Q: 2014 we know all about – new engines, big expense – but 2013, is this a year of compromise, or a year when you can really go for it?
Gerard Lopez (GL): I think there is never compromise in Formula One, so I think it’s a year where everyone will still be shooting for getting the maximum out of their team, same thing in our case. Our expectation is to do hopefully better than we did last year, which is a lot of expectation but, you know, that’s what we’re shooting for.
Q: And you, Eric, based on what you achieved last year, how well placed are you to go and challenge with Kimi in the drivers, or even the constructors championship? What are the targets? Third place I think you said… could you do better?
Eric Boullier (EB): We will try, definitely. Third place is at least an achievement we would like to have next year. We obviously expect to build on the momentum of 2012, some stability in the regulations, both driver I think more eager than ever, and obviously 500 people here at Enstone who deliver, I think, quite a nice car, and are really really really keen to do better than 2012. So, we will see. We will fight everything we can to be in the top three.
Q: And the question last year was how competitive, or up for it, would Kimi be, and I think he answered those questions quite emphatically. What does it say about the team’s ambition that you got him here and you’ve kept him here as well? I mean there seemed to be one or two other teams sniffing around him at the end of last season.
GL: Well Kimi is back there (nods across the room)… he’s here. I think he’s, like everybody else here, people feel pretty good about the team. There is a special Enstone culture, for sure. I’m not saying it’s laid back, that’s the wrong term, but for sure, it’s a very accepting culture of people with differences, and people that handle certain things in different ways. But, there is a common denominator to everybody, and that’s racing, and whether it’s Kimi, or whether it’s Romain, whether it is anybody else here. As long as that common denominator is respected, you know, that’s what we care about.
Q: And what about Romain? You kept faith in him through some tough times last season. What are you expectations for him in 2013?
EB: Obviously to not run like 2012 and no, more seriously, we will keep faith in him. We believe he has the potential to deliver, he can qualify well, he can race well. He did it in the past, he won in every championship he entered, so there is no reason why he should not deliver in Formula One. And obviously he is a team partner, will have to race for the team, and we want to deliver this year in the top three positions, so we need both drivers, and obviously Romain, to bring as much as possible and win some big points.
Q: You’re first to launch – what does that mean? Does that mean you’ve been on top of this project from the beginning, or you haven’t done very much to last year’s car?
James Allison (JA): Well, I can assure you we have done a lot. It’s been a whole team here working heart and soul on this thing, for a long time, but the first to launch is a nice thing. It gives us first opportunity to catch attention of the media here, and have people excited about this project along with us. But, no, there’s a lot gone into it and it’s going to be an exciting car.
Q: Is there a big idea under here, James? Or are we looking at lots of little refinements? Is there an evolution effectively from last season?
JA: Well, the rules for 2013 are very very similar to those from 2012, so you can expect a lot of family resemblance from the 2012 car, but as ever in F1, the devil is in the detail. The detail of this car adds up to a significant amount of performance. So, it’s a mixture – there’s some neat new ideas in there, and a lot of pushing of the same sort of concepts as we’ve been working on for a few years.
Q: Coming to you first Romain – do you think what’s under [the blanket] is going to enable you to get that maiden victory?
Romain Grosjean (RG): Well, we’ll see. As everybody said, we did our best all the time, and did our best to improve from last year. I think we had a beautiful car last year to drive, really nice. Kimi won a race, we had some podiums, so everyone wants more and that’s what we’re going to try to achieve.
Q: I mean Kimi, James said that with most cars this year being an evolution from what we had last year, are there reasons for optimism for what you’ve got here?
Kimi Raikkonen (KR): Well, yeah, of course there is, but it’s not going to be easy to improve what we did already last year, but that’s our aim – to do better, not just for the drivers, but for the team also, and hopefully we can do it.
Q: We hear a lot these days about drivers having a lot of input in the design of these F1 cars, Kimi – were you pen and paper over the Christmas break, scribbling down ideas or not?
KR: (laughs) No, it is for them to do it. We try to do the best that we can in the races and have all the trust in the people that made last year’s car and made this one.
Q: What’s the main improvement you’re perhaps looking for? Qualifying pace I suppose was something you were trying to develop over the course of the year, has that been a priority, do you sense, in how things have developed?
KR: Yeah, I mean we try to improve in all areas and for sure if you can qualify more high up it will give you much better chance to win, win more races and it makes your life much easier in the race days, but mainly it’s the whole package. We will try to make it faster and hopefully managed to do that.
Q: What about you Romain? A lot to reflect on from last season, a very solid end to the season from you, can you maintain the highs you had and avoid some of the lows?
RG: I think it’s clear for everybody that we had good qualifying speed and too much incidents, so that’s what we’re going to try and work on. I’m confident hopefully the car will be good and the guys worked very hard, it looks very nice, which is already a good starting point. Yeah, we will try and make it as good as we can and try to improve myself every time I jump in the car.
Q: What about the opposition this year? You finished ahead of Mercedes in the Constructors’ last season, Lewis Hamilton has gone there, does that make them significantly more formidable or not?
RG: I’m sure they have been working very hard through the winter, everybody will do it. It’s difficult to draw a clear classification before the qualifying in Melbourne. We had a good surprise last year, hopefully it is going to be surprise again this year.
Q: Teams were allowed to make a cosmetic change if they wanted to smooth the [stepped nose] out, why haven’t you done that?
JA: Well we have not done it yet because the cosmetic panel would weigh a few grams and, with a Formula One car, putting a few grams on that you don’t need to is really a [hamper] to us. However, if we find a cosmetic panel that looks nice but much more importantly and crucially develops us a bit of downforce then, well we’ll pop it on, quick as you like.
Q: Kimi, what about the DRS? There’s some comments from you about how those rules changed this season, and you can only use it in the DRS zone in qualifying. Does that bring potentially the Red Bulls a little bit closer to you? What kind of difference might that make?
KR: It will be the same for everybody so, I don’t really think it’s going to change an awful lot, in the running order, but I think it’s a smart thing because as long as the rules are the same for all, it won’t change a lot, and it’s the same as in the race now so… I think it’s fine.
Q: What about you as a driver, coming into this season now as opposed to last season? You had the years off, now here you come having been third in the championship – is that a big advantage for you?
KR: We all start from the same zero point and it should be a bit more easy because I know the people, and the people know me now. It’s more easy to go to the first race, for sure, but it doesn’t mean it is going to give us a better result, hopefully it will, and that’s what we’re aiming for.
Q: What about Lewis moving to Mercedes – does that make McLaren a little less formidable or not?
KR: Hopefully yes, but I don’t know. You don’t know how good cars the others will do and how good car ours is, and we will have to wait and see in the testing and then we’ll go from there. I think it will be interesting to see what happens.
Q: If you didn’t believe this team were capable of winning the championship, or giving you the chance to win the drivers’ championship, would you have stayed here?
KR: Well we had a contract and I’ve been very happy with all the people and with the team so I don’t really see the point to go anywhere else. I had a great year, of course we want to achieve better results this year – as I said, if you’re happy somewhere, I don’t really see the point to go anywhere else.
Q: Final word for you Romain – you qualified very strongly in Australia last year, you must head there with high hopes?
RG: It’s the first race of the season but first of all we have the winter testing where we will want to do a lot of things. I think some updates coming before the first race hopefully and yeah, hopefully we will start with a good qualifying result in Melbourne, a much better result in the race, and then be consistent in the points – that’s what I want, to get out of the car as often as I can and say ‘I did the job’ and my best.
The 'H' Duct 