07/08/2020
NEWS STORY
Today's press conference with Claire Williams, Zak Brown and Mattia Binotto.
We are celebrating 70 years of Formula 1 this weekend, so I'd like to kick this session off discussing that? Mattia, what makes Formula 1 fascinating for you?
Mattia Binotto: First, it's a great sport, it's something on which we are passionate. As Scuderia Ferrari, we are very much linked to F1. We have been there since the very start. We are the most successful team in terms of victories and championships, so I think in the end celebrating the 70th is somehow an honour and I'm very happy to be here.
Zak, what's your first F1 memory?
Zak Brown: I can - the 1981 Long Beach Grand Prix. Williams won. I think it was a 1-2 if I'm not mistaken. I was about that big and went with my family and I remember meeting Eddie Cheever and the cars used to be displayed in this aquarium and all the fans had access to them. That was my first Formula 1 race and I've loved Formula 1 ever since.
Thanks. Claire, what does Formula 1 mean to you?
Claire Williams: My God, where do I start? It means everything. Everybody knows Williams' history in this sport. We've been racing for 44 years now and that's an awfully long time. It's a big part of our family - it is our family. We feel incredibly privileged to have raced in this sport for so long and we feel incredibly privileged that we have been so successful in this sport for so long. It's the pinnacle isn't it? We all know how privileged we are to work in it, to be surrounded by such incredibly bright people that design these extraordinary race cars. Every time I'm in the garage I look at them and think, "how do these people know how these things work?" It's an extraordinary sport. The drivers are superheroes. The fact that they get in these cars every weekend and do what they do blows my mind every time I see them. Away from the track as well, everything that goes on behind the scenes. It consumes you. Formula 1 is all-consuming and it's a wonderful sport to be a part of.
(Andrew Benson - BBC) Can I ask all of you for your comments please on a verdict that came out that this morning that declared that the design process for a component to be in breach of regulations, declared that those components were run in breach of regulations, that they would continue to be in breach of regulations if they continue to be run, but allows them to be continued to be run for the rest of the season?
MB: Obviously it's a 14 pages verdict and I think we need to go through it very carefully, pay attention on what has been written. One thing that is important is that it has somehow been clarified that there has been a breach of regulation. I think that is the starting point. Obviously that is relative to the braking ducts but as you said there is an entire concept behind, which is about copying: are we allowed to copy or not, an entire concept. But the two things need to be split. But on the braking duct there is a breach of regulation, that is a fact and it has been clarified. Is the penalty sufficient or not? Again, I think we need to go through carefully the 14 pages. There are 24 hours eventually for an intention of appeal. I think as Ferrari we will be very careful in understanding and deciding what is the next step.
Zak?
ZB: I'll give you my initial reactions, because like Mattia we are still reviewing the 14-page document. My initial reactions are that Racing Point has been found guilty and I am concerned that they still have those... what were deemed illegal in Austria on the race car now. I think that is confusing for the fans, how something that is not legal in Austria is still on the car. Around this whole copying, obviously they claimed that they had coped the car via photography. It's clear from reading the document that is BS and therefore you have to question anything else around that car. I think this is, potentially, the top of the iceberg, the starting point of looking at what's happened here, because I don't think it's healthy for the sport. The constructor gets the penalty, but the drivers don't. As teams we all compete with each other, but then all the drivers compete with each other and they're able to keep their points when driver drivers are fighting for the Drivers' Championship. So, I think it's thrown up a lot more questions than answers and there's new evidence that we've now been able to see and it's something we are going to review quickly and understand the appeal process and whether that's something that we potentially want to participate in.
And Claire?
CW: I agree with everything that Mattia and Zak have said so far. I think for us at Williams we've always made of position around this kind of circumstance pretty clear. We've always been protective and proud of our status as an independent, true constructor that designs and manufactures our parts ourselves and then takes them to race track and races them. And then the results come thereafter. Obviously it is a very long document that the FIA have sent out and it is within the FIA's jurisdiction power to determine what penalties are imposed for any breach of sporting or technical regulations and they have done that. Whether I agree personally, or the team, that the reprimand is appropriate or the sanctions that they put in place are appropriate I'll bite my tongue on that. I think we all need a little bit of time to fully compute the outcome of it and to determine whether or to decide whether we take it any further forwards.
(Christian Nimmervoll - Motorsport.com) To all three: in the earlier part of the press conference, Toto explained how teams use spy photography and 3D cameras to copy parts from other teams, to have a detailed look at them. From your experience, is it possible, by the use of such methods, to copy a complete F1 car to the extent that Racing Point did with last year's Mercedes?
MB: I think it's very difficult or likely impossible. You see that has never happened in 70 years of Formula 1, it means that it's not an idea that someone simply thought about today but simply because we believe that it's not possible to simply copy and understand the full concept behind the car. So there is something on which, again, because we sent a letter to the FIA, we really argued the entire process and entire concept. We believe the regulations are clear enough. We believe that there may be a breach of regulations in what is that process but probably at the moment, looking ahead and looking forward, it's something on which we need to clarify. I don't think that the verdict of today is sufficient because again it's only relative, eventually, to the brake ducts but not the entire concept so as Zak said, I think it's only the... it's like an iceberg, at the moment it's only the tip of the iceberg. There is much to discuss further. But back to your question, again, I think that if it has never happened so far, in all the history of F1, you know it means that somehow it's almost impossible to do.
ZB: I agree with what Mattia has said. If it was that easy it would have been done before. The sport's been around a long time. The engineers and designers do take inspiration, if you like, from the things they say on the car, to be able to replicate a car as they've done. Everything that I've been told by people who are much smarter than me on this topic say there's no way you do it with a degree of accuracy that they can so I think the brake ducts and the... revealing that they had information beyond photography just begs and question of what else wasn't done by photography?
CW: I'm not sure I can add a whole lot more. I certainly don't believe that you can reverse engineer a car or a complicated element which a brake duct is from a photo, so no, I would disagree. As Mattia and Zak have both said, if you could, then everyone would have been doing it and we would have had a much closer field than we do now, which at times has been separated by four seconds, so no, I don't believe that this is the case.
(Christian Menath - Motorsport-magazin.com) I understand that you're a bit confused at the penalty that Racing Point received for the break of regulations, but don't you think in the end that it's a wise decision, because what else could you do? If you ban the brake ducts, you probably ban Racing Point from racing the whole year. If you don't penalise them, you open the door for further copying, so don't you think that in the end it was a wise decision for Formula 1, in the interests of the sport and Formula 1 should just accept it and move on from now and verify a few points?
CW: Again, it's well above my pay grade to tell the FIA what they should have done or shouldn't have done. As I said earlier, I think the one confusing element is this discrepancy between the sporting and technical in that you can run what has effectively been deemed an illegal part, that shouldn't have been put on a race car because it was, in effect, copied from another team, to a degree. And to me, that isn't right. I think, as Zak said, it's confusing for the fans to have that, to see now that a car that has been in breach of regulations, to still be allowed to run those parts doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me anyway. But I also think that there are wider implications on this. If the car is in breach but still allowed to race with those parts and not to have to... you know, whenever we take our car and the FIA come to us and say that part's not quite right, you've got two races or whatever to rectify it, then that should be the case in the circumstances, that the very fact they are allowed to continue to race has much broader implications on teams further down the grid, when it comes to prize fund money, when it comes to the order of the championship, but I'm not sure that I agree with that.
ZB: Yeah, I think a) it still early days in reviewing the document. I've got a lot of confidence. The FIA is looking into this matter. Nikolas Tombazis made a statement earlier that they're going to continue to look into this and modify some rules in '21 and beyond. I think ten very intelligent teams that are all pushing the envelope and I think there's a difference between what they've been found guilty of in pushing the envelope in a sporting design, interpretation of rules way. And I think, as I mentioned earlier, the drivers, the constructors, the sponsors, the fans... I don't think running the car with the part that has been deemed illegal... I just don't see how that makes sense, I don't see how that's fair for the sport and as I said, I think the FIA will look into it further because we now know the brake ducts are illegal but how do we know the balance of the car isn't?
Check out our Friday gallery from Silverstone, here.
Zak, it's probably worth pointing out for everybody, the brake ducts themselves aren't illegal; it's the process, not the part, isn't it?
ZB: Correct. It's pretty confusing for the fans out there. I understand the technicality behind that. When you go through technical inspection something has to be a certain weight, size, dimension and it passes that test but how it actually arrived on the car has been deemed illegal, so I think that needs to be clarified and cleaned up for the future, that you can breach the sporting regulation but be clear in the technical regulation and then it continues on because if you read the documentation, there were docked because of the unfair competitive advantage that they had in Austria. But aren't they still carrying that unfair advantage this weekend? So, as I said, it's confusing and that's why it needs to be cleared up.
MB: I don't think there is much to add to what has been said. As I said initially, the most important point that has at least been clarified is that there has been a breach of regulation and now is the penalty and the verdict the right one? I think we've got 24 hours to go through the document and understand it, so I would not judge it right now. That's all.
(Jonathan McEvoy - Daily Mail) Zak, what's your feeling about the man who runs Mercedes also being a shareholder - in the light of today's events - in Aston Martin? Do you think that's a little bit smelly or are you at ease with that?
ZB: I think the sport has had, over the years, owners that have had multiple relationships. Red Bull owns two racing teams. Some sports, you're not allowed to have ownership that crosses over into other sports. I'm quite relaxed that the sport... you know, some people who promote tracks but also own teams in it, so I think the sport has navigated that and it just needs to continue to do so.
While we're talking about finances in a loose sense, can I ask you three please about the Concorde Agreement, because Toto Wolff earlier told us that he was still some way off signing the new agreement? Where are you guys at, please?
MB: I think we already mentioned it a couple of weeks ago. I think as Scuderia Ferrari we are ready to sign. I think the deadline of the 12th of August is coming pretty soon. There is still very little (elements of) wording that need to be addressed - it's only a legal matter - but on all the principles, we are somehow happy. It's a long time that we discussing with FOM so it's not here on the last day that now we are putting a long discussion we've had so I think we have a great understanding with Chase. I think that the proposal is certainly helping the small teams, which is important. As Ferrari, I think our role has been recognised which for us is quite important and overall, as I said, we are ready to sign so it's clearly waiting for it and quite excited.
Zak, are you ready to sign?
ZB: Yeah, McLaren's in the same position as Ferrari. We've all been negotiating this for some time. We're ready to sign. We'll be able to hit the August 12 deadline. Some very small dotting the i's, crossing the T's but all the fundamentals are there and I'm really excited for the future of Formula 1. I think the new Concorde Agreement - I'm not even sure we're calling it the Concorde - but to do that by deed pole, is going to bring a much healthier sport, more competitive sport and the biggest winners are going to be the fans and if we have a lot of happy fans around the world then that means a lot of happy promoters and happy sponsors and very healthy competitive racing teams.
Claire?
CW: Yes, you've got the triple, you've got the three most historic teams in Formula 1 ready to sign the Concorde Agreement. Williams are in a position to do so as Mattia is. We've got some minor legal issues to resolve but we would be ready to sign it to meet the deadline. As Zak said, I think it's fantastic for the sport, we can move forwards. We've got some great new regulations coming online for 2021 which is certainly going to level the playing field and make this sport... or give it a much brighter future which we're really excited about.
(Dieter Rencken - Racing Lines) Question to Claire to start off with, it's all to do with the Concorde Agreement. Claire you said something about the Racing Point situation affecting the prize money and I would imagine here you were talking about the fact that a team could finish higher up the order than it normally would and therefore get more money. But is it not also true that in order to qualify for any prize money whatsoever, a team has to be a constructor and that is defined - and I'm reading from the Concorde - as a person who designs the listed parts as defined below for its cars, and also that it should only use those listed parts on its own cars. So could a case not be made that in terms of the verdict, that maybe the team against which the verdict went may not qualify for prize money at all this year? And then the other question is to all three: could you see yourselves signing the Concorde without, say, Mercedes who seem to be trying to delay the process?
CW: If I understand Dieter's question correctly, about prize fund money, I think, you do qualify, obviously, as a constructor for your prize fund money and it is important that we are quoting the definition of being a constructor. I don't want to say a whole lot about it but I think it's only right that teams should operate within the regulations that are laid out, they're there for a very particular reason and it would put other teams at a disadvantage, teams like ours which rely heavily on the prize fund money, when we're operating within the regulations, we feel very fairly or very rightly that the playing field should be fair for everybody and should be operating within those regulations in order to qualify for their prize fund.
And Claire, would you be happy to sign the Concorde Agreement without Mercedes?
CW: As I said, Williams are ready to sign the Concorde Agreement and that's our decision and we will be ready to do so next week.
Zak?
ZB: Yeah, we're ready to sign the Concorde. I believe that all ten teams that compete in Formula 1 today will be on the grid in '21 so I'm not too worried about it, but McLaren's committed to Formula 1 and I'm sure everyone else will come along whether they all sign at the same time or it's staggered. I'm confident you'll see all these ten teams on the grid next year.
Mattia?
MB: As I said, we are ready to sign so I think we will go for it. On the other side, I don't know what will be Mercedes position; that's up to them to decide. I hope they will sign, I think it will be great to have Mercedes with us next year and the followings. I think we are the only ones who have been there since the very start of Formula One, 70 years, so it's true as well that some things sometimes are there and cannot be there, so at the end, I think Ferrari will be there, they have always been part of the history. We'll be there in the future, we are fully committed and we will certainly sign.
(Sandor Meszaros - Autosport es Formula Magazine) I think it's fair to say that Andreas Seidl has contributed a lot to the re-vitalisation to McLaren since he joined last year. Would you be so kind as to summarise how delighted you are with him about his contribution, working methods and what's he like as a team principal?
ZB: I'm extremely happy with Andreas. I'm not going to get up and dance! He's done an outstanding job. I've known Andreas for some time, before he joined us in Formula 1. He's exactly what we needed to provide leadership direction to our racing team. Of course, the racing team is made up for a bunch of great men and women so it's not any one person that makes the car fast. The team enjoys working with him, he's a no nonsense type of individual. We have a great relationship. I know what my role is, he knows what his role is and together I think we're doing a good job getting the team back towards the front of field but we still have a long ways to go but very happy, extremely happy with the work that Andreas is doing.
Mattia, the performance development division has allowed you to step back from the technical department; do you do that with a heavy heart after 25 years at Ferrari in the technical team and how hard is it going to be to resist getting involved?
MB: As you said, 25 years. Since the very start, I grow up, different roles. I think each time you jump into a new role, you need somehow to organise yourself to work so when last year I moved into the team principal role, we had to re-organise ourselves. I was technical director, I don't think you change that in one day. It took some time but more than a year after, I can say that at least today we've got a technical department which is well organised with clear responsibilities, senior people leading it, now full responsibility but all the tools and my support to do it. I think having technical feedback, certainly, I will always be very curious and interested and certainly I will share with them the progress and the direction.
Check out our Friday gallery from Silverstone, here.