Good afternoon and welcome to Silverstone, Great Britain for the Team Representatives' Thursday press conference ahead of this weekend’s British V-Prix – round five of the 2022 Formula Virtual World Championship. Joining us today, from left to right, are; Lucas Wilson of Lucas V-Prix, Bradley Downton of Downton FV Team, Will Ingram of Ingram V-Prix, and Sven Schubert from Phoenix Motorsport. Welcome to the four of you! Scott Parkin - FVTV: We'll start with you, Sven - welcome to your first press conference! Phoenix find themselves in an unprecedented position in their history. They've scored their first podium, are regular strong points contenders, and are in the hunt for 3rd in the Constructor's Championship. Has the team had to do a lot of adjusting this season in both strategy and mentality?
Sven Schubert: I think a big reason for our strong 1/3 of the season is the arrival of Allar. With his experience and professional attitude he gave every single member of the team a huge push and of course our consistent hard work over the last years is showing now. SP - FVTV: Allar definitely is quite the talent! Coming to you now Will, After the high of your win in Malaysia, the team has experienced a fair bit of misfortune. When you're on such an emotional rollercoaster results wise, what's your secret for maintaining a consistent approach in the garage and on the pit wall? Will Ingram: Yes I think I cursed the team in my last press conference! Our feet are very firmly back on the ground. As a general rule we know where our pace is, and I think the team realised the win had to have a lot fall our way. In contrast our luck has been out for the last couple of races, but the pace still looks to be there. Our result in France was strong considering the numerous incidents we got caught up in. SP - FVTV: Let's hope for no more curses! Now to you Lucas. It's no secret that Lucas have faltered by missing two strategy deadlines in a row, making for hard weekends and falling behind in development. Are you back now for the rest of the season and how do you intend to claw back any lost ground? Lucas Wilson: We are back. We've always been back. We've had hiccups yes. But we are here to compete, to get points, podiums and race wins. We are fully committed to getting the most out of the package we have this year and our two star drivers. SP - FVTV: Hopefully you're able to turn things around then! Okay, coming to Bradley now. Porsche Mathershaw have had two wins on the trot now. Would you say that teams upping the ante is one of your favourite parts of the sport and just how powerful is that as a motivator to get back on the top step? Bradley Downton: Behind winning, absolutely! But no, in all seriousness teams pushing one another to the absolute limits of technical brilliance is absolutely one of the best things about this sport. We love nothing more than a fantastic battle, and over the seasons Mathershaw have easily been the best and fiercest competition, yet we've always managed to keep it a friendly and good-natured rivalry, which I think it hugely important too and definitely an influence as to why we enjoy competing with them so much. That doesn't mean we don't want to beat them at every turn however, so them pushing forwards always serves as a motivator for us to find that extra little bit. They've had the measure of us over the last few races, but everyone in the factory is working around the clock to enable us to fight back. SP - FVTV: It's that kind of motivation that garners titles! Sticking with you here for the next question. We're now about a third of the way into the season - has Zetticci lived up to your expectations? What has surprised you about the rookie? BD: Matteo has done an absolutely outstanding job so far. Since I answered a similar question last week, he's added another podium to his bow and is right in the scrap consistently amongst former World Champions and multiple race winners - that's a hell of an effort for a lad in his first season. What's surprised me most is his technical knowledge in all honesty. Both Klaas and Nathaniel had a working idea of everything, but Matteo really knows his stuff, to the point I'd have no issue signing him on as a highly rated engineer if he didn't drive so bloody quick! I think a lot of that stems from his fiancée Lucy - oh shit, I hope they've told their families... whoops. Side note, my Congratulations to Matteo and Lucy who have become engaged since the last race. But I think he helps her out with her motorsport engineering degree quite a bit, so has probably picked a reasonable amount up from that. SP - FVTV: Interesting! Maybe we'll see him take on some peculiar roles in the future. Back to you Sven, how have you been finding settling into your role at Phoenix? Is there anything that's really surprised you or have you felt well equipped for everything you've encountered? SS: It was easier to settling into Pheonix then I expected to be honest. Alex, the team and I we all have the same goal, and the goal is to win so were all pushing in the same direction and we work together perfectly. What really stood out to me is that Phoenix is even more professional and driven to win that I expected. And I expected a lot from the talks we had before. SP - FVTV: Glad to hear you're settling in so well! It's great to have you in the paddock. Will, we're back with you now! It seems at the moment that the likes of Phoenix and Lucas have the pace over you in one lap pace - how confident are you still that you can take the fight to them and keep your foot in the door? WI: I believe both Lucas and Phoenix have strong cars, and it's up to us to maximise our potential and outfox them on strategy. We remain in the fight for 3rd, but we need to be completely on top of things to maintain the fight. SP - FVTV: It's such a competitive battle for third, we'll all be looking forward to how this will play out! Lucas, another one for you. On that same topic from earlier, how important is it to have infrastructure in place to deal with such a big mistake - is it the kind of thing you find yourself making contingencies for or do you adjust on the fly? LW: I think a mistake is a mistake. In the other series, F1, large teams in that sport make errors and there are some big organisations there. We have to get used to making decisions quickly. My business has taught me that you can never predict everything, only be prepared to overcome anything. SP - FVTV: Fighting words there! Staying with you, Lucas are known for big extravagant functions and events - can we expect to see something similar this weekend? LW: Normally we would have but sadly we are not this week. I'm are some of the Motorsport websites and journals have reported it. But our longtime mechanic, Dan Green who was responsible for preparing Thunstroms car sadly passed away on Tuesday. So we are having a bit of a calmer weekend this week in his memory. We are running a small tribute in the cockpit this weekend. I think Dan would want us to have a good weekend and this is our best way of honouring him this week. Now, next race is a different story! SP - FVTV: I'm sure I speak for everyone here when I say I'm sorry to hear that, and I hope your team feels like they're able to honour his memory. We'll go to Bradley again now - at the start of the season Lucas looked like they'd be able to get in the fight at some tracks with you and Porsche Mathershaw. How useful is it now that they've dropped off and every race is more of a straight fight? BD: It's tricky to say, and really a 50-50 deal. Firstly, it's a shame Lucas have slipped back a bit as it's been fantastic seeing our engine customers and team partners doing so fantastically well - both Lucas and Phoenix - but having them slightly further back does generally mean we're looking at top four results unless something goes wrong. Which is good in a way because on weekends when we're not quite at the races, we minimise the points loss, but it's a double edged sword, because it also means there isn't a team there ready to take points off of Mathershaw if they have a weekend where they're not fully on top of everything. SP - FVTV: Sounds like it's definitely got its pros and cons for you! Now on the subject of customer engine teams, Will! Last time out AMR were able to score a point and moved themselves up the order in the championship. How proud does it make you when you see a customer team able to accomplish strong results for their position? WI: I was very happy to see AMR score points last race. They've adapted very quickly to the Jaguar way of working, which is no mean feat considering how long they were with Ford. I'm sure they'll go from strength to strength as the season progresses. Hopefully we can see all 4 Jaguar cars in the points soon. SP - FVTV: That would be quite the sight for such a prestigious British engine manufacturer! Now then Sven, Phoenix currently look like they're best of the rest behind Downton and Porsche Mathershaw - for quite an underdog team especially up against financially larger teams such as Lucas and Ingram, how hard is it to keep extracting the most and keep your nose in front? SS: I wouldnt say were the best of the rest. Points wise yes but overall pace wise I dont think so. We got lucky on a few occations that we moved up a few positions so we have to keep that momentum and then we can fight for third in the constructors. SP - FVTV: Sometimes luck does have to fall the right way, and it's great to see you guys up there in the fight. We have a couple of fan questions now! Two are for Phoenix - The future looks bright for Phoenix given the performances of your junior drivers. Has Zientek been jumped by Eskola as the top member of the Hive, and therefore the 2023 seat? And on the topic of drivers, Will Taylor has been a revelation this year, are you worried about other teams trying to poach him off you? SS: We cant and wont answer questions about our drivers for 2023. Thats just too early to tell whats gonna happen. Zientek does a fabulous job indeed but Eskola aswell. Both have a future in FV but were gonna see when are where. Hopefully for us but were really happy with Allar and Will. To answer the second question; Will has been for us, and I think for the majority of the FV paddock the surprise of the season. You can even argue that he outpaced Allar in the first races. If he can continue this form he will be interresting for other teams but our priority is to maintain our drivers. SP - FVTV: Always good to get some insight into a team and its driver situation. Right a few questions for the lot of you now, including another fan question! First of all, as we approach what is the home race for a lot of teams, including all of you here, how important is it to you to be able to race at home - and would you ever like to see FV visit a different British circuit? SS: The home race is always the most important race for the team for morale to be close at home and to have all of the fans close on track its the busiest but best weekend of the year. Silverstone has such a long tradition in FV so I dont think were gonna see a change but for me personally I´d like to see Brands Hatch. BD: It means so much to me personally - and a large portion of the team, for whom this is also a home race given we're based in Britain - to race at home, it's just a totally different atmosphere. Nothing gives you that same thrill, no grandstands are ever quite as loud, no excitement levels are ever the quite the same as they are for a home race. I'm sure some of the teams not in here with home races in other countries will dispute this, but the British fans are absolutely the best. In terms of other venues, I don't think so - no. Because it's our most local track we'd love to see a race at Thruxton, but it's just somewhat unrealistic. Silverstone is a fantastic venue, and always provides excellent racing - so I don't think there's any need to look elsewhere. WI: I think we're very lucky to get a home V-Prix. There's nothing quite like the support of a home crowd. Obviously the British crowd have a lot of choice when it comes to who they support but I think there are a few Ingram fans around! From a purely selfish point of view, Snetterton is slightly closer to our base so it would be brilliant to race around there. I can never complain about Silverstone though, it's a great track and we're lucky to have it on the calendar. LW: We are extremely happy to race here in Silverstone. The burger vans, the run down paddock (laughs). No, no we live it here. The UK is one of the key places for motorsport in the world and this is pretty much a holy place for motorsport fans. The energy, the buzz - you can't recreate it anywhere as far as I am concerned! SP - FVTV: Interesting to see some different opinions for different tracks, and great to see that this track is so loved. Now for the fan question to everyone! We're here in Great Britain, home of some of the world's classic culinary treats. What British food are your teams really enjoying right now? WI: That is very complimentary of British food, we're usually not given such credit (laughs). We have crumpets regularly, although it's difficult to convince Jean of the merits of chip buttys. Maybe we'll celebrate a good result with a chocolate orange. BD: Crikey, that's a bit of a different question. In all honesty I couldn't tell you what the team are eating, though I will say when I went to the team canteen yesterday they'd run out of fish and chips - which I suppose is a British classic! LW: Fish & Chips. We brought a whole catering truck to this event. I think we have bought up Northamptonshire's entire supply of mushy peas and curry sauce! SS: Oh well, I´m not a big fan of british food so for me no british food but the team enjoys some fresh Fish & Chips. SP - FVTV: Wow, lots of fans of fish and chips! A true British staple. Finally, the question we've been waiting for, what are you expecting from this weekend and where do you hope to end up? LW: We are kinda lagging behind the two top teams. So if we can establish ourselves in 3rd place team wise that would be quite nice. Maybe sneak another podium, hopefully we don't have car issues this time! WI: I'm hoping for a clean weekend that doesn't bring me back down to earth! Hopefully points for both cars. SS: Expectation Top 10 for Allar and Will. Tyres gonna be a key factor with the heatwave which is arriving on the weekend. My dream is to win of course but for that all planets have to be in one line! *laughs* BD: It's the British V-Prix, our home race, so hand on heart - anything less than a win will be disappointing. We hope to be right in the fight again, and that the few upgrades we've brought here are enough to just give us that edge this weekend, but we'll have to wait and see. SP - FVTV: Excellent answers, can't wait to see it all unfold! Thankyou all for coming, and best of luck to you all for this weekend!
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