TEAM REPRESENTATIVES - Alan PERMANE (Racing Bulls), Mike KRACK (Aston Martin), Marcin BUDKOWSKI (Cadillac) 
 
Q: Marcin, perhaps we can start with you and the first session here at Madring. Were there any surprises for you during the opening hour? 
Marcin BUDKOWSKI: [Opening inaudible] It’s a challenging track. Certainly, for traffic management, it’s been challenging, and we’ve seen that during the session. And then there’s a lot of grip, actually, for a new track with a lot of medium- and fast-speed corners coming one after the other. And it seems like keeping the tyre in the right temperature range is going to be challenging, and also a challenging race. So, yeah, interesting first session.
 
Q: Mike, same question to you. Any surprises from that session today?
Mike KRACK: Yeah, the only surprise is that there was no interruption. But it was clear that everybody told their drivers to be conservative, to preserve parts and to preserve the car and to have the laps done. But I think we have to congratulate F1 and the promoter here, or the circuit, the people that put this in place. I think it’s a fantastic circuit, fantastic venue, very well prepared. Year one is certainly not easy, but I think we can only congratulate them for what has been put in place here already.
 
Q: And Alan, if I could get your feedback from the drivers and your thoughts on that session, and an update on Yuki’s car, if that’s possible.
Alan PERMANE: Yes, sure. I think I echo what the other guys say. A great, absolutely fantastic venue. I had a lap of the track last night and it’s very impressive, seriously impressive. Both drivers said that Turn 12 is amazing to drive, really cool. And I think the challenge will be, can it be flat or not? And at the moment, they are saying no. So, we’ll see how the weekend progresses. But in terms of the car, it’s performed well. We’ve had a very good session with Arvid. Yuki, as you say, had an issue. It was an issue with his power steering, which we could see clearly on the data. We’ve changed that. It’s just been fired up and is ready to go for FP2. And the good news is that Yuki is bedding himself in even more to the team. Actually, he didn’t run at all on the Soft tyre and, on the Medium tyre, he was actually even a little tiny bit, half a tenth, in front of Arvid. So, he’s in good shape as well.
 
Q: Thank you. Marcin, if I can come back to you. One month on from starting in this role, what have you identified as the short-term and the long-term areas for improvement in the team?
MB: I don’t want to share everything in front of my colleagues here, but it’s been an intense few weeks. It certainly feels more than three and a half weeks. It feels like three and a half months, to be honest. But it’s been good. I’ve seen a lot of good things in the team and, especially, it’s pretty impressive given the time they had to build the team and the conditions with the entry and everything. So there are a lot of good things. There’s no legacy compared to some other teams. There are a lot of open-minded, constructive discussions going on. But there are also a number of shortcuts that have been taken, which is inevitable when you build a new team in such a time. So, yes, it’s about working in some areas that need more attention. I mean, in the short term, obviously reliability. We’ve seen we’ve struggled with that in some areas, and just getting the operational excellence to the level it should be, which is not the level of a top team as of today, but that’s understandable. Longer term, there are some clear priorities that are emerging for what we need to do and what we need to do better, mostly to improve our performance and our pace. But I’m not going to share these ones with you.
 
Q: A couple of races ago, Sergio described the team as having reached a development plateau. Is that still the case, or does the team have a programme and the budget to fulfil it?
MB: No. I think you have to put that in perspective with the drivers’ expectations and the reality of the seasonality of Formula One. Before I even started, after my appointment was announced, I had a quick chat with both drivers. And Sergio asked me, “What are you going to do for Zandvoort?”, which is a week after I started. And I said, “Well, Checo, I think I need to control the expectations a little bit.” The reality is we’re in a phase of the season where we’re all working on next year’s car. We’ve switched the resources mostly to next year. We have a development pipeline that’s slowly drying out. A lot of our resources have also been, unfortunately, busy fixing our reliability issues rather than working on performance items. So naturally, the development is plateauing in this phase of the season. But I think on our side, we have a lot of potential through fixing the reliability, fixing the operational side, fixing the quality of the car. There’s performance there that we can still extract this year. But our focus needs to be on next year’s car, and I think everybody will tell you this up and down the pit lane.
 
Q: Mike, if I can move to you. We heard from Fernando yesterday, a lot of talk obviously about his future, and he said we won’t hear anything soon. How serious is he about leaving the sport from what you know?
MK: Well, you ask him how serious. I mean, at the end of the day, I think we were always clear the team wants to continue. I think we have made it clear all through, but we need to respect what Fernando’s thoughts are. We need to respect the time he wants to take. And, as I said before, we’re confident we can reach a good solution for everybody. And now it’s about waiting. He needs to make up his mind and then we move on.
 
Q: The FIA President, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, has spoken today about the importance of him staying in the sport. Fernando has talked about the changes he wants to see for 2027. Do you think that could persuade him? Is that what he’s looking for? Do you know?
MK: Yeah. I think he made clear that it is not one single thing that he wants to see change. And yes, I read about these discussions as well. So, I think the sport needs someone like that. I think we will all be keen to see Fernando continue. And what can be done to accommodate that, I think it will be done. And then I hope we come to a good solution and continue.
 
Q: On Fernando, he retired from the last race after going over a kerb and getting some damage. Is that a concern here with all the kerb riding that there’ll be around this track, or do you think you’ve combated that now?
MK: Yes. I think the walls are probably more concerning than the kerbs here, or the walls that come after the kerbs. So, as we said in the beginning, we have told all our drivers to be conservative to start with, but I think the pace will ramp up, the grip will ramp up, and we’ll get closer to the walls, more aggressive over the kerbs, and then we will see who is the first victim. I think it will happen eventually. These drivers, they are instructed to go to the limit. They are competitive. They want to go over the limit, or to the limit, and sometimes you go over and then you have to live with that. But at the end of the day, we’re not here to go around in procession. We’re here to race. And to go racing, you need to take risks. Sometimes you go over. That’s part of the game. But yes, let’s see. I think, as I said before, with the venue that we have here, it’s going to be very exciting, I think, for all of us. And I think we need to be flexible. We need to be able to adjust to changing circumstances and then we go from there. But it’s our job as Formula 1 teams to be flexible and to get the best out of it.
 
Q: Thank you. Alan, to you. I just want to get your thoughts on Audi’s intention to appeal following the decision in Monza on Yuki’s starting position. What are your thoughts?
AP: Well, it’s always nice to have a night out in Paris, first of all, or a second one in quick succession. Look, we’ll go there, obviously, and defend the team and defend Yuki. And I think I can’t really go into it more than that while it’s still an open case. Well, actually, it’s not even an open case yet because I don’t think it’s been… We haven’t even had a notification from the FIA to say. But I’m sure that will go ahead and I guess, at some point late October, we’ll head to Paris.
 
Q: I need to ask you about your driver line-up. I’ve seen some comments about Nikola Tsolov, you saying that he’s next in line for a seat in Formula 1. Could that be with your team in 2027, or are you looking to keep the two you have?
AP: I think it’s a bit early for us. Honestly, we traditionally wait a little bit longer. We’re under no pressure to announce what we’re doing yet next year. Nikola, of course, features in our thoughts. And he’s having an incredible season, first season in F2, leading the championship. I think qualifying is on around now, isn’t it? So, I don’t know how he’s getting on now. He was quickest this morning at this track, so he’s got everything going for him. Having said that, I’ve got two fantastic drivers in Liam and Arvid as well. So, it’s a nice problem to have.
 
Q: He’s currently quickest. You’ll be pleased to hear.
AP: Excellent. Thank you.
 
Q: And just finally, how happy are you with the two you’ve got and the way that they’ve battled on track? Because they’ve had some battles this season.
AP: Yeah. They’ve been very good. And, as I say, it’s a nice problem to have. And there have been times where it’s gone a little bit too far. And I sit them down and read them the riot act and tell them there are times when we don’t want the racing, when things are a bit critical, if tyres are a bit critical or if we’re in the last phase of the race and we’ve got the points locked in. But generally, I’m happy for them to race each other with the one rule that they don’t touch each other at all. And so far, that’s been okay.
 
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
 
Q: (Craig Slater – Sky Sports) A question for Mike. Fernando isn’t in a hurry, obviously, to nail down his future. You seem relaxed about it, but have you got contingency plans in place if he decides not to carry on in Formula 1? And how tricky would it be right now to replace his level of experience, impossible given maybe one or two of the experienced figures that might have come in to replace him have committed long-term to their current teams?
MK: Well, coming here, I knew that you were going to go on about this. So, I will not give you any names, and I will also not speak about any Plan B. So, all the next ones that will ask, I will give you the same answer. We very much hope that Fernando will continue. He’s very important for our team. He’s very important for Formula 1. He’s very important for the whole sport and motor sport in general. So, it would be a pity to not have him anymore. And because that would be so dramatic, I do not even want to talk about it or think about it.
 
Q: (Ted Kravitz – Sky Sports UK) One for Alan. Just following up on the Monza incident with Yuki. Did you not remind him that he was starting on the other side of the grid for the second start?
AP: He was told his grid slot. Yes. So he started 15th, I think, on the first one, and he was reminded he was in 14th for the next start.
 
Q: (Thomas Maher – PlanetF1.com) A question for Martin, please. Martin, Pat Symonds said during the winter that the centre of gravity for Cadillac will shift from the UK to the US over the coming years, with production remaining in the US and conceptual design in the UK. Where do you see that shift at the moment? And do you think it’s the right direction for the team to go, given that the existing talent pool for Formula 1 is in Europe?
MB: I [don’t] think the existing talent pool is in Europe. The talent pool, the reality is, everywhere, and I think we have to take this into account. Sometimes F1 tends to be a little bit centred on itself and a closed field. I think there’s a lot of talent everywhere in the world, and especially in the US, when you see all the tech firms, all the space firms being built there and being incredibly successful. Apart from this, at the moment, we just opened a new factory in Silverstone. Anybody who has doubts that this is a temporary facility should come and visit because it’s quite impressive. We had Valtteri and Checo coming on Tuesday and have some technical meetings there and speak to the staff, and they were really impressed. So was I on the first day I walked in. We are effectively building some facilities in the US as well. We will progressively develop a footprint in the US, whether that’s through manufacturing capability or others, which, again, I’m not discussing here in detail. But at the moment, all the rumours that the team will move there shortly, et cetera, are totally unfounded. And again, anyone who has doubts about this should come and visit us in Silverstone because we’ve built a really impressive facility there.
 
Q: (Mikołaj Kamiński – Eleven Sports) Question for Marcin. Obviously, you spent the last couple of years working on this side as part of the media. So, I wanted to ask you how much time did it take you to adjust back to being a team leader? Was it seamless?
MB: That’s a good and interesting question. There are a few aspects of it. What hits you first is the pace of Formula 1, which I knew well. But a few years out of the sport, it’s a bit of a shock to the system because it’s incredibly fast-paced, intense and hard-working, and especially when you start in a new team and a new project. The other thing I’d mention is the first time I sat again on a pit wall in FP1 in Zandvoort, and I had 12 channels blasting in my ears. And it took me a little bit of time for my brain to get back to it. But the reality is, if you bring it back to the basics, the essentials, it’s about people, it’s about building the team, it’s about putting the right people in the right positions, getting everybody to work together, the processes and, in terms of leadership, give them a vision and align everybody in that direction. And I think that hasn’t changed. The regulations have changed. The teams have become even more professional. The intensity of the competition is even higher than before. The cost cap has created a lot of proximity as well in terms of the performance, even if this year it’s a bit more stretched with the new regulations. But we have 11 very professional and competitive teams. And therefore, it’s just a different kind of framework and different rule sets, but the intensity is the same. And as usual in this sport, you have to get everything right to be at the front and to win. And we have quite a few things to work on before we get there.
 
Q: (Jon Noble – The Race) To all three of you. Now we’ve had the first hour of running, is there any clear direction yet in terms of the best set-up compromise between the low-speed softness for the kerbs and the high-speed stiffness for the quick sections? And how hard is it managing both the evolution of tyre deg and also the implications on energy management as the grip levels pick up and the deployment patterns change as you progress and predict into qualifying and the race? 
MK: Yeah. It’s a challenge. And I think the way you described it is quite good, actually, because it is a very big compromise between all these high-speed sections, the softness required, the stiffness required for the banking, the softness required for the kerbs. We have energy as well to optimise depending on if you go fast lap, push lap or ‘consec’. So, there’s a lot to do, not to forget the cooling, the lubrication. So, I think FP1 was box-ticking, and it’s the case for most of us. And, as I said earlier, to start conservatively, and now we go into optimising when you see your plank wear, you see your temperatures, you see the brakes and the energy, obviously. And from now on, I think it is trying to optimise what can you sacrifice here to gain somewhere else. And then we need to, this afternoon, obviously, look a bit at the race. And then tomorrow is quali prep. So, the nail-biting was yesterday. I think with now some data under our belt, there’s more to optimise. Obviously, every team has a simulator where I think the lights will not go out tonight. So I think every team will move in the same direction, with the grip improving and getting to know the track better.
AP: Yes. A similar comment on starting conservatively, I would say. We’ve got a little bit too much understeer. The car is quite safe. We didn’t want to lose the rear and go into the barriers in that session. So, we’ve got a bit more to come there. We’ve certainly got a bit to come on ride heights. We’re not really touching, so there’s a bit of performance to come there. We’re not really pushing the tyres very hard yet. So, another step. So, I think in all areas, there are a few little steps, and we can see quite clearly where we can make some progress. And regarding the energy management, I think that will just slowly creep up and we’ll just re-optimise through each session, honestly. So now from P1 to P2 will be the biggest change, I’m sure. And then P2 to P3 will be a further little optimisation overnight.
MB: Yeah. I think not a lot to add compared to what’s been said. I mean, for us, the challenge is going to be keeping the tyre alive throughout the whole lap. We were not great at this this morning, and I think we’re going to make changes there. And it’s a circuit where your driver needs to have confidence in the car, and I think that’s where Valtteri struggled a little bit compared to Checo this morning. He didn’t have confidence in the rear of the car and, in these kinds of very fast corners and some of them just going left, right, left, right, you need to have confidence in the car, especially in the rear. And I think that’s a combination. Obviously, it’s a street circuit. The walls are close. You need to really be one with the car. And so, we’re going to work on that. But I’m happy that we took it conservatively, and I think we just have to build up throughout the weekend.
 
Q: (Adam Cooper - Adam Cooper F1) For Alan and Marcin. Just wondering what your thoughts are on the upcoming pair of triple-headers in terms of managing the wear and tear on your guys. I’m obviously thinking about the way Malaysia has been slotted into a gap and you’ve got that transition to a night race in Singapore the following weekend. How are you going to deal with that?
AP: I think it is what it is, Adam. Yes, you’re right, it’s two triple-headers. We’ve got good people. We’ve got fit and healthy people. They’ll get a nice break before we go there. We’ll try and get the cars turned around and get the freight packed and give them a couple of days off. And we will do everything we can to give them at least one, if not two, days off in between. Remember, Baku is on a Saturday, so that gives us an extra day in between. So we’ll do everything certainly possible to give them some downtime. And I don’t think it’ll be a huge problem. The way the timetables are now with the curfews, I don’t want to say it’s easy at the track because it’s absolutely not easy. But if you don’t have issues and you don’t have to break a curfew, there are reasonable periods that they can catch up on sleep, for sure.
MB: Yeah. I agree on that. I think one extra thing to say about us is our guys had, you know, the first half of the year has been particularly difficult. New team, everything is new. The parts quality, the part delivery wasn’t always up to standard in terms of getting stuff to the track and getting it in the right shape. And, you know, at the end of the day, the session doesn’t get delayed if you’re not ready. So, our guys at the track have worked very hard during the first phase of the season. And from my point of view, we need to show them as a team that these aspects progress from one race to another. I think as human beings, if things are a bit better this week than last week, we feel the momentum is in the right direction and it’s motivating. And I think this is where we’re kind of starting to get to with the race team at the moment. And I think for them, just seeing that things are improving and their work is a little bit, I wouldn’t say easier, but less difficult, race weekend after race weekend, will get them through the second part of the season. But certainly, it’s going to be quite intense.
 
Q: (Luke Smith – The Athletic) Again, for all three of you, we’ve still got uncertainty about what we’re going to be doing at the very end of the season, whether we race in the Middle East or come back to Europe. Obviously, it’s a challenge for Formula One with the geopolitical situation there. But for you, how difficult is that to navigate right now in terms of planning for the end of the year, be that logistically or cost cap or development?
AP: It’s not particularly. At the moment, we’re planning on going there because they’re on the calendar. And if they’re not on the calendar, we’ll go somewhere else. Honestly, we’ll be guided by Stefano [Domenicali], by the FIA. And we’re a way off yet. I don’t know how far we are away from a sort of drop-dead date for a decision. But we’re honestly not that concerned, certainly from a logistics or a cost cap point of view.
MK: Yes, similar. I think Alan’s 100% right. Formula 1 is used to being flexible. We had the pandemic. We had race cancellations over the last years. So, you need always a Plan B, as Craig said before. I think Stefano and the FIA, they will take the right decision, and there’s not so much we need to worry about.
MB: Yes. I think just to add, the fact that a backup is very likely to be a European race makes things a bit easier because you can plan for it being a flyaway, and then backing up to Europe is easier than the other way around.
 
Q: When would the freight have to go to Qatar? Do you know, if you were going to go? Would that be a cut-off?
AP: So, sea freight will already be sorted and either there or on its way there. So that won’t be an issue. But the air freight would go directly from Las Vegas. It’s not an issue for this week. I’m sure we won’t get to Las Vegas and not know where we’re going the week after. So it’s quite a long way in the distance in terms of F1 logistics.
 
ENDS