Formula 1 Grande Premio Petrobras do Brasil 2013

Maranello, 25 November – In Formula 1 you never stop. The 2013 season only finished 24 hours ago but heads have already turned towards the next one: indeed in little more than two months we will return to the track at Jerez de la Frontera for the first of three pre-season tests.

So there’s not a moment to lose because at Ferrari we know that every bit of energy must be focused on the new car and preparation for the next championship. It’s true that the fundamental choices have already been computed and that there is a huge amount of work to do to be ready at the start. Never before have so many rule changes led to such a technical reset and, consequently, the chance to start again from more or less the same level. Now the programme of updates to the wind tunnel has been completed it has returned to working full-time and the technical department has been boosted by the arrival of James Allison and other engineers, all the elements are in place to compete at the highest level in the knowledge that only one result can be enough: victory. The team owes it to itself, to its drivers and to its outstanding tifosi who, even in a difficult season, have always been very close, proving themselves yet again to be the best in the world.

The moment has also arrived to take stock of a championship, the one that finished yesterday, which has brought more disappointment than joy. Among the former the biggest was not managing to adapt the F138 to the changes to the tyres that were introduced during the course of the year. We should say that the first target requested of his team by Domenicali a year ago – to start straightaway with a car that was capable of winning – was achieved: two wins and a podium in the first five races and two more podiums that slipped through our fingers through particular incidents bear witness to that. Summer didn’t lead to the change of gear in development that would have been necessary to battle with the strength of the Vettel-Red Bull partnership, which absolutely dominated the second part of the season: given why this jump in quality didn’t happen, the engineers will have to work hard in order to avoid a repeat of certain errors that have been very costly this year.

Looking at the balance sheet there are still two victories (China and Spain) and two Champions League places, to borrow a term from football: Fernando Alonso’s second place in the drivers’ championship and the team’s third place in the constructors’ championship. Fernando has again been exceptional: the fact that he has finished in this position three times in his last four seasons with the Scuderia is down above all to his talent as well as the skill of a team that has worked hard and well at the track. We don’t believe we are being presumptuous if we claim that our overall reliability, race strategy and pit stop work have been the best of anyone during 2013, a sign that, even when things aren’t going in the right direction, it’s always best to make sure you don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater.

The team’s third place nonetheless represents a sign of continuity at the top that has no equal. No one, not just in Formula 1 but also in the other most important sporting disciplines, can say that they have stayed in the world championship top three from 1994 to today – with the sole exception of 2009 when the Scuderia was fourth by one point. There remains a bit of bitterness for the penalty, which was excessive to say the least, inflicted yesterday on Felipe Massa, which deprived him of a top four finish. Without the drive-through the Brazilian would have finished in fourth place and the team would have collected 27 points, 17 more than Mercedes (who would have ended up with ten points: eight from Rosberg’s sixth place and two from Hamilton’s ninth place) and would thus have been two points clear of the Anglo-German team in the final standings: a slap in the face, this penalty, which we could have definitely done without.

Interlagos signalled not just the end of the 2013 season but also the end of a relationship between the Scuderia and Felipe which began a full 12 years ago. It was a weekend that was emotionally very intense for everyone at the track but also for those at Maranello who have worked alongside the Brazilian driver for many years. “He said goodbye with a very good performance and it’s really a shame that he couldn’t have done the same from the very podium where, five years ago, he gave a lesson in dignity and sportsmanship to the whole world,” said Stefano Domenicali, one of those who has always stood by Felipe through the highs and lows. “Many emotions have come in quick succession through these last few days, one after another. On the slowing down lap I told Felipe over the radio that he would always stay in our hearts and, above all, that he is a world champion to us.” Now Felipe is ready for a new adventure but there will still be a time and a chance to say goodbye to him here at Maranello at the company’s Pre-Christmas events. From January 1 he will be wearing the colours of another team but he will always stay a friend of Ferrari: obrigado Felipe!

Stefano Domenicali: “We have ended a difficult season with our heads held high, once again front runners in a Grand Prix that had a bittersweet outcome. Today, we witnessed a very aggressive Ferrari, in a wonderful race for Fernando, while for Felipe it was over when he was handed a penalty, which honestly, I find a bit extreme and forced. Because I don’t think Felipe’s move gave him any advantage. With the points he could have scored the outcome of the Constructors’ championship could have been different. However, I was very happy to see the team react and work well here in all conditions. This has to be the impetus to prepare for next season as well as possible and our engineers are aware of the results we want to obtain. The assessment of this season just ended cannot be positive, because after a competitive start, we had a second half that did not live up to our standards, as I have said many times before. Now words count for nothing, but only the work we must do back home: on this topic, I think all the decisions we have taken and the changes we made are taking us in the right direction to tackle next season in the best way possible.”

Fernando Alonso: “A podium is the best way to end this long season and finishing behind two Red Bulls almost tastes like a victory, as well as being the maximum we could have done today. It’s a real shame that the much awaited rain didn’t arrive in the end, because in the wet, we would definitely have been more competitive. I did not get away well at the start and I found myself blocked on the outside and then the inside. However, after catching Hamilton and Rosberg, I began to push and my race was all on the attack. Even if we cannot be fully satisfied with this result, because our aim is always to win, I would view the season in a positive light: we did win and get podiums, as well as finishing second in the Drivers’ Championship and these are figures we can be proud of, both myself and Felipe. He’s been a fantastic team-mate and even if we continue to see one another in the paddock, I will miss the relationship we have had. I wish him all the best for the future.”

Felipe Massa: “My race began perfectly, with a great start and then a strong pace that allowed me to immediately pull of some nice passing moves and I was having a really great race up until the moment I was given a penalty for crossing the white line. I don’t think I deserved a drive-through and I believe it was very unfair. I am very disappointed because today I could have finished fourth or third. I am sure that if I had found myself behind Fernando, he’d have let me pass. However, I don’t want this incident to ruin such a special weekend for me and all my team. In their eyes, I am a world champion and I will never forget them, nor anything about my time with Ferrari. I want to thank everyone who gave me this opportunity and maximum support all the time, including President Montezemolo, Stefano Domenicali and all the mechanics and engineers who work at the track and back home, as well as all the Ferrari fans who, over the years, have rejoiced with me and also suffered with me during the most difficult moments. Thank you!”

Pat Fry “Today’s was a very uncertain race, for which it was difficult to make predictions because of unknowns relating to the weather and tyre behaviour. In the end, it didn’t rain and the tyres displayed linear degradation, thanks also to the skillful management of both drivers. The car was well suited to the characteristics of this circuit also in the dry and, but for Felipe’s penalty, we could have finished third and fourth. It would have been absolutely deserved because without a doubt today we were the second best team in the field. The team worked impeccably all weekend and I want to congratulate everyone for having tackled such a difficult season with maximum dedication. I am pleased the pit stop guys set the fastest times of the year and that our engineers were able to yet again deliver amazing reliability on the engine front, the systems and all car components, which is a key element when it comes to preparing for next year, for a new season when we want to return to being front runners again.”

Interlagos, 24 November – Fernando Alonso and Ferrari finished the 2013 season on the podium, as the Spaniard came third at the Carlos Pace circuit, behind the all-conquering Red Bull duo of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber. In the early stages, it looked as though Felipe Mass would finish right behind his team-mate, but a drive-through penalty cost him dear and the Brazilian ended his final race in a Prancing Horse car in seventh position. The goal of finishing second in the Constructors’ classification eluded the Scuderia by just a handful of points.

As the cars left the pit lane to form up on the grid, it was the first time anyone had used dry weather tyres all weekend. Starting from third and ninth, Fernando and Felipe were on the Medium compound, as was the entire field with the exception of Button and Gutierrez, who went for the Hard Pirellis.

Fernando first tried to go between pole man Vettel and the wall then dived the other way and got blocked so he dropped a place to fourth behind Hamilton. Felipe did better, making up three places to be sixth first time across the line. At the front there was a lap long battle between Rosberg who got his Mercedes ahead of pole man Vettel when the lights went out, but the superiority of the Red Bull paid off and Vettel led the opening lap. Fernando was back in third by now, as he pushed past Hamilton, with Webber fourth.

On lap 3, Grosjean parked the Lotus at the side of the track, covered in white smoke from a blown engine. On lap 4, a great move saw Fernando go second, passing Rosberg, although two laps later, he was trailing Vettel by almost 5 seconds. The two Mercedes seemed to be struggling at this point, which meant, still in sixth, Felipe was only 0.7 behind Hamilton. By lap 10, Fernando had his friend Webber right on his tail, in the clearly quicker Red Bull. As they crossed the line to start lap 13, the Australian demoted Fernando to third. Further back, Button was charging up from 15th, passing Bottas in the Williams to go eleventh behind his McLaren team-mate Perez in tenth. By this stage, the two Toro Rossos of Vergne and Ricciardo were the only drivers to have come in to switch to the Hard compound. Felipe was in fighting mood and charged past Rosberg at the end of the back straight, so the Brazilian was now fifth. Bottas in the Williams and Sutil in the Force India pitted on lap 18 from the mid-field.

Felipe took on another set of Mediums on lap 19. Next time round, Button, Hulkenberg and Di Resta all pitted, Button still out of sync with the majority, now on the Medium. Fernando and Hamilton came in on 21, the Spaniard dropping to fourth, while taking on Hards, with Rosberg coming in from third next time round. This promoted Fernando and Felipe to third and fourth respectively behind the two Red Bulls. Webber had a slow stop for another set of Mediums, which allowed Fernando to slip by into second behind the race leader who in turn stopped without losing the lead on lap 24, at about the time a few drops of rain began to fall. Fernando was powerless to prevent Webber retaking second at the start of lap 26 In fourth, Felipe now found Hamilton in very close attendance on his gearbox. Both men locked their wheels almost side by side going into Turn 1 on lap 32, but unfortunately the Stewards indicated that Felipe had to take a drive-through penalty for having all four wheels across the white line at the pit lane entrance. He came in at the end of lap 34 and rejoined eighth behind Perez in the McLaren. The order at roughly the halfway mark was Vettel, Webber, Fernando third 4.2 behind the Australian, then Hamilton, Button, Rosberg, Perez, Felipe eighth, with Hulkenberg in the Sauber and Ricciardo in the Toro Rosso completing the top ten.

The few drops were changing into drizzle by around lap 39, but still not enough for anything but slicks. Felipe and Button both pitted on lap 44, the Ferrari man taking on his first set of Hards, rejoining tenth. Next time round it was Rosberg and Perez making the trip down pit lane. With the clouds gathering, clearly the lead quartet – Vettel, Webber, Fernando and Hamilton – were hoping their next stop might coincide with the need for rain rubber. Felipe was back to ninth after passing Di Resta on lap 46 and eighth when Hulkenberg pitted. As Bottas brought out the yellows, having been hit by Hamilton, the leading trio also pitted, with the Red Bulls pulling a double pit stop, followed by Hamilton’s Mercedes a few moments later. The pit stops had reduced the gaps, mainly because of confusion delaying the leader’s tyre change: Vettel led Webber by 6.3, with Fernando only 0.6 behind the Australian, the Spaniard putting in a fastest race lap on lap 49. Felipe was now seventh, still behind Perez, after Hamilton had pitted. The Englishman would have to come in again for a penalty, having caused the incident that put Bottas’ Williams out of the race. Light rain had returned, only in the vicinity of Turn 4. Three seconds ahead of Felipe battle raged as Perez tried to get his McLaren past Rosberg’s Mercedes.

With ten laps of the 71 remaining, Fernando was 2.4 behind Webber, with a comfortable 21.5 in hand over Button, who had steadily moved his way up to fourth in the McLaren. From then, the gaps expanded but the order remained unchanged, so that Fernando was able to salute the crowd from the season’s last podium, with the Ferrari crew cheering him, already wearing special Massa commemorative T-shirts.

11 wins: three in Turkey, two in Bahrain and Brazil and once in the Grands Prix in France, Spain, Europe and Belgium.

14 fastest race laps: twice in Spain, Europe and Hungary, one each in the Grands Prix in Bahrain, France, Belgium, China, Japan, Brazil, Monaco and Australia.

15 pole positions: three in Turkey and Brazil, two in Malaysia, one each in the races in Japan, Bahrain, Spain, France, Monaco, Europe and Singapore.

36 podium finishes. Apart from his eleven wins, Felipe has twelve second places and thirteen thirds to his name.

102 points finishes.

139 Grands Prix starts.

885 laps in the lead of a Grand Prix.

7,928 Grand Prix laps completed.

4.268,844 kilometres covered in the lead of a Grand Prix.

39,705,012 Grand Prix kilometres.

9 the number of podium finishes for Fernando Alonso in 19 races this season. The Spaniard has ended the championship with two wins, five seconds and two thirds. Fernando has finished in the top ten on a further eight occasions, with only two races, in Malaysia and India, out of the points.

15 the number of points finishes for Felipe Massa this season. The Brazilian has only been on the podium once with a third place in the Spanish Grand Prix and there have been four no-scores, in Bahrain, Monaco, Germany and the United States.

22 seconds and 342 thousandths: the time spent by Felipe Massa in pit lane at his first stop. The Brazilian had the quickest stop of the day, which confirms the good work carried out in the pits by the Ferrari mechanics, who on average, have been the quickest this season.

32 points finishes for Scuderia Ferrari this season, ten of them on the podium. Fernando Alonso’s third place today at Interlagos interrupts a drought dating back six races: his was also the previous podium finish for a Ferrari, when he finished second in the Singapore Grand Prix.

Interlagos, 24 November – Fernando Alonso finished the Brazilian Grand Prix in third place and Felipe Massa was seventh. Scuderia Ferrari thus ends the season in third place in the Constructors’ classification with 354 points. Alonso secured the runner-up spot in the Drivers’ championship last week in the USA GP and Massa ended his time at Ferrari in eighth place in the classification.

Both drivers started on the Medium tyre and as the lights went out, the Spaniard dropped a place while the Brazilian passed three cars to go sixth. On lap 1, Fernando charged past Hamilton and three laps later he also dealt with Rosberg in the Mercedes to go second. On lap 13 Alonso had to give best to Webber and on lap 15, Massa got by Rosberg to go fifth.

Massa stayed on Mediums at his first stop on lap 19 and two laps later Alonso switched to the Hards. With the run of stops, Alonso got past Webber’s Red Bull to go second again and Massa made up a place on Hamilton. Lap 26 saw Webber pass Alonso again. Lap 31 saw Massa get a drive-through penalty for a white line infringement, which dropped the Brazilian from fourth to eighth.

Massa’s second stop came on lap 43 to take on Hards and on lap 47 Alonso made his final stop of the year taking on Mediums. When all the stops were completed, Alonso was again third and Massa had moved up to seventh. The final laps saw the threat of rain but it never materialised to influence the result. The race was run by Sebastian Vettel in the Red Bull.

Interlagos 23 November – Like all sessions so far, qualifying was also rain affected, with the showers coming at various intensities throughout the afternoon, making for difficult strategic and technical choices for everyone. Fernando Alonso ended up third for Scuderia Ferrari with team-mate Felipe Massa ninth to give him a fifth row start in his home race tomorrow.

In Q1, everyone went out immediately in case the rain got heavier, as indeed it did. On Intermediates, Massa and Alonso were thirteenth and ninth respectively. When the rain got heavier after 8 minutes the F138s returned to the pits. Alonso then did 6 laps with a best of 1.26.656, while Massa did 4 with a best of 1.26.817.

Again, once the light went green for Q2, all 16 cars took to the track and with five minutes remaining the Ferrari duo fitted a new set of intermediates for the final run. Alonso was third in 1.26.590 and Massa was sevnth with a 1.27.049.

Q3 was delayed by 40 minutes because the rain was so heavy. At the light, everyone went out on the full wet tyres, but after 3 laps, the conditions improved enough for Alonso and Massa to switch to the intermediates and with these, Alonso set the third best time of 1.27.539, while Massa was ninth in 1.28.109. Pole went to Sebastian Vettel in the Red Bull with a lap of 1.26.479.

Fernando Alonso “It’s always hard to get much running when it rains here, as the level of water on track is never consistent and can affect lap times by two to three seconds. Each time you go off the racing line you then have to try and understand the track conditions at that precise moment, because there are no absolute values. But given that the forecast for the weekend is similar to today’s, we can say that, even if it was short, it was a good practice. Qualifying and the race will be very complicated from the strategy point of view and, on that front this evening we will have to come up with a good plan. To do well here, you also need a bit of luck, because in conditions like this, being in the right place at the right time is always a help.”

Felipe Massa: “Today was a difficult day, complicated by the rain in both the morning and afternoon. With the track wet throughout, we chose to do not much running and what we did was on Intermediates. That way we managed to save the sets of Extreme Wets, in expectation of very variable weather over the weekend. It’s hard to establish how the weekend will go, because even if we weren’t quick today in the rain, it’s too early to say what conditions will best suit our car. It will definitely be important to use the tyres well and to get confident with the track. For me, this is a very special weekend, my last race with Ferrari on my home track. I am racing here with an all-red helmet and a fantastic race suit, given me as a sign of affection by my team, with whom I hope to end the season in the best way possible.”

Pat Fry: “On Friday, it’s always difficult to work out the hierarchy in the pit lane, especially in mixed conditions like today’s. In the morning we carried out some practice starts, as well as pit stops and constant speed runs, which will provide useful data when it comes to working out the best set-up for the wet. As it is also expected to be wet tomorrow, in the second session, we opted to save the tyres, only going out for the final half hour. Even if the total number of laps over the two sessions is not enough to give an accurate picture of where we stand in terms of our competitiveness with other teams, I don’t expect anything very much different from the last few Grands Prix. This evening we will try and evaluate our performance as well as possible compared to the opposition and will prepare to get everything out of the car both in qualifying and the race.”

Interlagos, 22November – While some on-line weather sites were still showing glorious sunshine for Interlagos today, the more experienced hands in its cramped and crowded paddock all made sure they went home with their rain jackets last night.

Sure enough, Friday dawned damp and cooler than the past couple of days and the track surface never dried enough for any slick tyre work at all. Just as in Spa-Francorchamps, the rain is almost an essential ingredient of the Brazilian GP weekend and all the teams know how to deal with it. The only difficulty is that there is not an endless supply of rain tyres to play with and each driver gets just three sets of the Extreme Wets, for use in heavy rain, to last the entire weekend. With more wet weather almost inevitable, the need to do plenty of laps, to gather data for the engineers and confidence in the track for the drivers has to be tempered with the need to save the Extremes, if they are needed for the critical qualifying session tomorrow afternoon and of course the final race of the season.

That’s why Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa completed a mere 47 laps, 23 for the former and one more for the latter, of the tiny track, which although not the shortest, that honour going to Monaco, does produce the fastest lap of the season in dry conditions. Even in the rain, there was a decent crowd today and they no doubt enjoyed seeing Felipe sporting a special red helmet decorated with all the landmark numbers from his Ferrari career, as well as a race suit the design of which reflected his time with the team as well as his nationality. The Brazilian ended the day seventh fastest, four places ahead of his Spanish team-mate on the time sheet.

Nico Rosberg was quickest for Mercedes – in both sessions in fact – while Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber were second and third in the afternoon.

Interlagos, 22 November – The Sao Paulo weather was true to form, providing a wet track again for all of the afternoon session of the final round of the 2013 Formula 1 World Championship. This limited track activity, as the teams were keen to save the full wet tyres for the rest of the weekend, including qualifying and especially Sunday’s race.

The two F138s went out with 22 minutes remaining, running Intermediate tyres. Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa both did 5 laps before pitting. They then did one final run on the same tyres to do some aero testing. Massa was seventh in 1.28.540, with Alonso eleventh with a time of 1.28.928. Quickest this afternoon was Nico Rosberg who lapped in 1.27.306 in the Mercedes.

Interlagos, 21 November – At this time of the year, the media’s go-to opening question is to ask for a summary of the season coming to an end. At the Scuderia Ferrari hospitality area in the antique Sao Paulo paddock, Fernando Alonso duly obliged. “This season has been more or less good for us,” he began. “Obviously we start each year thinking of the world championship, so when you don’t get the title, it’s not been a good enough season. We therefore need to do things better next year. However, I am very proud to have finished second this year, because last year, even if we came second in the Constructors, I was left with a strange taste in my mouth as we came so close to winning the Drivers’. This year’s second place feels better because we clearly didn’t have the second fastest car. I think I realised we would not win the championship around Germany or Hungary as we were too far off Red Bull in terms of competitiveness and the Silverstone update didn’t work well enough. And in Germany and Hungary we were not competitive at all going into the summer break.”

The man from Oviedo didn’t have to think twice when asked for his best memory of 2013. “That was Barcelona: I won two Grands Prix this year, one in China, the other in Barcelona, in front of my home crowd and with all the support I had it was a fantastic event for me. That day has left me with the best memories.”

Fernando has never won here in Brazil, but this weekend’s venue has special significance for him. “Interlagos means a lot in my career in Formula 1,” he said. “I am used to feeling a little bit nervous each time I come here because, out of my 12 years in Formula 1, on four occasions I have fought for the world title here, which is something I had never expected. This year is a bit strange coming here without the world championship on the table, but we still have some important targets especially in the Constructors’ but it’s not the same level of stress.” As for the unique weather that has often altered the outcome of this race, the Ferrari man was not too bothered by this threat. “It’s always a bit random here and you know the rain can come at any time, but we are so used to running in the wet in Interlagos that when it rains it feels half normal. It’s a bit strange in the dry let’s say!”

The Ferrari man was pleased to say his back problems are now over, following his Abu Dhabi incident. “My back now is okay and for the last two nights I think it’s been a hundred percent with no pain and I have been able to train in the gym and do some jogging also,” he revealed. “In Austin, I never thought of letting Pedro (de la Rosa) having the car. Once you have flown there and you are there, then you race! However, if there had only been one week between Abu Dhabi and Austin, I would have been unable to race.”

For Felipe Massa, this weekend is always special, but this time the Paulista’s home race also marks the end of his time at Ferrari and his relationship with Alonso. “We have enjoyed four years of a productive relationship for Ferrari,” said Fernando. “We have worked very closely together and also built a friendly relationship outside the track, partly because of the programmes the team organises, such as the training we did in Lanzarote, as well as the time we spent together in Madonna di Campiglio. We’ve had a great time together. On the track, there have been some ups and downs, in Felipe’s case usually linked to what tyres we had, such as in 2011 when he struggled a bit more than me. But he has always been competitive and I hope that here he can do well in his home race in front of his home crowd. I am sure Ferrari, including myself, will give 120 percent for him to have a good weekend. I wish Felipe all the best for next year, even if I hope he won’t be too strong!”