Team Representatives: Alan Permane, Mike Krack and Marcin Budkowski.
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.
Check out our Friday gallery from the Madring here.
sign in