Ferrari's Maurizio Arrivabene was joined by Renault boss Cyril Abiteboul for the second half of the official Friday press conference from the Mexican grand prix. The following is the full transcript from the sessionโฆ
Cyril, if we could start with you and a look back to last weekend in Austin and specifically the performance of your new boy Carlos Sainz. Talk us through his weekend and just how impressive was he?
Cyril ABITEBOUL: Clearly it was a strong weekend. It was a strong weekend with very strong preparation from Carlos himself. Lots of motivation, hard work put by him but also by the rest of the team to make sure it was smooth integration and immediately up to speed. It was impressive but it's just one weekend, and it's just extracting the performance that we expect from the car, that we know the potential of the car has, which is to score points. So, let's stay calm, let's build from that, it was important, I believe, for Carlos to make a strong impression for his first weekend and to get, I guess, the morale of the team up because clearly we are not exactly where we would like to be in terms of championship position. We have both a short-term and a medium-term challenge so it was important for everyone but now we need to finish the season on the same atmosphere. So, more challenges to come starting this weekend.
Is there one thing about him that stood out?
Cyril ABITEBOUL: It's his whole approach. He is at the same time extremely calm, professional, mature but at the same time he is capable of being a bit racy and not hesitating to take a couple of risks on occasions โ but risks that are calculated, very well executed and controlled. It's great, and a great atmosphere into the team โ and with Nico also.
In the coming days we're going to learn more about Formula One's future path. What do you expect from the engine regulations at the meeting in Paris at the FIA's headquarters?
Cyril ABITEBOUL: First we expect to continue on the same type of constructive discussion that there has been so far with the FIA and with FOM. We expect to have the conclusion of a number of working groups that have been diving into some of the details of what's been in consideration and publically reported, like removing all of MGU-H and simplification of the power unit. But we also expect to have a better understanding of FOM's vision for the future. It will be interesting to find out and have the opportunity to discuss that in a collective manner with both existing OEMs and maybe OEMs or other manufacturers that could maybe be joining Formula One โย because clearly we need a diversity of supplier to make sure we are in a sustainable model.
Maurizio, if we could start by going back to last weekend in Austin. Now you've had a very long career in marketing and I just wanted to start by asking you for your view on the pre-race show in Austin. What did you think of it? Do you like what Liberty were doing?
Maurizio ARRIVABENE: It was quite OK. We were in the USA so a show like this is expected. I spoke with the drivers afterwards and Sebastian and Kimi said to me actually it was fine for them. They said maybe a bit long because they said that the first one who went to the grid needed to wait for twenty minutes for the last one and also the last one needed to wait twenty minutes to go there. I think fine tuning the timing and adjusting a bit also the driver parade, making sure that it's not clashing with this show is fine. If the public likes it, why not?
And would you like to see more of that kind of thing going forward?
Maurizio ARRIVABENE: It depends because if doing more are clashing with the commitment that we have with our sponsors or with the commitment that we have to do a race - because don't forget we are here to do a show, we are here for racing, because the real show is the race itself โ we have no problem, but it depends on what Liberty want to do in the future. We are always ready to discuss about something that's intelligent and working to enhance Formula One.
Now of course this World Championship is not over until it's over but it is getting harder and harder for Sebastian to win the Drivers' championshipย but when you consider where Ferrari were last year, there are plenty of positives to take from this season. I wanted to just ask you about those: what are the positives for you from this season?
Maurizio ARRIVABENE: The positivesโฆ we have a lot of positives in all honesty because I saw quite a young team working very very well on the car here and in Maranello; the guys are very united, they are exchanging information, they are very focussed, they are quite young so no one was expecting the performance that we have this year. Mattia, our technical director, is leading the technical properly. He knows, deeper and deeper, the Ferrari and I have to say and together we are exchanging our opinion, information. He's got his engineering point of view, I've got a different point of view but we are always very well aligned. So representing also him here, together with the racing team, I have to say I saw many positives this year. Unfortunately we lost a key opportunity due to a small detail related to a technical issue that we have mainly from a supplier but sometimes it is in the detail, it's a learning for us, it's a learning from them so it's another lesson learned and we are looking forward to the future, to do better and better and better but we are focused.
What do you believes has to happen back in Maranello for you to make the next step, the last step, in 2018?
Maurizio ARRIVABENE: I said it's a question sometimes of adjustment. It's not a question of revolution, it's a question of adjustment because this year we pay a heavy fee for detail and I said we need to be a bit more focused on the processes, we need to be more focused in other areas but the good positive is that this is a team that is not giving up and it's learning from mistakes and it's a team that is fully committed, not only for next year but even for the next three races because as I've said many many times, we like to fight until the last lap, the last race, the last lap and the last turn.
Cyril, at this press conference in Singapore, after all the engine changes had been announced for next year, Renault was not in a position to confirm if it could or might not be able to supply Red Bull in 2019. Has there been any change on that?
Cyril ABITEBOUL: No, no change since what we announced altogether with Red Bull and also ourselves with McLaren in Singapore, which means that there is a clear contractual situation for 2018 and anything beyond 2018 is speculation at this point and will be discussed with Red Bull in the course of 2018.
Maurizio, and Cyril if you'd like to please comment afterwards: earlier in the first part of the press conference, Christian Horner made a comment that he would like to see the back of the current engines tomorrow, if he could. He was asked the question in relation to the new engines only coming in in 2021 and would he like them coming in earlier. He basically said it was Ferrari and Mercedes who would block that move. Is that something you would like to comment on?
Maurizio ARRIVABENE: In some way or the other, we are always blocking Red Bull or the other way round, in the mind of Christian. First of all, we do engines so we can talk about engines. It's our job and it's our business. It's not a question of Mercedes or Ferrari blocking here or blocking there. The questionโฆ it's very very simple. I've said many many times that our vision of the future on the engines after 2021 is very simple. It's reducing the costs, it's keeping the same engine architecture and keeping the performance, improving the performance. Now, it's very very simple. Normally you have the simple equation: what and how? What we want to do? We want to cut the costs or to reduce the costs. We want to enhance the show. How to do it is something that we are going to discuss in the next few days because everybody, they have their own ideas and for sure it's not Ferrari or Mercedes who is driving the show. But for sure, they are the people who are manufacturing the engines.
Cyril ABITEBOUL: Not much to add frankly. I think we have all agreed, including with Red Bull, about the what, the objective of the future engine regulations. Hopefully we can also agree on the how and I don't think that moving backwards would be an acceptable and sustainable thing, no sense to all the people investing in Formula One and not just the manufacturers. If you look at all the sponsors who are current financing Formula One, moving backwards would just be completely inappropriate and quite certainly turn them away from Formula One;ย including manufacturers like Aston Martin who are big believers in the fact that automotive needs to go in one direction and that direction has to be the electrification route. So there is no doubt. Maybe the ratio between the internal combustion engine and electrification can be revised. We are open for the discussion and clearly Mercedes, Ferrari, Renault, Honda, we are all open to the discussion and that's what we are looking forward to doing next week.
Maurizio, based on your how and what that you just mentioned and Cyril, you referred to it, the current regulations for the post-2020 period still fall within the procedure that we have at the moment, i.e. Ferrari's veto is valid. If the how and what doesn't suit Ferrari would Ferrari consider triggering its veto as it did two years ago with the V6 biturbo engine? And Cyril, are you are concerned that Ferrari could in fact veto anything that may be decided?
Maurizio ARRIVABENE: No, at a certain point we apply our right to do a veto for good reason at that time. Within a severe people and people who have a clear idea, people who understand what they are talking about, I think you don't need any veto. I said it's quite simple, if we are able to find a good equation in between what I said when I described the what, the how is going to be easy but as Cyril stated quite well before, there is no reason to not consider one part or no reason to not consider the other. For us, if I have to talk for Ferrari, for us the performance is part of the DNA of our company so the performance is important because we are representing this brand. Then, if we able โ as I've said, many times โ to reduce the costs, to keep the performance with the same base in terms of engine architecture, fine. And then it's important to understand how to do it and if it's acceptable the way that it's going to be proposed but we don't need to apply any veto.
Will there be, in the future, more economic and sporting equality in Formula One?
Maurizio ARRIVABENE: You have to ask Liberty. We have at the moment โ Dieter, I thought it was you who asked these questions, I'm surprised, she's taking your place, be careful. At the moment, we have a contract with the commercial owner of Formula One and it's quite clear on how we have the distribution, the financial distribution in the future. It's something that we need to discuss for sure. Distribution also means commitment to Formula One. The first thing is to commit to do this sport and to do it well and not to come in for one or two years and then disappear and close the factory. This is not what we have done because since the beginning we have been here and we would like to continue to be here. It dependsโฆ the discussion is going to be long and complicated.
Cyril, would you like to see greater equality?
Cyril ABITEBOUL: Well, clearly if we are in Formula One it's because we believe in the value of the sport and we want to be part of a great show and to have a great show we need a certain insurance that there will be a better level playing field and there are many different ways it can be achieved. It can be achieved by revenues which could have their distribution revised in a way that would maybe have more parity; we would be open to that as far as Renault is concerned. But it's pointless just to address the revenue side without also addressing the cost side so for us it's a whole framework that needs to be looked at, how much we need to spend towards the technology, towards the chassis, towards the engine in order to be competitive, versus the prospect of revenue and the revenue is the prize fund but it's also sponsors. If Liberty can guarantee that the figures will be going up, sponsor revenue may also be going up so that whole needs to be looked at, not just one element of the equation but we believe that there are ways to do that and again, if there is constructive discussion that there has been so far with Liberty and the other OEMs there is no way that it cannot be achieved.
Maurizio, you have some promising young drivers, including the Formula Two champion. Can you just give us an update on where you see Charles Leclerc being next year? Will he be in Formula One do you think?
Maurizio ARRIVABENE: First of all, Charles has demonstrated his talent by winning the championship with two races in advance. We are looking forward to seeing how not only Charles but also Antonio Giovinazzi can make the next step. At the moment we are focused on this Formula One championship. At the right time, we would also like to focus our attention on them. At the moment, what I can say is that both of the guys are valuable, Charles and Antonio.
Cyril, Christian Horner was in here a few moments ago and he confirmed that Carlos Sainz is on loan to Renault. Is that for one year or could it be more?
Cyril ABITEBOUL: No, we have confirmed that Carlos is indeed on loan for the remainder of this year plus next year so it's already more than one year and there is an option mechanism, the detail of which will remain confidential, that could extend the partnership, the collaboration between Carlos and Renault but for us it's a completely acceptable compromise, given what he can bring to the team including on a short term basis.
One of the things that increasingly gets said is Liberty depends on what regulations they come up with and Liberty setting out their stall about the regulations etc. In the team opinion, where does the FIA fit in as a regulator if they don't make the regulations?
Maurizio ARRIVABENE: Normally I'm not involved when Liberty is meeting with the FIA or the other way around. I don't know what they are talking about. Most probably they find an agreement to co-operate together, writing the regulations. This is what I suppose. Our job, as I said before, it's to build cars and to manufacture the engine. Their job is to run the business so we don't have to mix this up, otherwise it's going to be a nightmare, in that case.
Cyril ABITEBOUL: My only comment is that the two, the revenue and the costs, go hand in hand and in my opinion, one of the reasons why there's been someโฆ Formula One has maybe lost some ground in the recent past is due to the fact that there was too much separation, too much breakdown between the cost side that was governed by the FIA and the regulations and FOM, really working on the revenue. That is really something that needs to reconciled and that whole aspect of the equation that needs to be looked at and for that to happen, it can only happen if there is a good working relationship between the promotor and the regulator which is again happening, so I don't think we should be creating some antagonism between the two bodies.
