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Until last Tuesday, Fernando Alonsos chances of racing at the European Grand Prix were in the limbo. Then Renaults suspension from Hungary was overturned and here he is, in front of ahome crowd eager to cheer on their local hero. With a new team mate in rookie Romain Grosjean and a car thats on the up, the vibes at Renault are good. Now Alonsos Spanish fans would love to see their home boy win

Q: How do you see your chances to have a home victory here in Valencia?
Fernando Alonso: I think we need some help from the others. It is the same as last year in Singapore, where we had some help from the safety car and I took the benefits from a lucky moment in the race. And also in Fuji, where some cars went off track in Turn One. Without those things I would not have been able to win any races also in the last season. This year is more or less the same. We still need a couple of tenths to be able to win a race, maybe three or four tenths to be competitive enough to win. At the moment we are just behind that first group.

Q: How was the performance of your car in todays practice?
FA: I was really positively surprised by the performance of the car. It is not only the last lap that we have been quick. Sometimes we dropped fuel at the end and you are able to do a very quick lap, but this afternoon it was a little bit better than that. We were always amongst the top three, top two, with any conditions, with any tyre and also with any fuel load. This was the best thing for us this afternoon. So the car seems competitive, and this is good news at the moment for us. But it is only Friday and we need to keep working very hard.

Q: How was your meeting with the stewards?
FA: After P1 the reason was that Romain and I had missed an autograph session yesterday, because of a sponsorship commitment that we had. After P2 it was because of the collision with Nick Heidfeld. From my point of view it was just a normal racing incident, and these kind of things do happen in racing. I thought he was coming into the pits because he was going very wide in the last corner to take the pit lane entry. Then he suddenly turned in and crossed the circuit like he was on an out-lap, to start the next lap a little bit quicker. That surprised me completely. We touched each other, as he didn’t see me. But, there is nothing more than that. The stewards asked for an explanation from him and for an explanation from me, and that was all.

Q: How do you feel about your new team mate Romain Grosjean?
FA: He did no mistakes and completed many laps today, which was his main priority. It is only his first Grand Prix, but he is learning very fast, which is a good start to get used to the F1 car. He knows that I am here for anything that he wants to know, like things with the car, ratios, which gears on which corner, or how to use the kerbs. For the moment he did not ask me.

Williams have announced the formation of their first non-for-profit Williams Foundation. The Foundation will be based in Angola and will be established in association with the teams newly appointed partner, Ridge Solutions, a leading private investment group involved in real estate, agriculture and other sectors of the Angolan economy.

Williams have identified three key areas in which it will seek to make a broader contribution to society, namely education, energy-efficiency and road safety. These areas have been chosen because they are close to, and consistent with, Williams core activities of racing and engineering. As such initiatives can only be promoted on the ground and with local partners, the Williams Foundation will establish relationships with private companies, NGOs and government agencies worldwide.

The first Williams Foundation, which will set a template for future work, will co-operate closely with Angolas Ministry of Sports, the Fundo LWINI and the COCAN2010 football tournament. In order to launch the Foundation and its new relationships with Angola, the Williams race cars will carry the brands of Fundo LWINI and COCAN2010 from this weekends European Grand Prix in Valencia and for the remainder of the season.

Fundo LWINI is a major charity in Angola whose programmes include tackling the countrys landmine legacy through the provision of medical assistance, rehabilitation and training programmes to reintegrate victims back into society. The Fund also provides support for a large number of people rendered disabled through road traffic accidents every year on Angolas roads.

The Williams Foundation will also support Angolas COCAN2010 campaign which was awarded the honour of hosting the 27th African Cup of Nations football tournament, a project which will unite 16 African nations next January.

Commenting on the Williams Foundation, Williams Chief Executive, Adam Parr, said: We are delighted to be establishing the Williams Foundation in Angola in partnership with Ridge Solutions. Angola is a wonderful country which has a strong programme of social and economic development following many difficult years. Road safety and education are important challenges for the people of Angola and we are pleased to be able to provide assistance in these areas. Motor sports offer opportunities for the country to develop both on the sporting front and economically and Williams are proud to be a part of the endeavour.

Force India’s Adrian Sutil set the fastest time in the final practice session here in Valencia on Saturday morning – after much of the session was red-flagged when Sebastian Vettels Red Bull stopped out on the track, after lubricating it with oil following an engine failure.

Sutil had been fastest before the red flag came out after half an hour. The session resumed for five minutes and there was a flurry of quicker times – and it was again that of the German, a 1m 39.143s, that set the standard. With team mate Giancarlo Fisichella sixth on 1m 39.764s, it was a good morning for Force India boss Vijay Mallya, the man with the biggest yacht in the harbour.

Underlining the unpredictability of the session, Kazuki Nakajima was second for Williams on 1m 39.247s, chased by BMW Sauber’s Robert Kubica (1m 39.513s), McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen (1m 39.553ss) and Williams’ Nico Rosberg (1m 39.732s). Jenson Button was seventh for Brawn with 1m 39.883s, ahead of early pacesetter Lewis Hamilton on 1m 39.950s for McLaren.

Jarno Trulli failed to break 1m 40s and was ninth for Toyota on 1m 40.017s, followed by rookie Romain Grosjean on 1m 40.088s in the leading Renault. Sebastien Buemi was 11th for Toro Rosso on 1m 40.118s, ahead of Brawn’s Rubens Barrichello (1m 40.192s), BMW Sauber’s Nick Heidfeld (1m 40.230s), Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen (1m 40.260s), Renault’s Fernando Alonso (who went off in Turn 2 before recording 1m 40.402s), Toyota’s Timo Glock (1m 40.443s), Red Bull’s Mark Webber (1m 40.879s), Vettel (1m 40.916s), Toro Rosso rookie Jaime Alguersuari (1m 41.125s) and Ferrari’s Luca Badoer (1m 42.198s).

Its clear that several fancied runners were unable to conduct their programmes and were thus not where they might have been expected to be, so qualifying this afternoon will have extra spice as they seek to make up ground.

Nobody at BMW Sauber has remained unaffected by the BMW boards decision to withdraw from Formula One racing at the end of the season – not even the drivers. Nick Heidfeld has a long history with the team, going back to the days of Sauber-Petronas, so thoughts of them leaving are even more painful for him. But as his contract terminates at the end of 2009, he had already started looking for possible alternatives – and he is absolutely determined to find a competitive seat for 2010…

Q: Nick, have you overcome the shock of BMW Sauber withdrawing from Formula One racing at the end of this season?
Nick Heidfeld: Yes, I have. But to be honest the announcement had come as a surprise for me as for everybody else. True, there have been discussions – especially after Honda had pulled out last winter – but all the feedback that Ive got was that BMW was committed to stay, and I was pretty sure that the decision for next year was already taken. I didnt expect anything of that sort and I think also internally it was a decision on short notice. When the decision was made they went public with it immediately, so I only knew on the same morning as everybody else. For sure, it was not great timing for the people in the factory – having that announcement and then going on holiday for two weeks, not knowing how their future will look, or what was going on. Now everybody is working very hard – Peter (Sauber) and Mario (Theissen) and BMW – to secure something for next year. Hopefully the Hinwil base will be there next year.

Q: Do you think that success this season would have made a difference? Robert Kubica says yes, Mario Theissen says that more likely it would simply have delayed the announcement
NH: This is something that I cannot answer. There you have to ask the board, but if you read the text of the decision that they have given out, I doubt it.

Q: After going out in Q1 of qualifying in Budapest you walked into the motorhome and slammed the door behind you. In hindsight, it seems this was an omen
NH: No, at that point I honestly didnt know about the danger of any pullout. I was just so down in that moment. Weve struggled so much with a car that didnt perform this year and then in Hungary I had a car that was really good. I was P3 in the Saturday practice session – sure, that didnt automatically mean that I would be P3 on the grid, but it should have been Q3 easily. Here in Valencia there is not much chance to overtake, so points here will be very difficult. To miss that chance in Budapest was a real disappointment, but coming back to the slamming of the door it had nothing to do with me knowing what would lay ahead. But yes, afterwards it looked like I knew – but I really didnt!

Q: Where did the teams development go so wrong this season? Instead of fighting for the championship as anticipated, its been a fight for the last few positions
NH: In hindsight it is easy to say where we went wrong. The double diffuser definitely was a big issue, especially at the beginning of the season. All the teams who had one were in front and we started developing one pretty late – definitely too late. In fact we were one of the last teams to have one on the car, and by then the others had so much of an advantage. Secondly, we did not manage to get our KERS running perfectly, despite having started very early with the development. I did use it for a few races at the beginning – in one race it was an advantage, two times it made things worse and once it didnt make any difference at all. If you can make it work as well as some teams have obviously managed to do there must be an advantage – unfortunately we were not one of them. Unfortunately KERS also takes up a lot of space and the aero was not at a maximum. Now weve stopped running KERS at the last couple of races and are trying to use the space where KERS was positioned to make the bodywork smaller and get more downforce. I would not say that KERS was a bad decision – sure, now you could argue that – but at the time we made the decision it seemed to be right. And see, some teams did make it work. Obviously they made a better job of it than us. If we had managed to do a better job with KERS we would still use it.

Q: Two days after the BMW press release Roberts manager announced that he is on the market. What about you? Are you determined to stay in F1 racing?
NH: Yes, I am also on the market. The team doesnt exist any more in the old form for next season and I didnt have a fixed contract with them anyway, so I was already in talks prior to that decision – obviously with BMW as well. Now, for sure, the talks are ongoing and intensifying. I am definitely determined to stay in F1.

Q: What about one of the new teams? They all must be looking for experienced drivers to push their development
NH: There are none I am looking at right now. I am speaking to present teams and to teams where I think that I can hopefully fight for wins in the future. And with all due respect to the new teams, I think that unless somebody is taking over BMW Sauber, it will be hard for them to come up with something competitive, given the amount of time that is available. And they are lacking the F1 knowledge that a team like BMW Sauber has acquired in the last ten years, so my guess is that they will have a difficult time in the beginning.

Q: Peter Sauber tried to come to an agreement with BMW on a takeover. That failed. Do you still hope that the team will be kept alive, and could there be a future there for you?
NH: I think that this team is capable of achieving something and I hope that for the rest of the season we can perform better. That would make it easier to attract interested parties – and it would also be good for BMW to finish on a high, as they for sure dont want to leave with such a result. For me personally this team would not be a new team. I know the development that is going on for next season and I am convinced that next season would be a completely different story to our struggle this year, so that would be an option for me. But what really happens with the team right now is impossible to say. There are interested parties, but there is not much time left to make a decision to put everything in place, so looking at the existing offers is paramount. It is a positive sign that BMW Sauber has applied for the 13th entry, but as they didnt sign early enough the chances are quite big that they would lose money and that makes it more difficult to find a buyer, as they would have to pay many millions more to compensate for the loss of the TV money.

Q: Will any further development work be done on the 2009 car? Or is the car thats here essentially it for the rest of the season?
NH: Yes, there will be development going on – and I was very happy to hear that. If they had stopped development with immediate effect after the withdrawal announcement, that would have meant a very hard rest of the season. But there will be upgrades made to the car and even for next year they are working normally on the 2010 car. Here we have a lightweight chassis and a relatively big update on the aero side, but the biggest update is planned for Singapore.

Q: So what do you hope for this weekend, in the light of BMW Saubers plans to leave the paddock with their heads held high?
NH: Well, this street track is not so much to my liking. Its not like Monaco or Singapore. The car feels much better and Q2 was the aim. As its hard to overtake here I have no predictions for the race, but be sure that I will give it my best to score.

Reproduced with kind permission of the FIA

Team principals: Ross Brawn (Brawn GP), Flavio Briatore (Renault), Mario Theissen (BMW Sauber) and Martin Whitmarsh (McLaren).

Q: To start with a couple of questions to you all. What is the situation coming here? What upgrades do you have on the car? How much are you working on this years and next years car?
Mario Theissen: We have brought an upgrade package here to Valencia. Two major issues: one is aero, including a new diffuser, and the other one is a lightweight chassis. It didnt look bad today. The drivers especially think it is a significant step forward. I hope we can turn that into results tomorrow and on Sunday. On the future, obviously we are looking for investors to take over and continue with the team and as long as we are doing so, we will continue with next years car, F1 10, so the development programme is ongoing as planned.

Q: Flavio, any developments here?
Flavio Briatore: The normal step. We had a big step at the last race but unfortunately we had this accident and it was not possible for us to have a good result and we continue every race to add a little bit. It is not a big step every race. We have another development the next race just for Monza and obviously after that we are thinking about the new car and we will push very hard for the 2010 car. What we try to do is have a podium in the next two or three races. That is our goal for this year and maybe a victory as well. We try very hard to improve the car and we believe the car is much better in the last six or seven races. But for some reason we did not have any result. It is a frustrating situation, especially for the people working in the factory and for everybody at Renault, for us, for the sponsors. This is what happened this year. We try every race to do something but everybody is doing the same.
Ross Brawn: We have a reasonable aerodynamic upgrade package here. We had one in Hungary. The last couple of races have been a bit messy for us. We did have some quite good upgrades in those races and hopefully today and this weekend we can take the benefit of those upgrades as we have not had some good races recently. Primarily another aerodynamic upgrade here. We are working hard on the 2010 car. I think we had a good FIA technical meeting on Wednesday which clarified some open issues to enable us to proceed properly with the new cars and we have got a balanced approach between what we are doing for 2010 and what we are doing still for this year. We will be working hard this year all the way up to the last race.
Martin Whitmarsh: Like everyone we have had a shut-down between the last race and this race, so that has given an extra challenge to everyone at all the factories. Everyone has been working hard, I am sure in all the teams, certainly in ours. We have got a series of upgrade packages as evident from today, though maybe not a sufficient number of those parts. But we had a new front wing package here that we tried with Heikki (Kovalainen) this morning. We have had some floor modifications which we tried with Lewis (Hamilton) and we were running a shorter wheel-base version of the car with Lewis today, really something that we are looking for the higher speed circuits, probably frankly for the benefit of Spa and beyond. We are still pushing hard on this years car. I think everyone is. That is just how competitive Formula One is today. You have to continue to improve every race but clearly we are in a slightly different position from Ross and Red Bull as we have got to concentrate and make sure that we come out of the box next year with a quick car. There is a tremendous amount of effort to do that as well.

Q: We spoke with some of your drivers yesterday and there was a certain lack of clarity as to what their plans were for next year. Perhaps you could give some indication as to what the situation is with your drivers next year.
MT: The only thing I can say is there is a lack of clarity because we dont know what we can pull off for next year. We are working on it and apparently it will affect the drivers as well.

Q: Flavio, your drivers for next year? Do you have anybody under contract?
FB: Work in progress.

Q: Do you have neither of them under contract?
FB: You have asked me this from the first race in 2008. When we are ready to announce the names of the drivers we will announce it.

Q: But you are not saying if one is under contract?
FB: I just told you. We are a work in progress. We are working on that.

Q: Ross, what is the situation with your drivers?
RB: It is a work in progress. I am sorry but we are in discussions with our drivers. We are obviously very happy with their performance this year and it is not appropriate for me to talk about what we are doing with our drivers at the moment. But we will announce it in good time what is going to happen.

Q: Martin?
MW: Well, I think we are very happy with the two drivers we have got. There is lots of speculation. We are not actively pursuing drivers outside our team at the moment but some people know the contractual situation but it is like others here it is not appropriate to talk about drivers individual contracts. But we have two very young, very committed drivers working well within the team. We are here trying to do a decent job this weekend and we will start worrying about Spa on Sunday night. Our drivers feel they can do a competitive job here and we will encourage them to do so.

Q: Mario, could you just summarize the situation with what happened and what is happening at the moment?
MT: Well, what happened was a decision by the BMW board three weeks ago to pull out of F1 at the end of this season. Unfortunately, it happened during the factory shut-down, so we were able to discuss with our people, with the team, only this week. We are working on a solution for the team. The top priority is to find an investor to step in and take over the team and continue. As a consequence of this, the team has applied for an entry for next year, in time, last Monday. Now we are working and trying to come to a solution.

Q: Is it literally just trying to find investors to take over BMWs shareholding?
MT: It is clear that BMW does not want to be involved any further. Apart from that any solution is possible.

Q: And obviously the engine-side of things would close down altogether?
MT: Yes.

Q: Flavio, obviously a new driver here. Can you just run tell us you got rid of the old one and your preferences and your reasons for choosing Romain Grosjean?
FB: For the young driver it is very difficult now. For me it is only performance. We had Nelson (Piquet) for one year, 2008-2009, and at the end of 2008 he had three or four races that were good and there was no reason to change. But it was not only me, it was everybody that was disappointed about the 2009 results. It is only the result. What happens in this business is that people judge you on the result and everybody is very aware that the result is the fundamental and we were not happy at all with the results. In the meantime, the fact that we didnt have any time to test a young driver, so to see how good Romain is, there was only one way to put him in the car for the last seven races. It is a very strange situation at the moment in Formula One. We dont know how good the young drivers are as they dont have any mileage in testing and this is something we have to work with FOTA to put right this situation. If not, it is very difficult for anybody to arrive in Formula One. This is the reason. With seven races to go I think it was good to give the opportunity to Romain. He did very well in GP2 last year. He is very talented. Lets see. Obviously when Hamilton arrived from GP2 to Formula One his performances for me were completely outstanding and we hope with Romain we have the same situation. At least we try. With Piquet we know where we are.

Q: Ross, we heard a little bit yesterday what the plans were for today. How have you actually got the car back up to being competitive after the last couple of races?
RB: Well, to be frank it is just tyre temperature. Obviously in these sorts of conditions we have no problem generating the tyre temperature. We did some scans of set-ups we have used in the last few races and all of them to be honest were very bad. Some were better than others. We did a couple of aerodynamic comparisons on pieces which we have tried and I think we have seen some differences, nothing that would necessarily be the reason why we have struggled the last few races, so I think the main issue is that here we are generating tyre temperature and the car feels good. The car feels as we have had at previous races. We have just struggled at the last few with tyre temperature which is still an issue which we will have to find a solution for as we have got Spa coming up and we have got some races towards the end of the year. But we are very pleased with today. We did some very good race work and both drivers are happy with the cars. It was a good Friday but we had a good Friday in Hungary but then it got a bit more difficult the rest of the weekend. But I think the reason there was the drop in ambient temperature on the Saturday and Sunday whereas here the forecast is for it to stay hot or perhaps even hotter for Sunday. Thats the predominant reason. No magic switch has been turned. There was nothing horribly wrong with the car. We had a logical programme today and I think we have understood some things and we are pleased with what we did.

Q: But you do really need a high ambient temperature then as well as high track temperature? Lets face it, Hungary wasnt cold.
RB: No, we are in an unusual situation with having one tyre supplier as there is no longer a tyre war where the tyre is developed towards the car. It is a slight distortion in a way in that you have these tyres and you have to make the best usage of them. Those teams which make the best usage of the tyres that we have will succeed. Our strengths are consistency and ability to use the tyres in hot weather. We have got to work out how we can get the tyres to work in cold weather and how we can generate tyre temperature. We have got some things planned for Spa which I think may help. That is the conundrum we are trying to solve.

Q: Martin, in a way a return to form for you as well. What sort of effect did Lewiss victory in Hungary have on the factory and the team?
MW: Well, as you can imagine for a team that is used to winning, it is very difficult when you are not. You realise it is not so much fun going motor racing when you are not going there with the prospect of being able to win. You cant always go there and win but I think if you can go to a race believing you can win that is a very different frame of mind than going to race with the confident knowledge that you cant. So it was fantastic. I think it has been a tough year for everyone. I am delighted for everyone in Woking, Brixworth and Stuttgart who put their heads down and worked hard. I think a lot of people had written this car off and written us off and I think everyone realises that it was not a fluky win. On that circuit and in those conditions we were very strong. I think we will be strong here and I think it is where we should be, towards the front and pushing hard, but everyone is improving their car. Everyone is pushing very, very strong and we have got to keep doing that. At least for the factory it was a better shut-down than it might have been.

Q: You have said you have brought some parts here. How many of those have you got? How many sets?
MW: It varies from part to part. What we were doing with Lewiss car today was we were experimenting with wheel-base. We knew that if you change the wheel base you have to change the floor, the nose and the front wing assembly as well as we had moved the front axle position. In doing that we had insufficient parts. Lewis damaged the nose cone at the start of P2 and we have got parts that are literally in transit here. I dont feel embarrassed about it. I feel frustrated. There are some issues in Formula One for all the sensible prudent reasons that we have progressively cut down testing, the number of things that result from that, is that one we have got to be concerned about developing young drivers in the future. I think within the teams we have got to look at how we can do that. The other reason is on a Friday it is an engineering day and you actually have the cars in different specifications. You are doing back-to-back runs and you are gathering data and it is a very different day to what we have been used to. The dilemma is what do you manufacture. In the good old days you would have two cars and to cover you for the weekend you would have six sets of wings for instance. You would have three per car and if you lose one early on you still had one and a spare. You cannot justify that, so you take some risks. Doubtless there will be people who want to say that this cannot be right, you damage a nose cone and you cannot go out for the rest of the session. We are just pushing hard to develop the car, use Fridays as a test day and on this particular situation we were unfortunately left not being able to run. It is frustrating as I say, not embarrassing but I think both drivers are fairly comfortable where the car is and I am sure tomorrow the circuit will have evolved a little bit more and I think we can be competitive. But it is not nice having to sit there for nearly an hour-and-half not being able to run the cars.

Q: (Rodrigo Franca VIP Magazine) Question to Mario: in Brazil they said that Nelson Piquet, the father, would buy the BMW Sauber team. I know you cant say much with everything going on but did anyone have any kind of conversation between you guys and Nelson?
MT: I only know that from the press. Thats it.

Q: (Andrew Benson BBC) For Martin and Ross: you brought up the Technical Working Group meeting. I understand that there was at least one area where there wasnt agreement which was KERS and that the vote to remove KERS from the technical regulations next year wasnt unanimous. Could you tell me what your reaction to that is, please, and what it means for whether KERS will still be in Formula One next year?
RB: I think that one of the important points of the new Concorde Agreement is that theres governance and theres procedures and the procedures in the Technical Working Group now are that majority decisions in the Technical Working Group go forward to the F1 Commission, and the F1 Commission votes on whether they want the recommendations or proposals from the Technical Working Group to become regulations. So its just part of the process. The majority in the Technical Working Group felt we should have same clarity on KERS because the FOTA teams have agreed not to use it but youre left with this awkward situation where its still in the regulations but people have agreed not to use it and not everybody is in FOTA. But it was a majority decision, it will go to the F1 Commission and it will go through the normal process now and we will see where it goes.
MW: Theres been a lot of discussion about KERS and it was a good initiative at the outset but it perhaps came at the wrong time. The way in which its been implemented meant that its been very expensive for a lot of teams. McLaren supports the concept of KERS and Mercedes Benz has put a lot of effort into developing a KERS system but I think youve got to be a responsible member of the Formula One society and if it is clear that the financial situation in Formula One is such that its in the best interests of the sport to volunteer not to use it, then thats the right thing to do, and thats what happened within FOTA. For our engineers who have worked pretty hard on that system, its pretty frustrating for them for me to tell them that weve undertaken not to run it. Inevitably, within Formula One, theres a range of politics and machinations, a lot of them hopefully will become of lower amplitude now that Concorde is signed and that we at least have a platform where I hope that the teams, the FIA, CVC, FOM, can work together to develop the sport, but we have a few outliers and weve got to sort some of those issues out. I dont think Formula One should turn its back on KERS but I think at the moment its very clear that weve got to be prudent, there are other priorities. In any business youve got a range of priorities. I think the concept of KERS is good, perhaps in the coming years we can find a lower cost way of having KERS in Formula One but at the moment, certainly for the small teams that arent manufacturer teams, its not a particularly attractive option to develop KERS.

Q: (Dan Knutson National Speed Sport News) Question for all of you. One of FOTAs mission statements is to improve the show. In recent years, with different fuel loads in qualifying and the race, it has had the effect of constantly jumbling the race order throughout the race. Next year, basically all we are going to see is the fastest cars at the front disappear and the only factor will be tyre wear. Surely it is a mistake to not have refuelling next year?
MW: The answer is it may be a mistake and I think we have to accept that. I think Formula One can be viewed from many different perspectives. I think for the aficionado, for the likes of many of us here, who take an interest in issues such as fuel load and its impact on performance, I think its a very interesting dimension of Formula One racing, but I think for quite a lot of the more occasional viewers of Formula One, the fact that the cars appear to be jumbled, theyre not in a natural order. They dont understand that at the end of qualifying some people who havent qualified quickest potentially have the quickest package and I think all those things confuse, so there are pros and cons and we will see during the course of next year, I think fuel stops will look different. There are those who feel that its more complex with refuelling, obviously its more dangerous. Without them then fuel stops will be a lot shorter, they could be more dramatic, theres much more emphasis on the changing of the tyres. At the moment, there are many times when there are problems during refuelling stops which arent seen because the pacing item is the refuelling as opposed to the changing of the tyres. I think again, Formula One has to try and control costs. Weve got to balance what were doing technically, for instance, with KERS, the cost of refuelling and the like, were got to work harder now. I think FOTA has achieved a lot to reduce the cost of being competitive in Formula One. We havent frankly achieved everything we want to achieve in terms of the show and the spectacle. I think weve been distracted by things that werent predicted at the outset of FOTA. I think the environment pre-Concorde was problematic because Im sure there were those that saw FOTA in some adversarial role which was never intended. And I think now we are hopefully smoothing out the bumps and bruises post-Concorde. Weve got to get all the teams involved, plus the FIA, plus the commercial rights holders and weve got to improve the spectacle and thats a balance. If you want the pure spectacle, no one does it better than NASCAR, NASCAR is a fantastic show, it doesnt do it for me, but it does for lots of people. I dont think were trying to turn Formula One into NASCAR, so weve got to be creative but I think theres a clear recognition within FOTA that weve got to be bold, weve got to be creative and now that perhaps weve got some stability, perhaps weve got the processes in place, the governance that Ross has spoken about, weve got a more measured way in which we can work together and make some change to improve the spectacle.
RB: Like Martin, I agree theres pros and cons. Theres criticisms aimed at refuelling because drivers dont have to overtake on the track, they can wait until their strategy kicks in, so theres been criticisms. I dont think any system is perfect. I think we can try it and see what happens. I think there will be quite a lot in the way that the tyres are used, getting the car to the end, and I think that will be quite interesting. Tyres will be more stressed, weve got a smaller front tyre next year. So theres going to be some interesting aspects next year and again, certainly at the beginning of the year, we will see some teams have got it right and others need to catch up. In terms of improving the show, I very much hope and think that now weve got stability, weve got stability for at least the next three years, we can all build together something that is stronger but it needs doing in a measured way. We need to study it carefully and make sure the moves we make have got theres clear evidence that theyre an improvement. Because if we keep chopping and changing, then all we will do is confuse the public. I think there are a lot of things we can do that will improve our show and FOTA and the other teams and the FIA and the commercial rights holder are now going to work very hard to improve it.
FB: I believe the stopping of refuelling is not negative for the show. I believe its positive as well because its more pleasure for the team to change tyres. Changing tyres is between three and four seconds, now its always seven or eight seconds because of the amount of fuel you put in the car takes that time. I also believe that in the last few months, few years, we have been working for stability but we never cared about the public because in the end, we never ever had a serious discussion to improve the race and I think now is the time to sit together in FOTA to try and improve the race. We need more energy, we need more fun, we need to change a lot. If you look at the last month, the only positive news has been Schumacher coming back into Formula One. Everybody was talking about Schumacher, it was very positive, because for the first time, in the last six or eight months, we have been talking about sport. In the meantime, what we should have been doing is talking more sport and more races and more results and not like it was before in the last period of Formula One. But now FOTA is together, its a reality. When were working together, were working together with television, with the media, with everybody to improve their event. Again, when somebody has a new event, you think about the Cirque du Soleil arriving in any town and performing twice, three times a day. We arrive in one place, we perform once in five days and the rest of the time we are talking about politics in the paddock. We need to be more orientated around the race not around politics. Now its possible because FOTA is together and I hope all the teams will join FOTA for the future of Formula One. The relationship with CVC is great, with Bernie (Ecclestone) and Max (Mosley) as well, so I believe that at the moment we have a strong base to think about the future of our business. Sure the future of any business is coming through the consumer, our consumer is the public, the television, its the fans. We have fifty percent of the tickets sold here because there is no energy at the moment. We need to establish energy and the appeal of Formula One, the image of Formula One, but Im pretty confident because this is something which is only possible if we do it together and everybody understands that, going in the same direction but Im confident, Im very optimistic for the future of Formula One, for the future of the sponsors who want to join Formula One and the partners who want to be part of Formula One.
MT: I dont expect any significant negative impact on the show from the refuelling ban. As Flavio said, the pit stops will be even shorter, will be quite exciting and on the track, the impact of the or the way the car handles and copes with the tyre and different tyre conditions has a much bigger impact than the fuel load. So I dont think it will change much. On improving the show, there are certainly lots of ideas. We have discussed this about a year ago within FOTA or less than a year ago. Apparently its become second priority up to now because there were so many things to be sorted but now it can get priority one. Flavio is our expert on that and he is eager to take off.

Q: (Bob McKenzie The Daily Express) Flavio, were you appealing to the consumer today when Renault kept up their interesting habit of popping to the top in Spain in practice? What causes that, is it inspiration or light fuel loads? Would you expect to be on top for the rest of the weekend?
FB: Like everybody, I believe if you ask Martin or Ross, they are in the same position and Mario we are improving the car, we are improving the car and we will see. We already had a good car in Budapest. Unfortunately, it was not only the tyre, we had a problem with the fuel pump. We will see. We believe we are very close but if you see one ten, two ten, you have a seven eight ten car. Its very tight and it depends if youre a little bit lucky or not. We try to do our best performance here in Spain, not only because Fernando is Spanish but because the car is good, you know? The driver is doing the performance because he has a good car, because if the car is no good, whatever country you are in, I think the performance is not possible. Our car is pretty much in good shape at the moment and we hope to do well here.

Q: (Andrew Benson BBC) Flavio, this morning on the BBC, Martin Whitmarsh referred to what he called the Fernando/Ferrari move as a given. Are you as sure as he is that Fernando will move to Ferrari next year?
FB: I think so. Fernando is in my management company at the moment, hes not in Martins. Maybe something has happened overnight. We are just waiting for McLaren to line up their drivers and after we will decide what were doing.

Q: (Jonathan Legard BBC) Sort of following on from that, Flavio, youve signed the Concorde Agreement, Renault have, can you guarantee that Renault will definitely be there for next year? There are no issues at all, there wont be a BMW-like sting anywhere?
FB: I dont understand why this question is always put to Renault. In the last five years, Renault is still racing and a lot of people are not any more. Theres no problem at all. From day one, weve never had this kind of discussion at Renault anyway. It has never happened. In the end, I dont understand it because every time the Renault name is mentioned. I dont know what will happen tomorrow. Normally we race until 2012. Why 2012, Renault wants to stay in Formula One for a long time and the Concorde Agreement is only signed until 2012, and then we will be looking for 13, 14, 15, 16.

Q: (Rodrigo Franca VIP Magazine) Question for Flavio: you once said that if you want a friend in Formula One you should buy a dog. Do you think this is why Nelsinho Piquet didnt go so well in his second year? Do you think he felt the pressure or was it just performance?
FB: I didnt say it was any dog. I answered before: for us it was performance. It was not a question of liking somebody or not liking somebody. The performance of Nelsinho was not what we expected. The reason why I said it exactly before is that its really difficult to test young drivers at this time and the only way to test is to put the driver in the car now, during the last seven races. Anyway, I have three dogs!

Formula One racing swaps Mediterranean glamour for the rugged countryside of the Ardennes next weekend, as the teams line up for the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-
Francorchamps – just seven days after the European Grand Prix in Valencia. This ‘natural’ circuit is one of the most challenging on the F1 calendar, and almost universally loved…

Nico Rosberg, Williams
2008 Qualifying – 15th, 2008 Race – 12th
“Spa should be good for the team. It’s a very high speed track, very different to Valencia, but our car goes really well everywhere. This track, in particular, will suit our car because we have a strong aero package for the quick corners so I’m looking forward to it. “Belgium’s in the middle of nowhere really so it will make a change to the places where we’ve visited recently. Going to different places is what Formula One’s about though so it will be nice.”

Kazuki Nakajima, Williams
2008 Qualifying – 19th, 2008 Race – 14th
“Spa is very different to Valencia with its medium and high speed corners. We struggled a bit there in 2008 but this year’s car is competitive everywhere so it should be fine. The weather made it a difficult race last year so hopefully it will be more stable this year. I don’t have much experience of the country as a whole, but Spa and the surrounding countryside is really beautiful. It’s quiet, but the people are really passionate about Formula One so always really nice to go there.”

Jarno Trulli, Toyota
2008 Qualifying – 11th, 2008 Race – 16th
“Spa is a fantastic track and definitely my favourite in Formula One. It is a real driver’s circuit and that suits me perfectly. There is almost every type of corner, so all the way around the lap you are challenged and I love that. Every time you drive around Spa it is amazing but I have to say it was special to get pole position there a few years ago. It was disappointing not to achieve more last weekend in Valencia but it’s a different style of lay-out compared to Spa. The competition in F1 is particularly tough at the moment but we are fighting hard and it would be great to get a good result at such a special place. Spa always gives me a positive feeling and we’ll be pushing as hard as we can to get the best possible result.”

Timo Glock, Toyota
2008 Qualifying – 13th, 2008 Race – 9th
“Along with Monaco, Spa is my favourite circuit. To drive a Formula 1 car around it is a fantastic experience and it’s one of the best feelings you can have in this sport. It’s one of those circuits you dream about racing on when you are growing up; it’s just a very impressive track. Even though I really enjoy the circuit, I have some frustrating memories of the place; being taken out by another driver on the warm-up lap in 2007 and being penalised last year when I did one of the best final laps of my career to get into the points. That was all down to bad luck so I am due a change! Last year the weather was a big factor in the race and rain always seems to be a risk at Spa, but I have been quick there in the wet and dry so I am excited about this weekend.”

Pascal Vasselon, Toyota Senior General Manager Chassis
“Spa is a truly spectacular circuit, not just for the drivers, but for anyone who has the privilege of watching a Formula One car there, particularly through Eau Rouge. The forces generated through this corner are extreme, especially for the suspension. It will be interesting to see how the 2009 cars behave; even though there is less downforce, we now have more grip with the slick tyres so I expect it to remain flat-out in the dry. Spa is in the medium-low downforce range and it is quite severe on almost all components, with only the brakes having a relatively easy time because there is plenty of cooling and not so much heavy braking. We will use the soft and medium compound tyres and it will be the first time we have used these together at a race weekend this season. However, we have plenty of experience of both so we have a clear idea of what to expect.”

Robert Kubica, BMW Sauber
2008 Qualifying – 8th, 2008 Race – 6th
“We are heading to the final stage of the season which offers a lot of nice tracks, beginning with Spa-Francorchamps. It is a race track with a great history. Most of the drivers like driving here. The circuit is very long with a lot of challenging high-speed corners. Finding the right balance is one crucial factor in Spa, which is quite difficult. The weather is always unpredictable and mostly changeable. It might be dry on some parts of the track and it might rain heavily on others. Driving in Spa is challenging and it is always exciting to come here.”

Nick Heidfeld, BMW Sauber
2008 Qualifying – 5th, 2008 Race – 2nd
“Spa is a sensational race track. The 2008 race was one of my best ever. I was running in the points and decided shortly before the end of the race to switch onto wet-weather tyres. It turned out to be a spot-on decision and put me eventually into second. Sudden changes in the weather can have a decisive effect on this grand prix. Even if it’s hot all over Europe, there might still be torrential rain at Spa. Plus, Spa is only an hour or so from Monchengladbach by car, so this race always gives me the chance to make a quick visit back to my old home town.”

Mario Theissen, BMW Motorsport Director
“Spa – only three letters, but a place with so much motor racing history. Spa is an essential date on the F1 calendar. We love coming to this small, sleepy Belgian town. Spa is a fantastic natural race circuit tucked away in the beautiful, rugged Ardennes. Recent modifications have meant Eau Rouge is now taken flat out in the dry, creating the longest full-throttle section of the season. As this part of the track also rises significantly, engine output and durability are really put to the test. The second defining feature of Spa is the unpredictable weather. It changes very quickly; rain can suddenly set in, but sometimes only over one section of the track. We are aiming to record another good result in the penultimate race of the European season.”

Willy Rampf, BMW Sauber head of engineering
“Spa is the longest circuit on the F1 calendar and the race is therefore run over the least number of laps. This significantly restricts the teams’ room for manoeuvre in terms of race strategy, because staying out one lap more or less makes a big difference to the amount of fuel a driver has on board.

“As far as the track characteristics are concerned, Spa is the first circuit this season where we will be running medium downforce with the 2009 cars. Up to now, we have sent the cars out with high downforce for every GP. The difference is considerable and means we will use special wings at Spa. The track layout has a real excitement factor, which goes beyond the renowned Eau Rouge. The spectrum of cornering speeds is huge; the corners range from the extremely tight Bus Stop chicane to the high-speed Blanchimont.

“We can usually expect relatively low ambient temperatures at Spa, so getting heat into the tyres is sure to be an issue. Spa is traditionally the only race where you also prepare a rain set-up for every session. That makes this weekend an extremely exacting one for the engineers because, in addition to adapting the car to the particular characteristics of the circuit, you also have to factor in the weather.”

More to follow.

The word ‘surrender’ does not figure in the vocabulary of Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel. So this weekend’s race, and his early retirement from it, must be considered a setback, not the end of his title challenge. After two engine failures this weekend, the only thing looming heavily over his championship ambitions is having enough engines left to compete for the crown, and unfortunately that is out of his hands…

Q: Sebastian, have you overcome the disappointment of the race?
Sebastian Vettel: The disappointment still lingers, that’s for sure. When I recap the race I have to say that the start was quite good. Kimi (Raikkonen) got me but I was able to find my place in the field and by the end of my first stint I was able to regain ground on him and had a comfortable edge on Nico (Rosberg). When I pitted to refuel there was no indication that something was going wrong, but when I left the pit I was surprised how well the tyres worked, and I found it a bit strange that the car was not laying lower. When I was braking I discovered perfect grip and the last thing that would have come to my mind was that I had effectively no fuel on board. After half a lap I was told about that fact and that I had to pit again to refuel. At that point that was the end of the race I had in mind. But then to discover some laps later that this was not the end of the story – my engine blew, for the umpteenth time this year.

Q: This weekend saw you suffer two engine failures. Do you have any explanation?
SV: No, not at all – and also not for the question of why my car had two failures and not another car.

Q: Could it be your driving style?
SV: I already said jokingly that probably I don’t accelerate enough. But honestly there’s no explanation, though we know that it was a different defect to the one on Saturday morning. That’s it.

Q: Aside from the engine it didn’t seem that the RB5 ran well on this track with its slow corners. We are heading for Spa next week, a high-speed circuit. Can you attack again there?
SV: I like Spa very much, it’s a fantastic track. The driver who doesn’t like Spa must be doing something wrong. I am really excited to go there. Here the whole weekend was difficult. We’ve not been fast enough, there was a big gap to the front, but on the Saturday morning session we pulled all our strengths together and were able to trim the car in the right direction so that qualifying for me was not too bad. So my idea was to have a good race. What then happened in the race was definitely not on in my plans, and unfortunately we’ve had a number of races so far that didn’t work out as anticipated. Things were going wrong, and somebody who wants to fight for the championship cannot afford such mistakes.

Q: It seems to be the same old story again here – the RB5 prefers cooler temperatures. With Spa things could look better – are you hoping for rain?
SV: I don’t mind if it rains, but generally I think that this track should suit our car better.

Q: Have you given up all hope of the championship after today?
SV: I still think that I am in the race for the title. And be sure, I will not give up fighting for it. True, it isn’t ideal – not finishing five out of 11 races cannot be considered ideal – but I still believe in my chances.

Surfing the net and finding out that your job has all but evaporated is a bit hard to swallow, but that is exactly how Robert Kubica found out that BMW will be withdrawing from Formula One racing at the end of 2009. Kubica is expressing no preferences as to where hed like to be next season – at this point the Pole knows he must keep an open mind…

Q: Robert, did BMWs decision come as a shock for you?
Robert Kubica: Well, it was quite a shock decision, an unexpected one, because at the GP in Hungary we didnt know anything of that sort and had no clue what would come our way. True, we had some talks in Hungary and I witnessed some strange situations, but I was never expecting such a big decision and I think everybody is still worried about the future – of course some people more, others less, but especially the Hinwil-based team is not in a good situation and I hope that there is a way out of this and that they will be able to continue, as these are all skilled people that deserve a better ending than we face now. I also found the timing a bit strange as we still have seven races to go and I could assume that finding the right motivation will be difficult. It should be important to run the season without any major issues, but now we have that huge topic – and that is not ideal.

Q: How did you learn about the decision?
RK: I read it for the first time on the internet and then I received an email informing me about the decision.

Q: Were you surprised that nobody called you to inform you about the decision? Is that a reflection of your relationship with the team?
RK: I dont know the reasons. In some ways I was surprised, but normally all information has some leakage to the media before it happens.

Q: What was your reaction?
RK: I have nothing to say. Im kind of a small piece of this paddock and one small tool of the team. I have nothing to say about the decision of the big bosses on the board. Thats how it is. Its hard to accept it, but I think in the end its much harder for the other team members than it is for me, or for Nick (Heidfeld) or for key people in the team.

Q: Do you think that it would have made a difference had the team been successful this season – winning races and getting podiums?
RK: I think this would have changed everything. All in all I still dont know the real reason for all that. I am sure there are reasons to take such a big decision, but I dont really know them. If we were first or second in the championship I assume we would not have the kind of problem that we are facing now. Maybe at the end of the season they would have made that decision, but for sure not in mid season. The way the timing was, was very difficult for Peter Sauber who wants to find a solution for the Hinwil-based team. Actually the situation is not very nice and I will do everything to help them find a solution. My limits are very low in this case. What I can do is trying to get good results, try to do my best. Our season already was very difficult and that decision doesnt make things easier.

Q: You are on the driver market now. There are only a few competitive seats. How do you see your situation?
RK: I was linked with BMW for a very long time, since 2006, so many seasons already, and I have a contract for next year, so this situation is new for me and the people working for me. We will probably have more meetings, apart from the debriefs and technical meetings, to find the best solution for me for next year.

Q: What is the feedback of the driver market on your availability?
RK: I dont know. Of course I think there are a few opportunities, but as everybody was on holidays lately we will start working this weekend and I am confident to find the right place for next season. Of course that is not easy, as it is hard to say which car will be the best and which team best to go to. Hopefully I will be in a competitive car in 2010.

Q: In hindsight, how depressing is it for you that the chances that you had last year slipped away?
RK: If you remember what I said last year – that probably we will never have the chance to repeat that success – the scenario has become reality. Last year I was upset – I thought that we didnt make the maximum of our opportunities to fight for the championship, because I said that it might never happen again. Here you go!

Q: Do you have a particular team in mind that you would want to join for 2010?
RK: I am quite open minded. I might have my opinions, but as we have seen you never can be sure. When I left Hungary everything was fine. Just to find myself some days later facing such a decision, I have learned now that it is very difficult to predict anything in the future. I am quite open.

Q: Looking at your standing in the championship, are you concerned that you are not able to present yourself at your best?
RK: I think this year is very difficult – for the team and myself. The car is very difficult to drive and all I know is that all the teams want quick drivers and Ive shown last year that once the car is quick I am able to give that little extra that might make the difference in the result.

Q: How will it go development-wise at BMW Sauber, for this race and for the rest of the season?
RK: For here we have some new things on the car which were planned already before the decision, so we are expecting a two- to three-tenths gain, but for sure not enough to jump to the front of the grid. All in all I expect the usual performance of late.