Alonso says drivers can only hope Pirelli tyre changes will work

Fernando Alonso says Formula 1 drivers are going to have to put faith in Pirelli that changes made to the tyres have improved safety, although he admits there are no guarantees that there will no repeat problems.
Pirelli is introducing new tyres at this weekend's German Grand Prix, featuring a Kevlar-belt rather than the steel belt that has previously been used.
It is hoped that this change, allied to stricter limits on tyre pressures and camber settings plus a ban on tyre swapping, will prevent a repeat of the blow-outs that marred the British GP.
But speaking on the eve of the Nurburgring race, Alonso says that all he and his rivals can do is 'hope' that matters have improved, because there has been no testing of the new products so far.
"After what we saw in Silverstone, we now go to the Nurburgring, confident we can see an improvement," Alonso said during a promotional appearance for Ferrari.
"I know that various modifications have been applied and let's hope that means all of us drivers can race in safe conditions.
"At the moment, we can't make any predictions, because no one has tried them and we don't know what and how many benefits they can bring, apart from trusting in the fact that it won't be dangerous to race."
As well as tweaking the construction for this weekend's race, Pirelli will bring all-new tyres to the Hungarian GP.
These will feature the 2012 construction with the 2013 compounds and will be tested for the first time at the forthcoming young driver test at Silverstone.

'We can’t afford to take our foot off the gas'

 

Despite a handsome lead in the World Rally Championship drivers' and manufacturers' standings, the boss of Volkswagen Motorsport, Jost Capito, says his squad cannot afford to relax in the second half of the season.

Volkswagen has made a dream start to its debut season in the WRC. And with seven of the thirteen rounds complete, it has racked up some impressive statistics; winning more than half of this season’s special stages so far and taking five rally wins.
Volkswagen leads the manufacturers’ championship on 220 points – 46 points clear of defending champions Citroen – while its drivers Sebastien Ogier and Jari-Matti Latvala are first and second in the drivers’ standings - with Ogier a massive 65 points in front.
“We are very happy with the results, as we have far exceeded our original goals,” acknowledged Capito. “However, we cannot afford to take our foot off the gas, but must remain just as focused in the second half of the season if we want to win the World Championship.” 
"We still have six races to overcome – a challenge we are looking forward to facing. Our focus for now is on the Rally Finland, the next event at the start of August. That is followed by the Rally Germany – another highlight, the home race for Volkswagen, and our first real asphalt rally. We are already looking forward to the second part of the WRC season and to the sporting challenges that it throws up.”

Red Bull upbeat over long-run tyre management progress

Red Bull is upbeat that it has made good progress with its long-run tyre management, but it believes it faces a big fight for the world championship.
The Milton Keynes-based outfit had struggled on high-speed front-limited tracks prior to the British Grand Prix, so its near-miss on victory at Silverstone was a huge encouragement.
Team principal Christian Horner says his outfit has taken heart from the leap in form displayed at the British GP, but knows that the pressure is on with Mercedes breathing down its neck.
"We have learned a bit and we probably ran a better set-up at the weekend," he explained.
"We looked competitive on the long runs so we take encouragement from that.
"Certainly at Barcelona we were nowhere near Ferrari's pace, but here [at Silverstone] we had them covered and we were on the same pace as Mercedes by the looks of things."
Red Bull had appeared to have the out-and-out fastest car in the early stages of the campaign, but Mercedes' growing form now points towards the Brackley-based team having the edge.
Horner has no doubts that the title battle that appeared to be narrowing down to a straight head-to-head with Ferrari is now opening up.
When asked if he felt Mercedes could be a genuine threat, he said: "For sure. I think they are a good team; they have a quick car, they have good drivers.
"They will for sure be a contender from now until the end of the year.
"But so are Ferrari, and so are Lotus. There is still a long way to go in this championship."

Paddy Lowe to focus on 2013 Mercedes car development

Mercedes has instructed new recruit Paddy Lowe to focus his efforts on improving the team's 2013 Formula 1 car as it steps up its push for the world championship.
On the back of its second victory in three races, and indications that it has made a big step forward in understanding the tyres, Mercedes team principal Ross Brawn has revealed that Lowe's priority in his role as executive director (technical) is to drive forward the development of the W04.
"There may be a point where we say it is not better to put our efforts into next year, but at the moment we are putting the maximum into this season," said Brawn when asked about Mercedes' title prospects.
"One of the things I have said to Paddy is focus most of your attention on this car.
"Obviously [he must] know what is going on with the other car which is progressing well under Aldo Costa, but let's push this one. That is an easy thing for Paddy to step in to.
"We will juggle our resources over the next six months to see what comes, but Silverstone was a pretty good step."
Lowe joined the team at the start of last month, after a deal was reached for him to be released from his McLaren contract early.
Mercedes' focus so far this year has been in curing its poor tyre degradation, but the way its drivers were able to match the pace of Red Bull at Silverstone has suggested it is now on top of the situation.
Brawn was encouraged by that performance, but equally knows that the team cannot get complacent.
"We took the race to them [Red Bull] this weekend, but we have to take another step because we were a little bit defensive," he said.
"We made quite a lot of changes to the car for here that we think are significant, but we have to wait and see."

Q&A: Sebastien Loeb

 

The WRC's most famous export talks after obliterating the Pikes Peak hill climb record.

Q: Sebastien, what did it feel like to drive the 208 T16 Pikes Peak?
SL: “It’s definitely a very special feeling and a big moment. You have the downforce of a Le Mans car, with acceleration that is faster than a Formula One car, going through scenery that is a bit like rallying. It just comes out of corners like a cannonball; the traction is astounding. With steep drops either side, and so much work and investment going into this programme, you obviously can’t make any mistakes… It’s 20 kilometres of taking risks. There was a certain amount of pressure that I felt before the start, that’s true.”
Q: How do you find the right balance between being quick enough to win but safe enough not go off?
SL: “Good question… In fact, before starting, I spent a lot of time thinking about whether or not to push to the maximum to get a really good record or whether or not just to push hard enough to get a result so that we could win. In the end, once I was in the car, I decided to push hard. I’d say I was pretty much on the limit of it with every corner. But it was OK, we didn’t have any moments at all.” 
Q: How does this win rank among all your other achievements?
SL: “Well, I’m not going to say it’s like winning a rally title but it still means a lot. I always looked at Pikes Peak in the past and thought that it would be nice to do it one day, and now here I am. For me, with what I’m doing this season, it’s the race of the year. Of all the cars I’ve driven this year, the 208 T16 Pikes Peak is definitely the most fun. This one is a good record, which I think will be quite hard to beat.”
Q: How much of a worry was the weather?
SL: “It was certainly a big worry as there were lots of delays to our start time; every time something else. We had some information from our weather forecasters that there would be rain after midday and then when we were waiting to start it seemed to be getting closer and closer to midday. I thought that if we didn’t get on with it soon, we’d be in trouble… From the start line I could actually begin to see the weather start to close in around the mountain.”
Q: How long did it take you to get used to the car?
SL: “Before starting on this programme I did ask myself whether or not this car would be too extreme for me to find the same sort of feeling and confidence as I have in my rally car. After all it’s 875 horsepower and the most radical car I have ever driven. In the end though I had a very comfortable feeling with the car and I was able to push with full confidence.”
Q: So will you be back next year?
SL: “To be honest that’s not something we’ve spoken about. I’ve really enjoyed this but we’ll see what happens and who tries to break the record. The feeling is amazing, but the risks are also high.”