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Previously on TheJudge13:
#F1 History: Monaco Grand Prix – 15th May 1983
#F1 Circuit Profile: 2014 – Monte Carlo, Circuit de Monaco – Round 6
Renault must look ahead to 2015 – Prost (GMM)
Hamilton open to more ‘lively’ rivalry with Rosberg (GMM)
Boullier: McLaren team Principal
It’s a miracle, he is made well
Mattiacci knows the score
Renault must look ahead to 2015 – Prost (GMM)
Renault needs to be looking ahead to 2015, according to F1 legend Alain Prost.
Although an ambassador for the French engine supplier, Prost does not hide his belief that Renault simply went into the all-new turbo V6 era this year unprepared. “We were just too late,” he told Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport. “We have seen in recent years how success is made — Red Bull had a plan and was world champion four times. Mercedes had a plan and is now far ahead at the front. Renault needs a plan for 2015,” Prost insisted.
However, the 59-year-old clarified that Renault cannot just give up on 2014 and focus exclusively on re-homologating a much better ‘power unit’ for next year.
“We have to improve continuously,” said Prost. “Nobody can say where Renault is today compared to Mercedes — Renault made a big leap in the Spanish grand prix,” he claimed. “Mercedes is still ahead, but many have misunderstood that the jump really came from their car.”
Renault, supplying four teams in F1 including reigning world champions Red Bull, says it is now approaching the full potential of its current V6 unit. “We are still with our plan of getting 100 per cent from the engine in Canada,” said Rene Taffin, referring to the next grand prix in two weeks. Red Bull, however, is not so sure.
Toto Wolff, the Mercedes team boss, said on Thursday that a Mercedes-powered car got up to 347kph on the Barcelona straight recently.“So in Monza I don’t know what we will be seeing, but 380 maybe?,” he said.
Red Bull counterpart Christian Horner replied: “I don’t think we’ll be seeing 380 from our car in Monza.”
Hamilton open to more ‘lively’ rivalry with Rosberg (GMM)
Lewis Hamilton has hinted he is open to having an even more “lively” rivalry with his teammate and 2014 championship opponent Nico Rosberg. When the duo was first paired together at Mercedes, they happily recalled their friendship dating all the way back to boyhood, featuring jocular wrestling and pizza-eating contests. And Rosberg said as recently as last week that Hamilton, the winner of the last four grands prix on the trot, is still welcome to knock on his Monaco apartment and ask for a quick hamburger. But as Hamilton sniffs his first title since 2008, the Briton is starting to take his boxing gloves off.
In an interview in Monaco, he claimed he is “hungrier” than Rosberg due to their respective upbringings: the German with his “jets and hotels and boats”, and Hamilton who slept “on a couch” in a “not-great place” in suburban UK. Many might draw quick parallels between Hamilton and Rosberg at Mercedes in 2014 and Ayrton Senna versus Alain Prost, and their utter domination at McLaren in 1988. Like Senna, Hamilton might be seen as the more feisty and aggressive, while like Prost, Rosberg is the calculating thinker.
Hamilton smiled when told of the comparison. “I think the fight between them (Senna and Prost) was more livery than what is happening with us right now,” he is quoted by Brazil’s Totalrace. “In our case, it’s all wonderful,” Hamilton laughed.
However, Hamilton indicated he is in fact open to a more “lively” competition with Rosberg, admitting even that a Suzuka 1988-style showdown would be “cool”. At Suzuka in 1988, the Senna-Prost rivalry reached its infamous zenith when the pair collided at the chicane.
“Not that I’ll take him out,” Hamilton smiled, “but it was pretty cool when it reached a climax between them at Suzuka. “I think things will get more livery as the year goes on and I hope we can look back in a few years’ time and say that we had something like that.”
TJ13 Comment: Of course we all know that the 1988 Suzuka race was when Senna won his first World Title. It was in 1989 Prost and Senna collided at the chicane.
FIA Press Conferences a joke
These events are on the whole a complete waste of time, and in Monaco they sink to a new low. The attention to detail in F1 is remarkably random. On the one hand to solve podium presentation variance problems, the FIA mandated a standard podium be built which now travels the world with the F1 circus. No more Romanian Austrian anthems being played when it should be German. No more flag confusion as we watch the fake flags pretend to flutter.
Yet, the FIA presents another stage, which in many ways is far more important. This stage is one from where the key players in F1 are open to questioning from the world’s media.
Watching both the drivers’ and team principals’ conferences from Monaco, was like watching my 11 year old daughters annual school production. People were speaking and the microphones were not turned up, there was feedback whistling around the room from time to time and most ridiculous of all, numerous times those being questioned could not hear the questions.
It may be the case that these events are supposed to be stage managed to the point that no one is ever asked a difficult question, but the quality of the technical delivery is becoming pathetic.
For those of you who choose not to waste around 45-55 minutes of your lives each GP weekend watching this Punch and Judy show, the event is chaired by an invisible MC. Predominantly this role rotates between James Allen, David Croft and Bob Constanduras.
The event begins by the MC asking a question from which he solicits a response from each participant. He then asks a second question again to all the panel, then the questions are thrown open to the floor.
There are a few regular reporters who ask questions at most events, then there are the local media, who on the whole are utterly useless. They clearly are not regularly writing about F1 and often ask questions about issues which have come and gone weeks earlier. Further, though repeatedly asked by the MC for their name and publication, most of these buffoons fail to give us that information.
Fans of the English Premier League will know the name Brian Woolnough, who unfortunately passed away recently. Brian was famed amongst his peers for asking the tough questions without regard as to whether this curried him favour or not with the interviewee.
It didn’t matter to Brian whether he was questioning the England manager, the highly irritable Sir Alex Ferguson – (who regularly banned reporters from his press conferences) or a lowly Norwich City manager. He was direct and said what he thought.
Such was Woonlnough’s tenacity even Alex Ferguson paid tribute to him after his sparring partner’s death, noting: “He asked good questions. Sometimes too good!”
Formula 1 has no one of this stature or courage. It appears the likes of Joe Saward and Adam Cooper are above attending this press conference.. Yes the event is on the whole banal, however, these two men alone have more than half a century of F1 knowledge between them and given the inclination should be capable of putting members of the panel on the back foot.
Part of the problem is the format of the event. Questioners are prevented from asking supplementary questions, which results in convoluted complicated questions which attempt to be a ‘cover all options multi choice affair.
This allows those answering to easily evade anything which may in fact be pointed.
One solution would be to offer the ‘non-professional’ F1 writers a separate press conference which is not televised and hold a smaller more professional event which is televised. Further, those with annual press passes should be required to participate in a minimum number of these meetings each year as part of their pass qualification criteria.
There are a handful of F1 writers who offer a glimmer of hope that a properly organised FIA press conference could be something of worth and interest to F1 fans across the globe. Of particular note are Dieter Rencken, Michael Schmidt and Ian Parks – of the Press Association.
Yesterday, Dieter Rencken managed to put Christian Horner on the spot when he challenged a previous answer he had given and publically corrected Horner’s facts.
Rencken refused to be deflected by the refusal of Horner to recognise the issues around funding in Formula 1. He demanded, “whilst Formula One has always been a meritocracy and yes, the top teams have always earned more, yet never in the past have four teams shared an incremental amount of this value, even if they finished last in the championship, which effectively what happens now and that’s the point that I was trying to make. Can we ever have a fair competition as long as four teams share such exorbitant amounts of money?”
Horner began his reply shifting his position whilst buying some thinking time. “I knew I was going to get that question, because Dieter only asks difficult questions.” Whilst Dieter is no Brian Woolnough, at least he was prepared to press the point.
Many F1 writers in their minds still exist in a world where they have the ear of “important people”and are given privileged access and opportunities for a scoop. For this reason they don’t wish to upset the apple cart and appear in public to be too interrogatory. Many are just lazy and on a jolly for 19 weekends a year.
If Bernie and the FIA want to spice up the show, then give the fans of F1 press events where proper questioning prevents the interviewees from hiding behind PR lines.
Much was asked but little said yesterday about cost control with the team principals’ hiding behind the confidentiality of their ongoing “private” discussions. The questions were too easy to deflect yet a simple closed question may have got the discussion going.
We are regularly informed in terms of eyeballs on screens that F1 is second only to the Olympics and World Soccer Cup tournaments. This being the case, the FIA press conferences are a sad reflection on how badly the sport is run.
Boullier: McLaren team Principal
Following the departure of Martin Whitmarsh and big Ron’s takeover of the McLaren F1 racing team, to suggest the new roles and responsibilities were ‘murky’ would be an understatement.
Lotus team Principal, Eric Boullier, was recruited as ‘Racing Director’ and he was given a remit to do a review of the organisational structures within the team.
The big question was – who would become team Principal? Dennis led us to believe there may be one announced at the end of the review of the organisation. However, none has been forthcoming.
Having heavily criticised the FIA press conferences in another article today, it must be said that despite the incompetence surrounding the management of these events, occasionally snippets slip from the lips of the interviewees which are revealing.
At the team Principals’ conference on Wednesday this week, Dieter Rencken asked the following.
“We’ve heard a lot today about closing up the gaps in competition, Toto, you were quoted a couple of weeks ago saying part of the reason for two teams winning the 14 last races is due to the spending war. If we do really want to close the gap between front and rear, is it actually possible when four of you teams represented here today share an incremental $250million per annum?”
Toto Wolff began his response well, “Do you think Dieter it’s on our agenda to close the gap between the teams? I think it is not on my agenda”. The rest of his musings meandered away from the issue, which he failed to address.
More interesting was Eric Boullier’s response. “It’s always the same story. Let’s say for the fans, for the show, for the show on the track, you would like to have, obviously, a different winner every weekend. As the team Principal of McLaren I would like McLaren to win the 19 races….”
Better late than never I guess…. So Boullier is in fact Whitmarsh’s replacement after all. Welcome to the murky world of Big Ron’s “smoke and mirrors”.No wonder Jenson described Dennis as an “unusual character”.
Rosberg signs a new contract
The world and his dog got so excited this week when Dieter Zetsche, the chairman of Mercedes-Benz Cars, said that Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso was “maybe the best driver in F1”. Few reported; as did TJ13; that these comments were made in the presence of the King of Spain on a joint visit to a Spanish automotive business.
Well if Fred was raising his hopes that Mercedes were about to sneak into his Maranello cell a crowbar concealed in a giant Torta di Ricotta, today he will be crushed with disappointment.
Nico Rosberg’s contract is with Mercedes is due to expire at the end of this year, however, the BBC are reporting that Stuttgart have demonstrated their support for their German driver and given him a two year extension on his current deal.
So for those who speculated we may see a re-run of the battle between Alonso and Hamilton in the same team, the dream is over. The Brackley-based outfit are clearly happy with their current line-up and have no intention of breaking it up for the foreseeable future as Lewis contract runs to the end of 2015.
David Coulthard made an interesting observation on Rosberg’s new found security within his team. “Nico’s being rewarded for not only helping build the stability in the team over the last couple of seasons but also it gives him a platform to really have a clear head and take this World Championship battle head to head with his team-mate.”
This of course assumes Nico has been particularly careful so far this year not to upset the applecart and risk colliding with his team mate for political reasons. In that case, this ‘be a good boy’ mentality from Rosberg may explain why he appeared to allow Hamilton to bully him during their epic battle in Bahrain.
However, are more Machiavellian view of this could be true. Rosberg has been given strict operating instructions in his new contract as to how he will behave given certain situations. This is not to say he has accepted number two status, but merely he will contractually abide by agreed protocols, such as…. The leading Mercedes car following the last round of pit stops during a race – remains unchallenged by his team mate from thereon to the chequered flag. This is but one example of how Mercedes may nail down the rules to avoid what they perceive as self destruction.
Let’s hope Coulthard is right, and Rosberg has been playing by the Queensbury rules. Nico can now put aside his fancy upbringing – as Hamilton describes it – and demonstrate he is hungry to win. He can get down and dirty into Lewis’ world and where scratching, name calling, hair pulling and spitting are all allowed, and it is winner takes all.
It’s a miracle, he is made well
A certain Bernard Ecclestone found it necessary to make a visit to his physician earlier in the week to solicit a sick note to present to Judge Noll of the Mucnich court. Apparently Mr. E was too ill to attend the proceedings which already have been listed at his convenience.
It appears the Munich court are suffering fools rather too gladly, as the aforementioned Mr. E was seen yesterday clambering out of a boat in the Monaco harbour at the annual Grand Prix event held in the principality.
Eyebrows were raised when Ecclestone negotiated with the judicial authorities in Munich that his trial be held on only 2 days a week for some 3-4 months. This was to allow Bernie to go about his ‘necessary” business which is of apparent global importance. Whether such an expedient attitude would be granted to a ‘normal’ person facing a criminal trial is unclear. It may be as simple in Germanic jurisprudence that “you don’t get what you don’t ask for”.
Regardless, Judge Noll is risking presenting a view to other nationalities of the German legal system being ‘soft’ and far too ‘accommodating’. Many already believe Ecclestone will find a way to ‘negotiate’ this charge away – as he himself claimed he is trying to do to Martin Brundle on the grid in Spain.
Mattiacci knows the score
The appointment of Marco Mattiaci to succeed Stefano Domenicali was one of those ‘left field’ moments which nobody in F1 saw coming. Even Mattiacci himself has said he thought the call he received from de Montezemolo was an April fools joke.
Fernando Alonso publically appears to be bemused by this appointment and takes great delight in dismissing any current or near term future impact Mattiacci is likely to have on the team. “I don’t think [changes] are going to happen soon,” he said. “He’s still learning about the team situation, the Formula One environment, the F1 weekends.
There are a lot of things to learn and [he needs to] get some experience [in] before making any decisions that at the moment he will not take”.
So Marco is about as useful as a chocolate fireguard as far as Fred is concerned – in that there’s little he can do in terms of getting the Spaniard a car that’s half decent.
This view isn’t helped much by Il Padrino, who gave the impression that Mattiacci was his frist thought as Domenical’s replacement – and that he didn’t have, or want to spend, the time thinking too long about this.
It isn’t beyond the boundary of anyone’s imagination to believe the leadership of the Scuderia can make incoherent decisions. Yet when considering Mattiacci’s pedigree and reputation within the automotive world, his appointment – and more importantly his acceptance of the role – makes it difficult to believe this was a knee jerk reaction.
In F1 as in most organisations, there are short, medium and long term goals, and at times these goals conflict. Even when not in opposition to each other, beginning the process of rectifying a medium term objective may have little or no impact on one which is short term.
What is becoming clear is that Ferrari are in a complete mess. Despite Renault completing cocking up the installation phase of their 3 year V6 Turbo engine programme, it is clear that even their fractious partnership with Red Bull is beginning to deliver results which Maranello can but hope to achieve.
This mess is not going to be fixed overnight. The appointment of Ross Brawn isn’t going to fix this mess. Jesus Christ himself (please replace with your preferred deity) may indeed to struggle to conjure up a miracle of significant enough magnitude to resolve the deep rooted problems in Maranello.
And THIS…. This is the reason Marco Mattiacci has been appointed as head of the Scuderia team.
At FIA press conference yesterday, Mattiacci was coy, refusing to speculate on the improbable and towing the party line on cost control. However, there was a moment when he let his mask slip.
Fulvio Solms of the Corriere dello Sport asked, “Mr Mattiacci, in the last years, Ferrari was often close to winning the championship. Now it looks like this aim has returned on a medium to long term. Can you say how long is this term in your plans?”
With hindsight, the nationality of the reporter begs the question as to whether this enquiry was indeed a plant, an question tee’d up so nicely that Mattiacci couldn’t fail to hit one straight down the middle even if he wanted to.
Marco Mattiacci responded. “There is a lot of work to be done. I don’t want to give any deadline, definitely it’s a medium term but we are going to come back competitive. This is for sure. We are working 24/7, were going to come back competitive, that’s for sure”.
Medium term? A phrase used by both questioner and respondent.
The medium term of course is a relative measure, defined in time by what would be considered to be a long term period and what also is counted to be short term – in any given scenario.
Yet it is clear, medium term is not today, tomorrow or next week. In fact in the corporate world from where the Ferrari superstar boss hails, the medium term is counted in years, not months and not weeks or days.
The operations of the Scuderia are not dissimilar to that of a reasonably sized corporation, and a revision or complete re-design of its procedures, personnel and process is not something done quickly. This is Mattiacci’s speciality, and this is why he has been recruited by the FIAT board.
The modern Ferrari brand derives value from the relative recent success of the F1 team. However, another decade of impotence and ignominy would damage the brand and cannot be allowed.
The task ahead is immense indeed – a complete overhaul of the entire Ferrari F1 organisation – and would daunt most men (or women). However, Marco has steel in his eyes and commitment from on hjigh.
So Fernando can cajole his team, bemoan his lot, mock the latest car and even threaten to ‘tweet the world’…. all he wants – it won’t phase Mattiacci. His objective looks long beyond the time when the Spaniard will have hung up his Maranello red, FA monogrammed racing boots.
It was in 1989 that the collision at the chicane (Casio Triangle) happened….
As the comment below the article mentions. 😉
* Bernie NOT too ill to attend Monaco GP *
I noticed the short one was present yesterday during free practice, with the odd fake cough whilst the camera’s were on him ….
I wonder – as Danilo pointed out – what the German court will make of this ?
He’s made a speedy recovery then…
It certainly won’t increase Noll’s goodwill. It will depend on how cleverly his attorneys have worded their request for postponement.
…. only 2 days a week in court …. a week off here and there when it suits …. who is running this gig?
I thought these were criminal charges…. clearly not that important a matter in Germany…. what is this legal system???
(speech delivered over the strident tones of Elgar’s – Pomp and Circumstance”) 😉
German law restricts number of court days per week if the accused was a witness of the Romans abandoning the Limes. Additionally the court room is used for another high profile trial of a neonazi terrorist cell, so it is only available for two days anyway.
Aha. Most informative FH….
Not sure how it is in Germany, but often here in the States refusing such requests becomes grounds for an appeal, where the accused may often have either better connections or a better chance due to political leanings of the appeal court vs. trial court. Is it possible that Judge Noll is simply heading off as many grounds for appeal as possible early on? This would be my assumption if the trial were occurring over here.
Ecclestone had a medical attest, so Noll was obliged to grant the request, especially as certain other specific rules apply if the accused is as old as Ecclestone.
The tricky bit for Mr. E is that just a day or two later he shows up at Monaco. In a worst case scenario E might be ordered to be checked out by a court-appointed medic and if no symptoms of recent illness are found the doc who wrote the attest and Ecclestone himself could find themselves up shit creek without a paddle. Falsification of Documents and deliberate unsworn false statement are the magic words. falsification of documents alone can carry up to five years in a rather spartan holliday resort.
@ Fat Hippo. Gribkowsky was sentenced to 12 years IIRC. In the States he would be out in three or four years. What’s the deal in Germany? Will he serve all twelve years? Seems like a pretty tough sentence for the crime.
no, gribkowsky won’t serve the 12 years. don’t know exactly how many it will be, but they will deduct the time he spend under arrest before the trial and then i think you normally get parole after two thirds of your sentence. it might be earlier if you behave well. they might even give you parole after half of your sentence, when it’s your first incarceration and you have a family. although I think that rule only applys for shorter sentences (as in less serious offences).
Ecclestone was ill on Tuesday but already back in court on Wednesday, so no issue with him appearing in Monaco, would have been different if also on Wednesday he would have been absent in court…
To be fair to Joe “wee man” Saward he’s usually at the press conferences and usually gets one question in…
I don’t disagree with you on the whole though. I think part of your frustration about yesterday’s events is the answers… It’s been the same old waffle for 5 plus years regarding cost control, and will continue ad infinitum unless something is mandated by the organizing bodies.
Or get –
Jeremy Paxman
😀
… I have to disagree… in a friendly manner of course – I watch them all back at some point and rarely hear Joe
Your honour, I commented last time on the pressconference, there is so much potential there. Just sneak me in for one press conference, I’ll ask the questions everyone wants asked, cause absolute bedlam, but I’d be polite and articulate.
Hugs and kisses
Jamie.
…. Sure that would definitely help. What is monumentally pathetic is the consistent sound problems which occur…
I was a sound engineer in a past life, even did a bit of live broadcast local telly… get me and Jamie some tickets for Canada and we’ll sort it out! Absolutely agree, though. It’s not that difficult to manage the faders for 8 mics. It would be a massive help if the engineer was at least interested enough in F1 to follow the conversation.
I suspect they rely on local ‘talent’ which explains the lack of consistency….
as a performer, i have been on many a stage. it is suprising how often the sound engineer, as the guy who is paid an hourly wage to stand behind the mixing console and fix the settings if need be, doesn’t realize what everybody else hears and complains about, namely the fact that the mic’s are too low, or that there is too much bass or trreble. only in a super professional environment, where lot’s of money and pressure is involved(which f1 should be) or if the engineer is a fan/friend and therefore committed you can expect him to push faders after the initial soundcheck. otherwise, they seem to go into hybernation mode.
@dobzizzle. Sound at press conference
Yammy 01V 96 & Dugan Automix MY card, problem solved. Surprised that FOM tv aren’t involved. Or maybe they are – think engine noise during race transmission.
Indeed, the drivers ones are a shambles as most of them give a 5 second “I CBA being here” answer before jumping off at the sound of adjournment (Kimi did this well as you showed!). Kimi actually gave an answer for racing more like Brabham did but for the whole just said “can’t hear the question.. next” :D.
The teams one went on longer at least, 45-50 mins… I think the drivers one was about 20 mins before no one could stand the pain any longer…
Rosberg did say remember this later, when he let hamilton pas last year… He does it all with his head…
I remember it well, just like I remember DC letting Mika past, or Rubens letting Schumi past, and Massa letting past anyone who is faster than him!
And all of them had good contracts for many years…
Doubt Nico is up for that world, he wouldn’t want to scatch his well manicured nails and his “head & shoulders” blonde hair….😂😂
Pfft… I’m sure LewLew and Nico go to the same salon to get their nails done. You’re right about the hair though, Nico has far more of it to worry about than Mr Hamilton (who’ll be a cue ball before his career is out). BOTH of these guys are just about the most primped and preened on the grid – the term ‘metrosexual’ was invented to describe the pair of them.
None of which has anything to do with ‘hunger’ or ‘desire’.
Neither does a person’s family background, actually. Parenting style has far more to do with it, regardless of the financial situation. From what I know of Hamilton’s life he didn’t want for anything much – his old man worked his *ss off to put him through a private school and pay the racing bills before Big Ron started to pick up the tab. It’s not like he lived for three months in a rolled up newspaper in a septic tank or anything. He was lucky…
Lewis is just trying to play mind games with junk like that. If Nico has any perspective he’ll be still rolling on the floor laughing. And if that’s the best line that Lewis can come up with then, …well, Machiavelli he ain’t…
Fact of the matter is Lewis doesn’t even need to play mind games with Rosberg, his performance this season speaks for itself and even when he hasn’t had the car to his liking in terms of setup, Bahrain and Spain, he still has managed to beat Nico… work that one out.
Lewis already built an apartment in his head from their days in karting and junior formula, he’s just now adding a spare room, so as to store his trophies and WDC title(s).
Nico is only pretending that he’s not being affected by what’s going on, but we’ve all seen his reaction after qualifying in Spain and we’ve all heard him utter the same rubbish twice already,
….”I really hate coming second to Lewis”…….
Nico, we know, you keep saying that, how about doing something about it, after all, your suppose to be the cerebral thinker and the one who should adopt more to the new regs. Your teammate is the stupid, unadaptable and over aggressive one.
So why aren’t you the one dominating?
Without wishing to mention him again, it’s been kind of overload this last few weeks, but arguably the hungriest man in F1 history also had one of the most privileged upbringings – Ayrton Senna
I doubt he was anywhere near as hungry as Nige …….. !
On F1F the COTD was “I think Sutil and Vergne are hungrier..” 😀
You’re killing me with those quotes. They’re exactly the same ones I’m pulling for the Tech Treasures Feature. I’m glad you recognized Dieter, as he asked by far the best questions, and did not give up. There were a few other tidbits as well, especially about customer cars.
Kate Walker also regularly asks good questions, though for a truly good time I think you’d need Bob Fernley and Christian Horner on the same panel and then get them started on the legality of the Strategy group and cost cutting, LOL.
Of course, the real question is, “if you had to choose between giving up some of your gap and seeing F1 become a spec series like IndyCar, which is it. Because, frankly, your intransigence on this issue means you are choosing a spec series by default”.
But they’ll realize that soon enough I suspect.
Kate was missing this weekend….
https://twitter.com/theJudge13Twts/status/469838552487194624
In an interview in Monaco, he claimed he is “hungrier” than Rosberg due to their respective upbringings: the German with his “jets and hotels and boats”
When you quote drivers, can you make sure you’re not just quoting the accompanying headlines – which often, as in this case, do not accurately reflect what the driver actually said.
Because you are better than that.
Usually.
Think that was a GMM story….
Which is why I wish you didn’t use the GMM feed.
I don’t disagree with GMM comments but they would have taken original article from the http://www.formula.com site that carried it originally. The ‘hungry’ comment was a small part of the interview.
http://www.formula1.com/news/interviews/2014/5/15845.html
That’s the actual interview. The actual question was quite leading too..
Thanks for the link Carlo. It’s a bit different if you read the entire answer:
“………and Nico grew up in Monaco with jets and hotels and boats and all these kind of things – so the hunger is different. I want to be the hungriest guy in the cockpit from all 22 of us – even if every driver has to believe that he’s the hungriest – because if I were to come here believing that Nico is hungrier than me then I might as well go home.”
That makes sense and is a lot different than the GMM bit implies.
Is Lewis’ and Nico’s ‘hunger’ yet another warning sign that the drivers aren’t eating enough so as to comply with the weight limit? Lewis’ quote mentioned ‘hunger’ so many times that when I finished reading it I immediately had to make myself an emergency bacon butty! If he really wanted to play mind games with Nico, he should try cooking a fry-up in the garage just before Nico goes to the grid. That’ll put him off his game!
What if Mattiachi was the designated heir of Luca’s emperium and Luca did a masterstroke Machiavelli would be jealous of: get him aboard now, timing subject to luca’s wish instead of Fi4t’s board.
And here he is, trying to adjust while the board expects results. So either they stick with him – and thus with Luca – or they don’t. Meaning he’s out and Luca’s still there OR he succeeds and luca’s the one who got him.
Man should really go politics…
I think Nico is smarter than we all realize. He didn’t make any risky moves on the track to jeopardize his renewal. Now that he has it I think we are going to see a more aggressive Nico on track. As for Mattiacci, I think he will do well and doesn’t need time to get up to speed. A good manager is a good manager no matter what the field. I think he has already identified the changes that need to be made and has already or is ready to execute them. I mean if Flavio can do it, why not him?