Abu Dhabi GP - Friday press conference - Pt.2

Team principals: Stefano Domenicali (Ferrari), Christian Horner (Red Bull), Adam Parr (Williams), Martin Whitmarsh (McLaren).
Friday Practice 1, Christian Horner (GBR), Red Bull Racing, Sporting Director
Friday Practice 1, Christian Horner (GBR), Red Bull Racing, Sporting…
© PHOTO 4

Questions from the floor.

Q: (Heikki Kulta - Turun Sanomat).
Stefano, you have been around winning Drivers' Championships with Ferrari before. Christian has not. Does that give any type of advantage for you in this moment?

Stefano Domenicali:
To me. I don't think so.

Q: (Heikki Kulta - Turun Sanomat) To Ferrari.

SD:
Well, you are very kind but I don't think so. I think in this moment you really get out from yourself all the qualities that you have and try to keep the problems or the bad things under a certain level of control. But the advice that I can give to Christian is he has already won a championship this year, so he has already covered that, so he is bullet-proof on that.

Q:
Stefano, Dietrich Mateschitz was quoted as saying that he would prefer to come second rather than do what Ferrari did in Hockenheim. I think that deserves some reply from you.

SD:
Not from me. I congratulate Mr Mateschitz on the title and honestly, I always said that I speak about Ferrari and apart from congratulating Red Bull on their title, there is nothing to add from me.

Q: (Ralf Bach - R&B).
We are nearly at the end of the season, so a question to all of you: in the end, how do you rate Michael Schumacher's comeback so far?

Adam Parr:
Where's Norbert (Haug) when you need him? You know I've done two press conferences with Norbert and he gets asked this question... how long are you going to stick with him? Everyone has an opinion but I don't think my opinion means anything. I think it's completely up to Mercedes and Michael Schumacher to determine how they see his career and how he's done. Clearly he's a seven time World Champion, he's an exceptionally talented brilliant driver without any question at all. And nothing that he's done this year changes his incredible achievements.

SD:
I agree on the last part of Adam's quote. Michael is a friend, and I have such respect for him that we discussed between us, at the end of last year, because he was in our team and we have discussed these things internally and we keep it between us. But I agree with him: seven times World Champion is an achievement that I don't think anyone else will do, will achieve at least in the short term.

Martin Whitmarsh:
As a seven time World Champion he will be disappointed. Let's be frank, he will be disappointed with this season. He's a winner, he's won many, many races. But, it's a driver, a team, a car. We all play a role in our end success and lack of success, so I think anyone who writes Michael off and believes that he can't be more competitive next year will be foolish. Mercedes have a great heritage, they are still strong partners of us and Mercedes GP were the heroes this time last year. They've had a tough year but there's good people there, it's a good team and they've got two good drivers, one of whom has had a disappointing year. But I think none of us here underestimate what they are capable of doing together next year. He will have been disappointed, of that I'm quite sure. People like Stefano know him much better than I do but there's no reason why he can't come back very strongly in the following season.

Christian Horner:
When you've won seven World Championships and over 90 grand's prix, it's a hell of a ballsy thing at 40 years of age to say 'OK, I'll come back and take on the current best of the crop.' You've got to admire the guy for taking that decision in coming back. He's not been in the best car. I'm sure he won't be satisfied with his season but he's a determined competitor and I think it's good to have him back in Formula One. It would be nice to see him in a quicker car, so long as it was just behind us, and I'm pleased he's around again next year. It makes me feel young.

Q: (Mat Coch - pitpass.com).
There's been a couple of stories linking Williams to various different engines this year; can you lay that one to rest? There's been Volkswagen, Porsche... can you lay that one to rest and confirm you're staying with Cosworth?

AP:
I can assure you that the engine currently behind our car is absolutely a Cosworth.

Q: (Mat Coch - pitpass.com).
And going forward?

AP:
Tomorrow it's going to be a Cosworth.

Q: (Mat Coch - pitpass.com).
Next year?

AP:
Next year's it's going to be a Cosworth.

SD:
E vai! (Go for it) You understand!

Q: (Mat Coch - pitpass.com).
Staying on the engine front. Christian, Renault have announced that they're going to be supplying Lotus next year; what sort of assurances have Red Bull received that the same quality of service and support that you have received this year will continue?

CH:
We've had a great relationship with Renault during the last four seasons now. They've given us every assurance. It's a good partnership, it's one that works. All of our victories have been with Renault engines, they've been a key part of our performance this year. It would be nice if we could have a bit more power but we're working on Martin for that. But no, it's great that Renault are committed to the sport, that they are here for the longer term. They've been around in Formula One for many years, it's a great group of people and we're very positive about having extended our relationship with Renault.

Q: (Chuck Culpepper - The National).
Christian, you must have pictured in past years what it would have been like to win a Constructors' championship, so has it been odd to win it and then spend the aftermath talking about this other thing; it seems submerged in that?

CH:
It's an interesting one because the Constructors' probably within most teams is internally the championship that probably means the most. It's the championship where, department for department, they are measuring themselves against their peers and it's down to the performance of the car, the team, the production side, the drivers as a combination and it's just a tremendous result for Red Bull to have come into the sport and within a very short space of time, delivered what is for us a prized and very, very valuable goal. Just over six years ago Dietrich Mateschitz had a vision that I think perhaps a few people scoffed at at the time but we stuck at it, we've assembled a fantastic group of people, we've got two great drivers and with the support of all our suppliers and all the backroom staff and commitment we've achieved what is for us, in many respects, the ultimate goal which is the Constructors' World Championship. Obviously the prestige is with the Drivers' and we've still got two drivers who are still very much in contention here but the delight and buzz that came out of Milton Keynes following the result on Sunday was just absolutely tremendous. And when you're competing against teams such as McLaren and Ferrari with such tremendous heritage, then it's a great honour for us to be able to take them on and ultimately this year emerge on top, so not only was every member of the team very proud of what we achieved on Sunday evening but every member of the Red Bull Group around the world, and the reception that we've had has been fantastic. Irrelevant of whatever result we achieve here, which hopefully would be the icing on the cake, we plan to really celebrate this success once we get back to the UK via Austria on Monday, UK on Tuesday next week.

Q: (MC).
Christian, now that Red Bull Racing has achieved Mr Mateschitz's vision, and you've achieve that goal, where does Red Bull go from here? You've reached what you set out to do, you're not in the business of selling cars, the parent company is in the business of selling drinks - it's difficult for you to answer because in a way it's a Mr Mateschitz question - but what happens next?

CH:
I think that it's a remarkable thing that an energy drink company can come into the sport... it's testimony to the current regulations that an independent team can win. Red Bull have made that commitment, they've come into the sport, they've proved themselves, they've established themselves. I think we've injected a fun and perhaps a slightly different passion to the sport. We go about things slightly differently but now that we've achieved one target, obviously the next target, which is even harder, is to stay there, because these guys aren't going to stand still. They're formidable teams with formidable resources and they will be fighting back. So the next challenge for us is to stay there. Red Bull is totally committed to Formula One and it's obviously very close to our chairman's heart. Without his vision, his commitment, we wouldn't be here. While he has the passion, while he feels that Formula One is the sport that it is, then we will continue to enter. Hopefully we can build on what hopefully is the first success of many.

Q: (Richard Williams - The Guardian).
Stefano, this is the climax of the season, your team has a big relationship with Abu Dhabi, you have a lot of guests here, you have a lot of eyes on you, a lot of expectations, does that make it harder to treat this as - as you must - just another weekend in which you must go about the business of trying to do what you always try and do?

SD:
As you can imagine, here we have other business on top of Formula One, but the driving of all these things is for sure to have a good racing weekend. We know that, we don't underestimate that but you know there are parallel businesses that are going ahead and I have to be very thankful to the government of Abu Dhabi for what we are doing together because it's something unique, spectacular and this is something that is related to our heritage and the way that Abu Dhabi has a look with this vision in order to work together as a partner is something that is very important and remarkable. Of course, from ourselves, we try to be focused on our main objective. We feel this pressure but it's part of the game. We have had this kind of thing in the past already several times. For sure it's an added value if things are going well. If things would not go in the right direction, I think that at the end of the day we need to be realistic. I think that the team should be happy about the way that we recovered the situation, because not a lot of people were thinking that we were able to be here, fighting for a title, in the summertime, so it's a big reward for the people who were focused on trying to do the best without following the people who said that we were a bunch idiots wandering around the world. So that was really a big reward to all the team, to our drivers. We will see how this season will finish.

CH:
But have you been on your rollercoaster yet?

SD:
I will go with you later on.

CH:
I tell you what, I went on it last night and I have never been so scared in all my life! If Fernando has a start like that on Sunday, we're all in trouble.

Q: (Mat Coch - pitpass.com).
Martin, Jenson's mentioned that he feels very comfortable within McLaren and he settled in quite quickly, perhaps more quickly than he expected. How's that positive culture within the team worked and how's that benefited this season?

MW:
I think that Jenson's been a great team player. He obviously won the World Championship last year. I think he's grown and matured, I think he's a very intelligent driver. I think that it's great that he won some races at the beginning of the year and I think he did so by clearly and obviously making his own personal contribution to what happened during that race, using his head very effectively. I think he's contributed to building the relationship and the trust with Lewis and I think there's been good harmony in the team. We've enjoyed some wins, we've not enjoyed all the races as much as we'd like to, but I think within the team there's a good spirit and a good desire to win, to try and win this year obviously but whatever happens, make sure that we come back next year fighting the guys around us to see if we can do a better job next year than we've done this year, but I think Jenson has really very quickly learned to appreciate how we work. I think he's contributed and improved us and hopefully we can work to improve him.

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