INDIA in F1

Author: David Bodapati

  • Pic of the lot in non-stop rain at FP2

    Spa Francorchamps, 31 August 2012: With heavy, non-stop rain falling on Spa-Francorchamps, FP2 was all-but washed-out. For the first half of the session no cars ventured out at all. Nico Rosberg’s Mercedes finally appeared with 43 minutes remaining but Rosberg, and those drivers that followed him, did not complete flying laps. With five minutes remaining 18 of the 24 drivers had been out on track but none had crossed the start-finish line to record a time. Conditions were very poor, as witnessed by the spin that Heikki Kovalainen had on his outlap in the Caterham.

    As the chequered flag fell, those drivers wanting to use their opportunity to make a practice start on the grid, toured around to the start-finish line. They stopped and then dropped the clutch. In crossing the line they recorded a time. Charles Pic was nominally quickest, though his time of 2m49.354s was essentially meaningless.

    With no access to a dry tra

    Charles Pic in FP2 at the Belgian Grand Prix. FIA photo

    ck so far this weekend, teams still have a lot of work to do for what is predicted to be a dry race on Sunday.

    ends

  • We have an upgrade for Singapore: Pedro De La Rosa

    Francorchamps, 30 Aug 2012:  The following drivers were present for the first FIA Press Conference at Spa, the Belgian Grand Prix, the 12th round of the Formula One World Championship: 

    Jean-Eric VERGNE (Toro Rosso), Charles PIC (Marussia), Vitaly PETROV (Caterham), Pedro de la Rosa (HRT), Michael SCHUMACHER (Mercedes), Jenson BUTTON (McLaren)

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Jean-Eric, this is a new circuit for you in Formula One but I understand you’ve raced here before?

    Jean-Eric VERGNE: Yeah, I think it’s my favourite track. I’m really happy to be here in F1, to learn this track in and F1 car. I found it amazing in Formula 3 and World Series. So I can’t wait to drive tomorrow in this car, it should be nice.

    So you’ve been here in Formula 3 and World Series by Renault?

    JEV: Yes. I won three races in F3 in the same weekend here and last year I won as well. I finished second and first. It’s generally a good track for me, so hopefully I make a good run here as well this weekend.

    A lot of people feel that with the problem with the technical director at Toros Rosso that development might have finished but I understand that’s not the case.

    JEV: So far everything is OK. The team is still pushing really hard. I don’t have much to say about it.

    You have some updates here though?

    JEV: Yeah we have some good updates. Well, I don’t know if they’re good, but we have some and also we’re testing some new things for next year’s car – front suspension. So, everything is still going on quite well in the team and we’re looking forward to this weekend.

    Charles, obviously you’ve raced the first half of the season – how do you feel it’s gone as far as you’re concerned?

    Charles PIC: Quite good. I am quite happy about my first half of the season. Everything was new for me. So, first races were not easy because everything was new and there were a lot of things to learn. But I am quite happy with my progress and quite happy with the team’s progress because the start of the year was not easy. We were not able to make the winter tests. They worked really hard and made a lot of improvements and even if you cannot always… it’s not easy to see because the position is not changing but we are trying to close the gap. So, really looking forward to the second part of the season and to updates coming from the summer, so we’ll see how it is and on my side I will be focused to keep pushing hard and improving myself.

    I guess you measure yourself on your team-mate obviously but also on the people either side of you and in front of you. Are you happy with the gap between yourselves and Caterham?

    CP: Yes, we are not in the position yet to fight with them but it was much closer for the last two races – Hockenheim and Budapest. It’s great and I hope that with the update it will be even closer this weekend.

    Vitaly, the one problem you’ve had so far is qualifying in relation to your team-mate, whereas in the races you seem to have beaten him. Is that something you intend to tackle in the second half of the season?

    Vitaly PETROV: Of course I will try my best. What is good is that I know the problem, so we will try to fix this problem in the second half of the season, so I will try to get close to my team-mate and then we will see.

    One of the things you did during the break was visit some cities in Russia. It seems that you’re going to all sorts of cities that most of us have never heard of. What’s the idea behind that programme?

    VP: First of all it was part of my private sponsor, called Russian helicopters, so I visited two big cities, the first one is Rostov and the second one is Ulan-Ude. Actually, it was a good visit because it’s the first time I’ve been there. You know, Ulan-Ude is very close to China. It’s like if you go across the river you will be in China. From Moscow it’s six or seven hours flying. I visited the biggest lake in the world, it’s called Baikal. Unfortunately I was just there for one day. This lake it’s line is for 365 kilometres and length, it’s quite… I don’t how much it is. Actually, it was a good experience and I hope that I will go back there maybe, one day.

    Pedro, the team has obviously made strides forward, what are your own ambitions for the second half of the season and what about your thoughts professionally for the second half of the season?

    Pedro DE LA ROSA: Professionally? You mean racing? Well, I think that we’ve made progress; we’ve managed in this first of the season to go in qualifying, from not qualifying in Australia outside the 107 per cent, to 103.4 per cent in Valencia, so I think that’s a very, very aggressive improvement. However the positions are similar. In fact we’re qualifying in more or less the last two positions and then it’s difficult for us. Although we’re closer to pole position we still haven’t made enough steps on the positions regarding the qualifying and the race finishes. So that’s where we are concentrating: we still have to make the car quicker in the second half of the season. We don’t have anything new for the next few races. We will have an upgrade for Singapore. That’s where we are – but we are definitely happy with what we’ve done and what we’ve achieved, although it may not look like it in the results. We’ve still can do a lot better in the second half.

    And how important will the break have been to the team? OK, you’re saying they won’t have brought anything for the immediate races – but for future races?

    PdlR: I think the break is nothing as we haven’t been able to work or gain any advantage from the break, so for us it doesn’t make any difference. Before the break we knew that the upgrade was coming in Singapore, if everything goes to plan – and after the break it’s still the same. Until Singapore I think we will be more or less in the positions that we’ve been so far, and then wait for Singapore for this next upgrade.

    Michael, another milestone here at Spa: 300th grand prix weekend. What does that mean to you? Does that mean a lot to you at this stage or will it in the future?

    Michael SCHUMACHER: It’s certainly an interesting, beautiful, nice number to be around. A number that I didn’t think about, that I would do that, at the time that I retired at the end of 2006. And now here we are and I’m counting the 300 – because at one point it was the talk about whether there would be somebody able to beat Riccardo Patrese’s record of 250-whatever. I said ‘forget that, it isn’t interesting for me’, and here we are. And suddenly… it isn’t anything that I’m challenging or looking for to have just a number on my board but being the 300, yeah it’s a beautiful side-effect.

    I think you’ve seen the poster down the road which says ‘Michael, make it 400’. What chances?

    MS: I guess I can say not. It’s obviously nice that the fans are still with me and encourage me to go on. This morning I had a beautiful welcome, becoming the honorary citizen of Spa, that is something very special to me. And that’s why the 300 becomes special – because it’s in Spa. It all happened to me here in Spa. First race, first victory, some beautiful victories and interesting races and 2004 the seventh title, last year the 20th anniversary and now number 300 and being honoured. So it’s a full package. Spa has always meant a lot to me. I always called it my living room – now I can officially call it my living room. It’s good.

    But should we never say never?

    MS: For the 400? We probably say no for that one.

    Jenson, during the break, not only an Iron Man but your own triathlon as well. But the triathlon didn’t end quite the way you wanted to – perhaps we should share that story?

    Jenson BUTTON: I think we should move on from that one!

    The whole of Britain knows about it, so how about the whole of the world.

    JB: I did a triathlon for [charity] Help for Heroes and it was quite cold in the water. People were wearing wetsuits, I’d left mine in the hotel so I decided to try to squeeze into my girlfriend’s… which felt OK until I got into the water and then it tightened up in… certain areas. So that was the end of my race. I had a panic attack in the water! So yeah, good and bad memories but it was a great event and I think everyone had fun and we raised a lot of money for Help for Heroes. In the end it was fun but the most important thing is what we raised.

    Your aims for the second half of the season? How do you see the second half of the season? People are talking about perhaps driver orders that you’ll help Lewis…

    JB: I’m I think 40 points behind Lewis, so you’d say that I’m going to give up on fighting for the Championship just because I’m 40 points behind my team-mate? Lewis is 40 points behind Fernando and I still think he thinks he’s got a very good chance of winning this Championship, so no, we go racing as always and try to do the best job we can. The last two races for us before the break were very good: I had a second in Hockenheim and obviously Lewis’s win in Hungary – so we come here positive we can get a very good result. So, no, that’s definitely not the situation and we want to get as many points for ourselves but also for the team. The team championship, the Constructors’ Championship is very, very important to McLaren and it’s something that we’re going to work on as much as we can.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR:

    Q: (Mike Doodson – Honorary) Michael, congratulations on the 300. When you were with the red team, I think you set a record for reliability. I think it was something like more than 50 races without a single mechanical retirement. With the current team, things have been quite the contrary. I wonder if you have thought about trying to move elsewhere, which is what somebody, let’s say 20-years old would be doing at that stage of his career?

    MS: I haven’t thought about that. Maybe I should! First of all, you have those moments when things do run against you and I have mentioned that at any time I have full trust in the guys because they all do their utmost. Nobody wants to retire, everybody does their best job but then we have prototype cars and unfortunately things like this do happen. I don’t mind too much about this, because I was aware, reasonably early in the season, that we wouldn’t be fighting for the championship so to retire is not a big deal for me at that moment, not being in the championship anyway. Much more important is that if you would be in the championship, then it would obviously bother me much more. So, no, I look forward to the rest of the season. We still have a lot to go through and a lot to improve on, a lot to understand. The team is pushing hard to go forward in order to make our process a much more reasonable step forward compared to what we have been doing. Already we have achieved quite a bit more but I think it needs a bit more of that. And then reliability.

    Q: (Adrian Huber – EFE) Michael, congratulations again. You said just now, forget about the 400 but having all the records in Formula One, can we maybe think about 326/327? Can you remember all of your races? How many can you remember without looking at the stat sheets?

    MS: I don’t know how many I would remember; certainly not all of them, that is very clear. How many it will be in the end? We will have to find out. Don’t know yet. Certainly go to the end of the season.

    Q: (Paolo Ianieri- La Gazzetta dello Sport) My question is similar: when does the point come when you decide if you’re going to continue or if Mercedes decides whether they want to stay with you? Do you already have a deadline, or are you already starting to talk about it?

    MS: I think we made a very clear statement some time ago that by October we will be able to give an indication and nothing has changed since then, so no news I’m afraid.

    Q: (Ian Parkes – PA) Jenson, just following on from the earlier question and your answer regarding not supporting Lewis at this stage, Martin Whitmarsh has today suggested that there could come a point at some time this season when you might be asked to support Lewis. Is that something you would consider further down the line if the situation dictated, or does your personal attitude just say no, I’m not going to do that at all?

    JB: Personally, I think it’s a pretty pointless conversation right now. If I was 40 points behind Lewis in the championship and he was leading, do you think they would turn round and say ‘you’ve got to support your teammate’? It’s not a big margin, it’s less than two wins. Half the grid is in front of their teammates. All their teammates are not going to turn round and say ‘yes, we’re going to help my teammate win the championship’ because you still think you’re going to have a good chance. And until that chance is gone you’re going to fight for it. I’m not here to just race around and just help my teammate win a championship because none of us are. We’re here to fight and we’re here to do the best job we can for ourselves first of all and also for the team. I think it would be a pretty boring championship if there’s only twelve of us actually fighting for a victory and the rest of us were there to help our teammates. It’s not the sort of formula that we should want. So yes, I’m going to be fighting all the way until I either win the championship or it’s not possible.

    Q: (Vladimir Rogovets – Znamya Ynosty) Michael, we know that all drivers are very very superstitious. Do you have a mascot without which you cannot sit down in the car? Maybe for Spa you have a very special mascot.

    MS: I’ve had one for more than 20 years. It’s my wife. She comes tomorrow.

    Q: (Oana Popoiu – F1Zone.net) Michael, do you remember the feeling you had on your first podium, and how was it different after that?

    MS: I think it was in Mexico, if I’m right? Is it right? ’92? Was it two? Yeah, ’92, OK, so there you go. Is it different? Probably a little bit but no matter what, up there it’s always special. It depends on the circumstances. If you are a regular podium contender and you have the package to win races then you end up being third, you have less joy up there obviously versus not expecting to be there at all and then being third. So it really depends on the circumstances. Remembering Valencia, yes, it was a beautiful feeling, for myself, for all the guys, the team for everybody, it was beautiful. It was that way in ’92.

    Q: (Gabor Joo – Indexonline) Michael, you have 299 races so far. Can you single out one which is your favourite?

    MS: I keep talking about Suzuka in 2000, both for the quality of the race, for the end of the race and for the whole meaning of that result obviously, so it was a total package of many circumstances, why that race turned out to be a very special one for myself and then for so many others.

    Q: (Pierre van Vliet – F1i.com) To all of you: Spa is a very historical circuit where Grand Prix racing started back in 1925. Have you ever been on the old track having a look at the 14 kilometer layout like the fast Masta downhill between Malmedy and Stavelot?

    JEV: I was too young.

    MS: Even not me!

    PdelaR: Why me? Unfortunately not.

    Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Michael and Jenson, why is Spa so particular for drivers, why do you like it so much?

    MS: There are many reasons, particularly for me because I started in the days when corners like Eau Rouge and Blanchimont were extremely challenging corners, because the cars were built in a certain way and the circuit made them absolutely on the edge. It’s one of the old character tracks with lots of history. It is going through the natural countryside that we are in, the up and down like a rollcoaster so there are so many variants that make it so particular and so special. We all, as race drivers, prefer high speed and if you have a challenging high speed corner it’s special, and if you go through Eau Rouge… even nowadays it’s probably a little bit too easy flat out except maybe in the race sometimes, but the sensation, the forces that go through you in a cornering sense and in a vertical sense, that is a combination that you don’t find everywhere.

    JB: I think there are many different things: the history of the place. When you used to watch Formula One, you would see the greats racing around here and the circuit has changed over the years, even since I’ve been racing in Formula One, but it still feels very special. This circuit is very very flowing and there are only two corners that are below third gear and that’s very unusual, especially when you have so many corners on a circuit and it is one of those circuits which you just love driving. Whatever car you’re in, it’s just such a great feeling driving around a circuit like this. I think there are only a couple of other circuits like it. One is Suzuka, one was Silverstone. I think it’s changed a little bit now. It’s lost a little bit of the flow but those three really stand out for me, to be a real fast flowing circuit, and a circuit where we just love driving out of the pits and knowing you’re going to tackle.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Michael, you are here for your 300th Grand Prix. Do you still have the same passion as you had at the beginning for the first races, and are you able to deliver in the same way as you used to do when you started in Formula One?

    MS: I think that by saying yes I answer both of the questions. I have the same passion for what I am doing, yes, absolutely. Formula One is the ultimate racing and if you’re involved, you’re only involved because you want to do the best that you can do. Obviously we all depend on our machines, but nevertheless, within your machine you have a certain frame with which you can prove yourself and that’s the challenge and that challenge you like to outbrake that frame and you like to do anything on top of that. That’s the particular moment that you can have and the great thing in sport is that you have immediate feedback: whether you do achieve or you don’t achieve. There’s been plenty of satisfaction that I’ve had over more than 20 years now and I still enjoy it.

    I would probably think that my capacity to achieve is better, because I have a much better view and understanding, a lot more experience. If we have problems, it takes me less to come to the point with the team in explaining those problems and that’s helpful.

    Q: (Walter Koster – Saarbrucker Zeitung) Michael, for the second time, you are now an honorary citizen in Maranello and now here in Spa. What are the conditions which are necessary to fulfill this reputation and do you have special duties?  Please explain to us concerning this subject?

    MS: The only thing I can say is that both moments, the idea and invitation from those citizens that they offered me this honour and I was definitely pleased to achieve it, but I have no obligations and I’m just happen to have received such an award.

    Q: (Paolo Ianieri- La Gazzetta dello Sport) Next week, after Spa, we have Monza, another special for you, Michael. Is there any particular souvenir of the Italian Grand Prix that you remember? Which has been your best race?

    MS: We obviously had a very beautiful ending in 2006 at the time. In both ways, I do remember it being special, because we were behind in the championship and in that race we put ourselves back into the championship fight. Then came the beautiful celebration, obviously my message to retire after the race so it was a very particular weekend.

    Q: (Ian Parkes – PA) Jenson, it was only a year ago that you did your 200th Grand Prix but given the number of races in the calendar, do you see yourself emulating Michael and hitting 300?

    JB: Yeah, there’s no reason why not. It’s four and a half years of racing. Yeah, it’s possible. I really don’t know how I’m going to feel in a couple of years’ time. Now, of course, the hunger is there. If I lose that, that’s when I’ll stop. If I’m in a position where I get the choice to retire it’s the best position to be in, but it’s a long time before I need to start thinking of that.

    Q: (Oana Popoiu – F1Zone.net) Jenson, you never won at Spa and you’ve had a bit of misfortune here. Do you think that’s maybe a little jinx?

    JB: Not really, because that was really only one year. I think you mean 2010, with Sebastian. I love racing here. It’s a great circuit to race on because to qualify here when you get everything out of the car is such a nice feeling because this place is really unforgiving, so you’re always living on the seat of your pants. It’s a great place to race. There are a lot of possibilities for overtaking, in wet and dry. I’ve had quite a few podiums here but never on the top step. Hopefully that opportunity will arise very soon.

    Q: (Patricia Sanchez – La Gaceta) We’ve been hearing about F1 with electric cars. What would you think about that sort of competition, and how would you like to drive a noiseless car? Is that safe for you?

    MS: Looks like none of us has heard anything about that. We have partially electric cars already. We have KERS!

    Q: (Patricia  Sanchez – La Gaceta) My question is basically about having a Formula One race with no noise. Would that be the same feeling for you? If it happens.

    JB: If. I’m sure we could try and make some sort of noise that we like. It would save our hearing, because these things are pretty loud. We wouldn’t need earplugs, which is quite a good thing. I don’t know. I don’t know what the possibility is of having a completely electrical car, how many manufacturers would be involved.

    PdelaR: I must say I’ve heard about it, it’s Formula E, and it’s obviously a new era, and we should be open-minded to the fact that we’re used to racing with noise, but I remember a few years ago, going to indoor karting in Finland and racing with electrical cars for the first time which was an incredible experience because you were racing, you were braking for turn one, or accelerating on the straight and then you had a kart next to you and you didn’t hear it, which was shocking, because we are basically from the noise era, but we should be open-minded. Let’s wait and see how it develops, because it could be extremely interesting…

    JB: Can you hear a Formula One car coming?

    PdelaR: Absolutely, yeah. You can feel… yeah, especially when I’m shown blue flags, I can hear you guys!

    JB: You get out of the way straightaway. I’ve seen you Pedro!

    PdelaR: I mean karting, karting, karting, indoor karting. I don’t know how it will feel with single-seaters, but for sure you can still hear something. Maybe when you get very old you won’t but…

    JB: You tell me, Pedro!

    PdelaR: Anyway, my bottom line is it’s a new era, it’s an interesting avenue, we should be open-minded and let’s wait and see how it looks like, because we’ve never seen a fully electrical single-seater and I’m really looking forward to that.

    JEV: I have no idea. Maybe it will come. To be honest, I haven’t heard about it, so I don’t know how it is, I don’t know how it’s going to be. I know I did a kart race last year in Bercy with electric karts. It was quite a fun race. We could hear other noise as well. The funny thing is that we could hear the whole crowd around the stadium. But I have no idea how it would be in F1 or single-seaters.

    MS: That’s actually a good point. It would be the first time that we could hear the crowd and not the crowd us.

    JB: I think you’ve got to ask the fans more than us. It would be a big difference for the fans. I know there are the obvious reasons for doing it which are very important, but for the fans, they would miss something, with the buzz of the sound of an F1 car, because that’s the first thing you notice when you come and watch an F1 car, it’s the sound.

    Ends

    Pedro de la Rosa (left) with Schumacher and Karthikeyan (right). A HRT file picture.

  • MRF Challenge Series launched in Chennai

    Chennai, 24 August 2012: The fastest Indian in the World, Narain Karthikeyan launched the MRF Challenge Series at the Express Avenue Mall here in the presence of MRF stalwarts and F2000 car designer J Anand.

    For those in pursuit of excellence, the MRF Challenge 2012 will put a spring in the step as young racing drivers across the globe vie for honours in this international FIA approved series. On 24th August 2012, the residents of Chennai witnessed the birth of a motorsport series like no other.

    India finally has its chance to shine in the International motorsport arena. The launch of this spectacular series was done by none other than Formula 1 driver, and MRF’s Brand Ambassador, Narain Karthikeyan, as he drove this awesome racing machine in front of an enthralled audience of over 10,000 fans assembled at Express Avenue Mall in Chennai, India.

    The MRF Challenge 2012 brought the sounds and smells of the racing experience to the door step of the Chennai public. After a successful series last year with the MRF Formula Ford 1600cars, which also included a support race to the inaugural Formula 1 Indian Grand Prix, MRF has decided to up the ante in 2012. The upcoming series “THE MRF CHALLENGE 2012” will showcase high speed, cutting-edge race-car technology combined with Indian manufacturing excellence.

    Launch at Express Avenue Mall, Chennai

    India has always had its share of motorsport fans, and this has been validated by the tremendous response to the Formula 1 Indian Grand Prix in 2011. It is estimated that approximately 40 million Indians watched the live coverage of the race coupled with an in-stadia presence of over one hundred thousand spectators.

    Building on this growing interest, MRF Limited, the largest tyre manufacturer in India and a USD 2.5 billion company, is all set to host The MRF Challenge 2012 racing series this year. The MRF Challenge 2012 series will consist of four rounds (and a total of ten races), the first two rounds at Buddh International Circuit, and the final two at the MMRT Circuit in Chennai, one of the oldest circuits in the country.

    MRF has a rich legacy in the motor sports arena – a legacy built over twenty years of its association with the sport. The company’s focus has been in circuit racing with single-seaters, as well as in Rallying, both on the domestic front and in the Asia Zone and Asia Pacific Championships.

    On the international rallying front, Team MRF has won the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship three times, in 2003, 2005 and 2010.  MRF also sponsors the Super Cross Championships and has had a long-standing association with karting community in India, having developed the first FIA-CIK approved karting tyres in India

    This year MRF has commissioned Jayem Automotives Ltd in Coimbatore to build the ‘MRF FORMULA 2000’car. This car has been built under technical collaboration with Automobili Dallara of Italy, who is the world’s largest manufacturer of bespoke single-seater racing cars and is also considered the best in the business.

    It is the company that helped design, amongst other elite machinery, the Bugatti Veyron. They also build all of the GP2, GP3 and Indycars, as well as class dominating Formula 3 cars. Dallara has given the car a modern and dynamic design with all the very latest in cutting-edge technology which is available to them, while Renault-Sport has designed and manufactured its 210 BHP 2.0 litre 4-cylinder engine.

    This car will be a carbon fibre marvel with a six-speed Hewland sequential gearbox, making it an ultra-safe and reliable package. The car will boast performance equal to current international Formula 3 machinery.

    The tyres have been specifically designed from the ground up for high-speed circuit racing. MRFs R&D Engineers have worked tirelessly to satisfy all the needs of the drivers. Straight-line speed and stability, as well as high-speed cornering grip have been optimized into the design of the tyres, in addition to a very high level of safety.

    For the purists and petrol heads who dissect every details of the car, it would interest them to know the front tyre size is 200 x 540-R13, and the rear size is 240 x 570-R13. These sizes are available in both dry and wet constructions –again made specifically for this series. The wheel size is 8Jx13, and the car will use OZ racing alloy rims.

    MRF has also finalised the calendar for the series – Round One will be on the 27th and 28th of October as a support race for the Formula One Indian Grand Prix. Round Two will be held on the 1st and 2nd of December 2012 as a support race for the FIA GT1 Championship. The final two rounds will be held in Chennai on the 1st to 3rd of February & 8th to 10th of February 2013.

    MRF Racing Brand Ambassador Narain Karthikeyan. “When MRF launched the Formula 1600 in 2010, I was very excited and justifiably felt that it was a huge step forward in domestic racing. Little did I know, or expect, that a very short 2 years later, they would move the bar so far ahead.

    The new MRF Formula 2000 cars are the absolute cutting edge in international racing technology. The platform it will provide to young racing drivers from all over the world will make it a unique series internationally. The new MRF slick racing tyres which are being developed specifically for the dynamic characteristics of this car are also shaping up really well. My first impressions of the car and tyres were very positive when I drove it for the first time a few days ago.” 

    eom/Yohann Setna press release/ reposted from old website 2019

  • Bangalore to host the first leg of National TSD Rally

    Bangalore, 14 Aug 2012: Bangalore is gearing up for the Indian National TSD (Time Speed Distance) Rally Championship, which makes its debut in the Indian motorsports calendar this year with the first leg beginning in the Garden City here this week-end. In this connection a Press Conference is being organised in Bangalore today.

    The Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI) announced in June the launch of the all new FMSCI National Time Speed Distance (TSD) Rally Championship. This championship will be run under TSD format of rallying, with the objective of maintaining precise times and average speeds on various segments of a predefined route. This championship, promoted by Berunda Adventure Sports Club (BASC), will be the first championship formulated not only for drivers but also for constructors/manufacturers.

    President Vicky Chandhok said that FMSCI is excited about TSD becoming an official championship for the first ever time. He said, “This is a first and a very exciting step for rallying fans in the country. This is the only form of racing where speed is not a priority but rather precision and is a great stepping stone for rally enthusiasts. This championship provides great opportunities for manufacturers to get involved as well. TSD rallies were very popular in the 1970s-80s and we are happy to bring it back as part of the National Championship. The great thing here is that we will have the constructors/manufacturers fighting for the title of FMSCI National TSD Rally Champion rather than only drivers/navigators.”

    The first ever TSD Championship with prizes worth Rs 1 crore will be held across India and will consist of 6 rounds. The organizers will create a pool of 30 teams in various categories with drivers and navigators being assigned through an open draw to the constructors. The cars need not be altered or modified as it is a TSD format. Each car will be fitted with Transponders, GPS, Trip Meter and digital cameras for backup times, verification, live update and reduce human error.  The TSD rallies will also have a special category for non-professionals/ motorsport lovers. This will give any rallying fan the opportunity to participate and enjoy the thrill of motorsport in their respective cities. They can bring in their own cars and participate in a special leg of the rally.

    K. Prasad, 3 time winner of Raid de Himalaya and Head of BASC commented, “As big rallying enthusiasts we are thrilled to bring you this exciting new championship. The concept here is completely different from the past and the focus will be on the constructors/manufacturers vying for the manufacturers Championship title. We invite all manufacturers in the country to participate in the TSD Rally Championship and play a vital role in promoting motorsport in the country. Navigation in a rally is of utmost importance and this will provide rally experience to upcoming stars. The beauty of this championship is that any car can participate and no modification is necessary. We are keen to create awareness of the sport through workshops and safety clinics and are confident that this will be received well.”

    The inaugural round of the Rs. 1 Crore 2012 TSD championship will be held in Bangalore on August 10. This will be followed by rallies in Ranchi, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Hyderabad and Coimbatore.

    The calendar for the 2012 TSD Championship will be as follows:

    Round 1    :       10 August 2012         :           Bangalore

    Round 2    :       14 September 2012  :           Ranchi

    Round 2    :       26 October 2012       :           Coimbatore

    Round 2    :       30 November 2012   :           Jaipur

    Round 3    :       28 December 2012    :          Chandigarh

    Round 1    :       25 January 2013         :          Hyderabad

    ends

  • Q&A with HRT’s Pedro

    Madrid, 2 August 2012: HRT Formula 1 Team and Pedro de la Rosa have written a golden page in the history of Spanish motorsport this season. The union of both has resulted in the first time in Formula 1 history that a Spanish driver takes part in an entire World Championship with a Spanish team. At the age of 41, the driver from Barcelona is taking on his fourteenth season in Formula 1, but he maintains the same motivation and hunger as the first day to ensure that this project consolidates itself in the pinnacle of motorsport.
    We’re at the halfway stage of the season, what assessment do you make of these first months?
    They’ve been seven very intense months, with a spectacular amount of team work, which I’ve taken on with a lot of hunger and desire. We’ve made steady progress but now we’re at a key moment and we must take another step forward. My assessment is very positive because we set ourselves realistic targets, we’ve accomplished them and we’re, more or less, where we expected to be. We’ve still got to improve more and we have nine races ahead in which to do so.
    The start was complicated but the team is working better together and improving day by day. Would you say the objectives set at the start of the season are being accomplished?
    Without a doubt. We’re accomplishing them and with flying colours at times. We started outside the 107% in Australia and we’ve reached peaks of 103.6% in Monaco and our best qualifying result which was 103.4% in Valencia. That was a very ambitious target that we set ourselves because, for us, to be close to 104% is a realistic objective. We’ve surpassed it and have potential to do more. In our case, it’s going to be easier to improve in this second half of the season than it will be for a big team that is striving for perfection because we’ve got much more room for improvement. For now we’ve accomplished our objectives but there are still many races to set ourselves more ambitious targets.
    With your experience at big teams it can’t have been easy to arrive at such a humble team as this one. On a personal note, how do you face this challenge and what is most rewarding about it?
    I’m taking it on as a challenge, well aware that challenges are never easy and that in Formula 1 no one hands you anything. But in my opinion we’re doing a good job, with humility, work and pride. The most rewarding thing is to work with the people from the team and see that in very difficult conditions, and with much less people than other teams, they work day and night with the conviction that we can beat our rivals. The team is going through a period of change and growth and now we’ve got a fantastic headquarters that has transformed the team. We’ve got a base from which the team is growing day by day. No one has stopped pushing, no matter what the situation. And we’ve felt supported. It’s not easy being at the back and finishing last. But what motivates us every day is that we see that we’re improving and we believe that we won’t be at the back for long. It’s very nice to see that, despite the fact that i t’s being very tough, we believe in that step forward.
    How is your relationship with your teammates? What would you highlight about each one?
    My relationship with Narain is very good. There’s a lot of sincerity and we both want what’s best for the team. We fight hard on the track but in an honest way and, out of the teammates I’ve had, he’s one of the most sincere ones. We try to achieve the best set-up on the car between the two of us without hiding anything from each other. One of the characteristics of Narain and the engineers is that there is total transparency and no bad intentions, we’re aware that we’re last and if one of us finds something that can improve the car he shares it with the other because the objective is to progress. We’re team players.
    Dani is a great driver and an important part of the team because he’s got a great sense of humour and he makes things seem less dramatic with his characteristic humour. That’s very important for the team and everyone appreciates him. But he’s also very professional and knows how to work well. When he’s driven on Friday’s he’s contributed a lot.
    Ma has integrated very well. He’s the future of China and a driver that must play an important role in HRT Formula 1 Team. He’s probably the first Chinese driver with enough quality to be a Formula 1 driver and he left us all flabbergasted at the Young Driver Test in Silverstone with his great performance.
    And what’s your relationship with the Team Principal, Luis Pérez-Sala, like?
    Luis is one of the main reasons I’m at the team. I’ve always held him in the highest regard and I have blind faith in him. He’s never going to deceive me and I like to work with people who you can trust in and with whom there are no secrets. With Luis what you see is what you get. Sincerity is our strength and that gives us a lot of agility when making decisions.
    The F112 had a complicated birth but is a car with potential. What would you say are its strengths and weaknesses?
    Its main strength is that it has a great mechanical platform of suspensions and chassis and it has proved it at circuits where that is important. It is also reliable. Its weakness is its lack of downforce compared to other cars. We know exactly where we lose time and why, so we must work on that.
    Of the circuits to come, which are you most looking forward to racing at? And the least?
    This is a trick question because my favourite circuit is Suzuka, since in my opinion it’s the nicest in the championship, but almost all of its corners are quick and that’s going to give us a lot of problems. So the circuit I’m most looking forward to is Monza because it has long straights and strong braking corners, and our car performs very well in this kind of circuits. The ones I’m least looking forward to are Suzuka and Spa because they’re going to be very complicated for us.
    What would you consider a success once the season is finished?
    If we manage to qualify inside the 103% it will be a complete success. Especially doing so without KERS and a much less effective DRS system than the other teams. But it’s going to be very difficult because at the last Grands Prix the difference has been a bit bigger. If we manage to be under 104% with the aero package for Singapore it will be a great finish to the season and the necessary momentum to start next season strongly.
    But now it’s time to rest a bit to face an intense second half of the season. What plans do you have for the holidays?
    Like every year I’m going to Mallorca, to a small town on the east coast. I’ve spent my summers there since I was 3 years old and I have my childhood friends there and I’m going with my wife and three daughters who I’m really looking forward to spending as much time as possible with.
    A message for the fans
    The same one as at the start of the season. We’re thankful for their support and we’re here because of them. I thank them for their patience because I understand that the fans want us to be fighting at the front. But they also see that we’re improving every day, cutting down the difference, and building a serious project for all us to feel proud about.
    ends

  • Hare exacted revenge with win in Round 8

    Spa Franchorchamps, 28 July 2012: South African Rookie driver, Aston Hare claimed another win for Eurointernational at a wet Spa Francorchamps Circuit today for Round 8 of the JK Racing Asia Series. Hare and his teammates, Nabil Jeffri and Tan Wei Ron completed another clean sweep of the podium for Eurointernational.

    The outing today was declared a wet race with Jeffri lining up on the grid on pole with Hare in second whilst Irfan Ilyas and Tan Wei Ron lined up on row two. Jeffri did not have a good start, spinning his wheel and allowing Hare and Tan to pass him.

    From there, Hare started to open up a gap but Jeffri started to make paces and took Tan on lap two before closing in on Hare towards the end of the race. It was some great driving from the duo in the last few laps of the race when they drove nose to tail with Jeffri trying from the inside and outside to find a way past. But in the end, Hare held on to his lead taking the chequered flag just 0.3seconds ahead of the Malaysian.

    “My starts this season hasn’t been really good and I finally got off the line cleanly and took the first position at the first corner. Got through the first corner in one piece and from there I pulled a little bit of a gap maybe would give me a little bit of a breather for the race. But obviously not as Nabil is a good fighter, he came back strong and throughout the race I just had to hold him off and I tell you it wasn’t easy, I had to really hold him off.

    “A few times I thought he got past but I was just able to hold him and I took the chequered flag. I am happy with the win.

    “It’s a very wide track, a few times he almost got a switchback on me. I was just able to hold him and I thought at the last corner he might have just got me. He came around the outside into the Bus Stop, I was just able to hold him. A few times I saw him run off the track maybe he lost a bit of time there but overall it was a good race” said Hare at the Post Race Press Conference.

    Speaking of the battle between him and his teammate for the Championship, Hare said “He is fast everywhere. Its not going to be easy, I’ve got a 12 points difference now, I brought it down by five. The rest of the tracks, he has been to so it will be harder for a Rookie. But I will definitely fight hard and hopefully I can pull it off at the end of the year” ended Hare.

    “It was a very enjoyable race, one of the best races for me this year. Even though my start was bad but I managed to catch up after a few laps. After getting past Ron, I just went straight for Aston and I was behind him for a few laps until the end of the race.

    “He was very good in defending his line and we had a few scary moments especially at the fast turns but it was a very good race at the end. I was thinking about my Championship points. To me it was important to leave Spa leading the Championship” said Jeffri.

    For Tan, the Caterham Driver Development driver from Malaysia and racing with Eurointernational, had the best view of the dogfight between the two leading drivers. “Towards the end, I thought I had the possibility while the two of them were fighting, but there weren’t enough laps and the pace that I was coming wasn’t fast enough so the best finish was third.

    “I didn’t really have a good start. I came in fifth at the start Aditya passed me but I took Irfan and Aditya after the first lap and I started to build the rhythm as it goes and after that it got better and better. From there I was slowly catching Aston and Nabil but the pace wasn’t fast enough” ended Tan.

    Despite being happy with the results of the weekend, with his drivers claiming all podium in Rounds 7 & 8, Antonio Ferrari, team owner of Eurointernational will still be having a little bit of a serious discussion with his drivers. “Its good, I am very happy, especially in Spa. Two weeks ago we won here with Formula 3, we own this place” he said with a smile.

    “All four has been on the podium just depends on the positions. The team by itself showed that we didn’t have any problems, we won in the wet and we won in the dry. We fought each other, I didn’t like that so I screamed a little bit on the radio but the rest was good and now we just look forward to the next one”.

    Aditya “I really don’t know what happened, I just couldn’t find any grip on the car but I had a really good start. First lap was really good, everybody was bunched up but after that no matter what I did I could not find any grip and I was all over the place. There is really not much I can do.

    Ilyas finished the race in fourth ahead of Aidan Wright who was right in the middle of a five way battle for fifth. In the end Wright claimed fifth ahead of his Meritus.GP teammate, Afiq Ikhwan, Eurasia Motorsport’s Danial Hidzir, Meritus.GP’s Ernie Van der Walt and US Formula Project’s Aditya Patel in ninth.

    Ikhwan had a good start and was right in the middle of the battle, despite being unhappy with the pace of his car, he had a lot of fun fighting for positions. “I had a good start but the car just did not suit the conditions so I struggled a lot with the setup. We will try and fix the problem and find out what was the main thing why the car is not suited for this condition”. Once he realised he was unable to catch the leaders, Ikhwan just tried to maintain his position to get the best points for the Championship.

    For Indian driver, Patel, he did not make any changes to the car setup yesterday as he was happy with its pace but as the rain came, it may not have been the best decision, saying “I don’t know, with my driving I tried pretty much everything but I just couldn’t turn the car into any corner. I tried braking early, braking late, turning early, turning late, turning fast, turning slow, every combination possible but I just was losing time every time, we will just see the data and find out.

    Patel said the best battle he had was with Ernie Van der Walt of Meritus.GP and said “He passed me and I passed him back and we were wheel to wheel a few times, it was the closest and longest fight I had on this track. I had good fun this weekend, at Spa its always fun” ended the Indian driver.

    Josh Raneri stayed mostly out of trouble from the battling five to finish in the top ten whilst Guest Driver Alexis van de Poele of Belgium and Toby Earle were the last of the finishers in the wet race.

    All of the five circuits that the series visits in 2012 are Formula 1 circuits which are crucial to driver development in preparing them for higher levels of racing. The JK Racing Asia Series is recognised by the World Governing Body for Motorsport, the Federation Intenationale De L’Automobile (FIA), as having special status that allows for young inexperienced drivers to participate on a National License. The reason for this is that the Series provides them with an Education and Coaching programme that teaches them all aspects of what it takes to build a career in motorsport.

    The JK Racing Asia Series uses the 140bhp FB02, which has an unrivalled track record for training future Champions and developing them for a success with graduates at the highest level of the sport such as Sebastian Vettel, Nico Rosberg, Timo Glock, Daniel Ricciardo, Sebastien Buemi in Formula 1, Felipe Nasr and Rio Haryanto in GP2, Jazeman Jaafar, Sebastian Saveedra and Carlos Sainz Jr in British F3, and many more. This coupled with the highest safety standards, makes the FB02 the most suitable machine for up and coming drivers to learn on.

    JK Tyre & Industries, the leading tyre manufacturer in India, is the title partner for the JK Racing Asia Series.

    The JK Racing Asia Series is supported by Cody Maxx, SPA Design and official logistics agent, JAS Worldwide.

    Action at Round 8 of the JK Racing Asia Series at Spa on 28 July 2012. Photo JK Tyre.

  • Bharti Airtel and Mercedes AMG Petronas partner for Indian GP

    Bharti Airtel and MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS announce Race Partnership for 2012 Formula One airtel Indian Grand Prix
    •    In addition to being the title sponsor of the 2012 Formula One airtel Indian Grand Prix, airtel now joins global brands associated with MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS and strengthens its connection with Formula OneTM fans across the country
    • With this partnership, airtel customers can look forward to exciting MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS mobile content, money-can’t-buy F1TM experiences, and more

    New Delhi, 31st July 2012: Bharti Airtel, leading integrated telecommunications company with operations in 20 countries across Asia and Africa, today announced a Race Partnership with the MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team for the forthcoming 2012 Formula One airtel Indian Grand Prix.

    The strategic alliance gives airtel access to the MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS team along with rights to develop co-branded merchandise, use the race partnership logo, offer exciting mobile content, organize exclusive driver meet-and-greet sessions for consumer promotions and more. Brand airtel will also leverage the prominence of MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS and its drivers Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg to further strengthen its connect with F1TM fans and youth across India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

    airtel branding will feature on the airbox and headrest of the F1 W03 car, and on the racesuits and helmets of Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg, for the duration of the 2012 Formula One airtel Indian Grand Prix weekend.

    Announcing the association, Bharat Bambawale (Global Brand Director, Bharti Airtel) said, “As title sponsors, we at airtel are proud to have been an integral part of India’s first F1TM race last year. We are today delighted to enter a new lap of our brand’s Formula OneTM journey with an exciting alliance with the MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team”. In 2011, Bharti Airtel took the lead in bringing alive India’s Formula OneTM dreams and became ‘Title Sponsor’ of this sport’s debut in the country.

    “Bharti Airtel and the MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team are associated with traits of leadership, speed, performance and fast-paced growth, thus making this partnership a perfect match between two like-minded brands. By building on the unique motorsport heritage and strong track record of Mercedes-Benz , we will strengthen brand airtel’s youthful positioning and appeal to Formula OneTM fans across India”, Bambawale further added.

    Ross Brawn (Team Principal of the MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team) commented, “The 2011 airtel Indian Grand Prix was a very successful new adventure for Formula One and we are delighted to now be partnering with Bharti Airtel, who have supported the sport in India from the outset. Taking our sport to new audiences is vital for our future and we are very much looking forward to working with Bharti Airtel in the run-up to this year’s race, in order to bring our fantastic sport closer to the Indian fans.”

    The MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team competes in the FIA Formula One World Championship and is based at the team’s Operations Centre in Brackley, UK. Home to over 500 employees, the team is headed by multiple World-Championship winning Ross Brawn, and owned jointly by Daimler AG and aabar Investments PJS. The engines for the team’s Formula One cars are provided by Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains based in Brixworth, Northamptonshire.

    Aimed at getting customers closer to Formula OneTM, airtel offers rich mobile content and instant race updates on race orders, team and driver standing information etc. With this association with MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS, airtel customers will now also have access to money-can’t-buy F1TM experiences and videos of behind-the-scenes action, high performance engines and cars, automotive sport accessories etc.

    The second and 2012 leg of Formula One airtel Indian Grand Prix will be held on Sunday, 28th October this year.

    About Bharti Airtel
    Bharti Airtel Limited is a leading integrated telecommunications company with operations in 20 countries across Asia and Africa. Headquartered in New Delhi, India, the company ranks amongst the top 5 mobile service providers globally in terms of subscribers. In India, the company’s product offerings include 2G, 3G and 4G services, fixed line, high speed broadband through DSL, IPTV, DTH, enterprise services including national & international long distance services to carriers. In the rest of the geographies, it offers 2G, 3G mobile services. Bharti Airtel had over 257 million customers across its operations at the end of June 2012. To know more please visit, www.airtel.com

    About MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS
    The MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team competes in the FIA Formula One World Championship and is based at the team’s Operations Centre in Brackley, UK. Home to over 500 employees, the team is headed by multiple World-Championship winning Ross Brawn, and owned jointly by Daimler AG and aabar Investments PJS. The engines for the team’s Formula One cars are provided by Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains based in Brixworth, Northamptonshire.

  • Hamilton survives Kimi to win Hungarian GP

    Budapest, 29 July 2012: Lewis Hamilton powered to his second win of the season at the Hungarian Grand Prix, fending off late pressure from Lotus’ Kimi Raikkonen. The Finn’s team-mate Romain Grosjean was third, with Sebastian Vettel finishing fourth.
     
    Pole winner Hamilton made a good getaway, leaving Grosjean standing at the lights, which led to the Lotus driver being immediately put under pressure by Vettel. The Red Bull Racing man couldn’t make the move stick however, and as the pair went wide on the exit, Jenson Button was allowed to sneak through on the inside and steal third. Raikkonen, starting fifth, had got away badly and was passed by Fernando Alonso.
     
    That was the shape of things for the first two thirds of the race, with Grosjean staying in touch with Hamilton throughout, the gap ebbing and flowing as the first two stints went on.
     
    But the complexion of the grand prix changed at the end of the second stint. Midway through the second stint, Raikkonen was told that he would have to go long on his option soft tyres in the hope he would gain ground on his rivals. The Finn complied and despite changing his car settings to preserve his tyres, he continued to put in competitive times. And as the cars ahead encountered traffic the race suddenly swung Raikkonen’s way.
     
    The 2007 champion pitted for medium tyres and when he emerged he found himself alongside Romain Grosjean and battling for second. He brusquely shouldered his team-mate aside and took off in pursuit of Hamilton.
     
    Initially, it looked like that chase might also go the Finn’s way. Lapping almost half a second quicker than the McLaren driver he closed to within a second and it looked like he would get a chance to make an assault on Hamilton’s lead.
     
    However, with the McLaren driver carefully managing his tyres and Raikkonen struggling in the messy wake left by his rival’s car, an opportunity never presented itself and Hamilton cruised to his 19th career win.
     
    “These are the kind of grands prix you really enjoy winning – races where you’re under intense pressure from great drivers like Romain and Kimi,” said Hamilton. “This is the kind of day when you have to have your mind 100 per cent [focused] and I feel great because the team didn’t flinch and neither did I.”
     
    The McLaren driver insisted, however, that he was never under threat from Raikkonen.
     
    “He was never really close enough,” he said. “I purposely allowed him to close up in certain corners, so that he may have problems with his tyres eventually – but it didn’t look like it was going to happen. But I had to make sure I saved my speed for the last sector and made sure I drew a big enough gap in the last three corners and I did that every lap. I could see it was very difficult for them to follow, particularly through those areas, so it was important to make sure you maximise, especially with the DRS.”
     
    Raikkonen was left with the consolation of his fifth podium finish of the year and admitted that it had been a struggle to get close to Hamilton.
     
    “My only chance was that he would run out of the tyres and then you will have a chance – but that never happened, so we probably should have had 20 more laps – and then it would have happened. I didn’t win, so there’s no point worrying about it.”
     
    Grosjean, meanwhile, settled for a somewhat disappointing third place, the Frenchman complaining that he had been badly held up by back markers in the period before he was passed by Raikkonen.
     
    “I got stuck behind another car, which had been [blue] flagged but didn’t let me past in this lap: I lost 1.5 seconds,” he said. “I wasn’t very happy at that stage to be honest because I had been fighting for the win the whole race with Lewis and suddenly you get stopped by something you cannot really manage.
     
    “Basically it was close with Kimi,” he added. “He did what he had to do to not let me pass. I went a little bit on the outside and got the marbles on the tyres and then I struggled to recover. It is what it is.”
     
    Vettel took fourth place after a nip and tuck battle with Button in the opening two stints. After being eclipsed at the start, Button led the pair for most of the race, despite Vettel insisting to his team that he had the faster car and that they needed to do something. In the end they didn’t need to. Button made his second stop and emerged eighth behind the slower Bruno Senna.
     
    That was enough to buy Vettel the time he needed and after his own stop he emerged in front of Button and settled into fourth place, which he held until the flag.
     
    With Fernando Alonso fifth, Button sixth and Senna seventh, eighth place went to Mark Webber. The Australian, who had started 11th, ran as high as fifth in the closing stages but need to make a third stop and dropped back behind Senna whom he was unable to pass.
     
    Felipe Massa finished ninth and Nico Rosberg, who salvaged some pride for Mercedes after a dismal weekend, took the final point.
     
    After seeing neither of its drivers make Q3 on Saturday the team’s race went wrong even before the start. Michael Schumacher stalled on the grid and had to be pushed back to his pit box to start the race from pit lane. On his exit he was penalised for speeding in the pit lane and eventually retired after 58 laps.

     

  • The team did not flinch, neither did I: Hamilton

    Hungary GP – FIA Press Conference 4

    DRIVERS

    1 – Lewis HAMILTON (McLaren)

    2 – Kimi RAIKKONEN (Lotus)

    3 – Romain GROSJEAN (Lotus)

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Lewis, a fantastic race for you, absolutely fantastic, under pressure all the time it seemed.

    Lewis HAMILTON: Yeah, these are the kind of grands prix, the races you win like this, where you’re under intense pressure from great drivers like Romain and Kimi – for me it’s a great reminder of the old days with Kimi – and this is the kind of day when you have to have your mind 100 per cent and I feel great because the team didn’t flinch and neither did I.

    Great pitstops as well.

    LH: The first one wasn’t spectacular but the last one was very, very quick. We had a problem in the first pit stop, I think with the left rear, but otherwise we didn’t lose too much time there. But the second pit stop was fantastic.

    Was there any temptation to go for a third stop?

    LH: The team were talking about it. The plan was to do a two-stop but, you know, I had my target laps and the team weren’t confident that I was going to make it to those laps but I knew I would. In my second stint I could have gone longer but they wanted to cover the guys behind which was probably the right thing to do. So, as we did that, then it was just trying to make those tyres last a long time while keeping this guy [Räikkönen] behind. Which as you know, they are absolutely rapid, these guys. So, you know, if we were on another track where overtaking was much easier I think perhaps the result would have been different.

    They seemed to catch and then drop back. How close was anyone ever coming to overtaking?

    LH: He was never really close enough. I purposely allowed him to close up in certain corners, so that he may have problems with his tyres eventually – but it didn’t look like it was going to happen. But I had to make sure I saved my speed for the last sector and made sure I drew a big enough gap in the last three corners and I did that every lap. I could see it was very difficult for them to follow, particularly through those areas, so it was important to make sure you maximise, especially with the DRS.

    Did you have a chance Kimi, with the DRS?

    Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN: Ah, no. It was not so bad to follow through the last corner but you’re, I don’t know, one second later on the power every time so they just pull too far away and the straight is not long enough and the others are too fast. So it didn’t really give you any chance. My only chance was that they would run out of the tyres and then you will have a chance – but that never happened, so we probably should have had 20 more laps – and then it would have happened.

    So, are you happy with second place or did you feel you could have won it?

    KR: I didn’t, so there’s no point to worry about it. I had an OK start but then we had an issue with the KERS and I only could use 50 per cent and I lost one position to Fernando, so the first few laps were not really good because we were trying to get the KERS working. After that it was OK but the same situation with Alonso, I was stuck behind him and just tried to save my tyres and push once we got the clear circuit. It seemed to work both times and we gained a lot of time on those few laps.

    And what about the time you came out of the pits and found yourself alongside Romain?

    KR: Yeah. The team told me it’s going to be very close and I made a mistake with the pit lane speed limiter so it meant maybe five metres after the line I was still on it, so I thought that I really didn’t do a very good job out of there – but luckily it was enough gap and we were side-by-side in the first corner, but I could keep my position quite easily at that point. But it was one of those things: we had a lot of speed but just couldn’t use it in all the race.

    How was that moment for you Romain?

    Romain GROSJEAN: It just happens. Unfortunately, I got stuck behind another car, which had been [blue] flagged but didn’t let me past in this lap. I lost 1.5 seconds. I wasn’t very happy at that stage to be honest because I had been fighting for the win the whole race with Lewis and suddenly you get stopped by something you cannot really manage. Basically it was close with Kimi. He did what he had to do to not let me pass. I went a little bit on the outside and got the marbles on the tyres and then I struggled to recover. It is what it is.

    And it was pretty close with Sebastian in the first corner of the first lap as well?

    RG: Yeah, it was the same story as with Kimi. Kimi was inside of my [car] and I was inside of Sebastian. So it was all right.

    How close were you? The gap seemed to go out and come back when you were behind Lewis.

    RG: It’s really difficult to follow another car here, to be close and not do any mistakes. When I was following Lewis sometimes I was losing a little bit the grip of my tyres. Then I had to recover a little bit. Our first pit stop was a disaster. The second one was OK. We didn’t get the chance to jump in on the pit stop strategy. I think that was the only key today because overtaking is really too difficult. You can feel that you’re sliding tyres, losing the grip, sliding more and it gets worse and worse. So it’s very difficult to follow,

    So a little bit disappointed with third place?

    RG: Yeah a little bit today I think. We were really close to fighting for the win. But as I said I got stuck behind another car under blue flags that didn’t really respect it.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Kimi, you have been second three times when Lewis has won here. Have you ever been close to overtake him?

    KR: I don’t know. It was a long time ago to remember the past. Today it wasn’t – it was many years. It makes no difference if you don’t get past. We were second best today and third. I think it was good for the team but of course we will keep trying to win and hopefully it will come soon.

    Q: (Niklas Jakobbson – Budapest Times) Lewis how frustrating is it for you, going into the long summer break now that it seems that your car has picked up pace and both you and Jenson seem to be fighting for the win again?

    LH: It’s not frustrating at all. It’s quite nice to go into the break knowing that we had a win. Every year that we’ve done that it’s been a great feeling. I think it’s very very very important how we manage the summer break, mentally and physically, but we’ve clearly still got a lot of work to do. We should obviously take from this a pat on the back for a great job from everyone but we must know that we still have a lot of work to do. These guys were absolutely rapid in the race. If we’re going to stay ahead of these… if they were to have qualified at the front, it would have been impossible to have got past them.  So we need to remain focused and of course enjoy the break. This will carry on and the guys will carry this for the next week or so, I’m sure, back at the factory. Guys were wearing their team tops and hopefully we still have good pace and hopefully even more when we come back.

    Q: (Joo Gabor – Index) Kimi, it is your fourth second place this year, I think. Aren’t you getting a bit annoyed about this? Spa is coming up, are you confident that you can break it?

    KR: I think I’ve only been second twice, not three times, I don’t know. Anyhow, we always try to win; some days you get close to it and it’s a bit disappointing that we cannot and we know the reason: we have not been so strong in qualifying and we keep making it very hard for ourselves on Sundays but it’s not annoying. We still keep putting ourselves in a good position to at least have a chance to win and get good results, good points for the team. Yeah, you would rather win than come second or third but it’s a long season and I think we’re improving all the time. If it comes it’s great, if not, we keep trying. I’ve been in the business long enough that I don’t really worry about things too much. We improved our position, our situation in the championship for myself and for the team. Maybe we are one place behind right now but we are closer to the front. As long as we keep doing that and hopefully the wins will come, then we will give myself and the team a good chance.

    Q: (Sylvia Arias – Parabrisas) Lewis, each win is important of course, but is this more important after all this stuff about your private life, when you said I’m in the best moment so let’s party to enjoy this?

    LH: I definitely think it’s always good when you come away with a win. There always seems to be a lot of talk about me and my private life. Hopefully this will answer lots of the things that have been said. I am 100 percent focused this year, regardless of what people think. I’ve been on it all year, I’ve never been so committed but of course, I’m still in  my twenties, I do want to enjoy my last bit of my twenties, because I’ve heard it’s downhill from then on. I’ve got to strike a nice balance and I think I am.

    Q: (Dorel Tant – MSport1.com) Kimi, on the podium, did you hear the tremendous following you have here in Hungary, a lot of fans. Does that give you some kind of moral boost for the next races, let’s say?

    KR: Yes, it was great to hear all the people shouting and cheering. It’s good for us, but unfortunately it doesn’t make us any faster. I was pushing as hard as I could in this race so we keep trying to do the same in the next race again, but it’s always been great here with a lot of Finnish flags and a lot of fans here so it’s a great place to come.

    Q: (Peter Vamosi – Vas Nepe) It’s Alonso’s birthday today, what are your messages to him?

    RG: Happy Birthday. Fernando is a good friend so I wish him all the best for this year and hopefully we can keep fighting with him in the championship.

    LH: I’ve already tweeted happy birthday to him.

    KR: We spoke before already.

    LH: Romain says he wants to sing it.

    RG: No, no. I don’t want it to rain straight away!

    Q: (Marco Del’Innocenti – La Gazzeta dello Sport) Kimi, there have been some rumours today in the press about a possible comeback to Ferrari for you. Rumours apart, would you consider coming back to Ferrari?

    KR: I always said that I didn’t have bad feelings against them. I had a good time with the team. I won my championship there but things probably could have gone a nicer way in the end. Life goes on and you never know what happens in the future but I’m happy where I am now and things are going pretty nicely. Like I said, you never know what can happen in the future but I’m happy where I am. I don’t come up with the rumours, so perhaps you have to ask the people who write them.

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Lewis, as an Englishman, how does it feel to win this so-called Grand Prix of Finland every year from Kimi?

    LH: Grand Prix of Finland?

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) There are so many Finns.

    LH: There are a lot of Finns here but you know what? For me it’s great to see Kimi up here with me. I think he’s done… you know I’ve got a huge amount of respect for him. I remember racing… I remember watching him on TV before I even got to Formula One and you know, when I used to play the computer games I would always play as him. It wasn’t Juan Pablo, unfortunately, and to think that we’ve had some great races in the past together and now another great race. Hopefully in the future we will have lots more races but Hungary has been good to me, really has been good to me. I really really love the fans here, I love the city. We always have such a great turn-out here but the track is awesome. I don’t know how the other drivers feel but it’s such a classic, so I really can’t wait to come back here again next year and hope to repeat it.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Lewis, you took good points from Alonso. You are both to the lead of the championship. What does this victory mean in terms of fighting for the title?

    LH: This weekend shows that it’s all to play for still, not enough points taken from Fernando as he still got ten points but bit by bit, if we can continue with this kind of performance then we can slowly catch him but we know we need consistency and we need to improve the car still in many areas, and that, I’m sure, we will do. The team is doing a fantastic job. We’ve now got the quickest pit stops or usually the quickest pit stops. Today I got the best start I’ve had all year, I was really surprised by it. This is a really good stepping stone for us, especially after the difficult races we’ve had over the last three tough races, it’s great to come and end the summer on this high.

    Q: (Garry Meenaghan – The National) Lewis, it’s been a momentous weekend back home with the Olympic Games starting. I was just wondering if, as a British driver with a British team, winning here must feel extra special? I saw you had the circles on your helmet.

    LH: Yeah, it does feel extra special because obviously with the Olympic ceremony and the Olympics starting and obviously wishing all the teams the best, I can’t wait to at least watch it on TV, but to be able to have it back in the UK I think is great for Great Britain. Yeah, I carried the flag on top of the helmet today. I hope that it was visible. I feel that I’ve done my part, even though we’re not in the Olympics. I feel like I’ve done my little bit today, this weekend, as has the team for the Olympics.

    Ends

     

  • Its an incredible job by the Team: Hamilton

    Hungarian GP – FIA Press conference 3

    DRIVERS

    1 – Lewis HAMILTON (McLaren)

    2 – Romain GROSJEAN (Lotus)

    3 – Sebastian VETTEL (Red Bull Racing)

    TV UNILATERAL

    Lewis you looked like that was fully under control at all times, apart maybe from that first run in Q3?

    Lewis HAMILTON: Yeah, it’s been a really positive weekend so far. The guys have done an incredible job this weekend as always, preparing the car. To finally see the upgrades working this weekend, I’ve been able to put the car in places that I previously wasn’t able to do. So, generally every lap has been quite good throughout practice and qualifying, apart from the first run in Q3.

    Romain, obviously this is what you and the team needed, a strong qualifying performance, because you’ve shown in recent races that you’ve got a very good race car under you?

    Romain GROSJEAN: Yeah, we normally have a good race pace, it’s good to be back at the front. We had a difficult German Grand Prix and a difficult start here in Hungary. But the guys did a fantastic job trying to help me set up the car, trying to find out what was wrong and [we’re] back to the top and it’s good. I think the race tomorrow will be interesting.

    Sebastian, you only did the one run in Q3 because you used up tyres before that. Tell us how difficult it was to get the tyres working today?

    Sebastian VETTEL: Yeah, I think for us it more a difficulty of getting everything to work properly. I think the speed is there but yeah it seems extremely difficult once you lose the balance a little bit. So I think we were struggling a little bit with that in qualifying. Throughout qualifying I think it got better. We shot through all the tyres, more or less. I knew I only had one set in Q3. I’m not entirely happy with the lap I had. I think Grosjean, sorry, Romain, was in reach. I think Lewis was probably a bit too far away today. But I think with the progress we made this morning and through qualifying we should be in a good position tomorrow for the race.

    Lewis if you look at the points you’ve scored in the past few races and the points scored by Fernando Alonso, the championship leader, there’s obviously a massive difference. How important is a win tomorrow for you and for your championship hope?

    LH: Well, thanks for reminding me! This is motor racing, you know. We’re not saying we’re relaxed about it but we know that we’ve got a lot of work to do and we’re trying to make sure that we start that work from this weekend

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Lewis, you seem to have hit the ground running from the road here almost – you were fastest in both sessions yesterday; fastest in all the qualifying sessions as well and you love the circuit, you must be so pleased with pole position now as well?

    LH: I am, absolutely. I’m really happy with the work the guys have done. Obviously Jenson showed the pace of the car in the last race but to be able to put that to work through qualifying feels fantastic. This is a good boost to the team. Still we have a very long race tomorrow. Lots can happen and we just need to keep our cool. The weather’s fantastic here, the city’s beautiful and the fans, well what a great turn out for a Saturday.

    Well, you’ve been on pole here before and you’ve won here twice as well, so you know how to win here. Is there a secret to tomorrow?

    LH: There’s no real secret, no. It’s the same as everyone when they win races. You just have to keep your head cool and look after your tyres. Tyre strategy will be important tomorrow. Degradation will be interesting. I just hope for once we have a good start. That’s what I hope for the beginning.

    How were the long runs this morning. Obviously you weren’t able to do long runs yesterday and everybody crammed in their long runs this morning.

    LH: I didn’t do any long runs this morning. I did mine yesterday. It was pretty good.

    So you were happy with that?

    LH: Yeah, I mean, the track was a little bit greener yesterday so it’s difficult to compare it to today, but for us it was not such a problem. I think we know the Lotus is very, very strong on long runs and so is the Red Bull, so we just need to focus on us and really hope we can improve this weekend with those upgrade. Jenson showed in the last race that it is an improvement so hopefully I can show the same thing tomorrow.

    Romain, on the front row for the first time – how much satisfaction does that give you?

    RG: Pretty high, I have to say. We started the weekend coming back from the German Grand Prix which was a bit of a disaster for ourselves, and it didn’t start in the best way. But then we worked hard, tried to analyse what was wrong on the car and why I couldn’t get the feeling that I had at the start of the year. P3 was getting better and then the start of qualifying was very difficult, with the first one getting a nightmare. But then we found back the speed, improved the car, tried to understand what was wrong with it, and being here on the front row is something special – especially here at the Hungarian Grand Prix where we know overtaking is very difficult. We need to start from the front, we said that since a long time – so first job done. Hopefully tomorrow we keep our race pace from usually, we able to save our tyres as much as we want and be able to get some good battles with the guy at the front.

    The performance of the car you’ve improved – do you think that’s going to be OK for the race itself on full fuel tanks etc?

    RG: Normally it’s better on high fuel than on low fuel, so it’s pretty good to be on the front row. We have been maybe working a bit more this week on qualifying because we know it’s a big key for the race. So, hopefully tomorrow the car will feel pretty well with the tank fuelled and the setup we normally run for the race. Hopefully that’s the case. Hopefully we manage to save our tyres as much as we want, as much as we can, and then we have good pace.

    We’ve seen quite a few people going off the circuit at many, many corners, to turn this into a podium tomorrow, how are you going to do that?

    RG: Well, the key is to stay on track, that’s for sure. Let’s have a good start, let’s see where we are at the beginning of the race and how the car feels. Hopefully it’s going to feel alright, as it did in Bahrain or Canada, and if we have this, then I think we have everything in our pocket to fight for a good result.

    Sebastian, we’ve seen the performance, or seem to have seen the performance up and down the whole weekend – not just from you but from your team-mate as well.

    SV: Yeah, a bit difficult for us this weekend to really get the balance right. I think the car is quick – and sometimes really quick – but it’s a bit difficult to get it out of the car all the time. So, I think yesterday afternoon we were quite happy, this morning we weren’t that happy and in qualifying it seemed to get better again. So, we’ll see. I think it should be a good race tomorrow. I think the pace with fuel in the car is probably a little bit better than without fuel, so we’ll see what we can do.

    You said ‘room for improvement’ after yesterday – but that didn’t come this morning then?

    SV: No, not really. I think it wasn’t that bad yesterday but this morning initially it wasn’t as good as it was yesterday – so we seem to have lost that little bit. But, I think just before qualifying we managed to come back and I think in qualifying I think we were able to improve session by session. Obviously we had to use a couple of sets that… or one more set than as per plan, which was not great. That’s why we had only one run in Q3. But in the end we used as many tyres as everyone else. We’ll see what we can do in the race. I think Lewis was out of reach today, they always seemed to be very quick. It’s probably not too bad to start third here, it’s on the clean side and it’s a long way to Turn One.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Leonid Novozhilov – F1 Life, Russia) Lewis, are you surprised? This is your 23rd pole position.

    LH: Privet. (Hello in Russian). I learned that in Moscow! Surprised? I think every time I remember my first pole position and I pretty much remember every pole position that I’ve ever had. I’m always striving for perfection and that lap and the pressure that we’re all under to get that perfect lap is intense, yet exciting. If you get it right, it’s incredibly empowering. This weekend we’ve obviously had the pace so I knew that it was possible, it was just a case of doing it and if I didn’t, I would be quite disappointed considering I’ve had the pace all weekend but fortunately I did it.

    Q: (Peter Vamosi – Vas Nepe) Romain, if you can manage to win the race tomorrow, you will be the next driver after Ayrton Senna in the history of Lotus heritage. How do you feel about this, have you got extra pressure because of that?

    RG: Well, I don’t think it’s an extra pressure. I think Formula One is already full of pressure. If I win the race tomorrow then it would be fantastic for the guys in the team, at the factory, for everything we’ve been doing since the beginning of the year and what we’ve achieved. And if I’m the next driver after Ayrton Senna to win a race with Lotus, it would be something to add to all the processes and all the happiness that we can get in these circumstances. It would be an extra pleasure.

    Q: (Julien Febreau – L’Equipe) Two questions for Romain: your position on the grid today, what does it mean to you? Do you fully understand what was wrong with the car since Germany? And the second question is: if you had the possibility to switch positions with Sebastian, would you accept?

    RG: What is wrong? I think it’s a lot of things together. We have seen that this year working with the tyres can be good, can be difficult. I think we were just, in the last two races, where we had to be. We had some signs on the car that things were not going as we wanted. the car was not handling as it should and we were not working the tyres properly, so we have been working in that direction, trying to get back to a normal set-up, to try to avoid every other aspect that could influence this. I think being second today is a bit of a surprise after we struggled but we improved lap after lap and that’s good and the track rubbered in and I think that helped us.

    And if I had to change position: no, because I was already third once in qualifying and now I’m second, and hopefully one day I can get pole position. The more ahead you are, the better it is. We know there is dirt and dust on the side, but if you look at Barcelona where there’s supposed to be a good side and a bad side, the drivers in second and fourth positions happened to be first and third at the first corner and the first and third finished second and fourth so hopefully I can do the same.

    Q: (Geza Suranyi – Heves Megyei Hirlap) Romain, you told us on Thursday that you need to be on the front row in order to fight for a win. Now you’re second, do you feel that the time has come to score your first win?

    RG: Good question. I think the time has come since you’re racing for winning. As we say, qualifying is a good exercise as you’re looking for the perfect lap, and if you just manage your car to do whatever you want with it, it’s quite a good feeling when you manage that and then in the race, the idea is to win a race. If one of us told you that he arrives on a race weekend not thinking about a win he wouldn’t be saying the truth, so for sure tomorrow we will think about it but before winning the race we need to get everything in order so qualifying is job done, now we need to have a good start as we are now doing it, take off our tyres, have good pit stops and a good pace in the race.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Romain, considering the bad experiences you have had in previous races on the first lap, will you use this experience to avoid anything different again?

    RG: I use all the experience I get in Formula One to improve myself, lap after lap, race after race.

    Q: (Peter Farkas – Auto-Motor) A question to all three of you: the last corner has been re-surfaced for this year. How do you feel about it, is it a clear improvement compared to before and where is the track now worse regarding the track surface at the moment?

    LH: The track is fantastic in the last corner. It’s much, much better. They did a really great job and now the track, altogether, is just very consistent, grip-wise.

    RG: The last corner is easier than in GP2.

    Q: (Dorel Sant – MSSport1.com) Romain, did you have a perfect lap in qualifying, because Sebastian Vettel said that his lap could have been better and maybe he could have attacked your position, so what do you say?

    RG: To be 100 percent honest, it was not the perfect lap. You have few times in your career when you just finish the lap and say how was it from the car? I think we could have improved in a few small areas. I think it’s quite hard here to get the perfect lap and to get the car all together for the lap, so it was not the best ever. I think if I compared to Kimi, then I’m sure I lost a bit of time into turn one but then the rest was pretty OK.

    Q: (Dan Knutson – National SpeedSport News) Seb, to get the move out of the tyres, not only here but over the whole season, is it more a question of bringing upgrades to the car or maybe just adjusting your driving style?

    SV: To get the best out of the tyres? Well, I think we’ve seen… it’s a complicated question. At least I could give you a complicated answer but I think we’ve seen this year that everyone seems to struggle more than in the past to not bring updates but to improve the car through the upgrades. That’s for Lotus; I think in China they had an upgrade which they then decided to go back. McLaren, I think had upgrades and decided to go back. For us, we had some stuff and decided to go back. Why is that? Because you realise that it’s not quicker. I think it’s quite complex this year to understand the cars. Obviously in combination with the tyres, I think one thing you need to know is that everyone has less downforce this year. Generally if you have more downforce it also helps to switch on the tyres, to work with the tyres more consistently but as everyone has less downforce this year, I think the window is extremely narrow and it’s very difficult to get it right every time, so that’s why I think we probably see a little bit more inconsistency this year.

    Q: (Kate Walker – Girl Racer) For all three of you: we’re about to head into the summer shutdown in what is the longest season in F1 history. Is it a welcome opportunity for you to relax and re-charge your batteries or are you concerned that you will lose momentum going into Spa?

    RG: Personally I think it’s time for a honeymoon.

    SV: Yes, that’s not the case for us. It’s a long season. If you compare it to a lot of other sports, it’s one of the longest seasons we have. I think it’s important, even if sometimes you would like to carry on, I think you need the break, so it’s important to make use of it.

    LH: It’s most important for the team. The team is travelling non-stop and they work incredibly long hours so the guys back in the factory… Time with your family is most important and they are away from their families all that time so it’s an important time for them to go away and relax and refresh and get ready for the second half of the season which is going to be the most intense.

    Q: (Marco degl’Innocenti – La Gazzeta dello Sport) Sebastian, maybe this question could be boring for you again, but again, I would like to know if this lack of performance from your car could be because of this famous change of engine mapping?

    SV: No, I don’t think it really affected us as much as people think. As I said, we were struggling a little bit generally to find a balance throughout the weekend and qualifying but it has nothing to do with the mapping.

    Q: (Jool Gabor – Index) Romain, simple question: do you believe in second chances?

    RG: I think yes, to have the chance to have this second chance. As I say, I’m happy to be in Formula One again, even if it’s more difficult. When you lose something that you really like, you realise how much it counts to you and today I’m proud to be back, proud to be part of the Lotus F1 team. I think we are growing up together, so far having a very good season so I’m very happy to be here and fitting in well to the Formula One world.

    Q: (Peter Farkas – Auto-Motor) As far as I understand, there could be some rain tomorrow. Did you take that into consideration in terms of set-up?

    SV: No. I think the impact in terms of set-up that we see these days is way less than compared to the past, so something like a real rain set-up doesn’t exist any more these days.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Considering the difficulty of overtaking here, the number of laps you are able to do with these supersoft tyres in the first stint will maybe be the key to victory or a good finishing position?

    RG: We haven’t got supersofts so you may mean with the soft. I think the key is part of the strategy. I think if you they can go longer than the others then you may stop earlier, if you think that you may be in difficulty at the end of the race as we have seen some cars then you don’t have them. It will be a good question for the guys doing the strategy and then we try to make the target happening as good as we can.

    Ends