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Author: David Bodapati
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Azlan Shah snatches pole in ARRC
Irungattukottai, 13 July 2013: With track temperatures soaring at the Madras Motor Race Track, all signs are pointing to a scorcher of a race for the third leg of the PETRONAS Asia Road Racing Championship.
The 600cc riders power-slid their way around the 3.717km circuit with Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman quickly putting his marker on the coveted pole position with a new lap record of 01:42.909s, a Press Release from Adrenna Communications said.
And only a day after predicting a Yamaha-advantage, Azlan’s team mate Makoto Tamada powered his own Honda to second on the grid with 01:43.593s. This makes it Tamada’s best start in the race to date, after struggling with bike setting issues for the past two rounds. Mohd Zamri Baba, who has been consistently fast the entire weekend, will take up the third spot on the front row with 01:43.713s.
“Pole position is perhaps the most important winning-factor in this round. The circuit is tight and there are very few overtaking opportunities, especially in the 600cc class. After clocking in fastest during the morning session, I was even more determined to take the pole position. The new lap record was a bonus,” said Azlan.
Rafid Topan’s Underbone lap record that stayed intact in the first day was quickly erased as the second day of practices commenced. Harlan Fadhillah beat the record by 0.346 seconds in Free Practice 3 with a fastest lap of 01:59.474s.
Ahmad Afif Amran quickly bested that time during the opening minutes of the qualifying session with 01:58.672s. But the riders’ momentum was interrupted when the red flag came out on the 18th minute following a crash between Mohd Hafieenaz Mohd Ali and Mohd Adib Rosley. Both riders were reported to be OK. Hafieenaz rode back to the paddock on his own power but Adib fared a little worse, suffering from a sprained ankle.
However, momentum interrupted, there were no more record-breaking charges by the Underbone riders. Afif scored pole position with his new lap record and will be joined on the front row by defending champion Hadi Wijaya who was second fastest with 01:58.703s and Ferlando Herdian third fastest with 01:59.248s.
“For the most part, I did my quick lap with a clear track around me. But I did caught up to other riders at the last few corners and slipstreamed my way into pole position,” said Afif. “With the top five riders all clocking below the 2-minute mark, the pole position advantage is really very minimal.”
Indian riders Sumit Lucas Prabhu will start 11th on the grid with Arunagiri Prabhu starting in 14th place.
Results: SuperSports 600cc Practice 3
1. Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman (MAS), 1:43.417s; 2. Md Zamri Baba (MAS), 1:43.500s; 3. Katsuaki Fujiwara (JPN), 1:43.964s; 4. Yuki Ito (JPN), 1:44.304s; 5. Makoto Tamada (JPN), 1:44.347SuperSports 600cc Qualifying
1. Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman (MAS), 01:42.785s (new lap record); 2. Makoto Tamada (JPN), 01:43.593s; 3. Md Zamri Baba (MAS), 01:43.713s; 4. Katsuaki Fujiwara (JPN), 01:43.954s; 5. Peerawat Wongthananon (THA), 01:44.031sAsia Dream Cup Practice 2 :
1. Dwi Satria (INA), 01:57.075; 2. Nakarin Atiratphuvapat (THA), 01:57.240; 3. Hiroki Ono (JPN), 01:57.306; 4. Md Fitri Ashraf Razali (MAS), 01:57.694; 5. Jakkrit Swangswat (THA), 01:57.924Asia Dream Cup Qualifying :
1. Hiroki Ono (JPN), 01:56.230s; 2. Md Dwi Satria (INA), 01:56.600s; 3. Nakarin Atiratphuvapat (THA), 01:57.068s; 4. Md Fitri Ashraf Razali (MAS), 01:57.643s; 5. Khairul Idham Pawi (INA), 01:57.882sUnderbone 115cc Practice 3:
1. Harlan Fadhillah (INA), 1:59.474s; 2. Ahmad Afif Amran (MAS), 1:59.794s; 3. Gupita Kresna Wardhana (INA), 2:00.725s; 4. Ferlando Herdian (INA), 2:00.953s; 5. Md Amirul Ariff Musa (MAS), 2:01.097sUnderbone 115cc Qualifying
1. Ahmad Afif Amran (MAS), 01:58.672s (new lap record); 2. Hadi Wijaya (INA), 01:58.703s; 3. Ferlando Herdian (INA), 01:59.248s; 4. Gupita Kresna Wardhana (INA), 01:59.728s; 5. Harlan Fadhillah (INA), 01:59.744sends
Note: Race begins on Sunday, 14th July at 10am with the action packed races expectedat the MMRT.
Azlan Shah in action in the 600cc Superbikes qualies. Photo by Adrenna -
Of Smog and Unexpected Encounters
Qualifying always promises to be thriller. Chitra Subramanyam thought that would be the most exciting part of the day. But there was an unexpected surprise waiting for her, at the unlikeliest place.
By Chitra Subramanyam
It is always a stunning view – the Buddh International Circuit. As you drive down the stark Yamuna Expressway, the harsh glare of the sun glinting off your car, you can’t help but see it sprawled in the distance – an oasis amidst the dusty and dry surroundings.
But it’s different today. A sickly dense haze hangs over the city and the Expressway. Smog. We usually see it only in winters. But today, it is there, keeping me company as I drive down towards the Paddock. It’s early yet and the Paddock is getting ready. There is more of a buzz this morning – the low thrum of excitement is palpable.
FP3 is coming up and the journalists settle in at the Media Centre. But the start has been delayed, courtesy the smog. Poor visibility they tell us, wait a while. The medical helicopter can’t operate in this smog. So we wait…and wait. It finally begins – and as always the teams perform brilliantly. Then, Sebastian Vettel happens. We won’t mull on that for too long, don’t worry.
The session is over all too soon – shortened because of its delayed start. I glance through my list of interviews – group interviews actually. It looks exciting: Kimi Raikkonen, Jenson Button. But first it’s off to the Force India hospitality suite for a tête-à-tête with Dr Vijay Mallya and his protégé Jehan Daruvala.
Our gaggle of journalists settles down (I guess a group of journalists would be a gaggle, isn’t it?). We shuffle in our seats and I look around. I spot a man in a red cap, walking nonchalantly through the room. He smiles at some people, shakes hands with one.
No. It can’t be. I gape. Rather unladylike of me, I know. But, I am not used to seeing legends up close and personal. I raise my camera like an automaton. Snap. Snap. No, it can’t be.
It is. It is. Niki Lauda!
I scramble up like the others and run towards the door. He is out already, walking away. Wait he’s back to take a picture with Jehan.
The other journalists and I run towards him. To catch him. To see him. To take pictures. To be in his presence.
There is very little that can actually top that moment.
Not the post-qualifying press conference.
Not Vettel’s moment with that huge fan and his car, post-qualifying.
Not Kimi’s barely audible responses to post-qualifying questions.
Not even, the sight of dancers doing the bhangra in the middle of the Paddock, much to everyone’s amusement. It was the perfect photo-op though. Well-played, BIC!
Because it was in that moment, listening to Niki Lauda speak, that I actually got a sense of Formula One’s rich history. It was nothing short of incredible.
Mega-Awesome Moment (or when it pays to be a journalist): Asking Niki Lauda one question, as he walked away:
“Sir, would you race this track?”
He smiled. “Yes!”
Now that is Perfection!
Boo-Boo of the Day: Indian TV journalist asking Niki Lauda if he liked cricket, since he was an Australian. I didn’t hear Lauda’s reply. I was too busy digging a hole for myself, so I could sit there for all eternity.
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FIA reinforces F1 safety
Following a pit lane incident at last weekend’s German Grand Prix, the FIA has decided to take steps to increase F1 safety and is to institute an immediate ban on anyone other than event marshals and team personnel being present in pit lane during races and Grand Prix qualifying sessions. Access for approved media will be confined to the pit wall.Last weekend’s incident at the Nürburgring occurred when, following a pit stop, a wheel became detached from the Red Bull Racing car of Mark Webber as he made his way towards the pit lane exit. The loose wheel struck a television cameraman who was hospitalised as a result. He is expected to make a full recovery.
In order to reduce the risk of similar accidents in the future, the FIA, on the initiative of its President, Jean Todt, will be seeking to make changes to the Formula One Sporting Regulations. In order to effect this, the FIA today informed teams that the approval of the World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) will immediately be sought for two changes to the Sporting Regulations. Both of these changes have already been approved for 2014. However, for safety reasons, the WMSC will be asked to approve their immediate implementation. The changes are:
1) Article 23.11*, which will now require all team personnel working on a car during a pit stop to wear head protection.
2) Article 30.12**, which will provide for a reduction of the pit lane speed limit during races from 100km/h to 80km/h (with the exception of Melbourne, Monaco and Singapore, where due to track configuration the limit remains at 60km/h).
Finally, in relation to the incident at the German Grand Prix, the FIA is expecting a written report from Red Bull Racing tomorrow. This will also be shared with the other teams in order to help improve pit lane safety.
* 23.11 Team personnel are only allowed in the pit lane immediately before they are required to work on a car and must withdraw as soon as the work is complete. All team personnel carrying out any work on a car during a race pit stop must be wearing head protection.
** 30.12 A speed limit of 80km/h will be imposed in the pit lane during the whole Event. However, this limit may be amended by the stewards following a recommendation from the FIA F1 safety delegate. Any team whose driver exceeds the limit during any practice session will be fined €100 for each km/h above the limit, up to a maximum of €1000. However, in accordance with Article 18.1 the stewards may inflict an additional penalty if they suspect a driver was speeding in order to gain any sort of advantage. During the race the stewards may impose either of the penalties under Article 16.3a) or b) on any driver who exceeds the limit.
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Young driver training tests can use only 2012 tyres: FIA
Silverstone, 9 July 2013: The FIA today informed Formula One’s teams of the conditions that will apply at the Young Driver Training Test scheduled to take place at Silverstone as of July 17.
The announcement follows a meeting of F1’s Sporting Committee on Wednesday, July 3 at the Nürburgring, prior the German Grand Prix.
The conditions set out are in accordance with Article 22.4(h)(i) of the F1 Sporting Regulations, as recently amended by the World Motor Sport Council, and are as follows:
The Young Driver Training Test will remain a three-day test, from July 17-19.
Only the 2012 construction will be used for the test but with the hard, medium and soft 2013 compounds.
The test will now allow teams to field drivers who have competed in more than two F1 World Championship events provided that the purpose of them doing this is to test tyres for Pirelli.
In order to meet this requirement, all teams shall ensure that any changes made to a car at these times are exclusively related to the tyre tests set out in the run plan provided by Pi
relli.An FIA observer will be appointed to ensure the regulations are being followed.
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Armaan rounds off FIA GT week-end with 2nd podium
Zandvoort (Netherlands), 7 July 2013: Indian racing driver Armaan Ebrahim and BMW Sports Trophy Team India rounded off their strongest weekend of the 2013 FIA GT World Series at the Zandvoort Circuit with a third place finish in the Pro-Am category and tenth overall.
Having scored their maiden podium by finishing second on Saturday, the team was on their way to go one better today but a delay during the driver change threw a spanner in the works, according to a Meco Motorsports Press Release.
“We were really on it today, the car was really strong and we could have won the class and finished top five overall”, said Armaan, hinting disappointment at the final outcome.
Armaan started the race from ninth position but like on Saturday, a huge incident on the opening lap led the race being red-flagged. The restart saw him holding his position and challenging the train of cars ahead.
But his attention was focused as much on the car behind as it was ahead, with nine-time WRC champion Sebastien Loeb in his McLaren MP4-12C breathing down Armaan’s rear bumper.
“I could see him coming in the mirrors but I had enough pace in the bag to keep him behind and was focusing on passing the cars right ahead of me”, he revealed.
But the BMW Z4 GT’s inherent lack of straight line speed prevented him from passing the Nissan GT-R and Mercedes SLS lying close ahead of him, despite the BMW holding an advantage around the rest of the 4.3-kilometer layout.
“Coming off the final corner, I just couldn’t stay with them, slipstream or no. It has been a weak area and even though there aren’t many long straights here, it still managed to hamper us”, revealed Armaan.
Having held Loeb off for the length of his stint, Armaan pitted for the mandatory driver change on lap 14, but disaster was in store.
“As soon as I tried to unbuckle [the seatbelt] myself, it refused to release despite repeated efforts. Then we had the crew on it and it took forever for me to come out and buckle Melroy [teammate] back in”, he said.
While this drama was unfolding in the pitlane, the team was steadily dropping down the order and lost nearly five positions by the time Heemskerk got back on the track.
There onwards, the team’s race was just an exercise in damage limitation and the Danish driver did his best to claw back lost time, but simply ran out of laps to get back up the order significantly, ultimately finishing tenth overall and third in the Pro-Am class.
“It is quite disappointing to be honest, given what we were capable of this weekend. But I’m happy that after a difficult start to the season, we’ve managed to turn a corner”, commented Armaan.
“We need to improve a bit on the pitstop front as well as sort out the straightline speed deficit. Next two tracks on the calendar – Slovakia Ring and Navarra are more straightline-dependent and we’ll be at more of a disadvantage than we were here at Zandvoort”, he cited.
The next round of the FIA GT Series is scheduled at Slovakia Ring on 17-18 August.
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Armaan Ebrahim, along with teammate, on podium after finishing third. A Meco Motorsports photo. -
It’s incredible to finally win in Germany: Vettel
DRIVERS
1 – Sebastian VETTEL (Red Bull Racing)
2 – Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN (Lotus)
3 – Romain GROSJEAN (Lotus)
PODIUM INTERVIEW (Conducted by Kai Ebel)
Q: Sebastian, tell the world how sweet a taste is this home victory?
Sebastian VETTEL: Yeah, it’s unbelievable. I’m very, very happy, an unbelievable race. Kimi was pushing very, very hard in the end and obviously they tried to do something different with different compound tyres. I think we had a very solid, very controlled race but I was pushing, I think, every single lap, except the laps behind the Safety Car. Very happy with the result and incredible to finally win in Germany.
Q: At the closing stages of the race you felt the warm breath of this guy [Räikkönen] in your neck so what do you think about driving with this guy next year together in one team?
SV: Well, I don’t know. I think first of all I enjoy today and, yeah, I could feel him coming and more and more pressure but yeah, I obviously had a couple of laps where it was quite close with Romain as well who tried to push very hard. In the middle of the race we lost KERS for a couple of laps so it was very difficult – but fortunately the system recovered and yeah, it’s very useful to defend properly. Very happy that the race ended after 60 laps and not 61 or 62.
Q: Kimi, was it better for you that the radio had some problems and you couldn’t understand the guy from the pit wall?
Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN: No actually – I could hear them but they couldn’t hear me. I think it only worked in one part of the circuit and unfortunately today there was quite a lot to discuss and it didn’t work. So, not the ideal but we managed to do pretty well and obviously we want to win but today we didn’t have the speed. The race should have been a bit longer, maybe then we could have had a good chance – but we scored good points for two cars and we are getting back where we should be. So in the end not ideal but pretty OK for us.
Q: Romain, how good is it being back on the podium, even if it is now the third position and not the second if that could been?
Romain GROSJEAN: It’s good, it’s a good result for the team. We had a very strong race, which is good. Very good first stint. I thought I would have had a chance at one stage on Seb but the Red Bull was quick today. And then at the end we choose different strategy with the team. I think that was the right things to do – just put one car on one tyres and the other one on the other one, and it appears the Option for Kimi was quicker. So, yeah, I think it was good to play a little bit, the team, and then I’m very happy to be back on the podium. I think we’ve deserved it for a little while but now it’s reality.
[Question in German]
SV: Obviously I felt the push from the crowd and yeah, obviously, I tried to focus the last couple of laps, knew it would be very close with Kimi once he gets past Romain, so yeah, incredibly tough, I was pushing every single lap as hard as I could and Lotus was incredibly quick today, looking after their tyres probably a little bit better than other people. But yeah, all in all, fantastic. Compliments to the team, three great stops we had. Very, very happy with the day.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Sebastian, many congratulations. That was a tremendously entertaining race to watch for anybody who loves the sport. You were obviously made to work pretty hard for it. Your fourth win of the season [and the] 30th of your career. Clearly, the defining thing is that it’s meant so much to you for such a long time and you’ve achieved so much in 26 years but just put into words what it means to finally win your home grand prix.
SV: Definitely a great relief. Very happy with how the day went. To be honest, for sure, there are a lot of expectations. Especially when you have a good car and for a couple of years you’ve had a good run, when you come to home soil people expect you to win. I think the whole team, including myself, we never ever let that get to our head but it just feels very, very sweet now to have succeeded after a couple of tries. Sometimes we were close. I think we had good races in the past in Germany as well, finished on the podium, which was a great experience but today, to win here, yeah. Both tracks, Hockenheim and Nürburgring mean a lot to me. To race in Germany I think is a privilege. To have the ability to have a home grand prix. Great relief, very happy, special day for sure. I think it take some little while to sink in but yeah, just incredibly proud today. The team did a fantastic job for strategy and for the pit stops. On the track it was so difficult. I pushed every single lap but it’s so tough when you’re on the edge and you know that you can’t go over the tyres too much because then you will not reach the end of the stint. Equally, passing people, you know that you have to get through traffic as quick as you can, so not an easy race. The Safety Car didn’t help us. We had a little bit of a cushion but Lotus was incredibly quick today and gave us definitely a big run for our money. I’m just very happy that it worked out. Last but not least our compliments to Pirelli. They did a very, very good job within a couple of days to react and bring a different rear tyre to this event. I think we didn’t have any failures throughout the whole weekend. Compliments to them. They had a lot of criteria after the last race but it looked like they made up for it this race and hopefully for the next races we continue to have racing like that.
Q: Kimi, moving to you. Obviously Lotus were in a strong position. They could make a tactical gamble, put Red Bull on the back foot. From your point of view, you got through, Romain let you through towards the end. But was there a scenario where you could have won this race today?
KR: Obviously not, because we didn’t win it. I was stuck behind the Mercedes after the first stop for a little while until I got past them. It cost me some time. After the Safety Car we were pretty OK and the cars, three of us, had similar speed and it’s very difficult to overtake anybody. I could run longer and we had a think about it, if we can try to run until the end but we had a massive problem with the radio. I could hear them but they could only hear me between two corners. So I’m wondering if we should have done it, take a gamble and try to go to the end because the tyres were pretty OK, my speed was pretty OK so it was hard to know what happens in the next ten laps. We decided to come in and put the soft tyres. We had good speed. Obviously I got some help from Romain to get past but that was… we would have had a big fight, anyhow. I could have probably passed him in a normal situation but obviously it would have cost me a lot of time. And as a team we try to win and I caught up with Seb but, like I said before, everybody was behind each other but we are too close on speeds and it’s so difficult to overtake then. We tried everything that we had and failed to win but I think for the team we did a good race and got both cars on the podium, so as a team we’re happy but obviously I lost some more points to Seb in the championship. We keep trying.
Q: Romain, great to see you back here in the top three again. Fantastic first stint that really played you into contention for this grand prix. Tell us about your race, about how you felt and also a little bit of detail maybe about the radio traffic that was going on.
RG: We had a good qualifying and the first stint has been amazing, seeing P1 on the board is always good. The car was working much better than what we thought on Option tyres. After the first pit stop Seb and myself were quite a long way ahead of everyone else and it was looking like we will try to see with strategy to adapt, to stop three stops depending on how we were going and then the Safety Car came. It made it easy for strategy but less good then for the traffic. Clearly then, as a team we had to put different eggs not in the same basket and change different strategy for Kimi and myself. It appears that Kimi’s one worked better but it could have been the opposite. So, it’s good to be back on the podium, good to score strong points. The summer is back on – which should help us to be more consistent at the front. But the first stint has been really good and finally getting car and tyres that work together, it’s nice.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Leonid Novozhilov – F1Life) Sebastian, what to you think about the weather today? Maybe the weather help you make a win, or no?
SV: Well first of all it’s German weather. It’s always like this in Germany. I think we were just a little unlucky the last couple of years. I think it didn’t help us today. I think it made it a little bit more tricky. I think it helped probably Lotus a little bit. They were taking care of their tyres probably a little bit better than the rest of the field. By the looks of it they were very strong at the end of the stints – but I say that now, I don’t have a proper look. But in the end we won today so we had good speed – good enough to win the race so I’m very happy but I think we were a little bit stronger on Friday than today.
Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto, Motor und Sport) Sebastian, when you came in for the third time, did you do it in order to cover Romain or did you come in anyway? Was it a plan to come in?
SV: No, I don’t think it was the plan yet. Tyres were holding up OK and the gap to Romain was increasing a little bit again at that time. Just before the stop, a couple of laps, I lost KERS and I was able to switch it back on and pull away again. But obviously I think we try to cover him to make sure we stay ahead and we defend the lead because we saw that overtaking is quite tricky here. It’s possible: I went through traffic pretty quickly but obviously there was a big delta in speed, in pace at that time. So, yeah, in order to make sure we stay ahead, we try to cover him.
Q: (Mark Ellerich – Sport1.de) How intense is the relief to get this done, with this win now? Did you have a plan to get it here in Germany, right now, this year?
SV: Yeah, I made it in January! No, in the end it’s just another race and we try to prepare as much as we can for every race. Surely winning here is very special and tastes very very sweet, especially the way we won today with a lot of pressure from behind, but I think we did our homework – as much as we could – on Friday, the conditions changed a little bit and it was quite close today but we succeeded, that’s the most important thing. Very happy to take the win today and also it’s good to score some points.
Q: (Kate Walker – GP Week) Sebastian, Kimi is one of the men on the short list to replace Webber as your teammate next season. In the closing stages of the race, we saw him giving you quite a bit of challenge. How do you feel about the prospect of being challenged by a fellow World Champion in equal equipment for an entire season rather than just a few laps?
SV: Well, I wouldn’t mind. I think he wasn’t nice today to me because of that but in the end of the day, to be completely straight, it’s not my decision. I think I have a good relationship with the team and to be honest, we spoke about that but not in detail yet. I think the team has no pressure to decide on anything, at least, that’s what they communicated with me. I think I get along fairly well with Kimi; we never had a problem on track, even if one day we might have and crash into each other which can happen, then I think we deal with it as grown-ups and talk about it and sort it out amongst ourselves, at least, I think that’s the relationship I have with him. I respect him a lot on and off track. But like I said, it’s not my decision.
Q: (Kate Walker – GP Week) Would you be excited by the challenge?
SV: Yeah, definitely. I think it’s strange in a way because I was looking up to Kimi when he was with McLaren for many years and trying to give Michael a very hard time but his McLaren broke down many times and now, since he’s come back, I’ve raced him again and I think there’s no doubt that when it comes to qualifying, to race, he does his job very well and gets the maximum out of the car, and that’s what – at the end of the day – is our job. He’s quite good at what he does. That’s my opinion.
Q: Kimi, give you an opportunity to respond to that.
KR: He seems to be a bit better. I don’t know what will happen in the future. Things will be decided at some point but until that happens there’s nothing to talk about. I would definitely tell if I know something just so that all these follow-up rumours and nonsense stops straight away. But right now, there’s absolutely nothing for next year and we will see. For sure, at some point, once we know we will tell but I don’t have any pressure to make any decision right now. Obviously I try to make the right decision for myself but it depends on many things; next year there are rule changes, everything else, so it can be a right or wrong decision. Whatever it will be, I will live with it and I’m fine with it. We will see when it comes.
Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Kimi, your best ever result in Germany. Does it taste any better than the previous ones or is it only victory that makes the difference?
KR: Obviously we are here to try and win races. We couldn’t today because we were not fast enough but for the team it was a good result after a couple of quite difficult races, so obviously for my championship it was not ideal, we lost some more points but it’s still a long season and if we keep putting ourselves in a position for at least fighting for first place then I think we can do it again but as I said, it’s good for the team and not so good for my championship.
Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Sebastian, your team was one of the teams that suggested to come back to 2012 tyres and it looked like your car behaved very well today. Is there any relationship between these two facts?
SV: I think no. Whenever I opened my mouth, it was purely targeted at safety, because it can’t be the case that we go out and we have a race like at Silverstone. I think in the end of the day, we step into the car, we want to race, race at the limit and we cannot drive into the unknown. All sorts of criteria I think was targeted at that and I think people forget that at the end of the day, you have to do your maths, you don’t have to be a genius. We are leading the team championship and the Drivers’ championship and if anything, we are the ones that have most to lose. Nevertheless, we pushed very hard, at least I did, from the drivers’ point of view. I wasn’t shy of communicating as well. I think we are happier overall – all the drivers – with the tyres we raced this weekend. Whether it suits your car or not is secondary.
Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) And to Romain and Kimi, is the performance of your car also related to the new tyres?
RG: I think when we tested it in Canada – well, personally, I quite liked them. They were more proper racing tyres with the different rear belt so I was sort of happy that they brought them here. I think the compounds – medium and soft – were better than hard and medium normally, so I am looking forward to using the full new tyres from Budapest onwards that I understood a little bit better last year than this year. The fronts are a bit strange sometimes but as Sebastian said I think the main thing was to have a safety issue. We all remember Felipe Massa in 2009 and we don’t want to see the same thing with a piece of tyre so we were glad and happy that Pirelli did something and well done to them because it wasn’t easy.
KR: First of all, I don’t think it’s a 2012 tyre. The front tyre is exactly the same as all year. The rear belt is different but it’s not the construction of 2012. We tried these tyres in Montreal and they were fine. It’s not a very big difference to what we ran before so for us, I don’t think it made any difference. They felt a little bit better tyre in Montreal. I think the biggest difference is on high downforce circuits but the weather is hot so that’s probably what made the bigger difference for us.
Q: Heikki Kulta (Turun Sanomat) Sebastian, Kimi has been chasing you for victory quite a few times. What this the tightest of them all or was Bahrain last year even tighter?
SV: It was a different race. I think Bahrain was tighter because he was right behind for more than a couple of laps. Obviously I had Romain pushing very hard before Kimi pushed at the end of the stint, because he came through, past Romain and he was a little bit quicker at the end. Yeah, but both races, in terms of race pace, were very even and if the cars are nearly the same pace then it’s very tricky and very difficult to overtake, so obviously if you’re ahead, it’s your advantage but I’m sure that one day it will be the other way round and I will probably hate it as much as Kimi does right now.
Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Sebastian, how confident are you about the next race because they will change the tyres again and they will be even more similar than 2012 tyres?
SV: First of all, I think we have to wait now. I think there’s a test at Silverstone where race drivers are allowed to test and so we have a tyre test you can say, for at least a day and get a little bit more of an idea, and then I think Pirelli will make up their mind and decide to get together with the FIA – whether the teams like it or not, it doesn’t matter. So I think at this point we don’t know which tyres we are probably running in Hungary. The most important thing is that we learn the lesson from previous races, especially Silverstone, so for here, I think nothing happened which is good but it’s good to have another proper look, especially around Silverstone and then decide for the remainder of the season.
Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Kimi, during the last laps, did you think about the opportunity of being with Red Bull and if that had an effect on your mood during the fight?
KR: Absolutely not. I try to win and it doesn’t matter if it’s a teammate or some other team. As long as we give ourselves a chance, I try to make it happen and obviously if there is a good chance to try to overtake I will try it but we never got that close so there was nothing to do really.
Q: (Oana Popoiu – F1Zone.Net) Romain, for the second race in a row, you were told you to let Kimi pass. Do you think you have any chance to fight for wins when you’re ahead of Kimi?
RG: When the opportunity comes, yes. Today, as I said, we didn’t put our eggs in the same basket and Kimi was quicker and might have gained on Sebastian but it didn’t work. I think it was the right thing to do. It is important for a team to score points and try to get the win. Without the safety car it would have been a different story, but we all got together and that was it.
Q: (Jan Kotulla – Mannheimer Morgen) Sebastian, what about the support from the tribunes today?
SV: Yeah, it was great to receive so much support. I think it’s unique for Germany to have a situation where the Grand Prix is coming and you have two drivers able to win the race. Obviously Michael was in a good position for many years so I think we are in a lucky position anyway, but I think it was exceptional this year with Nico winning in Monaco and at Silverstone last week. Yeah, I think it was great and nice to see, especially round turn seven where, for the second time around Nurburgring, there were a lot of people and guests and friends from Red Bull. They put a big banner up on the formation lap and also on the in lap so it was very special and I enjoyed every second, for sure, especially after the chequered flag.
Q: (Jan Kotulla – Mannheimer Morgen) And to all of you, have you see the movie Rush and what’s your opinion about the movie?
SV: I haven’t seen it. I went to bed, so sorry Niki, he was very kind and invited me. I thought it was smarter to go to bed. So I have to wait.
RG: I needed to sleep too so I went to bed as well.
KR: No.
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File photo of Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull. Photo courtesy FIA. -
Vettel keeps Kimi at bay to take first win at home
Nurburgring, 7 July 2013: Red Bull Racing driver Sebastian Vettel has extended his championship lead with a hard-fought victory at the German Grand Prix, adopting a three-stop strategy with one stint on the P Zero Yellow tyre at the start of the race followed by three longer stints on the P Zero White medium tyre.
Thus the German won at home for the first time with Kimi Raikkonen’s Lotus pushing him during the last couple of laps. It is Vettel’s 30th GP win.
Meanwhile, Sahara Force India failed to finish in points and the German GP halted a strong streak of performances by the Indian outfit. Paul Di Resta was overtaken by his former teammate Nico Hulkenberg in the fag end as he could only finish 11th. Sutil finished 13th.
Paul said: “It’s not been the easiest of weekends for us, but in the final part of the race it looked like we were on course to score some points. In the end we just ran out of tyres during the last couple of laps, but it was always going to be risky with our two-stop strategy, especially as we had to pit under the safety car. There were times in the race when the car was working well, but I really struggled with the first set of mediums and was not happy with the balance. Things improved quite a bit for the final stint, but by then we were out of position. It’s a bit gutting to miss out on points so we need to unleash our potential and get back to our usual form in Hungary.”“It turned out to be quite a disappointing race and for whatever reason we’ve just not had the pace this weekend,” said Adrian Suitl. “I struggled a lot with the tyres and had to convert from a two-stop race to a three-stop race, which was not our plan. I also lost some time at my final pit stop and after that the points were just too far away.”Robert Fernley, Deputy Team Principal, was disappointed with the end of the points streak. “It’s disappointing to end our run of points finishes, but Paul came very close to picking up the final point today. Ultimately his two-stop strategy wasn’t quite enough to fend off our competitors in the final few laps, but we came close to pulling it off. Adrian’s race was also decided by tyre wear because we had to switch him to a three-stop strategy mid-way through the race. Overall we were missing some performance and didn’t have the pace to make the strategy work. Both Paul and Adrian were unable to pass the Williams of Maldonado after the safety car, which compromised the strategy. With three weeks until the next race and a young driver test before that, we will work hard to ensure we can recapture the form we’ve shown earlier in the season,” he felt.Pirelli adds:The championship leader started from second on the grid and made an excellent start to take the lead at the first corner. There were several strategies at work right from the beginning, with both Ferraris starting on the medium compound tyre, as well as the McLaren of Jenson Button and the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg. From 11th, Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) was also one of the seven drivers to start on the medium tyre.
A safety car with 36 laps to go prompted most drivers to make their second stops, with the final stops coming in the closing stages of the race. As different drivers were using varied strategies, the podium was only settled in the final laps. Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen completed a long middle stint to lead the race, before pitting for soft tyres with 11 laps to go. Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso and Button also completed the race on the soft tyre. The top five finishers all used a three-stop strategy, with Button the highest-placed two-stopper in sixth.
Pirelli’s motorsport director Paul Hembery said: “This had all the ingredients for a brilliantly strategic race from the beginning, with some drivers starting on the medium tyre in order to go longer in the first stint than the cars on the soft tyre. For many teams, this was almost a qualifying tyre – which gave the tactics an interesting edge. There were different strategies in play, which meant that the finish was extremely close. Overall performance and durability of our tyres were in line with our expectations while thermal degradation was perhaps a little higher than expected today, due to the high track temperatures, but wear was as we predicted. It would certainly have been possible to complete the race with two pit stops, as many of the competitors showed. However, the safety car slightly altered things. Last but certainly not least I would like to thank our staff at the factory in Izmit in Turkey who have worked tirelessly after Silverstone to produce the required amount of new rear tyres, and our logistics team who made sure that the tyres were here on Tuesday. It was a big team effort, for which I would like to thank everyone.”
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From left: Kimi Raikkonen (2nd), Red Bull engineer, Sebastian Vettel (German GP winner) and third placed Romain Grosjean also of Lotus on podium on Sunday. A Pirelli photo -
Raj Bharath finishes third in Race 1: Formula Masters
Ordos (China), 7 July 2013: After qualifying third at Ordos International Circuit, Indian racing driver Raj Bharath rounded off his race weekend with a podium finish in Race 1 while engine issues in Race 2 didn’t allow him to finish better than sixth at round three of Formula Masters China. He came third.
Driving for Meco Motorsport, the Bangalore lad had posted his maiden win of the season on the last outing at Shanghai International circuit. At Ordos though, mechanical issues which first surfaced in qualifying, prevented him from showing his pace. But the 19-year old manage to hold on through the opening race of the weekend to finish third, a Meco Motorsports release said.
“The car seemed to lack acceleration out of corner exits, so I was losing speed on the straights and couldn’t catch up to my rivals ahead”, conceded Raj.
Things took a turn for worse in race two and Raj found it difficult to maintain his position, having started third. So despite a bout of defensive driving, he could only cross the line in sixth.
“It was much harder in the second race as drivers behind me were quicker, as our issues had become more pronounced”, he said.
“I did the best I could but there was no way of holding them back when you’re lacking a lot of speed on the straights”, he added disappointingly.
Race three of the weekend was cancelled due to some safety issues on the circuit, which turned out be a blessing in disguise as it limited the amount of points that could have been further lost in the championship standings.
The cancelled race will be held at the championship’s next outing scheduled at Inje Circuit in Korea.
“Honestly it was a relief that one race got postponed, so hopefully we’ll get to the bottom of the issues and we’ll be back to our usual competitiveness in Korea”, concluded Raj.
Round four of the Formula Masters Championship is scheduled at Inje Circuit from 2-4 August.
ABOUT RAJ BHARATH:
Born November 20, 1994 in Bangalore, Raj took his first steps in motorsport with karting in 2008 – like all aspiring F1 drivers. Then aged 14, he immediately showed glimpses of his potential in his debut year, winning the trophy for the ‘Most promising rookie of the year’ in the National Karting championship.
He eventually won the title in 2010 and progressed to Formula BMW Asia in 2011 followed by the Ferrari Academy supported Formula Pilota in 2012.
For 2013, Raj aims to participate in the Formula Masters China and win the championship before moving to Europe in 2014, and getting closer to his aim of making it to Formula 1. He posted his first victory of the season at the Shanghai International Circuit in May.
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Armaan 2nd in Round 3 at GT World Series Pro-Am
Zandvoort (Netherlands), 6 July 2013: Indian racing driver Armaan Ebrahim and BMW Sports Trophy Team India clinched their maiden podium of the 2013 FIA GT World Series at the Zandvoort Circuit, finishing second in the Pro-Am category and a brilliant ninth overall.
It was a welcome result for the team after a disappointing last outing at Zolder in Belgium, where Armaan’s teammate crashed the car during practice and put the team out of contention for the weekend, a Meco Motorsports release said.
“This is effectively our second race of the season and my first at this circuit, so it feels incredible to finish on the podium”, said an elated Armaan.
Prior to the weekend, the team had done a brief shakedown at Spa, along with Armaan’s new teammate Melroy Heemskerk, who had replaced Jouse who couldn’t continue due to some contractual issues with the team.
A Zandvoort native, Heemskerk had no problem getting comfortable in the car and both drivers ended up having similar pace at the Danish venue, despite Armaan’s comparative lack of experience at the circuit.
“The shakedown did us good as it enabled me to get into the groove straightway on the race weekend, as I hadn’t been in the car for over two months before that”, clarified Armaan.
After showing encouraging pace in practice sessions on Friday, the team was hoping for a good result in qualifying but was slightly left lagging on the setup front.
“We had a few things to work on but just ran out of time during qualifying, so we were hoping to make a step forward in the afternoon”, he said.
Heemskerk went on to start the race but things didn’t go to plan as a chaotic start saw the safety car being deployed on the opening lap and the Team India BMW Z4 dropped down the order at a rapid pace.
The Dane was however able to recover as the team elected to pit as late as possible in the pitstop window, allowing for laps in clear air which allowed him to claw back the time lost in initial stages.
Armaan took over around the mid-point of the one hour race and there was no looking back as he managed to carve his way up the field, setting the fastest lap for the team in the process and eventually finishing second in the Pro-Am category and a credible ninth overall.
“It was a good run even though we had some braking issues with the ABS malfunctioning towards the end, so I had to brake earlier than normal”, Armaan clarified.
“It wasn’t the best situation as we had some pressure from behind [the third-placed Lamborghini finished just over a second behind] but I was able to hold him off”, he elaborated.
Armaan will start ninth for the main race tomorrow and hopes that more progress will be on the books.
“Starting ninth tomorrow we can only go forward, so hopefully we’ll have another strong result to round off the weekend considering the amount of work everyone has put in since Zolder.” he concluded.
Following the race weekend, Armaan will head to Munich – the headquarters of BMW AG, to mark the culmination of the Dynamic 1 contest run by BMW India. Armaan will join cricket legend and BMW brand ambassador Sachin Tendulkar, both racing the new BMW 1-series car and hosting the winners of the Dynamic 1 contest.
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Armaan Ebrahim finishes 2nd in Pro-Am class and overall 9th at the FIA GT World Series. A Meco Motorsports photo -
Hamilton pushes Vettel aside for pole position
Nurburgring, 6 July 2013: Lewis Hamilton produced a last-minute surprise at the Nürburgring as the Mercedes AMG Petronas driver overcame a poor practice form to take top spot in the qualifying for the German GP here on Saturday.
Lewis Hamilton will start from the front of the Nürburgring grid thanks to a last-gasp lap that snatched
Hamilton at Nurburgring on Saturday. A Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 team photo pole position away from home favourite Sebastian Vettel.
As has been the case right through the first half of the 2013 F1 season, pole position for the German Grand Prix was a battle-royal between Mercedes and Red Bull Racing. At the last Hamilton grabbed pole from Vettel by a tenth of a second, with Mark Webber a further tenth back. The two teams looked strong throughout the hour and provided the only runners capable of making it out of Q1 on the much-slower medium compound Pirelli.
With Germany hosting the ninth round of the 2013 F1 World Championship, the list of pole position winners now has a pleasing symmetry to it, with Hamilton joining team-mate Nico Rosberg and Vettel on three poles each. However, the Briton had looked a long-shot at the start of the session, having endured a rough FP2 and FP3 in which he struggled to get his car to perform.
“We were miles off!” he said in the post-qualifying FIA press conference. “I was a good eight-tenths of a second off, I wasn’t comfortable with the car at all. We went back into the truck and we just worked hard, tried to analyse everything and made lots and lots of changes. I just hoped that it would work and fortunately the car was beneath me and I was able to put in the times we did.”
Despite failing to secure top spot in front of a partisan audience at his home grand prix, Vettel did not look too disconsolate.
“It looks like we are much closer to them here than we were in Silverstone so I think we’ve made some progress and have all confidence for tomorrow,” he said. “We had a good run yesterday, looking at the race. I think we did our homework and now, obviously, it’s up to us.”
In the opening session the drivers from Williams, Caterham and Marussia were eliminated without fanfare. Q2 offered up a lot more excitement. As the clock wound down, Rosberg remained in the garage, apparently confident that his earlier lap of 1:30.326 would beat the cut-off but in the closing stages, with the chequered flag flying and the track improving, McLaren’s Jenson Button pushed Rosberg out to 11th, posting a time of 1:30.269.
It was a major blow to Rosberg who would have been readying himself for a tilt at a fourth pole of the season. “I was really shocked when I saw the times falling in Q2 today and realised that I was in P11,” he said. “I didn’t see it coming and we just underestimated how much the track would ramp up in terms of grip and lap time. I could have been on the front row today.”
Eliminated with Rosberg were the Force Indias of Paul di Resta and Adrian Sutil, McLaren’s Sergio Pérez, Esteban Guiterrez for Sauber and Toro Rosso’s Jean-Eric Vergne.
The drivers making it through to Q3 had a difficult choice to make: run or not run? While pole position would be set on the soft tyre, practice demonstrated that the medium compound was by far the stronger race tyre. Many cars kept their options open by doing outlaps but in the end only six cars continued on to set times on the soft tyre. Behind the top three Kimi Räikkönen took fourth, only hundredths of a second ahead of team-mate Romain Grosjean, and Toro Rosso’s Daniel Ricciardo qualified sixth for the second weekend in a row.
As the end of the session approached, Ferrari decided to set lap times on the medium tyre, with Felipe Massa beating out team-mate Fernando Alonso by less than a tenth. They will line up seventh and eight. Behind them McLaren’s Jenson Button did not set a time and will start ninth, with Sauber’s Nico Hülkenberg alongside in tenth.
2013 German Grand Prix qualifying times
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:29.398
2 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing 1:29.501
3 Mark Webber Red Bull Racing 1:29.608
4 Kimi Räikkönen Lotus 1:29.892
5 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:29.959
6 Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1:30.528
7 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:31.126
8 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:31.209
9 Jenson Button McLaren No time
10 Nico Hülkenberg Sauber No time11 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:30.326
12 Paul di Resta Force India 1:30.697
13 Sergio Pérez McLaren 1:30.933
14 Esteban Gutiérrez Sauber 1:31.010
15 Adrian Sutil Force India 1:31.010
16 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:31.10417 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:31.693
18 Pastor Maldonado Williams 1:31.707
19 Charles Pic Caterham 1:32.937
20 Jules Bianchi Marussia 1:33.063
21 Giedo van der Garde Caterham 1:33.734
22 Max Chilton Marussia 1:34.098ends
