Cyril Abiteboul, managing director
We are looking forward to the final part of the year and visiting tracks that should play to our strengths a lot more. In previous races and particularly in Spa we’ve shown that the performance potential is there, but sadly we haven’t had the opportunity to convert into results through various incidents. Singapore’s twists, turns and short bursts of acceleration should give us the platform we need to finally get onto form.
Other than working hard on finishing the end of the 2016 season on a high, we are entering an interesting phase in development for the 2017 car. We will also inaugurate new facilities and welcome new faces so it’s a very busy time, but we are all very motivated to keep moving forward and make the most of the opportunities we have.
Fred Vasseur
Fred, we leave Europe after a tricky last Grand Prix in Monza. What are your conclusions for that race?
The last two races have been challenging and character-building for the team in terms of results. Our global performance was good in Spa and we achieved our best qualifying results of the season so far, but unfortunately in the race we had Kevin’s accident and we couldn’t convert our qualifying pace into a deserved good result in the end.
We expected Monza to be a tricky weekend and we are now fully concentrated on Singapore and beyond.
What are our hopes for Singapore and is it a circuit that should suit us?
Singapore is a type of circuit that should suit us better than the ones visited recently. We can hope for results that are more in line with those achieved at circuits such as Budapest or Spa.
What are our objectives for these coming races?
We are all very much focused on 2017 and yet we must continue to strive for the best results possible in the upcoming races.
It is tough for the team of course but we can clearly see progression in areas that are not always visible externally. This is all part of the building of this team. We must concentrate on this and work on areas that can make a difference in the longer term: for example tyre management, how we manage our race weekends and improving the car’s regular performance.
Any good work and improvements made on track are useful for 2017 and beyond. We must keep this motivation – we have a great team of mechanics and engineers and we are doing positive work in areas such as pitstops – we did the fastest pitstop in Monza with 2.1s! For me this is proof of the hard work done by all in the team, their commitment and resilience in tough times.
Kevin Magnussen
How would you summarise the race in Monza?
The beginning of the race wasn’t ideal as I was running very close to both Jo and Felipe Nasr when the incident happened. It was a shame for Jo but also for me as it blocked my way as well. In the end it didn’t change much for me as when I got racing again I was at the back of the field and I didn’t have many cars to race against. It was a pretty frustrating Sunday afternoon, even more so after Spa where we qualified 12th and points had been a real possibility. It’s frustrating for the team but we are now looking forward to racing in Singapore next.
What are your thoughts on Singapore?
It’s a really cool circuit and being a night race in Singapore, it makes Formula 1 look even more spectacular. The cars look super shiny under the lights - for television viewers as well as for the spectators in the grandstands it adds to the beauty of the race. The entire city lives and breathes F1 during that week and you can feel it in the atmosphere everywhere when you are downtown.
Do you enjoy the layout of Marina Bay?
The track itself is fun and I always enjoy driving on street circuits. That said, it’s also a pretty tricky circuit to get right with a lot of corners where a mistake can be easily made. Grip levels evolve throughout the weekend so the key is set up and getting the balance right. Hopefully it’s a track where we can better our performance a little bit after a disappointing last European race.
Are you a night person?
Although it’s a night race, we all stay on European time – we get up late in the day and come to the track from around four o’clock in the afternoon, which means that it’s morning in Europe. This also means that we don’t struggle with jet lag in Singapore. Even though we race at night it gets very hot in Singapore and that’s a challenge in itself, but it should be fine.
You raced in Singapore in 2014, how did it go for you?
It didn’t go very well as I had an overheating issue in the car – on top of hot conditions! A radiator seal had broken and there was hot air coming into the cockpit. It was extremely hot! This year I’m hoping for a solid race where we can fight in the pack. I really look forward to being in Singapore.
Formula 1 is now heading to Far East Asia and then to the Americas…
Yes the European season has gone by very quickly as it always does and I’m looking forward to visiting all the venues on the calendar. Every country and every track we visit has its own personality. Bring it on.
Jolyon Palmer
What are your thoughts on Singapore?
I love Singapore and it’s a totally different challenge from Monza. It’s a street race with close walls taking place at night so it’s a unique event on the calendar. I’ve raced and won there in the GP2 Series and it was one of my best wins. In fact, I raced there two years running and both years were very good. It’s a better opportunity for a stronger result.
What’s special about driving at night?
It’s a cool feeling driving at night as you can see the circuit very clearly from the lights but your vision is channelled as the background is in darkness.
Where are the challenges of the Marina Bay circuit?
The final sector is a real challenge with the section under the grandstand. It’s tight over the bridge too so you need your wits about you. Stringing a perfect lap together is a real challenge! Over the bridge and the middle of the lap are pretty tough to get right as you’re braking as you turn so it’s easy to lock a wheel, and the last sector is very tight and twisty.
As a street course is it tough to overtake?
It certainly is a challenge but turn six at the end of the first sector / beginning of the second sector where the DRS comes in is the main overtaking opportunity and then braking into turn seven. The track is pretty tight in other places and it’s always pretty slippery when you do go offline.
Do you have a different approach to the weekend?
We see the circuit change a lot over the weekend as the surface rubbers in then the climatic conditions are reasonably different between FP1 and FP2, then FP3 and qualifying so getting a good handle on the balance of the car gives us plenty of work as generally it’s cooler later in the night. It’s not a conventional weekend!
What do you think of Singapore itself?
The great thing about the race is that it’s right in the centre of the city so you’re surrounded by everything you could want. You don’t have to go far for a good restaurant. It’s great to sample the local culture.
It’s a pretty relentless end to the season, how well are you prepared?
I’m really looking forward to it. The summer break allowed me to recharge my batteries completely and now I’m fully in the zone. Spa and Monza were not the easiest tracks for us but Singapore offers more of an opportunity I think. I’m driving better than ever and I’m exceptionally keen to have a strong result after the frustration of Monza.
Bob Bell
What’s your preview synopsis of the Singapore Grand Prix?
Singapore’s a night race on a street course with 23 corners surrounded by a lot of barriers. It’s a race where drivers really have to be on their mettle. It’s tough for everyone as it’s hot and humid. For the drivers, it’s a long race on a bumpy circuit.
What are the engineering challenges of the event?
It’s tough on brakes and requires high downforce but that said, there’s nothing to say that we shouldn’t put on a reasonable show. Over the course of the weekend one of our biggest challenges is understanding the car with the moving target of track surface evolution. This is the same with any street course and you can find yourself chasing your tail somewhat as it’s difficult to ascertain if any lap time improvement is from a change made to the car or just from the track surface improvement. For this reason you don’t want to change too much of the car set-up over the practice sessions. To have a strong Grand Prix you need to arrive with a good set-up out of the box so the drivers can gain pace through both their confidence and circuit evolution.
What kind of base set-up do you use as a starting point?
Most of the corners are low speed so that’s what we target with the set-up. It’s quite bumpy so you need to get a good set-up for ride then it’s fine tuning around that. If you have a solid base set-up the pace will come to you over the sessions as the grip from the surface improves and driver confidence grows.
A topic of conversation has been cumulative penalties for replacing parts of the car. Where does the team lie in this regard, are there any potential hits to be had later in the year?
We’re actually looking pretty strong in that regard. One of the real success stories of this year has been how strong the power unit has been, not only though being able to exercise enhanced performance but in the reliability we’ve seen. It’s been a tremendous job from everyone in Viry. It’s likely we’ll run Kevin’s Spa power unit on Friday in Singapore or Sepang as it looks like there was no serious damage to it in the accident.
How’s everything looking on the build-up for 2017?
Everything’s on course with chassis patterns released for manufacture and the schedule for the impact testing campaign starting soon. As we get into the next couple of months everything starts intensifying. There’s a lot of heart and soul going into next year’s car as we all are hungry to take a strong step forward in performance.