Interview with Jarno Trulli

Four days after the Australian Grand Prix, Jarno Trulli is a happy man again, having been reinstated into third place after the stewards decided to remove the penalty given to the Italian.

The controversy, however, is still ongoing, with the FIA saying that world champion Lewis Hamilton has misled the stewards in Australian.

Q. What is your reaction to the decision of the stewards to give you third place?

Jarno Trulli: Well, I am happy. I am happy because I just wanted some justice, and I am happy I got it. I am happy for myself, for the team - and I have to thank the FIA because it does not happen very often that they reconsider something. It must have been really hard for them, but they had common sense to really try and understand what was going on. I have been always honest and it has paid off.

Q. So what happened between Australia and now?

JT: Nothing. We did not appeal. We did not do anything, and I did not make any further comments. I think the FIA was clever enough to understand the situation. They had a very busy end of the race, with so many accidents, and they now had a bit more evidence to understand the case. So they wanted to hear us again, and it just confirmed what happened in Australia as I didn't change my statement. That is it. I don't know what made them change their mind.

Q. Are you surprised that Lewis Hamilton has been excluded from the results?

JT: I don't know the evidence or what they investigated on. I cannot comment on it. I am just happy I got my position and what I did on the track. Honestly, it was a controversial end of the race and it was hard for anyone to understand. But again I would like to thank the FIA because they had the strength to reconsider the case, giving new evidence and understanding what was going on. I never lied, I was always honest in my statements and I never changed it.

Q. It was a crazy weekend in Australia.

JT: It was a troubled weekend. We pushed really hard to get the best possible result on track. We were all pleased, and we are still pleased with what we achieved last Sunday. Unfortunately we were left facing a controversial end to the race.

Q. There's a Youtube video of the incident when you went off. Can you talk us through what happened?

JT: It was my mistake when I went off. I was trying to slow down because this year we have a rule that you need to stick with a certain speed which is on the display. And on that particular part of the track I was caught out by a shadow.

We have the safety car line which gives you the exact time you have to do, so I was trying to respect that. I was trying to concentrate on that. I missed the braking point by a little bit with the cold tyres and I went a little bit wide. Obviously Lewis got me. Nothing wrong in that, because I obviously lost a position.

The problem came afterwards when, between turn 4 and turn 5, Lewis suddenly slowed down quite a lot. At this stage I didn't know why but my thought was that he was having trouble because he pulled over to the right side of the track, while he should have been on the left.

And he was slowing down more and more, so I overtook him at 80km/h. So we were basically stopped. And before overtaking him I went next to him to make sure that I was not breaking the rules. So what happened is that I went in front of him and I opened the radio to tell the team what was going on because I didn't want to get a penalty. And that's it. That's all I can say.

Q. The radio conversation is on Youtube now, and the team told you to stay behind him...

JT: I knew because I already had this problem before. I knew that I couldn't get the position, that's pretty clear. But if the car in front of you has a problem, like it looked from me... I didn't know what happened before, I just read what Lewis said to the press. At that stage it looked like he had mechanical troubles.

Q. Did the team tell you to give him his position back?

JT: At that moment, no. I called the team asked what was going on and the team said "Okay, stay there". Because the team has to go back to Charlie (Whiting) to see what is going on. I knew that I should have given the position back, but the rules say that if the car in front of you cannot keep a certain speed to follow the safety car or is in trouble, you can overtake that car.

I didn't know what was his problem. If he wanted he could have overtaken me. I let him by. When I overtook him I moved to the left side and he didn't overtake me.

Q. So you think he was taking some precautions?

JT: I think from what I read on the press, because I cannot say much more than that, was not sure about it and he was told to stay back. That's the only thing I can tell you because I read it. But at that stage I didn't know.

I think the stewards didn't have all the evidence, because they got a bit more evidence now. We gave them our radio communications. They have the McLaren communication. They have the data from the car.

The funny thing is that I was called to go to the stewards just after the press conference, so I didn't know anything about what McLaren and Lewis had said after the race. And my statement matched exactly that statement from McLaren. So that's very clear. I told the truth straight away and it corresponds exactly to what the data log of the car says.

Q. Are you disappointed that perhaps Lewis has not explained the situation clearly?

JT: Yeah, but this is more up to him and not down to me. I knew that I told the truth and all the evidence show that I didn't break the rules. This is very clear. I said the same things twice. I proved it with every kind of evidence and, on top of that, there was evident from the other team, so that just confirms my statement.

Q. Are you surprised the FIA has taken so long to solve the issue?

JT: It's difficult to judge because there was a lot going on for the FIA. I cannot judge what was the problem. For sure they didn't have enough evidence then. It's good that they reconsidered it. It means they really understand that there was something that they missed then. Just after the race things were probably a bit too chaotic for them. That's all I can think.

Q. Are the drivers clear about what you can do behind the safety car if a car goes off the track in front of you?

JT: It has happened to me already. I was warming up the tyres in this heavy rain in Japan and I spun. And I didn't get the position back, I stayed where I was. So for me, it's very clear. It's expressively written in the rules. It says that if the car in front cannot keep a reasonable pace to stay close to the safety car, and slows down too much, then the car behind can overtake.

The thing is not that I want to overtake. I saw Lewis slowing down and pulling apart, that was the other thing. He pulled apart, and I thought he was having a problem. So I went next to him and I was trying to make sure it was right. But obviously when you are there you don't start talking to the other driver. I didn't want to overtake him, but he didn't get the position back.

Vijay Mallya - Don't compare us with Brawn GP

It is not right to hail Brawn GP's success as a David versus Goliath-style feat, according to Vijay Mallya.

The Indian billionaire is the boss and owner of Force India, an independent team that is yet to spring off the back rows of the grid.

Brawn's Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello qualified and finished first and second in Australia last week, a triumph hailed as a ‘fairytale’ story for an outfit that nearly collapsed over the winter.

But although the Albert Park livery was blank, Mallya insists that Brawn's success was powered by the huge investment of its now-departed owner, the Japanese carmaker giant Honda.

He said it is therefore unfair to compare Brawn with fellow privateer and UK-based Force India's struggle for F1 success.

"I know that Ross (Brawn) dumped the 2008 car early on, and has spent almost a year developing the 2009 car, with the benefit of a full-scale wind tunnel and all the other facilities available at Brackley.”

"That car has had a huge amount of technical and financial resources thrown at it," said Mallya.

"So I wouldn't say that it's fair to compare the Brawn GP car's performance with an independent team," he added.

Ferrari - Malaysian GP - Preview

Whenever a team has a bad race weekend, the general feeling is always one of impatience to try again as soon as possible and after failing to score points in the opening round and only one car classified at the finish, Ferrari gets a chance to redeem itself immediately this weekend at the Sepang circuit.

In Malaysia one of the key areas the team will be looking into from the start of free practice, will be optimising the usage of the tyres, as this is one area where the F60 appeared to struggle in Albert Park. One of the major changes in the rules is the fact that Bridgestone has been instructed to bring two types of tyre that are significantly different one from the other, whereas last year, the two types of tyre that had to be used during a race were often very similar in terms of wear and performance characteristics.

The result is that not only do you have make your car work on two different tyre compounds, it has to work in two different operating ranges of temperature, for example a soft tyre that works at high temperatures and a hard that works best at lower operating temperatures. These rules are the same for everyone of course and teams have to find the best possible solution, which Ferrari clearly failed to do in Melbourne last weekend.

Both drivers started on the softer tyre in the Australian Grand Prix and although this did not work for Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen, it was not necessarily a bad strategic decision as other drivers did the same and went on to finish in the points.
Tyres now seem more sensitive to individual circuits, because during winter testing in Bahrain, the team managed to complete longs on these same tyres with absolutely no problems.

Another interesting element that came under the microscope after the first race of the season, is the effect of KERS on tyre usage. It was clear that, particularly with the super-soft, wear rates were higher than expected on the rear tyres because of the extra strain created by KERS. The team needs to continue analysing the best way to use it, having seen the advantage it brings, specifically at the start, where Massa gained two positions, not including the slow starting Rubens Barrichello. This means it is a useful tool, even if there might still be a question mark over its use for overtaking.

In terms of reliability, the broken upright from Massa’s car has been taken back to Maranello for metallurgical analysis, to see if its failure was due to stress, quality control or some contact made earlier in the race. Its failure is all the more surprising as the uprights are one of the few components on the F60 that are virtually identical to those on previous years’ cars. Raikkonen’s differential problem is still under investigation after a quick look on Sunday night prior to shipping the car to Malaysia where a more thorough check will be carried out.

The mood in the team was not the best on Sunday night, but Ferrari has been in this situation many times before and knows what it must do in terms of working hard to react. This is one of the hardest starts to any recent season, as the crew did not finish work in Albert Park until around four o’clock on Monday morning, flying to Malaysia a few hours later and on Tuesday morning, work was already underway on setting up the garages and preparing the cars at the Sepang circuit.

The team is confident it will fight back, although there are bound to be some unknown factors in Malaysia as the race runs to the same late-start schedule as Australia, which means running the cars on track at a time of day when traditionally, tropical storms are commonplace. As to the question mark regarding visibility, there might still be one in Sepang, but instead of a dazzling setting sun, drivers might have to contend with a lack of visibility as darkness falls.

As a general comment regarding the state of the championship after the opening round, the teams seem much more closely matched than last year, so that the slightest difference can result in drivers missing out on Q3 on Saturday, therefore more effort will have to be concentrated on qualifying performance this year, making better use of the tyre choices available, at the expense of looking purely at race performance. However, it has to be said that one team is, for the moment, going to enjoy a far easier time. For the other nine, the fight looks like being very tight.

Massive shock - Lewis Hamilton disqualified from Australian GP

Lewis Hamilton has been stripped of his third place finish in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix after the world champion and his team were judged to have provided 'misleading' evidence during a post-race stewards' hearing.

The British driver had finished fourth on the road, but was moved up a position when original third place finisher Jarno Trulli was handed a 25-second penalty for having overtaken Hamilton behind the safety car.

However, following the discovery of new evidence, believed to be radio transmissions from the Toyota and McLaren teams, the race stewards convened a fresh hearing in Malaysia this afternoon to discuss the matter.

It is believed the radio transmissions contradicted the original statements presented to the stewards by Hamilton and McLaren.

A statement issued by the stewards said: "The Stewards having considered the new elements presented to them from the 2009 Australian Formula One Grand Prix, consider that driver No 1 Lewis Hamilton and the competitor Vodafone McLaren Mercedes acted in a manner prejudicial to the conduct of the event by providing evidence deliberately misleading to the Stewards at the hearing on Sunday 29th March 2009, a breach of Article 151c of the International Sporting Code.

"Under Article 158 of the International Sporting Code the driver No 1 Lewis Hamilton and the competitor Vodafone McLaren Mercedes are excluded from the race classification for the 2009 Australian Grand Prix and the classification is amended accordingly."

Further to the Hamilton decision, the race stewards have scrapped the penalty against Trulli and he has now been awarded third place for the Australian Grand Prix.

Interview with Nick Heidfeld

Nick Heidfeld's 2009 season-opener was something of a non-event, with an underwhelming qualifying result and a race ruined by the first corner tangle.

He hopes to do better in Malaysia - but isn't sure if being the only BMW driver with KERS will help him much this weekend either.

Q: What did you make of the speed of the Brawn's in Australia and your pace relative to them?

Nick Heidfeld: It was pretty obvious that they have the quickest car, unfortunately for everybody it was the same as in testing. Most of us hoped that somehow, miraculously, by race one they would be slower. They are leading the pack and I expect them to be the strongest team here again.

This year we see the fuel loads after qualifying and you can calculate properly what pace each car has and it shows that we are in an OK position, but still, at least in qualifying, not the strongest car after Brawn. There are a couple of teams pretty close together that in the race were penalised like Toyota starting from the back, Nico (Rosberg) being on the wrong tyres. We are in the pack behind Brawn but in Melbourne we were not leading that.

Then again in the last couple of years we have seen that Melbourne doesn't always give us the best picture and I hope that here we will look even stronger than was the case in Melbourne. After testing that was what I had hoped for and what I expected. I was surprised by the pace of Williams in Melbourne and I thought that we were similar, or a little quicker, than Toyota, but that was not the case in Melbourne. Let's see on a normal track.

Q: How much benefit is there from KERS?

NH: Exactly as you just mentioned. The fact that I use it and Robert (Kubica) doesn't means that there is no huge difference. I am lighter than Robert which pushes it over the edge for me to run and him not to run, or at least that's what we think after analysing the data we have. We're still learning about it and that was the very first weekend to have it on a race weekend and we are still in the position of finding if we run it here or not.

Q: You used it every lap?

NH: I took it in each lap. The biggest benefit clearly was in qualifying with the other guys. The grip level in Melbourne was not really good and different than I expected and that doesn't help KERS. You need good grip and good balance to make it work properly.

Then in the race, as was mentioned by some other people not having KERS, it made it very difficult for the other guys to overtake. I had a car that was heavily damaged and pretty slow, and had a couple of cars behind me that were clearly quicker, but whenever they had a clearly better corner exit and could have been in a position to overtake, I boosted and they couldn't. That was the biggest difference. Unfortunately that happened when I was down in 12th place!

Q: Malaysia has long straights, will KERS help you at the start?

NH: Here we have one of the longest straights before Turn 1 so it should be a better help on the start. The fact that we have longer straights here doesn't make a big impact to the difference in laptime and the difference in KERS or not. The difference from Melbourne to here is pretty small - smaller than I would have hoped for. I thought we would come to this circuit with long straights and KERS would be a huge benefit, but it's not much different to Melbourne.

Q: How do you use KERS in qualifying?

NH: I'm not allowed to tell you exactly where I boost, but that is obviously an extra help in qualifying is that you have the extra time you can boost before the start/finish line. We will boost out of the last corner and try to get as much out or it as possible. Then you start the lap again with 100 per cent full boost.

Q: With things like KERS, adjustable wings and the option tyre situation is driver intelligence even more important this year?

NH: No, I don't think so. You always have to look after your tyres and always had to keep strategy in mind and watch where your pace is compared to the others. In Melbourne it was more having luck or no luck with the tyres. You had to drive the soft tyres and it was obvious that they were slower.

In the beginning it looked like the guys on the softer tyres were in deep trouble, but then the safety car came and they took the right decision. That was not being clever or not. OK, you could still try to predict it because it has happened in the last couple of years but it's more about being lucky or not.

Now gathering more information, we try to get on top of that. People were surprised that the soft tyres did not hold on better as people pitted earlier than they needed to with their fuel levels.

Button looking back to back victory in Malaysia

Jenson Button says he is getting straight back to business as usual in Malaysia after Brawn GP's incredible start to the season in Melbourne.

Brawn dominated the Australian Grand Prix weekend, taking a one-two in qualifying and the race, but Button said his squad will not be resting on its laurels at Sepang.

"It is great to get straight back to it," he said. "It is a great feeling after the weekend in Australia, it was a very special weekend not just for myself but the whole team, but we are quickly looking forward to the next chapter at this race weekend."

The Briton said he had quickly acclimatised to his new position as a favourite for race wins and the title, and to the fact that he now had the best car in the field after several years in one of the least competitive machines.

"It is a new feeling, it feels great," said Button. "The strange thing is after the winter we have had, you do the first race and win it , it is emotional but you get over it and get on with the next race. You get used to it very quickly."

He sees no reason why the Brawn BGP 001 will not be equally competitive in Malaysia.

"You have to hope so, in testing we were strong at two different circuits," he said. "Nobody knows yet how competitive we are compared to the rest of the field. I enjoy this circuit, I like driving this circuit, it is a fast flowing circuit and should suit our car really well."

"We don't really know how much of an advantage we had in Melbourne because of the safety car, it wasn't a perfect weekend and if we can get a perfect weekend here we will be looking strong."

Nick Heidfeld is on the edge of his F1 career - Hans-Joachim Stuck

The current season is Nick Heidfeld's last roll of the dice for success in Formula One. That is the belief of Hans-Joachim Stuck, a German former Grand Prix driver and contemporary motor racing expert.

When 31-year-old Heidfeld was struggling for form with BMW Sauber last year, Stuck predicted that the nine-year F1 veteran ‘could lose his seat’ if he does not return to the pace quickly.

The German driver ultimately did have a stronger finish to the 2008 season, but Stuck insists that Heidfeld remains under pressure.

"If he is not really up there with Kubica this year, then it would surprise me a lot if he gets another contract," Stuck, who was closely aligned with BMW throughout his career, told spox.com.

More sponsor ready to join Brawn GP

As he switched on his mobile phone following the flight from Melbourne to Kuala Lumpur, Nick Fry began to field numerous calls from potential sponsors of the Brawn team.

The former Honda squad arrived in Melbourne last week with a blank-liveried car, but also with the favourites tag that lured Virgin's Sir Richard Branson and his cheque-book to the Australian city.

A pending full Virgin sponsorship is now worth many millions of Euros, and team Chief Executive Fry admits other brands are also lining up to be associated with Brawn's success.

He told the Times newspaper that many of those interested are British household names, buoyed by Brawn's link with its Brackley base.

"People sense that this is a British team and they want to have that link," he said. "There is no doubt that Jenson's victory has performed wonders for us.”

"Apart from Virgin, we hope to have other companies on board as soon as we can," Fry added.

Buemi - Malaysia will be tough fo Toro Rosso

F1's only 2009 rookie Sebastien Buemi has admitted he does not really expect to break out of the bottom-five qualifiers when the action resumes in Malaysia this weekend.

On his Melbourne debut, the 20-year-old Swiss out-qualified the more experienced Sebastien Bourdais, and stayed in front of his French team-mate in the race to score points.

But having qualified 16thh in Australia, Buemi told the Le Matin newspaper that he is expecting another difficult weekend for round two.

"I know that the Malaysian Grand Prix is not going to suit our team, it is a very different circuit to Melbourne," said Buemi after jogging the Sepang layout twice to acclimatise to the heat and humidity.

"We are waiting to get some new parts for the car and will have to see what effect they have. The goal is to get through to Q2, to be in the top 15, but the competition is very tough," he added.

Brawn's favourite to take another victory in Malaysia

On the basis of the Mercedes-powered BGP 001's performance in Australia, Brawn is the overwhelming favourite to repeat victory at Sepang this weekend.

But the Malaysian event boasts several features that contrast starkly with that of the season opener, and not all of them bode well for the newly-rebranded Brackley-based team.

"It's probably going to be wet, isn't it?" said Melbourne winner Jenson Button in Kuala Lumpur, where it has rained already this week.

"That's a pity in a way. I'd rather it was dry because although Rubens and I are both good in the wet, we haven't driven this car in those conditions yet," he added.

Also, the Brawn car does not feature KERS, the power-boost technology that is expected to be more of an advantage than at Albert Park on Malaysia's long straights.

The pitstops last Sunday also revealed that the former Honda crew, having sat out most of the winter, is slightly rusty.

Team boss Ross Brawn also admitted to Germany's Auto Motor und Sport that he is concerned about reliability, with Button and Rubens Barrichello's cars needing to feature the same gearbox this weekend as was raced in Melbourne.

Referring to the transmission, which after the switch from Honda to Mercedes power for 2009 had to be tweaked, he said: "For the moment that is our achilles heel. We are not yet over that mountain.”

Brawn also spoke about his team's lack of winter pitstop practice.

"During our seven days of testing only twice did we have the opportunity to practice pitstops," he said.

Button is also concerned about the Melbourne pace of the team's rivals, including Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel, who seemed to peg the Briton's pace throughout most of the 58 laps.

"His pace was a surprise," the Englishman admitted.

And Brawn is expecting the other teams, including powerful rivals like Ferrari and McLaren, to make big and rapid steps forward in the next races.

"Right now we've a long way to go and people will progress very rapidly this year," he said, amid premature speculation about the outcome of the world championship.

Brawn said at least three significant development steps for the BGP 001 this season are planned, the first to be rolled out for May's Spanish Grand Prix.

Still no KERS for Kubica in Sepang?

Robert Kubica on Thursday said it has not been decided if his BMW Sauber will be fitted with KERS in Malaysia this weekend.

Last weekend in Australia, his team-mate Nick Heidfeld used the energy re-use power boost technology but Kubica - who weighs significantly more than Heidfeld - did not.

BMW has said it is assessing using KERS this season on a driver-by-driver and circuit-by-circuit basis, weighing up the power benefit against the compromise in weight distribution.

KERS is expected to be more beneficial this weekend than in Melbourne a week ago, due to the Sepang circuit's longer straights.

But Kubica said in Malaysia: "I've not decided yet.
I could have it and I could not have it. If I am not using KERS there is a reason."

He also backed Williams driver Nico Rosberg's concerns that the new trend for twilight races in Asia is ‘very dangerous’.

Fernando Alonso suffering from ear infection

Fernando Alonso has cut short his track activities at Sepang on Thursday after getting inflicted with an ear infection.

The Spaniard has returned to his hotel near the Kuala Lumpur circuit to rest after picking up ear trouble following the Australian GP.

Alonso will therefore miss team and driver briefings scheduled for Thursday, but is expected to return to the track on Friday to take part in first practice.

A Renault team spokeswoman said: "He should be fine for tomorrow. It was better he left the track today to allow himself some rest."

FIA will review Hamilton podium in Malaysia

The FIA has announced that it is to review its decision to penalise Toyota's Jarno Trulli in last Sunday's Australian Grand Prix, by calling Lewis Hamilton to the stewards' office in Malaysia. The Italian driver lost third place and six points when handed with a 25-second time penalty for passing the McLaren under safety car conditions in the dying minutes of the race.

The incident began shortly after the deployment of the second and last safety car of the race, as Trulli ran off the track at Turn 15. He duly re-passed the McLaren, with the safety car still circulating, to retake the third position, for which the FIA imposed the penalty later in the evening.

A twist in the story occurred, however, when Hamilton admitted that his team called for him to let the Toyota driver retake his podium position, with Trulli claiming that the McLaren slowed and moved off line, as if retiring from the race.

It has now emerged, however, that the World Champion explained to race stewards in Australia that he did not deliberately yield to the Toyota, despite seemingly telling SpeedTV the opposite just minutes before.

"I was behind Trulli under the safety car, and clearly you're not allowed to overtake under the safety car," Hamilton explained before seeing the stewards. "But Trulli went off in the second to last corner - he went onto the grass, I guess his tyres were cold. I was forced to go by. I slowed down as much as I could but I was told to let him back past, but I don't know if that's the regulations and, if it isn't, then I should have really had third."

The governing body has also received a copy of McLaren's radio communications from the race, which was not available to race stewards on Sunday night. It is now looking more likely that - if Hamilton is judged to have changed his story - Trulli will reclaim his podium finish, and could mean the Englishman finishes further down the order taking his original fourth position.

Vettel feel unfair with grid drop penalty

Sebastian Vettel feels the penalty he received for colliding with Robert Kubica during the Australian Grand Prix is unfair.

The Red Bull driver will drop 10 places on the Malaysian Grand Prix starting grid after stewards deemed him responsible for the accident with the BMW driver during the closing stages of the season-opening race.

Kubica admitted that it was "difficult to say who is at fault" and Vettel believes his punishment is harsh.

"I don't think being put back 10 places on the starting grid in Malaysia is justified," Vettel said in an interview with German press agency DPA.

"Neither Robert nor myself wanted to end the race that way, you can't pile the blame on one person."

Vettel, though, says he has put the incident behind him and is confident Red Bull can improve on their performance in Australia.

"The accident was certainly a disappointment but there is not point in crying too long over spilt milk," he said.

"We showed that the Red Bull performance is up there, not only my performance but that of the entire team. We can build on this."

Interview with Vijay Mallya

Q: What's your overall verdict on the first race of the season?

VM: "We had a top 10 finish with Adrian (Sutil) despite the fact that he had to make an unscheduled pit stop to change his front wing, which he clipped on the first lap, while later Fisi missed his pit box. It was a very, very good result. Who knows, if these two mistakes had not happened, maybe we would have been in the points. But I'm satisfied, and I've got a lot to look forward to."

Q: Were you pleased with the pace of the cars over the weekend?

VM: "As you've seen in practice, there's not that much of a gap between the McLarens and the Force India cars, so I was not surprised that Fisi was performing well. I think given the fact that this car was designed and built in 120 days, and given the fact that we've had only eight days of testing, which is almost nothing, reliability was the biggest question mark in my mind. I'm very relieved that the cars are reliable. Both finished the race. I think for the first Grand Prix the result isn't that bad, and is very respectable given what we've been through and we can only look forward from here. Now that the reliability question is out of the way, we're going to focus entirely on aerodynamic development and set-up to make the cars more competitive. Both drivers say that the car is more than a significant improvement over last year, and that the mechanical platform is good and the car has a lot of promise. Now it's just a question of the refinements that make the ultimate difference."

Q: Was it fun to see the two of them racing?

VM: "Absolutely! We don't issue team instructions. We enjoy our racing, the drivers enjoy their racing, and I think we did fairly well."

Q: Were you encouraged to see another Mercedes customer team dominate the race?

VM: "I'd like to offer my congratulations to Ross Brawn for a wonderful job done. I know that Ross dumped the 2008 car early on, and has spent almost a year developing the 2009 car, with the benefit of a full-scale wind tunnel and all the other facilities available at Brackley so that car has had a huge amount of technical and financial resources thrown at it. So I wouldn't say that it's fair to compare the Brawn GP car's performance with an independent team. Having said that, I'm very encouraged with what we have achieved. We are significantly better than last year, we have proven our reliability now. It's a question of getting the aerodynamic side right, and we just haven't had the time. Later on this year I would like to see a great improvement in the performance of our cars. Whether it's going to be anywhere near the Brawn GP car or not is something only time will tell. But we certainly have the ability to be in the points."

Q: Are you pleased to welcome your fellow airline boss Sir Richard Branson into F1?

VM: "When I saw Richard I congratulated him. We were in Cape Town together over the New Year, so it's nice to see him here, and good to see a new sponsor coming into F1, particularly when everybody's focussing on the economic doom and gloom."

Q: Finally, any thoughts on the Malaysian GP?

VM: "In terms of aerodynamic upgrades Kuala Lumpur is just too close, there's not very much we can do this week. But by the time we get to Shanghai, certainly we will have made some improvements, and definitely when we get to Barcelona, there will be quite a significant upgrade."

Alonso - Brawn's will be beaten

Former world champion Fernando Alonso is convinced that Formula 1's manufacturer teams will all be able to respond to the early pace-setting form shown by Brawn GP.

The sport's newest entrant caused a stir at the Australian Grand Prix when it delivered a stunning 1-2 finish, while major manufacturer outfits like Ferrari, McLaren-Mercedes and Renault struggled to match the pace of the independent.

However, even though Brawn is expected to lead the way during the early part of the campaign, Alonso is sure that the sport's big names will recover lost ground.

When asked if he thought the form book shown in Melbourne was likely to stay the same for the season, Alonso said: "I don't think so. Ferrari, McLaren, BMW and Renault are not at the front of the grid, but these are the best teams in F1 so no one should count us out yet.

"This is just the first race of the season, so it's like the first match of the Spanish football championship. Even if Real Madrid and Barcelona lose their first matches, we all know they'll be the ones fighting for the title in the end."

Alonso's feelings about a strong response from the manufacturer teams have been backed by Brawn GP boss Ross Brawn, who thinks that his outfit faces a tough challenge to stay at the front.

"I'm sure there will be rapid progress from the other teams," he said. "We've all seen each others' cars now. We understand what other people are doing. We've got to try and keep moving forward as well.

"We've got an upgrade for Barcelona which looks quite good, there will be two or three different steps during the year, but then we've got some different regulations next year as well.

"The 2010 regulations are quite different with no refuelling and we've got to start the 2010 car quite soon. It's certainly not going to be easy at any stage but we've got things happening to try and ensure that we stay competitive."

Williams technical director Sam Michael, whose team has had a strong start to the season, also expects the big-money manufacturers to stage a major comeback.

"Teams like Ferrari and McLaren aren't stupid," he said. "They are just on a different development curve. So I think it won't be like this now. To be honest, it's pretty tight, it's not that Brawn has gone away at two seconds a lap in qualifying. We're talking about tenths.

"Brawn GP is a fantastic story. Here's a team that almost folded a few weeks ago and didn't exist. Now they've qualified first and second and landed a new sponsor - you can't get a better story than that. It's very impressive what they've done."

Williams will try KERS not for too long

Williams remains unsure about when it will introduce its new Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS), with the technology having already been raced by some teams in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

The Grove-based outfit is alone in choosing a flywheel KERS system, with all its rivals opting for battery technology.

And although there is great excitement about how Williams's technology compares to other KERS systems, the team says it still does not know when it will race with it for the first time.

Technical director Sam Michael said: "It's progressing well and we're trying to race it as soon as possible. We've got a couple of problems with it and we're just working through those problems.

"I'd love to be able to say when we are going to race it, but all I can do is say we've got about 10 people working on it flat out to bring it as soon as we can."

Although the season-opening Australian Grand Prix was won by a non-KERS car, Michael says there are no doubts that the technology does provide an advantage.

"It's a differentiator and if the other teams didn't have that then they wouldn't be in the top ten," he said. "The sooner we can get it the better."

Interview with Nick Fry

From Honda's withdrawal to a 1-2 finish in the Australian Grand Prix in under four months, Ross Brawn, Nick Fry, Jenson Button, Rubens Barrichello and the rest of the Brawn GP team have had a winter of uncertainty with no shortage of ups and downs.

Their collective faith in the potential of the 2009 car was rewarded in emphatic style at Melbourne and, once the celebrations had died down, Fry spoke to AUTOSPORT about the journey the team has taken since December.

Q. Can you really believe what happened in the Australian Grand Prix?

Nick Fry: It is slowly sinking in. It is a kind of strange feeling, as we knew the car was capable of it - but after so many problems in the last couple of years it is difficult to believe that even when you have the equipment, that it is all going to come right.

I think someone was smiling on us in Australia. Rubens [Barrichello] deserved second place but we needed a bit of help to get that. But it was a great team performance, and a demonstration of what you can do with a lot of hard work – sticking together with great loyalty. Everyone has done their bit and worked incredibly hard under very difficult circumstances.

Q. The team played down its form before the weekend. But having seen in Australia how quick it can be, were you always that optimistic about it?

NF: I think everyone was secretly optimistic, but didn't want to say anything for fear of almost jinxing it. I think you get a little bit superstitious about this, as we all wanted to keep schtum and say nothing, just in case it wasn't true. In our hearts we knew our car was really good. I think we've had just so much support, which no doubt over years ahead will come out – whether it was some of the other teams, Luca di Montezemolo offering instantly a Ferrari engine, or Ron Dennis doing the same for Mercedes-Benz and working really hard with us to make sure we could fit the engine.

Then there was the British government, the department of business, the ambassador in Tokyo got involved to make sure we could stay open, and persuading Honda that they should help us as much as possible – so many people who have actually played a part in this. A number of MPs have been really helpful – everyone has wanted us to survive, and they are all very happy – and deservedly so.

Q. You must have known when Honda pulled out that the car was good. So, did that provide some motivation to keep this team alive?

NF: You are quite right, that if we would have been shut down then the biggest disappointment would have been not knowing how good this car was. People would have lost their jobs and there would have been other problems, but there would have been this lingering doubt about what could have been.

Q. What do you say about people who say your car's speed comes wholly from the diffuser?

NF: I am very glad about that because if they think that is the only secret of the car's speed then they are going to be very sad when they find out the truth. The car is a very neat piece of design, a lot of work went into it over the course of the whole year, and it is a very good quality of car. But there is no one secret to it. I think most people realise in this sport that there is no Holy Grail, and that feature is not the Holy Grail.

Q. Are you keeping your powder dry, in terms of showing the full potential of this car, until after the FIA Court hearing into the diffusers?

NF: I think that others did a remarkable job in Autralia. It wasn't easy. We may not have helped ourselves, but Robert [Kubica] at the end could easily have caught Jenson [Button] as he was on the better of the two tyres. The Red Bull is clearly very fast so we are going to have to work for this. We have a little bit of an advantage so hopefully we can get some results over the next few races, because we are going to need a bit of a lead before Ferrari and McLaren get their acts together. By the time we get to Europe, I am sure they are going to be on our heels.

Q. Do you think there is more to come from the Brawn GP car?

NF: We are going to try a few things out. Obviously this is the car we are going to be racing. I cannot say we were sandbagging in Australia, as we were going as hard as we could. And we could easily have been beaten, but if we smarten up our act we may be able to get a big of an advantage for this weekend. Who knows?

Q. Can you push on for the title do you think?

NF: What was in Ross's mind and my mind all through the winter is that we are only going to continue if we have got a chance of winning. This is too much like hard work to be going around at the back of the grid. We have built up a team over several years now with absolutely top quality facilities, we have first class people, and we are not here to just go F1 motor racing just for the sake of it.

Ross and I were absolutely determined that we would put a structure in place which was still capable of winning. I think it is far too early to talk about championships. We won the first race and I hope we can get on the podium in the next few, but I think we are under no illusions that to hold back the might of some of the big constructors is going to be very difficult, especially as unfortunately we are going to have to go down to about 450 people, as that is all we can afford. So we are going to be the underdogs.

Q. So does that make it more important to lay down the foundations for a title challenge early on in the season then?

NF: I think everyone is familiar with how F1 works – in that if you start with a good car, then it stays a good car. And if you start with a poor car then it gets very, very difficult. I think we have started with a very good car. We can still work on this and this is a car where if we did nothing to it, it could still do very well through the first part of the year.

Q. Has life been helped by the cost cuts, the testing ban, in terms of holding back the development potential of other teams?

NF: The reality is that you could not conceive of what Ross and I have taken on, even a year ago. The reality is that the FIA and FOTA initiatives have enabled us to do this, because the costs are coming down quite dramatically and it will be more difficult for the others to fight back. But thanks to Honda, we have great facilities which will last us some time before they need money spending on them.

Q. There appears to be a lot of good will in the paddock towards Brawn GP. Do you expect the attitude from your rivals to change now that you are successful?

NF: I think that people have got short memories, but it is rather nice that people do seem to be very appreciative of what we have done. I think people inside the sport and inside the team have seen what we have had to go through to get this far, and it has been in many ways a big challenge – enjoyable but bloody hard work to get where we are today. People inside realise that. It is just great that people like Ron Dennis, who not only helped us with the engine, but provided moral support and was frequently on the phone asking us if everything was alright and was okay.

There were also people like Jody Scheckter, who realises what it is like from the inside, he has been there like a cheerleader in the background. Also Jackie Stewart, who has provided great advice on putting a team together. Luca di Montezemolo also. There are also so many who have supported us and made us believe we can do it. Bernie Ecclestone is no exception. He said right from the time that Honda pulled out that we would be in Melbourne, and from time to time I was not sure I believed him. He always said – you guys will make it. And now he thinks we are past the worst, so I hope he is right.

Q. How close did you come to not making it?

NF: I think people on the outside have no appreciation of how close we came a number of times to being closed down, and it took the combined effort of not only Ross and myself and the team, but some of the people I've mentioned before, to make sure we put things in place to continue. We are here by the skin of our teeth.

Q. You've been with Jenson Button through the good times and the bad times. How has he reacted to the situation?

NF: Jenson has been loyal beyond any reasonable expectation, and I think what has gone on in the past has built up that confidence – that we always battled through one way or another, whether it be the legal issues with Williams where he paid through the nose to stay with us, whether it be over the last winter where I know full well he had offers from other teams and would not even consider them. He told his manager to not bother considering them, as he wants to drive this car.

As has been stated in the press, he has taken a massive cut in pay and benefits to drive this car because all he wants to do is win. He has been loyal to Ross and I. We think he is a great driver and he demonstrated that again in Australia. More like that, the better he will get.

Q. How do you think it will pan out between Rubens and Jenson?

NF: I think it is helping both of them. They are both incredibly quick, and for Rubens' doubters I think his performance in Australia was a good answer to them. We have seen a phenomenally quick driver, but one who is also massively motivated. They are pushing each other the whole time and I just thoroughly enjoyed qualifying in Melbourne, just to see purple from one of them, and then the next one. It bounced back and forwards and that was great to see. They work so well together.

Q. When Ross Brawn was brought to the team, he was hailed as the man who would turn the team around. Has he surprised you with what he has done?

NF: Ross was the only person that I wanted in the team. We battled pretty hard to get him, and there were a lot of people who would have liked to have him. The technical side was expected, but over the winter he and I not only worked closely together but we have kept each other going. It has been very tough – as one day he would be down in the dumps and it was my turn to push things on, and then when I was coming in a bit depressed and thinking it was all a bit too much like hard work, he would be in the same position and pushing me along. I really don't think that it could have been done with only one person. The rest of the team, the finance director, the legal director – they all played a massive part in bringing this all together.

Q. The car is still predominantly white, and Richard Branson will decide in the next few weeks about the level of his involvement in taking that deal forwards. What is the commercial situation at this team?

NF: The commercial state is pretty healthy. We would not have kicked this off if we did not think it had a good chance. We have certainly got the money for this year, and we are well into next year now. Richard's contribution to the coffers is much appreciated, but Ross and I strongly believe and it has been proven by the amount of contacts we have had, that if you have a good car, then the Brawn GP logo on the airbox is effectively a for sale sign to buy this space. People want to be associated with success, and what this is all about is that it is a good news story.

In times that are pretty hard for everyone, we've got something here which clearly is a bit of a fairytale but is also highly attractive to potential sponsors. So I don't think this is going to be easy, but we will work with Richard and see if we can persuade him to up his game in terms of Virgin's support of the car – which he seems happy to consider. I think Virgin is a very attractive brand, which will attract other people to come on board. I am very optimistic at the moment.

Buemi had pay the prices

Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko says his decision to hand Sebastien Buemi his Formula 1 chance with Scuderia Toro Rosso this year has been totally vindicated by the Swiss driver's impressive point-scoring debut in Australia.

Marko has revealed that he had to fight hard to convince sceptics within the energy drinks company that Buemi was good enough to make the step up from GP2.

But in the wake of Buemi's run to seventh place in Australia, Marko says he has nothing but praise for the efforts of the youngster.

"I have to say, all weekend he didn't do anything wrong," Marko told AUTOSPORT. "He had big pressure in the race to keep [Nico] Rosberg behind. I'm really pleased because he is the youngest driver and he is another to come out of our programme.

"I had to fight very hard to put him in the car. All the experts know that I made the right choice."

Buemi himself has hit out at those who doubted he was good enough to follow in the footsteps of Sebastian Vettel at Toro Rosso.

"The people who say this don't understand anything about racing," he said. "If you look at the car we had last year in GP2, and the comparison with my teammate, I was a lot better. Now being in F1, everyone knows what a Toro Rosso can do, and I could do the job."

Buemi added that finishing in the points was as much as the team could have hoped for, considering how late its car hit the track.

"We got points and we couldn't have dreamed of doing better than that," he said. "I'm very happy with the result; and with what the team did as we didn't make any mistakes.

"The objective was to finish the race and to finish it in the points was more than we could have expected. We knew there had to be some accidents. Without those we couldn't do it, but it was perfect."

Interview with Bob Bell - Renault Technical Director

Bob Bell, Technical Director of the Renault team, looks ahead to this weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix and is confident that the team can put in a more competitive performance than at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

Bob, what was your verdict on the team’s performance last weekend in Australia?
"I don’t think we lived up to the expectations that we set ourselves before Australia. We thought we would be more competitive than the performance we actually delivered, although I suspect part of that is due to the nature of the track. Albert Park is a circuit that didn’t really suit the characteristics of the car and so we suspected we might be in for a difficult weekend. We now have to work to try and understand why that was the case and rectify it as best we can in time for Malaysia."

Were you surprised by how closely matched all the teams were? Could this be a result of the new 2009 regulations?
"Yes, it was a surprise as there was a group of teams behind the Brawn cars that were particularly closely matched. That’s surprising as we expected the new regulations to spread the pack out a little bit more, which is what normally happens following a change of regulations. Normally you only get such parity when the regulations have been in place for a year or so as it allows the teams to converge on the optimum design solutions. It’s just surprising how close it was in Melbourne and it will be interesting to see if this continues in Sepang this weekend."

The team needs to improve its competitiveness, how can this be done?
"I don’t think we have a specific problem. I think that we need to lift our game in several areas to get more aero performance from the car. We’ve also got to get the balance of the car a bit more to the drivers’ liking and work on the tuning of the KERS system to get more from it. So it’s a question of maximising what we already have in all areas rather than a specific problem to resolve."

What are your expectations for Malaysia – will the circuit suit the car?
"The Sepang circuit is very smooth which should be more to our advantage compared with the bumpier surface that caused us problems in Melbourne. I also think KERS will be more of a benefit in Malaysia as the circuit has a couple of long straights and so I’m confident we can do a better job this weekend. With Australia and Malaysia being back-to-back races, we won’t be able to introduce any new developments in such a short space of time and so we need to concentrate on getting more performance out of our existing package."

Tyre play key role in Sepang

Straight after the debut of Bridgestone’s 2009 slick Formula One tyres at the exciting Australian Grand Prix, Bridgestone heads to Malaysia for the second race in as many weeks as it faces the challenges of the Sepang circuit near Kuala Lumpur the Malaysian Grand Prix.

The Malaysian event is the second of what will be four races in five weeks, giving no respite for Bridgestone personnel. The Sepang circuit is a severe circuit on tyres with two long straights leading into tight, slow speed corners which require heavy braking, putting high energy levels through the tyres.

In addition to these two heavy braking zones, a wide range of corner types mean that Bridgestone’s tyres are kept under heavy loads over the course of a lap. The circuit layout is not the only aspect that is tough, as the hot weather experienced here provides a harsh test too. Indeed, even when it rains in Malaysia, as it does frequently, temperatures remain high.

Bridgestone will bring its hard and soft compound Potenza tyres. Previously in Malaysia, hard and medium compound dry grooved tyres have been used, so this year’s allocation has a softer tyre than has been seen here before. Also of note, this will be the first time that teams get to use the 2009 hard compound, as the current specification hard tyre is an evolution from that used by teams in pre-season testing.

Hirohide Hamashima, Tyre Development Director
“Sepang is quite severe on tyres as it has many different corner types and two heavy braking zones after long straights. This means the energy going through the tyres over a lap is considerable. Drivers will have to be careful not to lock their brakes, especially with the new generation cars which seem less stable due to the lower levels of downforce. High temperatures are usually a factor in Malaysia, and the later start time for the race is when we often see rain, so there are many challenges we could face.”

“The hard compound we have in Malaysia is a development from the hard compound that teams used in pre-season testing. It has been modified to be softer than before, in response to feedback from the teams, however it is not a very big change and I am confident that it will be suitable. Management of the soft compound is likely to be the biggest challenge of the weekend, as we have not previously brought a soft tyre to Sepang.”

Trulli podium case may not over yet

Toyota has withdrawn its appeal, but the case of Jarno Trulli's confiscated Melbourne podium may not be over, according to Auto Motor und Sport.

The reigning world champion was promoted to third place while Trulli demoted to 12th, after stewards ruled that Trulli illegally passed the Briton's McLaren behind the safety car.

Toyota had argued that the Italian only passed Hamilton because the McLaren Mercedes driver pulled over and slowed down. Hamilton was subsequently quoted by a reporter as admitting the team told him to let Trulli past.

Auto Motor und Sport claims however that Hamilton denied driving slowly to let Trulli past. Instead, the Briton told stewards he simply moved off the racing line 'because he was busy reading the safety car instructions from the display'.

FIA officials, however, are now querying this explanation, as the safety car instructions would have long been cleared from Hamilton's display.

Moreover, despite his apparent admission to the reporter, Hamilton is believed to have told the stewards that he did not intentionally let Trulli pass.

In the past days, the FIA officials have checked Hamilton's radio traffic at the time of the incident, and speculation suggests that the stewards investigation may be re-opened in Malaysia this weekend.

Williams Toyota - Malaysian GP - Preview

Nico Rosberg had hoped for more from the season opening Australian Grand prix after qualifying his Williams Toyota in fifth position.

The German ran as high as fourth in the 58-lap race before dropping down to take the chequered flag seventh, later promoted to sixth overall. Team-mate Kazuki Nakajima also ran well in his FW31 before hooking his car on the kerbs at turn four and crashing out of the race.

Last year in Malaysia Rosberg and Nakajima finish 14th and 17th, but the team are confident that with their new technical package, they will be able to challenge for podium positions this time out.

Nico Rosberg
"Of course we would have liked to have achieved more in Melbourne, but three solid points was a good start. More encouraging was our pace as we were right there with the quickest, which makes me hopeful for a good season.”

“The climate (in Malaysia) makes the racing very demanding for driver and machine. The heat and humidity means that it is physically exhausting and this is one track where the fitness training over the winter really pays off. I love the country, there is a nice warmth about the people too and like almost everywhere in Asia, I like the food, so it is a good place to visit every year.”

“In Melbourne I found this (late start time) a big concern as towards the end of the race the visibility was very poor, which increased the danger in my view as it was more likely that you could make a mistake. I’d rather the race changed back to its original start time or became a proper night race - that would improve matters a lot.”

Kazuki Nakajima
“For me, Sepang is one of the most exciting tracks we visit during the year. That doesn’t mean it is an easy track, far from it, as it has some complex and technical corner sequences and some that demand special attention such as turns 11 and 14 where your braking and turn-in sequence is different to say the least. Malaysia is closer to my home country than many of the places we visit, so I find it more familiar in terms of the culture, the food etc. I raced at Sepang in Japanese GT, so I am also a bit better acquainted with the place, but of course the heat and the humidity are quite exceptional.”

“I was running as high as P4 and this would have improved to P3 when Rubens pitted (in Melbourne), so I can’t deny the sense of disappointment in how the race turned out, but I have shut this out of my mind already and I am only taking the positives of the potential we showed with me to Malaysia.”

“It was difficult with the low sunlight in Australia, especially as the light flickered and changed under the tree cover. We won’t have this type of shadow at Sepang, but there is a different issue which is the possibility of reduced light conditions mixed with the likelihood of rain, so for sure these late race start times will have a bearing on my approach to qualifying and the race.”