you struggle with jetlag a bit but then it's fine because you are just really excited for the first race of the year.

    I enjoy going to Melbourne as it’s a cool city, nice environment and good weather so generally a great place to stay. I found some nice restaurants down by the Yarra River so whenever we have time I will head down there for some dinner.

    The first race is always exciting as you never really know where you are in terms of performance with the car because everything is so new, this is reflected in the paddock too, it’s a refreshing feeling.

    Being Daniel’s home Grand Prix he obviously gets a lot of support which is very nice for him. I can’t wait to feel the buzz of all the cars going out for the first practice and seeing the excitement on everyone’s face.”

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Article Posted By: Amy Hawk
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Australian GP: Circuit Preview

AUSTRALIAN GP - CIRCUIT PREVIEW + 2016 STATS

Name: Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit

Location: Albert Park, Melbourne, Australia

Opened: November 20th 1953

Length: 3.296 Miles

Capacity: 80,000

Runs: Clockwise

Turns: 16

Race Laps: 58

2016 STATS:

Pole Position: Lewis Hamilton

1st Place: Nico Rosberg

2nd Place: Lewis Hamilton

3rd Place: Sebastian Vettel

Retirements: Daniil Kvyat (DNS - Electrical Issue), Fernando Alonso (Collision), Esteban Gutierrez (Collision), Rio Haryanto (Driveshaft), Kimi Raikkonen (Turbo) & Marcus Ericsson (Transmission) 

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Australian GP: Track Schedule

AUSTRALIAN GP - TRACK SCHEDULE

March 23rd / Thursday

09:00 - 10:20 - Paddock Club Pit-Lane Walk

13:25 - 13:55 - Paddock Club Pit-Lane Walk

15:00 - Drivers Press Conference (Located in the Press Room)

18:30 - 19:30 - Pit-Lane Walk (4-Day-Ticket-Holders)

March 24th / Friday

10:05 - 10:35 - Paddock Club Pit-Lane Walk

12:00 - 13:30 - Free Practice #1

14:30 - 15:00 - Paddock Club Pit-Lane Walk

16:00 - 17:30 - Free Practice #2

18:00 - 19:00 - Press Conference (Located in the Press Room)

March 25th / Saturday

11:20 - 12:00 - Team Pit-Stop Practice

11:20 - 11:50 - Paddock Club Pit-Lane Walk

14:00 - 15:00 - Free Practice #3

16:05 - 16:40 - Paddock Club Pit-Lane Walk

17:00 - 18:00 - Qualifying

March 26th / Sunday

11:00 - 11:30 - Paddock Club Pit-Lane Walk

12:00 - 12:50 - Paddock Club Pit-Lane Walk

14:25 - 2017 Season Drivers Photograph (Starting Grid)

14:30 - 14:40 - Drivers Track Parade

15:46 - National Anthem

16:00 - 18:00 - Race

(Subject to change)

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John Surtees - 1934-2017

JOHN SURTEES - 1934 - 2017

    The only racer to win world championships on both two and four wheels, John Surtees, died aged 83 on March 10th 2017.

    Surtees will be remembered for his extraordinary bike racing career, his F1 championship win in 1964, and his work to raise money for research into head injuries.

    Surtees made his racing debut at the tender age of 14. His father, Jack Surtees, was a big name in car racing at the time, and John Surtees made his debut in his father’s sidecar, only for the duo to be disqualified as John was underage.

    The love for racing never left, though, and, in 1952, Surtees enjoyed a successful season racing Norton factory bikes, winning 68 and of the 76 races he competed in. That caught the attention of MV Augusta, where he won his first world championship in 1956, only 22 years old. It was the first of many.

    It’s Augusta we have to thank for Surtees making his car racing debut. The team didn’t like their star rider racing outside of his commitments with them, and they banned him from racing his own bikes outside of those commitments.

    They didn’t say anything about racing cars, though.

    In 1960, Surtees made his car racing debut in Formula Junior at Goodwood. He was spotted by Lotus’ Colin Chapman, and he made his F1 debut with the team later that year.

    It wasn’t long before Surtees was catching the attention of other teams. The Brit saw plenty of success in his first season, including a second place finish in his second ever race, but he left Lotus after an argument with Chapman and Innes Ireland.

    In 1962, Enzo Ferrari made him an offer to come and race with him, but Surtees turned him down. He wasn’t ready for Ferrari, he thought. A year later, Ferrari made the same offer, and Surtees accepted it.

    1964, he became a Formula One world champion.

    Not one to stay in one place for very long, Surtees raced in other series at the same time, as well as driving for multiple other teams after leaving Ferrari in 1966. The Brit even started his own team, but he didn’t find very much success and the team closed in 1978.

    Outside of racing, Surtees had started a family. He married, and had three children: two daughters and a son, Henry Surtees. Henry followed his father into racing, but tragically died of injuries sustained in a Formula 2 accident. He was only 18 years old.

    The accident prompted Surtees to set up the Henry Surtees Foundation, which raises money for research into head injuries, and supports educational programmes related to motorsport.

    He was also an ambassador for the Racing Steps Foundation organisation, which aids young British drivers as they make their way up through the junior series in both car and bike racing.

    Many people in motorsport believed Surtees should have been knighted for his racing achievements and charitable work, and he was given a CBE in the 2016 New Year Honours list.

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Paddy Lowe Joins Williams

PADDY LOWE JOINS WILLIAMS F1 TEAM

    Paddy Lowe will replace Pat Symonds as Chief Technical Officer at Williams following his departure from Mercedes in January.

    Claire Williams has described Lowe’s return to the team he made his F1 debut with as a “game changer” for the team.

    Lowe will also be a shareholder in the team and sit on the board of directors.

    “I’ve always had a deep respect for Williams – my first team in Formula One,” he said. “It is a huge honour to return in this leadership position and to have the opportunity to become a shareholder. I am extremely motivated to play my part in bringing success back to the team."

    “The vision for the future set out by the Williams Board is powerful and has compelled me to join an organisation committed to building on its unique legacy and to reaching the pinnacle of Formula One once again.”

    Lowe first started at Williams in the 80s, and was a key part of the team’s success in the 90s.
Since then he has worked at a variety of teams including McLaren and Mercedes.

    As Executive Technical Director, Lowe helped Mercedes to three consecutive teams’ and drivers’ championships.

    Now Williams hope he can bring some of that success to them. The team suffered their worst result in this era of engines last season, falling behind Force India in the constructors’ championship.

    “Having someone of Paddy’s calibre and engineering competence is not only a morale boost for everyone at Williams, but I know it will also significantly support our efforts to return this team back to the front of the grid,” said Claire Williams.

    "Our ambitions at Williams are unwavering, we want to win races and championships, but to do that you need the best talent in the business."

    “In Paddy we believe we have just that as well as a leader who will drive change. This is a game changer for us and once again makes us extremely excited about the team’s future.” 

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Pre-Season Test #2 - Day #4 - Re-Cap & Times

PRE-SEASON TEST #2 - DAY #4 - RE-CAP & TIMES

    Kimi Raikkonen topped the times on a red flag ridden final day of testing. A number of teams, including Ferrari suffered mechanical problems as the teams headed onto the track for the last time before Melbourne.

    As has become the norm, the early part of the session was where most of the fastest lap times came. Lance Stroll, Nico Hulkenberg, and Max Verstappen each topped the times at points, but nobody was able to beat the 1:18.634 Raikkonen was able to set.

    The first red flag of the day came an hour and a half into the first session, when Romain Grosjean ran into the gravel at turn 5. It wouldn’t be the last time the Haas driver ran into trouble. He stopped on the back straight just before the lunch break, bringing out the red flag again.

    Unsurprisingly, the Honda powered McLaren fell into trouble again. Fernando Alonso had completed less than 20 laps when he stopped on track due to the same electrical issue that had caused problems for Stoffel Vandoorne yesterday, even though the team had changed parts of the power unit and chassis overnight. Alonso did manage to get back out before the end of the session, only to stop almost immediately.

    The team seemed to clear up the problem by the afternoon, as Alonso was able to get back out. He managed to complete 43 laps before the end of the day.

    McLaren weren’t the only driver to have limited morning running. Max Verstappen in the Red Bull hadn’t been out much after his pitch for the top spot early in the session. That was because Red Bull were fixing a turbo issue on the car, but the teenager was still able to get out in the afternoon. By that point, though, he’d already set the second fastest time of the day and Red Bull’s fastest time of the test.

    Anybody watching the timing screens would have had a less exciting afternoon, as many of the teams began race simulations again, but the simulations were disturbed by red flags. None from McLaren this time though.

    Raikkonen was the first to bring out the red flag in the afternoon. The Ferrari was on a race simulation when it suffered a problem. Raikkonen moved onto the unused part of the circuit to try and return to the pits, only to lock the rear wheels and spin at the unused chicane.

    Carlos Sainz was the culprit for the sixth and final red flag of the day as he stopped on the start finish straight after setting the third fastest time earlier in the day.

    Mercedes had a quiet day, with their two drivers finishing fourth and fifth by the end of the day with just over 100 laps between them, but the German team still heads to Australia favourites.

TIMES:

1. Kimi Raikkonen - 1:18.634 / Ferrari-Ferrari / 110 Laps
2. Max Verstappen - 1:19.438 / Red Bull-TAG-Heuer / 70 Laps
3. Carlos Sainz - 1:19.837 / Toro Rosso-Renault / 131 Laps
4. Valtteri Bottas (AM) - 1:19.845 / Mercedes-Mercedes / 53 Laps
5. Lewis Hamilton (PM) - 1:19.850 / Mercedes-Mercedes / 53 Laps
6. Nico Hulkenberg (AM) - 1:19.885 / Renault-Renault / 45 Laps
7. Sergio Perez - 1:20.116 / Force India-Mercedes / 138 Laps
8. Jolyon Palmer (PM) – 1:20.205 / Renault-Renault / 43 Laps
9. Lance Stroll - 1:20.335 / Williams-Mercedes / 132 Laps
10. Romain Grosjean - 1:21.110 / Haas-Ferrari / 76 Laps
11. Fernando Alonso - 1:21.389 / McLaren-Honda / 43 Laps
12. Marcus Ericsson (AM) - 1:21.670 / Sauber-Ferrari / 59 Laps
13. Pascal Wehrlein (PM) - 1:23.527 / Sauber-Ferrari / 42 Laps

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Article Written By: Bethonie Waring
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