Williams F1 Team Comments on Fridays Free Practice Sessions at Monza

These are the comments in respect of what work was carried out by Williams in the two Free Practice Sessions today at Monza:

ITALIAN GRAND PRIX PRACTICE

07 SEPTEMBER 2012

Objectives
• Aero evaluations
• Tyre runs and set-up work
• Long runs in the afternoon

Mark Gillan, Chief Operations Engineer: We have a lot data to dissect and interpret tonight from today's two sessions to ensure that we optimise the car for the race without compromising qualifying. We managed to get through the entire test programme, despite a hydraulic problem on Pastor's car which prematurely stopped his FP1 session. The mechanics reacted very quickly and we managed to get the car ready for the start of FP2.

Pastor Maldonado: It was a productive day as we were trying some different configurations, especially with the aero levels. We completed everything we set out to do in the programme. There is still more speed to come and so tomorrow we will continue working to improve, so I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do.

Bruno Senna: It was a difficult session. After not running in the morning I had a lot to do this afternoon, but we’ve been trying different things and I think we can find a good path. Hopefully the car will be even better tomorrow and we can iron out some of the technical details to improve for qualifying.

Valtteri Bottas: We got lot of running today with the dry weather so it was great to get that under our belt. The track is brilliant as it’s an old school circuit and very quick. The morning session was productive and we worked through all the tests we had planned.

Ferrari on the pace in Monza Free Practice 2

Picture courtesy of Vodafone McLaren Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button set the pace in FP2 at Monza with Hamilton under 4 hundredths of a second ahead of his team-mate.

But, the Ferrari of Fernando Alonso was just two hundredths behind Button and Felipe Massa in fourth just a tenth behind.

So the question is: Have Ferrari brought something new to the party this weekend?

The fact remains that the quickest time this afternoon at 1m 25.290 is still 3 seconds off Vettel's pole lap from last year, but the two Prancing Horses would appear to be restless.  This weekend is vital for Felipe Massa. Having heard last week that Mark Webber held talks with Ferrari about a drive next year he must be feeling some serious pressure to perform. Where better to score a podium than at the home race.

From fifth on the results were: Rosberg, Raikkonen, Di Resta, Hulkenberg, Perez, and Schumacher.

D'Ambrosio was closer to Raikkonen this afternoon, just six tenths down on Kimi's time, as the Belgian got to grips with the track.

Michael Schumacher tops Monza Free Practice 1 Timesheet

Photo courtesy of Mercedes AMG Media Centre

Michael topped the charts this morning in Free Practice 1 at Monza, with his team-mate Nico Rosberg third.  Jenson Button split the two Mercedes, three tenths of a second off Schumacher's pace and Fernando Alonso came in fourth. Massa, Hamilton, Kimi, Perez, Webber and Maldonado rounded out the top ten.  Bottas in the second Williams was only a tenth of s second off Maldonado's time, having driven a similar number of laps, a good run for him.

The next big story was Jerome D'Ambrosio making his Lotus Race Debut in place of Grosjean.  His time was 1.13 seconds off Kimi's pace as he got himself familiarised with the car and track.

The only other noteworthy occurrence was the appearance of Qing Hua Ma in the second HRT.  Delighted that he has made, I believe, his race weekend debut.  His time put him at the bottom of the table 2 seconds off his team-mate De la Rosa's pace.

Schumi's best time was 1m 25.422s, over three seconds off Vettel's 2011 pole position lap of 1m 22.275s.

Mercedes Stat Sheet 2012 Monza

Mercedes by Twitter

Hamilton to Mercedes Rumour fuels Transfer Fever

The current McLaren situation is untenable.  Lewis was doing everything by the book this year and then contract negotiations got under way.

Both sides were making all the right, positive statements but Lewis's behaviour was off at Belgium.

In March 2011 I posted that Lewis was sending all the wrong messages to the team and that his only option come the end of that season might have been Schumi's seat in Mercedes.

On May 16th of that year I did a Who's going Where post based on Massa moving to Mercedes where I pointed out that Lewis had burned his bridges with Red Bull and Ferrari and that explained why he was making soothing statements with regard to his commitment to the McLaren team.

and on June 14th 2011 I was commenting on Hamilton becoming a Team liability due to his management and how they appeared to be approaching the end-of-contract negotiations which are currently underway.

In May 2011 I said

Who fills the other vacant seat at Mercedes? Webbo would feel that he could compete with Massa in equal machinery - Hamilton (while unlikely to leave McLaren given his current statements) has expressed (an unexpressed) desire to go elsewhere by way of his early criticism of the team but Mercedes might not be big enough for him, Red Bull would not take him (or would they?) after he called them fly-by-nights, and Ferrari couldn't have him (with Nadgers in the team) - basically he's ****ed from a height with regard to competitive teams - I'd day his management team have finaly realised this and hence the resulting soothing noises currently audible in the Hamilton camp.

We all remember Canada last season when Hamilton was spotted coming out of a "chat" with Christian Horner; well Eddie Jordan has stated that Hamilton's management approaches have been rebuffed at both Ferrari and Red Bull.  He also said that Mercedes have agreed personal terms with Lewis to take over the Schumacher seat.

Is this another negotiation tactic by Lewis and X1X Management? If so it's a dangerous game and, given Ferrari and Red Bull are out of the equation, it might just hand control of negotiations back to McLaren.

Mercedes can pay more but will they win him championships? Would he be capable of doing a "Schuey/Ferrari" for Mercedes? Will McLaren fight hard to keep him?

It's a difficult question for me and it all hangs on whether Michael intends to retire at the end of the season.  I think he will but there's a lot of interest in the seat and there'd be more in the McLaren one.

Negotiations are at a critical phase just now and perhaps to illustrate his desirability, as in May last year, Hamilton should keep his head down and his twitter finger in neutral, in order to show McLaren just why he's worth millions to the team.

Lewis Hamilton Telemetry Tweet Reveals little

Given that the ill-thought- out "telemetry tweet" showing data on Lewis's and Jenson's qualifying laps in Belgium took all of the headlines from what was a stunning pole position by Button I thought, in the cold light of day, and having regard to my betters who, by definition, all know better than me what it meant I'd refer all those interested to Gary Anderson on the BBC website (Former Tech Director of Jordan F1)and to Marc Priestly at F1Elvis (Former McLaren Team Mechanic and Senior Member of the Pitstop Crew).

as Tweeted by Lewis Hamilton 

Gary's position is that:

As for the tweet on Sunday morning, when he posted a picture of a telemetry sheet containing data from his and Button's qualifying laps, that is completely unacceptable.

I have had a good look at that sheet now and, while it does not reveal anything too significant, to open up that cupboard of information just shows how naive Hamilton is, how little he understands the big picture.

F1 is about being secret squirrel.

While Marc's is similar:

Whilst it may not give away the secrets to the team’s success, it will be of some limited interest to other teams as they compare the data to their own and observe the differences between the two aero set ups being run by Jenson and Lewis...The most disappointing aspect for the team and those working within, will be the principal that their valuable, secret information gained through the hard work of many, has been released to the world off the back of a somewhat childish tantrum from their driver. Be assured, had a mechanic or engineer done the same thing, the consequences for that person would be far more severe.

Both of these guys make the salient point that Lewis is 27 now and not a kid anymore.  Not only that but he's a world champion and one of the top driver's in one of the most successful teams.

Marc's statement about how costly the mistake would have been for any other employee only serves to highlight how important keeping all information regarding the performance of the car totally secret.

From the foregoing assessments we can assume that the collective rubbing of hands by the other teams in the paddock on foot of the tweet has cooled substantially but I'm sure that the McLaren team mechanics and engineers will still feel their ears burning every time they hear laughter as the pass the other pit garages.

Team morale will have suffered, perhaps particularly on Lewis's side of the garage, and the rumours linking him to Mercedes, along with the fact that his management had approached Ferrari and Red Bull, will not be helping.

Marc's piece where he tells of his time in the garage during Lewis's first year in F1 alongside Alonso is well worth reading as a guide to inter-team politics and gives a good sense of how the mechanics and engineers must feel operating in an environment of heightened tensions.