quoteFIA press conference schedule - Monaco20 May 2014
Amongst the drivers who will take part in the official FIA press conference in Monaco on Wednesday will be last year’s victor, Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg, plus Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen, who won in the Principality back in 2005.
Meanwhile on Friday, Ferrari’s recently-installed team principal Marco Mattiacci will make his first press conference appearance as he joins other senior personnel in answering questions from the press. The line-ups in full...
Wednesday, May 21, 1500 hours local time (1400 GMT) Jules Bianchi (Marussia), Valtteri Bottas (Williams), Romain Grosjean (Lotus), Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari), Nico Rosberg (Mercedes), Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso)
Thursday, May 22, 1600 hours local time (1500 GMT) Eric Boullier (McLaren), Federico Gastaldi (Lotus), Christian Horner (Red Bull), Marco Mattiacci (Ferrari), Claire Williams (Williams), Toto Wolff (Mercedes)
The qualifying and post-race press conferences with the top three drivers will take place immediately after the respective sessions.
quoteKimi on Monaco: “An exciting but complicated race”
Maranello, 20 May –The Monaco weekend is one the drivers always look forward to more than most, because of everything this Grand Prix entails; history, difficulty and prestige, as well as massive media attention and glamour. Scuderia Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen is no exception and is eager to get on track for what is a truly unique event on the calendar. “This season especially, with the new generation cars, we can expect it to be particularly exciting,” said the Finn. “These new cars tend to slide easily and in Monaco there’s not much room to drift off line.”
As always, the car plays an important role, but Monaco also highlights a driver’s ability. “This track is unique, as you have to give your all from the first to the 78th lap,” Kimi told www.ferrari.com. “Qualifying can have a big effect on the outcome, an area on which we are doing our utmost to improve. After the last race, we stayed on in Barcelona for the test, which was reasonably positive: we had problems at the start, but by the end, I can say I was pleased with the work we managed to get through. The F14 T is improving and I am sure that, step by step, the results will come, but we must push harder to get them.”
Raikkonen then returned to the topic of Monaco, a Grand Prix with a very special atmosphere. “The Monaco race is very complicated right from Thursday morning. It will be vital not to lose any time in free practice, trying to do as many laps as possible to quickly get a feel for things in between the barriers. It’s difficult to do well here, but it’s enormously satisfying when you get it right.” - See more at: http://formula1.ferrari.com/news/kimi-mo...h.h6Yft2SO.dpuf
quoteResta: “A tailored approach to each race”
Maranello, 20 May – For all the well known reasons, the Monaco Grand Prix is a unique event, usually described in far from unique clichés. But if you are a Formula 1 engineer, the idiosyncrasies of running a car on this street circuit mean this weekend is almost a hiatus on the calendar.
“The demands of this race are different to that of all the others,” confirms Scuderia Ferrari’s Deputy Chief Designer, Simone Resta. “Therefore it stands apart from our overall development programme which sees a tailored approach to each race. For the races that follow Monaco, Canada, Austria, UK and so on, in Maranello we are currently working very hard to introduce a lot of updates to move forward on the F14 T’s performance level to close the gap to the quickest cars.” In other words, the streets of the Principality are a one-off from a technical viewpoint. “In Monaco, we need to do some specific set-up work related to vertical stiffness and the degree of roll of the car, so that the driver can get as much grip as possible despite the bumpy nature of the track,” continues Resta. “In order to give the cars as much mechanical grip as possible, Pirelli supplies the Soft and Supersoft tyres here and this choice also helps during the traction and braking phases. These softer compounds also warm up more easily, which is particularly useful in Qualifying.”
The F14 Ts that Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen will use this week are actually built up differently for Monaco. “Particular attention is paid to the steering, specifically for the hairpin, the tightest and slowest corner on the whole F1 calendar and the suspension, which is uprated to deal with the fact that, here in Monaco, it is normal for the cars to touch the barriers,” reveals Resta. “The lack of long straights means that ensuring adequate cooling is very important, especially for the brakes and engine, while the gearbox is given a stern test as the drivers change gear more often here than in any other race.”
Whatever is done to the cars, it’s the drivers who make the real difference in Monaco. “It is important for the driver to grow in confidence over the course of the weekend, finding the limit corner by corner,” concludes Resta. Kimi Raikkonen sums it up in his laconic fashion: “you can’t make any mistakes, because if you do, it’s usually the end of the story!” - See more at: http://formula1.ferrari.com/news/resta-a...h.uE6mmzeo.dpuf
What I meant when I said we will miss them, it's because they are on 2 and 3 in the morning, because I do get coverage from FoxSports3 Lat. They broadcast everything live on TV plus the re-runs. It's the only good thing about having two Mexicans and a Venezuelan on the grid
Quote: Sonny wrote in post #27Did they arrive on a mini motorcycle? We call them "scooters" in the USA. It's funny to see him and Minttu carrying those small helmets
yes looks like they did. much easier to get through with it in tight Monaco.