Germany: Interview with Team Leaders

Represented Teams: Caterham (Mark Smith), Marussia (John Booth), Toro Rosso (Franz Tost), Mercedes (Norbert Haug), Sauber (Peter Sauber)

Mark, I can start with you. Firstly, we have seen a number of developments in the last two races. Are they promising? Are we going to have more improvements in the upcoming races?

We made an improvement at Silverstone. We were hoping to race in the dry, but we quickly realized that wasn’t going to happen. It hindered us a lot. We really hoped to be able to drive in the dry at Hockenheim, but we have done very little of that so far. So really, we are struggling to develop the car with the improvements we have, mainly due to the lack of dry running. We know from our running at Silverstone that we have performance in the car but could only extract 40% of it.

You have a team move in preparation. Does it bother you a lot? Obviously, it was planned to be the least disruptive, but it’s in the middle of the season.

It’s in the middle of the season, but it’s during the two-week shutdown. So it will never be ideal, but I think it will happen without too much trouble. One of the biggest challenges is undoubtedly the IT infrastructure. We have already worked on this point. Things like CFD centers (computational fluid dynamics, editor’s note) represent the biggest challenge in this area. The rest? If you think about the race team, they can live without an F1 factory and operate almost self-sufficiently anywhere in the world. So for the race team, after Hungary, they will return to Leafield and the rest of us will move after the shutdown, on August 20th. The majority of us.

John, you also had improvements at Silverstone, despite a difficult development period. Did they meet your expectations and will they enable Timo to return to the pack as before?

As Mark said, it was rather difficult at Silverstone and here to check where we stand. The improvements were substantial as they were the first results from our wind tunnel program and our partnership with McLaren Applied Technology. Some looked very promising. This encourages us, and we’ve brought a few more here to give Timo an extra boost.

The terrible accident involving Maria occurred 13 days ago and everyone in the newsroom is very grateful for the statements you have posted, especially the latest ones. However, regarding the questions that remain unanswered, there are still one or two left. So where do we stand?

Immediately after the accident, we had two priorities: the first was Maria’s health, obviously, which was at the forefront of our minds. The second was to start the investigation into the causes and rule out the car as a possible source, with Silverstone coming up. We established and rechecked that just after Silverstone. We are now 100% sure that the car is absolutely not to blame. As for the broader investigation, it is ongoing and it is a long process since in England, this is taken very seriously as you know. Therefore, we will have to wait a bit longer to get the final result. It would be inappropriate for me to make any further comments on the subject.

Question for the front row (Franz Tost, Norbert Haug, and Peter Sauber, ed.). We have representatives from Germany, Switzerland, and Austria: how important is the Grand Prix for you?

Franz Tost: For me, the German Grand Prix is a classic Grand Prix. In Europe, historically, we have four important events. They are Silverstone, a Grand Prix in Germany at the Nürburgring or Hockenheim, Monza, and Spa… and, of course, Monaco. The German Grand Prix is very important, especially when you consider the number of German drivers in Formula 1 and that Germany is a healthy country economically. It is therefore very important for the Grand Prix to be held in this country.

Norbert, obviously very important for Mercedes …

Yes, obviously. It’s very special for us. We have more than one home race. We have the British Grand Prix, we have another home Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi with our shareholder Aabar but here, we are 100 kilometers from our main headquarters in Stuttgart. Personally, I have great memories from here when I was a young boy mostly watching motorcycle races. So Hockenheim is really home. Of course, it’s good to have good performances here. We are trying. I remember Lewis Hamilton’s 2008 win with McLaren-Mercedes, which is a great memory. And yes, there are many spectators, the Mercedes stand, and a great program. It’s a very busy weekend for all of us. It doesn’t start like a typical Hockenheim weekend: normally, it’s hot. Today (Friday), it was more like Silverstone, which we experienced recently. It seems like it will be the same tomorrow (Saturday): more rain and probably sunshine on race day, like what we experienced two weeks ago. But it remains an important race for us.

Peter, is it the closest to the house for you?

Yes, I think it’s a home race, like Monza. Both Grand Prix are very close to the Hinwill factory. But I have a special relationship with Hockenheim. I have driven here many, many times. I started in 1967 for my first race, with a Volkswagen Beetle.

Question for all of you, on a similar topic: what is the importance of the Nürburgring? It has issues on its side, but can they be resolved? Is it important that they are resolved and that it remains one of the venues for the German Grand Prix?

Franz Tost: The Nürburgring also has a very, very interesting and important history. Everyone knows the Nürburgring. I just hope that the politicians will find a solution to gather the money to save the Nürburgring. Because at the same time, an exceptional infrastructure has been built around the Nürburgring with hotels. In addition, there are many workshops where racing car parts are produced. It would be a shame if people lost their jobs because of this. There are many, many races here. The 24-hour race, for example, and many other races, particularly Formula 1. I just hope there will be races there in the future because the Nürburgring is part of the history of motorsports in general and Formula 1 in particular.

And a great legacy for Mercedes as well, Norbert?

Yes, obviously. There is a great legacy and I hope and think it will continue. We have a DTM race at the Nürburgring after the summer break, on August 19th. That is confirmed. And I think there is a good chance there will be a Grand Prix in the future. But it’s probably a bit early to talk and speculate about it. I think they have built very beautiful infrastructures and the plan was probably right but it didn’t work out well. I think what is very important is that the Nürburgring has a lot of bookings: the industry has many reservations, not just the Nordschleife but also on the Grand Prix circuit. I think it’s a good development for the Nürburgring: I just think they have financial problems but a solution can be found.

Peter, I’m sure Saubers have raced here. Did the Beetle come all the way here?

Not only the Beetle. In 1986, we won our first endurance race here with Mercedes. I think with Pescarolo and Tackwell at the wheel. I think it is important for this very traditional event that the officials find a solution to save the situation.

Other questions were then asked by some publications. Motors Inside highlighted the most significant ones.

(Edd Straw from Autosport) Franz, it seems that Giorgio Ascanelli has left the team or is about to leave the team and is no longer on active duty. Can you confirm his status and the reasons behind this change?

I can only say that Giorgio Ascanelli is on vacation and that there is a confidentiality clause between the two parties. That’s all I can say about it.

To the four team leaders: during the weekend at Silverstone, an article was published in the Daily Mail in London in which Mr. Ecclestone stated that the Concorde Agreements were all signed, and that the commercial agreements to replace the current ones had been accepted by everyone. Can you confirm that you have signed a document with Mr. Ecclestone that is part of the 2013 Concorde Agreements?

Franz Tost: Toro Rosso has signed the Concorde Agreements.

Norbert Haug: I am not one of the four.

Peter Sauber: I think so. We have an agreement with Bernie, yes. We have signed an agreement with Bernie.

John Booth: We didn’t sign an agreement.

(Gary Meenaghan from The National) Regarding young driver tests, I was wondering if you could talk about your plans for young driver tests this year. I understand that Mercedes plans to run in France. Is that true?

Norbert Haug: No. It’s not finalized yet.

Peter Sauber: We will drive in Abu Dhabi. I think we will try three different drivers and with Esteban Gutierrez, obviously.

Franz Tost: At the moment, it seems that we will also be racing in Abu Dhabi, but it is not yet 100% decided with which drivers.

John Booth: We looked at the end-of-season calendar, and Abu Dhabi would have meant that the mechanics would have worked five weeks in a row, five weeks away from home. We considered that we didn’t have enough staff or spare parts for that kind of testing. That’s why we preferred Silverstone last week.

Mark Smith: We plan to be present in Abu Dhabi

From our correspondent in Hockenheim

With the participation of RacingBusiness.fr