Media Centre, Hungaroring, 18h05, Sunday 24 April 2016

Present:
José María López, Citroën Total WTCC, first position
Yvan Muller, Citroën Total WTCC, second position
Tiago Monteiro, Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team, third position
Tom Chilton, Sébastien Loeb Racing, first position, WTCC Trophy
Norbert Michelisz, Honda Racing Team JAS, 10th position, leading local driver

Q:
We’ll start with José on victory here, another difficult race, the conditions looked very tricky out there, what was it like for you inside that car?

JML:
Congratulations Yvan, Tiago, Tom, he did a fantastic first race as well, and all the Loeb Racing team which saved it for us in race one. After a difficult first race we tried a few things, especially with the rain tyres, I think that was the main difference! For myself it’s been one of the most difficult races in terms of grip and trying to find the lines and everything. I’ve never been comfortable during the lap, I always had someone attacking. I managed to pull away a little bit before the safety car, then Yvan attacked me a lot after the restart of the race. From then I defended a little bit and Huff started to attack him and he lost a little bit of ground and I think that was the key of the race for me. Then when Huff was very close they told me there was a penalty to him and for sure that was a help for me. But yeah, really difficult, finding the lines and trying to brake. We couldn’t really push on the brakes, we were driving with two fingers on the steering wheel, trying to feel the worst of anything, but the new Tarmac I think made things more difficult in the wet, so really happy to pull out a victory in these conditions, very happy for the championship as well. We did a very good weekend. It’s still a long way to go but race by race we try to go with the things. Congratulations to all the teams as well, Honda has done a fantastic job and see you in Marrakech in two weeks.

Q:
You mentioned the Opening Race and your decision to run on slick tyres. Nicky Catsburg was adamant that slicks were completely the wrong way to go, so what were you thinking when you went on slicks?

JML:
I wish I had his determination. For me it was hard, 50/50 after the recce laps. When you are also fighting in the championship sometimes these kinds of decisions are a little bit more difficult. In the end I think what made us go for slicks is because we saw Tiago going slicks, Yvan going slicks, Rob going slicks. It’s difficult, it’s always easier with the newspaper of Monday to say, now we say ‘ah yes, we should have used rain tyres’. It didn’t work for us unfortunately, but it was unfortunate with a little bit of luck as well because also the Hondas didn’t score so it was like starting from zero in the second race.

Q:
Turning to your Citroën team-mate Yvan Muller, back on the podium. Yvan, quite an eventful Main Race there for you, a bit of contact, a few efforts to pass your team-mate José. Can you talk us through that race for you and particularly the track conditions out there?

YM:
The track conditions were really tough, to be honest I don’t remember so difficult a way to drive, the track was very slippy, very demanding. But I did a good start, I could be P2 or P3 immediately at the first corner. Quite quickly I became second and I could catch José. Then with the fighting, Rob could come back and I’ve been pushed again by a Honda, fourth time this year. I think it’s a bit too much in three races. But I lost a bit of time on José and you cannot lose time on José because otherwise you cannot come back. But I’m pleased with the P2, especially after my weekend, especially with the start on the grid I had for the Main Race. So we can be pleased, we can be pleased especially for Citroën because the two Citroëns won the first race, two Citroëns won the second race, so good, but next time we have to do the good tyre choice.

Q:
Turning to Tiago, third place, another podium for this season, still very much in the title fight. How about this race for you, how was it from your perspective?

TM:
Well, the tyre choice was easier than the first race. As Pechito said, when we were on the out lap in the first race the choice was 50/50, it could have gone either way so it’s easier to comment after the race. Anyway, race two, a very bad start and again a good start from Yvan and he just passed us right away. But I was on the inside so I didn’t lose that many places, it could have been worse. After that I think I had a decent rhythm, not as fast as the group in front but I was not taking too many risks, looking at what was going to happen, until the safety car came in, and that was a big, big problem for me. I probably let the tyres cool down too much, it was a disaster for me after the safety car. I just could not drive very well after that, struggling a lot and they disappeared in front of me. I got caught actually by Björk if I’m not mistaken, he was very fast and finally temperature came back, lap by lap, and I managed to get back and open a bit of a space. It’s a shame for Rob, I didn’t see the contact, but I guess he deserved a podium not me this weekend, but I take it anyway because sometimes you need to take gifts that are offered to you, so that’s what I did this weekend. I tried to survive, tricky conditions for everybody, very slippery, but the positive point is that even with the 70 kilos we were not struggling as much as we expected which is very positive for us coming to the next rounds. So we’ll keep fighting, we’re still in the fight in both championships. Of course it’s still early but we’ll keep that I hope for many more races.

Q:
Turning to Tom, victory in the WTCC Trophy after a very good weekend for you, on the podium in the Opening Race of course. Talk us through that second race of yours.

TC:
From the start, I had a shocking start because I was on top of some oil and so I was wheelspinning first, second, third, fourth, I wasn’t going anywhere. I let a couple of cars go at the beginning. I tried really hard to fight through the grid like I did in race one but I think maybe we were too confident with my car in race one, we didn’t adjust the car or the tyres enough for race two and it was a lot wetter. So I really struggled to get any performance out of the car to start with. During the safety car I got a bit car-sick because I was weaving so much left and right and whoever was behind me probably thought I was trying to spin off because I was going that sideways up the straight. I pushed really hard after the safety car, had a great battle with Tom Coronel and Nicky Catsburg and kept Michelisz behind me. Michelisz nearly tried to get past me four wheels on the grass at one point, it was quite close, it was really nice having a battle with him. He’s a legend around here, and it’s always nice. Last year we had a couple of great overtaking manoeuvres with each other and it was nice to again this year. I think the Citroën car this weekend in the wet has been really good, I think it’s because all of our winter testing, our three days, was all in the rain, so that’s made us very good here this weekend, and I’m hoping the rest of the year will be wet.

Q:
Norbert, before the race I guess there was a race to get the car ready. Can you just quickly explain what actually happened and how much work your mechanics had to do to get your car on track after your retirement prior to the Opening Race?

NM:
It was tight I have to say, because we were ready 15 minutes before the opening of the pitlane but the mechanics from Tiago and from Rob as well were working on my car so at one point I knew the guys would fix the problem. Starting from the last place my aim was to score some points. In the end I think I was lucky in some moments, we had people in front fighting and being able to recover some positions, it was a nice fight with a lot of people. Unfortunately, I was always in the wrong place at the wrong time in the first lap, so I managed to overtake four or five people after the start but then I saw a Volvo and another car made contact so I had to go with them in the escape route in Turn 1 and then I started to slowly come back again. I think at one point I was sixth but then unfortunately because of the contact made in the opening lap of the race, the rear suspension broke. I felt the damage because the steering was not straight but it was constant so it wasn’t a big problem, but unfortunately the last half lap was missing for me to finish fifth.

Q:
Just a final word to José, obviously the next race is a brand new track for everybody, just a quick word on the Marrakech circuit and the prospects there, because obviously it’s a completely untried track for you.

JML:
I think the others will say this and have the same opinion. I don’t know much. For sure in these two weeks we will try to learn as much as we can. The circuit has changed, it’s not the traditional quick and high-speed chicanes and carrying through the kerbs, I think now it’s a slower and shorter circuit. A street circuit is always difficult, we will see. I think the temperature is going to be a little bit higher than here. I’m really looking forward to go to a great country, I think today Bennani did a fantastic first race so very happy for him and let’s hope we arrive in Marrakech and we can put out a strong performance again and try to be in front, but this year as we all see, is another story, we’re struggling and we are fighting much harder with the competition.

Questions from the floor:

Q:
Question to Tom Chilton (Péter Vámosi, Motorsport Csatorna): Are you satisfied with your Citroën now or do you want your Chevrolet back?

TC:
I am very satisfied with my Citroën. It’s taken a lot longer to get used to it than I thought and it didn’t help that I did my three days of testing in the rain, which is why I was so strong this weekend because I am used to the car in the rain. At the end of the Slovakia Ring I was one of the fastest in the race so I was getting the hang of this and in Paul Ricard I was really fast as well. I’m pleased I’ve got here but it’s taken me all weekend long and I still feel I am someway behind. We missed a trick in qualifying and we missed out on pole by 8/10ths of a second but as disappointed as I was we still got a second and a fifth so it’s been a fantastic weekend. The fans here in Hungary have been awesome as always and stopped me from being depressed about my qualifying so thank you everyone.

Q:
Question to Yvan Muller (Géza Surányi, Heves Megyei Hírlap, Hungary): Do you think the penalty for Rob Huff for his move on you was justified?

YM:
Yes. I arrived at Turn 2. I brake even later than José and suddenly I had a tap from the back and he passed me. So yes.

Q:
Question to a Citroën driver and a Honda driver (Aleksandar Babic, Eurosport Serbia): We’re always wiser after the event but would you explain the decision making behind your tyre used in race one? How does it work in each team?

JML:
In my case and for everybody case the driver is the most important piece of the car. It’s depending what you feel. Honestly I thought I could go on slicks. The out lap was not too bad and at that time the track was getting drier. Of course it was the wrong call. It started to rain just as soon as we landed the car on the ground, there was nothing to do when it started to rain. It was a mistake and we try to learn from that. But any change in the car is always the concern of the driver. In my case today I made the call. I said I think we can go on slicks but I was wrong.

YM:
For me it’s easy to say now it was the wrong choice but if you look at the top 10 cars there was three different choices: some had slicks, some had wets and some had a slick and a wet so it shows it was uncertain. The weather forecast tell us there was no rain any more. We follow that and it was a mistake but if the rain would not restart it was the right choice. Unfortunately the rain restart so it was the wrong choice.

TM:
There is always a bit of information from the team but the last decision is always with the driver. When we did the installation lap I was certain it was possible to be on slicks. It was just small drops at that time but you only have a few minutes when you had to make that decision. We also thought it would stop racing so even if there was a bit of rain we could survive before it was supposed to stop. Obviously we had the wrong information weather wise but at that time we thought this was a good choice, obviously not.

Q:
Question to Norbert Michelisz (Aleksandar Babic, Eurosport Serbia): You had the slick fronts and the wet rears, if that’s right?

NM:
I can very much agree with Pechito. The driver has the most information on the conditions of the circuit and like Yvan said if it doesn’t start to rain then slick in front would have been the best choice. It started to rain and you can get lucky. It’s such a difficult choice that you have to make when there are two or three minutes left on the grid when you don’t know what the weather will be for the next 30 minutes. Sometimes you are lucky sometimes you are not.

TC:
From my point of view, I was the only one in Free Practice 1 at Paul Ricard on full slicks, everybody was on wets. My engineer was telling me I’m five seconds off but I want to keep going and the track will come to me. Then 10 minutes to go I was still a few seconds off but it was damp and I was on slicks so it was rubbish. I got one lap only on one set of wet tyres and I was P3. Like today my gut feeling was saying slicks but it was a no-brainer to be on wets.

Q:
Question to Yvan Muller (István János Simon, Autó Magazin, Hungary): Do you think this second race was a chance to win your first race of the season missed?

YM:
Yes, probably, but when you start P8 for the race you cannot expect to be P2. I can be pleased of that because it was my first podium of the season and it was time. I could maybe win but I didn’t but I am pleased with P2.

TC:
I can teach you how to go from P10 to P2 if you want!