ONE PART – TEAM REPRESENTATIVE
Toto WOLFF (Mercedes), Frédéric VASSEUR (Alfa Romeo), Laurent ROSSI (Alpine)
Q: Laurent, first congratulations on winning overnight in Sebring, but let’s talk about Formula 1. Fernando Alonso said after practice yesterday, he’s surprised by the car’s competitiveness. Were you?
Laurent Rossi: Well, I think he was pleasantly surprised by the last report from two weeks ago. At the same time, we were working on it, so I’m not so surprised. And then the two cars are currently in a slightly different position. So tonight we’ll see how it reads.
Q: How is the mood at Alpine Camp right now as we enter this new season?
LR: Everyone is very excited. It’s a very good mood, on the back of a good season last year. Everyone is motivated. They know that cars are being rebuilt. We had decent tests and indeed the first runs here are quite promising, so everyone works hard but with a big smile, so hopefully we keep that up and we will continue with the victory rings we had in Sebring, even if it will be difficult to get the top positions.
Q: Shortly before we move on, quick word on Otmar Szafnauer, who has been with the team for a little over a week now. How does he react? Did he make any suggestions on how to improve things?
LR: Oh yes. He’s already had the day he arrived because he’s been watching us over the last year, so a few things he saw that he could bring in, and then, now he knows the team a little better, he was already instrumental in helping us prioritize a few things operationally, as well as fixing a lot of things and also planning for the long term. So I’m glad Otmar is already making a difference.
Q: Fred, especially Valtteri was very positive about the car after the practice yesterday. How encouraged were you?
Fred Vasseur: Yes, we did a good FP2 yesterday, but FP1 was a lot harder for us. But, you know, the most important thing is to be there in the qualifiers and for the races, not in FP1 or FP2, and so far everyone is world champion, and we only have to be there when it’s the money. is, and not before.
Q: It’s still the winter world championship but how encouraged are you by the potential of your car.
FV: Sure it’s a lot better to be there in FP2 than not – and I’m quite happy with the result of the first sessions and the test last week, but no one knows exactly in what condition the others are driving and we see the Evening . I think tonight everyone is pushing the engine, everyone is running with soft and low fuel data.
Q: So much is new at Alfa Romeo this year. Are you impressed with how quickly everyone gets involved?
FV: Are you talking about drivers? The rest of the team is the same. Sure we have a new lineup, but Valtteri is well known and I think Zhou is a very good guy who is very easy to work with, and the collaboration has started very well. Now that you know it’s relatively easy to be in a good mood before the results, and it’s not my first season in motorsport and we’ll see where we are after the first races.
Q: Toto, are you surprised by what the Timesheets have raised so far this weekend?
TW: Well, surprised? In a way, yes, because you lived up to your expectations and we have not been able to meet them so far – but I think you just have to understand and learn from there. As I always say, every season the points go to zero and especially in a season where the rules have changed significantly, you have no right to perform. Now we need to understand better. As Fred said, in qualifying and in the race tomorrow we do not really know where we stand, and if it is not good enough, then this team proves that we can easily slip out of non-performance.
Q: Do you think you can challenge yourself to victory this weekend?
TW: Well, as it turns out, if we base our assumptions on the free practice sessions, no. I mean, Red Bull is in a league of its own, and then there’s a bunch of teams that are in a corridor of fuel weight and engine modes – but even there it’s nice to see teams like Fred and Laurent are right there and the free training sessions. And also, that being said, the regulations were made to set the ground up and that is what happened.
Q: How is the mood in the camp? How is everyone doing with what was a difficult pre-season?
TW: You know we would rather be a second faster than everyone else and disappear into the sunset, but that is not the case now. We started the season well in Barcelona and then went back from there. So, now it’s about real understanding. What we are doing now is in a way a process. We can do things fast and we can make more sophisticated and profound changes over the medium term – and that’s what we aim to do.
QUESTIONS OF FLOOR
Q: (Luke Smith – Autosport) For all three, Andreas Seidl and McLaren talked a lot this week about the relationship between A and B teams and the benefits for both sides. McLaren suggested that there should be closer running in terms of transfers between teams, saying yesterday it should just be engine and gearbox and nothing more. What are your views on this. I know you’re in three very different positions, and especially for Toto as an A-team, what do you get from client teams?
TW: I mean, we did not even start the season. We saw a certain peck order in the free practice and in the test sessions and of course there were some teams, including ourselves, that did not meet our own expectations, and others checked. But you have to give credit to those who were fast and if we can see what the right order is, then we can actually try to find the first performance in ourselves, and then see what we do in the long run in the way that d ‘Regulations can be formed. I can tell you from our side, with Aston Martin, we share a tunnel, but that’s pretty much it: there are no talks, no exchanges, nothing else.
FV: On the other hand, you have a regulation, the regulation is overseen by the FIA and I think so far the FIA has nothing to do about it. The rule is clear and we just have to follow the rule that we work on our side with Ferrari, we have the cassette and the engine, and that’s it. I’m ok.
LR: Clearly no AB team game for us. We’re watching what’s going on outside, but so far the rules are being respected as far as I can tell, so that’s fine. In the interest of the sport, I take it for granted that Andreas mentioned that we want to avoid too many pairs, because at the end of the day we want to have ten teams and not five duos. I think that’s what Andreas pointed out – but so far so good.
Q: (Claire Cottingham – Racefans.net) Toto, Lewis of course spoke about how unhappy he is with how the car feels, George also mentioned it at the press conference yesterday. What conversations do you have with your drivers to reassure them that things may change in the future – and how do you manage to lift your spirits? I know it’s really early days, but how can you manage to lift the spirits of the team to know that there will be more positivity in the future.
TW: Well, the conversations are in the team and in the team also means between the drivers. It’s the first thing we do in the morning; we pick up the phone and we talk about things. We have won, and it is not to say in an arrogant way, we have won eight constructors’ championships in a row, so this team has done well in the past, we did not always have the easy times, we climbed the way back to a championship against a great engine performance from our competitor, and even last year, where we felt we started much worse, we were still able to take it to the final race. And if it’s the case that we’re behind it, we all know we’ve done it before, and in a way it’s a challenging situation but you need to see the positives. Whatever we learn now will make us strong in the future. The rules are supposed to stay long, so let’s go ahead.
Q: (Phil Duncan – PA) Toto, you said here, Mercedes will not win and Lewis said the same thing last night. Do you think you will be in this position for one, two, three, four races? Do you think that you will not be in a winning position for some time yet? And do you think then that means you will not be challenged for the title? I know it’s early days, of course, but …
TW: Again, purely based on assumptions we have seen in terms of pace, I do not think we are matching the leader’s performance at the moment. I personally believe that there are easy solutions to get the performance back that are starting to crystallize, and there are 23 races. Even if you lose a race or two, or you’re out of the podium at the end, no one is in any way protected against DNFs, or crashes. And we saw last year that they played a big role, so we give it what we can, bring updates as soon as possible and understand the car more and try to find performance.
Q: (Adam Cooper – Motorsport.com) It’s clear that COVID protocols have been relaxed in the paddock and around the world in general. Are you more nervous this year about your team members and especially drivers testing positive than you were last year – and how have your own internal protocols changed? Do you do fewer tests than before or is it the same?
LR: Well, we’re definitely doing a little less, technically speaking, but we’re still putting ourselves to the test before coming in and testing every other day, a healthy measure to make sure we do not spread it. Nothing more.
FV: We follow the protocols that are in place in each country. Now, to be nervous, it’s more for the race side because it’s also a little less dangerous. And for the team, I think we’re less nervous because we know the risk is a little less. You always have a risk on the drivers, as we saw last week with Daniel, or that could happen, or this week with Seb. I’m not sure we can be completely protected from that.
TW: I mean, no matter where we go, the courts give us the law you need to ask for. And we are still diligent in the factory, but I think we need to have a common strategy, all the teams and the FIA, FOM and for everyone in the paddock for how we relax the rules. And you can see in the UK and other countries that this will be quite relaxing and the COVID will be seen as a flu that you judge for yourself whether you want to work or not. So, I believe that in the coming weeks we will see a pattern that will follow Formula One.
Q: (Scott Mitchell – The Race) Toto, but also to the other two please. Since the second test, Ferrari have been particularly challenging, or want to clarify with the FIA, whether or not what Mercedes did with the wing mirrors, in line with the spirit of the regulations, whether they should manipulate aero performance, that sort of thing. Where do you see that debate? Is this something that is allowed for this season, could it be stopped for next season? And how do you think this should be resolved? Thanks you.
TW: I think absolutely fair enough that a team questions things that are on another car, so it’s business as usual. We have tried as diligently as we can, especially in an age of new regulations, you want to involve the FIA in every step you take, and that is what we have done. Take no risks.
FV: Yeah, honestly, it’s business as usual, as Toto said earlier. Because every week you have an application to the FIA …
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