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Sahara Force India back in points but falls behind McLaren
Spa, 25 Aug 2013: It was mixed fortunes for Sahara Force India as Adrian Sutil raced to ninth place in the Belgian Grand Prix, while Paul Di Resta failed to finish after being hit by Pastor Maldonado on lap 27 in the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa Francorchamps here on Sunday. Though the Indian outfit managed to get back into points after a couple of disappointing races, the midfield team who were in 5th place before the start of the race lost vital points to McLaren and lost the position.The Sahara Force India team slid to 6th position and now have 61 points, four less than McLaren, who moved to 5th place with Jenson Button finishing 6th today.Adrian Sutil finished P9 to get valuable two points to the team and increased his tally to 25. After the race Adrian said: “An interesting and exciting race, and it’s good to come away with two points. At the start I didn’t make the best getaway and lost a few places, but after that I settled into the race and was able to get ahead of a few cars and move into the top ten. I always enjoy driving here at Spa and I had some exciting overtaking moves today, which felt very nice. The two-stop strategy was the best way to go and it worked out well because I think we achieved the maximum that was available to us. We are still in a close fight with McLaren so it was important to get back in the points today after a couple of tough races.”However, Paul Di Resta, who remains on 36 points was disappointed today. Yesterday, he almost made it to pole but with rain receding, the big guns caught up in the last few minutes of qualifying. Paul, who had a DNF today said: “I got a lot of wheel-spin at the start of the race and was down in about tenth place going into turn one, but during the first lap I managed to recover to seventh. After the second pit stop I was racing closely with Adrian and there was a train of four cars battling as we went into the final chicane. Pastor [Maldonado] went in deep and missed the apex so I tried to get the cut-back and was going around the outside of him. He then decided to try and enter the pit lane, which was impossible given his track position. As a result he hit me, which took the rear corner off my car. It’s a real shame because the speed was quite strong today and I think there was definitely a point or two up for grabs.”Team Principal and Managing Director Vijay Mallya, however was happy that the team was back in points He said:“I’m pleased to see Sahara Force India back in the points after a fine performance by Adrian. He clearly enjoyed himself out there today and his overtaking moves were a highlight of the race. The strategy calls from the pit wall helped him stay in the hunt for points and his race pace was good. The incident with Maldonado hitting Paul was very disappointing because Paul was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. It certainly cost us the chance to get both cars in the points. Going forward we will take the positives from the weekend and look to build on this performance level in a couple of weeks’ time in Monza.”ends
Adrian Sutil finished 9th to get back Sahara Force India into points but the team fell back to 6th place behind McLaren. A SFI photo -
Vettel cruises to victory; Kimi’s 27-race points-run ends
Spa Francorchamps, 25 Aug 2013: Sebastian Vettel took a comfortable Belgian Grand Prix win to extend his lead in the Drivers’ Championship to 46 points over Fernando Alonso, who finished second for Ferrari at Spa-Francorchamps ahead of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton.
On Saturday, Hamilton had narrowly beaten Vettel to pole position but after the race start Vettel exacted revenge using the tow from the Mercedes to breeze past the Briton on the long Kemmel Straight.
From there the German and his Red Bull Racing RB9 were flawless. Vettel only briefly ceded the lead to Jenson Button during his first stop on lap 14 but after passing the McLaren driver, who had yet to pit, at the end of the same lap, he seized total control, eventually finishing 16.8 seconds clear of Alonso.
“It was fantastic race for us,” he said afterwards. “From start to finish [we had] really good tactics. Obviously it helped the first lap to have the tow off Lewis through Eau Rouge and then I was flying. Once I
File photo of Vettel by Red Bull Racing team. passed him we had incredible pace and really could control the race until the end.
“We were a bit afraid of the rain coming towards the end but I think it just passed the circuit. A great race and a fantastic result. Can’t be any better.”
Alonso’s race was more eventful – at least through the first half. After a rain-disrupted qualifying, the Spaniard was left to line up ninth on the grid. He didn’t stay there long after the race start. Making a good getaway, the Ferrari driver took a tight line through La Source and the move paid off, boosting him to fifth as the field powered through Eau Rouge.
On lap four he muscled past Button to claim P4 and then raced past Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg two laps later to move into a podium position.
After his first stop Alonso rejoined behind Hamilton but after the Mercedes driver erred at La Source on lap 15 Alonso used his better pace through Eau Rouge to set up a passing move under DRS on the Kemmel Straight. Hamilton attempted to respond but Alonso rebuffed the challenge.
Armed with greater pace on the day, the Ferrari driver was soon building a gap, which, by the time of the chequered flag, had stretched to almost 11 seconds.
“We had to recover some places [at the start],” said Alonso. “We were not OK yesterday but everything went OK from the start and then the car has the speed to overtake some cars and it was a little bit boring. After we got the second place we were nowhere near Sebastian and not a big threat from behind.”
It was left to Rosberg and Mark Webber to conduct perhaps the closest front-of-order battle of the second half of the race.
The Red Bull Racing driver made a poor start and dropped from third to sixth by the time the field was flying through Radillon. He passed Button for fifth position in the opening laps and set about chasing down Rosberg.
The Mercedes driver was no easy target, however, and though the gap sank as low as half a second at some points during the race, Webber could not find a way past the German and finished fifth.
Button finished sixth, holding his starting position thanks to a considered drive.
In front of Button on the grid was Paul Di Resta, who had claimed fifth place thanks to a clever bit of strategy in the wet final qualifying session.
Luck deserted him in the race however and after a poor start he went backwards until he was eventually dumped out in a collision with Williams’ Pastor Maldonado, who collided with Adrian Sutil at the final chicane before being pitched into Di Resta’s path. Maldonado carried on after pitting for repairs but Di Resta’s race was over, his Force India missing its rear left wheel and rear wing.
Felipe Massa finished seventh for Ferrari, with Romain Grosjean eighth, ahead of Sutil. The final points place went to Daniel Ricciardo, who climbed from 19th on the grid to claim tenth at the end thanks to a good strategy that saw him take on medium tyres on lap 33 with the result that good pace at the end allowed him to pass Sergio Perez with four laps to go.
2013 Belgian Grand Prix – Result
1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing 1:23:42.196 25
2. Fernando Alonso Ferrari +16.8 secs 18
3. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +27.7 secs 15
4. Nico Rosberg Mercedes +29.8 secs 12
5. Mark Webber Red Bull Racing +33.8 secs 10
6. Jenson Button McLaren +40.7 secs 8
7. Felipe Massa Ferrari +53.9 secs 6
8. Romain Grosjean Lotus +55.8 secs 4
9. Adrian Sutil Force India +69.5 secs 12 2
10. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso +73.4 secs 1
11. Sergio Perez McLaren +81.9 secs
12. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso +86.7 secs
13. Nico Hulkenberg Sauber +88.2 secs
14. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber + secs
15. Valtteri Bottas Williams + secs
16. Giedo van der Garde Caterham +1 Lap
17. Pastor Maldonado Williams +1 Lap
18. Jules Bianchi Marussia +1 Lap
19. Max Chilton Marussia 42 +2 Laps
Ret Paul di Resta Force India +18 Laps
Ret Kimi Räikkönen Lotus +19 Laps
Ret Charles Pic Caterham +36 Lapsends
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I am able to find the limits when conditions are edgy: Hamilton
DRIVERS
1 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)
2 – Sebastian VETTEL (Red Bull Racing)
3 – Mark WEBBER (Red Bull Racing)TV UNILATERAL
Lewis, it was all about timing today and your timing was absolutely perfect.
Lewis HAMILTON: Yeah, it was. It was obviously a good job by the team. I was so surprised when I crossed the line. When I started the lap, it looked like, on the board… I saw on the screen that I was about seventh or eighth and I thought ‘Oh my God’, especially as it was raining more. I went wide in turn one and the dash display is usually telling you whether you’re up or down and it said I was three seconds down and then five seconds and six seconds, so I didn’t understand what was happening in the lap but I just kept pushing. I could see I was catching Sebastian towards the end but what a blessing, I feel so fortunate to be up here.
Particularly the middle sector seemed to be strong. So clearly through the Mercedes and yourself are well hooked up. How do you explain that?
LH: I think generally I feel quite comfortable in changing conditions and I feel I’m able to find the limits when the conditions are really on the edge. And in the middle I pushed quite a lot in the middle sector particularly as I thought I was down three seconds, so I was really caning it. But, yeah, the car’s feeling good.
Sebastian, today was obviously also keeping your nerve. What were you thinking about the closing stages? Were you thinking that there is as much to lose here as there is to gain?
Sebastian VETTEL: No, there’s always something to gain. Yeah, it wasn’t clear that the first lap we did in Q3 wasthe lap, on intermediate tyres. Obviously we all went out for the start with slicks tyres. It was quite entertaining because it started to rain pretty heavily. Then on intermediates, as I said, it wasn’t clear because in the beginning it looked like there was more and more rain coming, so we were all rushing to get a lap in. But then it stopped raining and the circuit came back very quickly ands the last lap turned out to be the fastest lap, with the circuit drying. It’s difficult to know how fast you can go. Obviously I saw Lewis catching up in the last lap and I thought I could have gone a bit quicker here or quicker there. In the end it was quite close I think across the line. In these conditions anything can happen. A shame to miss pole, once again. I’m quite happy today. The boys did a very good job changing tyres from slicks to intermediates and got us an extra lap. Unfortunately the circuit wasn’t ready but all in all I think a good day for the team, so let’s see what happens tomorrow. We expect similar conditions to today, rain, dry and a bit of everything, so we’ll see.
And Mark, your final qualifying session in a Formula One car at this Spa-Francorchamps circuit and it delivered its usual mixture of conditions. How was your session?
Mark WEBBER: Yeah, difficult for all of us to make the right calls. But in the end I think we got most things right. It’s very easy to look stupid in those conditions, from a team side, from a driver’s side, making the right calls. In the end, we got most things OK I’d say. It’s a little bit bizarre with the DRS on or off in the session, actually in Q3. It’s available in the first part of quali but not at the end, but it’s the same for everyone, so it’s a very, very difficult thing, as Lewis has touched on, to know where you are, how the track’s moving around so much. It was quite a ballsy thing for me to go slow in the middle lap know if the track’s going to be better on the last lap, to save the tyres, because they’re struggling quite a bit in those conditions, on the inters. In the end, it wasn’t too bad a lap and it was quite tight obviously. So, yeah, pretty happy to be right up there for tomorrow’s race.
Back to you Lewis. Obviously it’s not been the easiest weekend so far from the looks of things as far as practice has been concerned for you and the Mercedes team. Tell us about the race tomorrow. You’re obviously starting from where you want to be, but can you keep these two guys behind you?
LH: I think this weekend they’ve both shown that they have incredible pace this weekend. But I’m hoping that whatever the conditions are tomorrow we can try to fight it out with them. The guys have done a fantastic job in bringing a good package here. I generally feel we’re quite close. I still feel the Red Bull is generally a little bit ahead of us in performance and that’s why results like this today feel even better because it feels like we extracted more than what the car can actually do, so I’m really happy with it.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Lewis, second race in a row now that in the closing stages of a Saturday afternoon you’ve spoiled Sebastian’s day. It’s becoming a bit of a habit and you two are having quite a duel at the moment.
LH: I’m trying to catch him up. He’s obviously had incredible success over the last few years so I’m trying my best to battle with hum and I hope that we can do that in the race tomorrow whatever the conditions are. I just feel grateful for the way the year has turned out and that we can be so competitive and really try to challenge the Red Bulls. It’s a huge accomplishment by the team.
Tell us about communication on a day like this. You were saying just a moment ago that you weren’t really quite sure what was going in the first part of the lap, obviously the times were all over the place, but in terms of the way the team communicates. We saw people making mistakes in Q1 and Q2, very easy to make mistakes and communication clearly critical to that.
LH: Yeah, everyone is on edge and communication is key for all the teams. So they’re asking me what the track is like at certain points of the circuit and of course they need to be on it to make sure we get out at the right time. We nearly go pushed out of Q2, which I really wouldn’t have been happy with…
Two one hundredths of a second.
LH: Yeah, by the grace of God we got through. And then at the end, I didn’t know that I was going to be one of the last ones across the line. I just kept pushing and at the end of the day it was a good job by the team, particularly when the moment counted.
Sebastian, as we were saying, Lewis and Mercedes coming on strong at the moment.
SV: Yeah, surely. Obviously in qualifying they have been quite strong in the first part of the season and they keep doing it. I think today you have to look from a different point of view. In these conditions anything can happen. Lewis had quite and impressive middle sector. He was right behind me. Maybe it helped a little bit to know how fast he could go here and there. I checked in my mirrors and thought I could have gone quicker here, quicker there because he was closing up. But I’m very happy with the result. As I said, in these conditions anything is possible. Mark touched on it – it’s very easy to do the wrong calls and you’re out. So, overall, a good result and everything is possible tomorrow, condition-wise we expect the same as today.
You obviously looked very comfortable yesterday, apart from the puncture obviously in practice two and again this morning, the Red Bull looked well balanced, quick on the circuit. There was a sign in Q2 when you just waited and went out and did that one run that there seemed to be quite a lot of confidence as far as you were concerned about the session.
SV: Yeah, well confidence in the weather let’s say, mostly. It was supposed not to rain. I said OK there’s no point in going out, let’s wait, because the circuit will improve, which is what we did in the end. My first lap was not fantastic so I did another lap. I think we did the right thing there. Fortunately it didn’t rain. Obviously when it starts raining and you haven’t gone out you look really stupid. I think we trust the guys on the pit wall to judge the weather and the situation. Obviously, Q3 was different. The boys were quite in a hurry when we came back in to change tyres and go back out. But for Q2 I think it was the right call.
Mark, we mentioned before that this is your last run in F1 quali at Spa-Francorchamps. Tell us about your relationship with this circuit, what you feel today and what you feel about this place.
MW: It’s a sensational circuit. Compared to the ones that have been attempted to be designed of late obviously they’re nothing like this track. It’s a beautiful circuit to drive on, all the guys love coming here, the teams, the engineers. Even the cars I think in a bizarre way know they’re here in terms of Eau Rouge and Blanchimont. You know, La Source is very tight and then 10 seconds later you’re through Eau Rouge so it’s a great mixture. I won the Formulas Ford race here in 1996 so it’s a beautiful circuit to drive on in any category and yeah, looking forward to bringing the Porsche here next year.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Oana Popoiu – F1 Zone) Lewis, Toto Wolff said that Mercedes should start focusing on next year’s car. What are your thoughts about that, especially now when you are in front of Red Bull?
LH: I think there’s several different people that have different opinions about it but I feel quite relaxed and comfortable with the people who are at the top who are going to make that decision. I don’t feel that next year is compromised at all or this year just yet. I think it’s trying to find a real fine balance. Of course we want to have the best shot possible next year but of course all of a sudden we’re competing as well as we are now so it’s striking a fine balance, but I think they’ll do a good job of that.
Q: (Graham Keilloh – F1 Plus) Lewis, do you think if it hadn’t rained in qualifying that Mercedes had the pace to contend for pole position?
LH: I would be guessing but my guess would be maybe not. The Red Bull was looking particularly quick and also the Ferrari was looking quite quick in the dry conditions, so I’m not necessarily sure that we had the pace to be as fast everyone today. But who knows, it’s just a guess.
Q: (Simon Cass – Daily Mail) Lewis, you said coming into the second half of the season that you’ve never felt better. Is it fair to say that you’ve never been driving any better or certainly as well as you have been at the moment?
LH: It feels like I’m driving the best but I feel like I’ve been driving well for quite some time and just sometimes circumstances don’t allow you to really show that. But I really feel that I’m getting everything out of the car, I’m getting everything out of every opportunity that I have. I know there’s a lot of pressure for everyone but I feel in a good place. And yeah, absolutely, I can’t remember the last time I crossed the line and had such a good feeling, particularly as I was looking for the TV screens and I just couldn’t beli… I could see the team was cheering so I couldn’t believe that. It’s just crazy to think that this is my 31st pole and it still feels like it’s the first one. It’s just an incredible feeling and I’m very grateful to be here today, as I said.
Q: (Peter Farkas – Auto Motor) Lewis, yesterday you said on the radio that the car was all over the place and even today in the morning you had some problems, and now you are on pole position. I think Nico had quite a good long stint yesterday, how confident are you in the long stints of the Mercedes and the race pace, and would you prefer wet or dry in that respect?
LH: I feel that the long pace is not bad. I think we… again, over the evening, last night we made some decent changes, but going into qualifying we made some better ones. Qualifying was more about just being there at the right time and you never know when you’re going to be in the right position and I just happened to be one of the last ones coming across the line and that’s when the track would be at its best. But I think Nico proved that the long run was good and I think I had a few good laps as well but the Red Bulls are still pretty quick. I think it’s going to be close but I hear it’s going to rain pretty heavily tomorrow.
Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action and National Speedsport News) Mark, it’s very easy for anybody to look silly out there, make a stupid mistake. How much more chancy is a session in the wet compared to a session in the dry when there are far fewer variables?
MW: Yeah, emotionally it is a bit more of a roller-coaster, particularly when you’ve got… really it’s the conditions changing so much. In our industry and in Formula One we like to control as much as we can, obviously, and the plan into a normal dry qualifying session is obviously very regimented, very organized and the fine tuning is incredibly precise. When it’s like that, obviously you have to make decisions on the bounce, the driver’s got to be very interactive with the pit wall, the pit wall has got to make the decisions with the boys so yeah, there is just, by circumstance, more emotion and the timing is a bit more – well, a lot more critical and that’s what makes people a bit more squeakier, let’s say, in terms of pressure. As I say, it’s easy to get it wrong.
Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Sebastian, we saw today that it was very easy to make mistakes. Ferrari looked like they made mistakes at the end so they are quite far behind, while you and Mercedes did everything perfectly. How easy is it for you mentally to get in the car and know that you can trust completely what’s going to happen on the pit wall?
SV: I don’t think you are in any doubt – at least for myself – in doubt of what the team does. Obviously in terms of which tyres to use and when etc is largely depending on us inside the car, but I think, as Mark touched on, obviously in these conditions it’s a lot trickier to get it right, not just for the team, also for the driver because it’s so much easier to make a mistake. In the end, I think all three of us had very good laps at the end, on the lap where it mattered most. But for sure, compared to the dry, I think it’s much harder to nail that one where you don’t have room for error and it’s so much easier to make a mistake, go wide, lose the car, lose time so yeah, if I look back to the lap I had now, obviously, there’s room for improvement but many times I was quite close to lose the car. It doesn’t mean that I had to go off and crash the car but lose the car, lose time. That’s why, in the rain, in the wet, in these mixed conditions, there’s a chance for everybody to over-perform, but there’s also the chance to get it wrong. It doesn’t take much and you are somewhere at the back.
Q: (Leonid Novozhilov – F1Life) Lewis, what were you feeling in your last qualifying lap?
LH: This one just now? Again, it didn’t feel spectacular. As I said, I went wide in turn one and my dashboard was really confusing me in terms of whether I was up or down on my previous lap, but I just kept pushing and particularly the first corner and the last two corners were terrible. I thought that the lap wasn’t that great but…
SV: You thought I was on a cool-down lap which is why…
LH: I was catching him…
SV: …so much that I will just take it easy.
Ends
Hamilton (centre) takes the pole at Spa on Saturday. A Mercedes AMG Petronas photo -
Paul di Resta qualifies 5th for Sahara Force India
Spa, 24 Aug 2013: Sahara Force India came through a challenging qualifying session of varied weather conditions with Paul Di Resta qualifying in fifth place ahead of Adrian Sutil in P12.P5 Paul Di Resta VJM06-04Q1: 2:02.338Q2: 1:48.925Q3: 2:02.332Paul Di Resta said: “Fifth place on the grid is a great result. At the start of Q3 I knew that I wanted to go straight out on the intermediates. It was a brave decision and the team let me go ahead with it, while the others chose dry tyres. I knew it was our best chance to get up towards the front of the grid and it paid off. It’s a shame that the rain stopped a bit too early because there were only a few cars that were quicker than us in the wet and they just got ahead at the end of the session. The main thing is we are in a strong position for tomorrow and we will come back tomorrow ready to fight.”P12 Adrian Sutil VJM06-03Q1: 2:02.749Q2: 1:49.103Adrian Sutil: “I’m feeling disappointed with how things ended up today because I think we had the potential to get a better result. In Q2 I was on my final flying lap a bit too early and the track was getting quicker all the time. So we should have waited a bit longer and I think that would have made the difference to make the top ten. Also, I had some traffic on my fastest lap and that cost me some time.”Vijay Mallya, Team Principal & Managing Director“As soon as it started raining before qualifying we knew that it was likely to be an unpredictable qualifying session. The track conditions were constantly changing from wet to dry and it was vital to be on track at the right time on the right tyres. With Paul we judged this pretty much to perfection and for a while we were looking good for a front row start. But the rain eased up and he dropped down to fifth, which is still an excellent result. Adrian looked competitive in Q2 but we didn’t maximise our time on the drying track and he missed out on Q3. The big question mark for tomorrow is the weather. We’ve looked more competitive in the dry, but whatever the conditions we will push hard to come away with a strong result.”endsPaul di Resta qualifies 5th at Spa on Saturday. A Sahara Force India photo -
Hamilton takes pole at Spa
Spa, 24 Aug 2013: Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes AMG Petronas took the pole position ahead of Red Bull’s duo championship leader Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber for the Belgian Grand Prix FIA Formula One World Championship on Sunday at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit.
Lewis Hamilton took pole for Mercedes in a dramatic, rain-swept qualifying session at Spa-Francorchamps.
Four drivers held pole position in the last few seconds of qualifying for tomorrow’s Belgian Grand Prix. With spray flying up from the wet track, Nico Rosberg’s stellar effort for Mercedes gave him a provisional pole but team-mate Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull Racing’s Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel had made it across the line just before the chequered flag appeared, giving the huge Spa-Francorchamps crowd an exciting two minutes, waiting to see if they could knock the Monaco and Silverstone winner off top spot.
Conditions possibly improved in those last two minutes, though any gain was marginal. Webber crossed the line first and took P1. He held it for seconds only, however, as Vettel blasted through and took a tenth out of his time. For the briefest instant it was the Red Bull 1-2 that practice pace had suggested – but then Hamilton arrived to take his fifth pole of the season and fourth in succession. His time of 2:01.012 was two-tenths of a second better than Vettel had managed.
“I feel I’m able to find the limits when the conditions are really on the edge,” said a jubilant Hamilton. “I pushed quite a lot in the middle sector particularly as I thought I was down three seconds, so I was really caning it.”
At the start of Q3, there was a degree of chaos with most of the field going out on Option tyres. With drops of rain already falling, it was a gamble – and one that failed to pay off with the slick runners all returning to the pits at the end of their out lap. “It was quite entertaining because it started to rain pretty heavily,” observed Vettel.
The one exception was Paul di Resta. Starting the session on intermediates he had the track to himself and took P1 by default. With the possibility of conditions worsening, he had an excellent chance of repeating Giancarlo Fisichella’s 2009 feat and taking a Force India pole at Spa – but the rain receded and he had to settle for fifth position.
Behind Di Resta, Jenson Button took sixth for McLaren, ahead of Lotus’s Romain Grosjean and Kimi Räikkönen who took seventh and eighth, while row five was an all-Ferrari affair with Fernando Alonso ninth and Felipe Massa tenth.
Qualifying had taken place in mixed conditions from the start: rain began to fall a few minutes before Q1 began. It was no surprise, though, as the radar had been showing the weather on its way for some time. It meant the session began on intermediate tyres but when the rain ceased partway through the 20minutes, the track began to dry quickly. Backmarkers with nothing to lose took a risk and ventured out on dry tyres. It paid dividends for the Marussia pair of Max Chilton and Jules Bianchi who qualified for their first Q2. Caterham’s Giedo van der Garde also made the cut. Eliminated were the Williams of Pastor Maldonado and Valtteri Bottas, Jean-Eric Vergne and Daniel Ricciardo from Toro Rosso, Sauber’s Esteban Gutiérrez and Caterham’s Charles Pic.
Q2 was dry and saw the times drop by over ten seconds. With three drivers out of position and unlikely to challenge for a place in Q3, the battle was essentially between 13 cars competing for ten places. In a hard-fought battle the drivers to drop out were Nico Hülkenberg for Sauber in 11th, Force India’s Adrian Sutil in 12th and McLaren’s Sergio Pérez 13th. They were joined by Van der Garde 14th, Bianchi 15th and Chilton 16th, each of the latter three enjoying a career-best qualifying position.
His teammate, Nico Rosberg qualified in fourth positions after an eventful wet-dry qualifying session. Stats by Mercedes team:
- Lewis took the team’s eighth pole position in the past nine races and his fourth consecutive pole this afternoon
- Nico qualified fourth and was fastest of all until the dying moments of the qualifying session
- Four Mercedes-Benz powered cars qualified in the top six and it was the third Mercedes pole in five years at Spa
- Weather forecasts currently predict similar mixed weather conditions for tomorrow afternoon’s race
DriversNo.Chassis No.Qualifying 1Qualifying 2Qualifying 3Lewis Hamilton10F1 W04 / 042:00.368P21:49.067P102:01.012P1Nico Rosberg9F1 W04 / 032:01.099P41:48.552P32:02.251P4WeatherDrying track in Q1; dry track in Q2; wet track in Q3TemperaturesAir: 20-21 °CTrack: 20-24 °CLewis Hamilton
A fourth pole in a row just feels fantastic! The team did a great job to get the timing at the end of Q3 absolutely perfect and I was in exactly the right track position. I was so surprised when I came across the line to hear I was P1. I went wide in the first corner and I thought I was down on time from the read-out on my steering wheel. I just kept pushing and did a strong middle sector, then I could see I was catching Sebastian towards the end so it was a great feeling. I hope we can try and fight it out tomorrow, whatever the conditions. The Red Bulls are still ahead of us in terms of performance so results like this feel even more special because I know I’ve got the absolute maximum out of myself and out of the car.Nico Rosberg
It was a very difficult qualifying session and unfortunately luck wasn’t on my side today. When I took the chequered flag, I was quickest at that time, but the track quicker and quicker for the guys who had got the extra lap and eventually ended up in the top three positions, so I must be happy with fourth place on the grid. Our car seems pretty good in all conditions here this weekend which makes me hopeful of a strong race performance tomorrow afternoon.Ross Brawn
It was obviously a very tricky session for everybody this afternoon and we were far from perfect but we did enough things right to get the job done. In the closing seconds of Q3, track position was critical and Lewis – running last on the road on the final lap – did a great job with the opportunity he had. We were not sure how it would turn out as DRS had been disabled for that final lap, then we saw his time in the second sector and started to get excited. Nico didn’t get the extra lap but he was fastest of all when his session ended and it’s a fantastic team result to have two cars starting in the top four after such a mixed qualifying. We are expecting similar conditions tomorrow so we will have a good chance of success. But we will have to run a smart race and make the right decisions to do achieve it.Toto Wolff
That was a very tough qualifying session and another one where it was easier to get things wrong than right. It was very close indeed for Lewis in Q2 when he made it through by just two-hundredths of a second and that showed how challenging the entire hour was in terms of tactics and strategy. It was crucial to get on track at the right time and our result in Q3 was a great team performance. Both drivers produced special laps: Nico was top of the timesheets when he took the chequered flag and then Lewis delivered another of his magic laps, especially in the middle sector. Our engineers have clearly found a good set-up for these mixed conditions and we are expecting more of the same kind of weather tomorrow.2013 Belgian Grand Prix qualifying times
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 2:01.012
2 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing 2:01.200
3 Mark Webber Red Bull Racing 2:01.325
4 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 2:02.251
5 Paul di Resta Force India 2:02.332
6 Jenson Button McLaren 2:03.075
7 Romain Grosjean Lotus 2:03.081
8 Kimi Räikkönen Lotus 2:03.390
9 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 2:03.482
10 Felipe Massa Ferrari 2:04.05911 Nico Hülkenberg Sauber 1:49.088
12 Adrian Sutil Force India 1:49.103
13 Sergio Pérez McLaren 1:49.304
14 Giedo van der Garde Caterham 1:52.036
15 Jules Bianchi Marussia 1:52.563
16 Max Chilton Marussia 1:52.76217 Pastor Maldonado Williams 2:03.072
18 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 2:03.300
19 Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 2:03.317
20 Valtteri Bottas Williams 2:03.432
21 Esteban Gutiérrez Sauber 2:04.324
22 Charles Pic Caterham 2:07.384ends
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We will fight every race, but our focus is also on next year’s car: Andrew Green
TEAM REPRESENTATIVES – Andrew GREEN (Force India), Nick CHESTER (Lotus), Jean-Michel JALINIER (Renault Sport), Tom McCULLOUGH (Sauber), Pat SYMONDS (Williams), James Key (Toro Rosso)
PRESS CONFERENCE
James, if I could start with you. I want to talk about the engineering challenges today, of developing new technologies, such as we have for 2014, but in a resource-restricted environment in Formula One, as we have at the moment. What are the key points in your mind?
James KEY: That’s the secret to it in many ways, isn’t it, because we have a lot of new technologies and new things we have to do for next year. Fundamentally, it’s a case of getting the priorities right and understanding how best to pitch what technologies are going to be important and which aren’t, or which are going to be less important let’s say. Certainly when you have a limited budget as a team, you can’t iterate through everything. It’s very easy to spend a lot of money very quickly, so you have to circumvent certain things by kind of iterating and then take your best guess and move on from there. So to certain extent there’s a bit of knowledge you have to go on and in other respects it’s a case of setting priorities.
Obviously you’re switching from Ferrari to the Renault for next year. Do you get the gearbox from Red Bull, presumably as part of all that package. Can you talk a little bit about how big a boost that is in terms of your efforts to move yourselves forward up the grid.
JK: I think certainly it makes a huge amount of sense for us to have a few more synergies where possible with Red Bull – we fundamentally have the same ownership. I think that’s good for both teams. We will take the same engine as well. We’re working extremely well with our engine partners at Renault, who are doing a good job of supporting us. It’s a new experience for us, we haven’t worked with them in the past. In that respect it’s good. We’ll have to see for next year, there are so many unknowns still right now. But to move towards similar powertrain solutions to Red Bull Racing is a very obvious thing to do and can only be of benefit to both sides I think.
Jean-Michel, at this stage, with just a few months to go before the end of this season and with testing starting in January, do you have any sense of where Renault is in terms of power and efficiency compared with your rivals Ferrari and Mercedes?
Jean-Michel JALINIER: I cannot compare ourselves to our competitors but what I can say is that we have set very aggressive targets for all the parameters of the new engine and that we are achieving the targets one after one because today according to our plans we have some engines on benches, the results are now coming and they are in line with our targets.
What is the first order of priority? Is it power? Is it efficiency? What do you see as the key for next year?
JMJ: I think that for next year the two keys are going to be reliability, because it’s a brand new engine with high tech engine inside – internal combustion engine but also the two electrical engines, all the energy recovery systems – so reliability for this new technology will be key. The second key will be energy management for the race.
Just finally, the latest on a deal with Lotus? Is there any more business to be done in terms of the teams you will supply next year?
JMJ: We’re going to supply four teams. We have already a deal with Toro Rosso and Red Bull Racing obviously and the two other teams it’s just a matter of time to finish the contracts.
Pat, great to see you back, welcome, in your new colour scheme. Mid-1990s, I remember you and Michael Schumacher at Benetton racing against Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve at Williams, they then were the arch enemies in many, many ways. How does it feel to walk to walk through the doors [of Williams] nowadays and be part of that team?
Pat SYMONDS: Oh, realty great actually. Williams does have that incredible heritage and it’s a heritage I respect a lot. But we can’t live in the past. They were great times, of course they were, but my job now is to make the team today as successful as it was then. It’s quite a challenge but it’s a very enjoyable challenge. The fundamentals of the team are there. It’s a very well equipped team, it has some very good people in it. An analogy I often use is it’s like being the conductor of an orchestra. I think we have some very good instrumentalists in our orchestra. And now we just really need to get them timed together, playing the same tune and bring the success back.
You said that the technical changes for 2014 are the biggest you’ve encountered in your long career. On the theme of technical developments in a resource-restricted environment, you’ve obviously worked for top teams, recently you worked for Marussia, a small team. Can you give us an overview of the impact of dealing with this change for the field in Formula One?
PS: It is huge and I think James summed it up very well, because you’ve got to decide where to put your priorities. When we have reasonably stable regulations you iterate to those priorities. Arguably if you have very stable regulations, everyone iterates towards a very similar design. You also iterate to similar processes. Now when the rule book is ripped up and you start again, you really have to think about what processes are important – what’s going to bring you performance. And of course while everyone is focused on the powertrain and there are a lot of things to do there – cooling’s a huge challenger, energy management is a huge challenge – but of course we must not forget that it’s a reasonably significant aerodynamic change we’re making to the cars. It may not sound much – moving the front wing in a little bit, losing the beam wing at the rear and small changes like that – but in actual fact the aerodynamics of the cars are so inter-related now that it really is something you need to think about a lot. And, of course, we never ‘un-invent’ anything, we never forget what we’ve already done. So we’re not dropping any of our technologies in order to bring the new ones in, we’re just adding to the job.
Thanks for that. Moving to Nick Chester from Lotus. Welcome, Nick. There’s a lot going on at Lotus at the moment. You’ve got the double DRS running this weekend. You’ve got a long wheelbase car, apparently, for Monza. Can you shed a bit of light on your thinking for this final part of 2013 and what kind of statement that makes?
Nick CHESTER: Well, we’re still trying to develop very hard to give ourselves a very competitive run until the end of the year. The passive drag reduction system we’ve been working on for a while. We targeted it for Spa and we’ve run it through P1 and we’ve learned some more with it. I don’t think we’ll carry on through this weekend with it as we didn’t get enough dry running to get where we wanted in P1. We are targeting this strong development until the end of the year and the long wheelbase for Monza is part of that. So we are going to keep bringing developments through Monza and then the following races as well. There are certainly developments also planned for Singapore and Korea.
Like everyone else here, you’re obviously juggling the requirements of 2014. Do you have what you need to build a winning car in 2014?
NC: Yeah, we do. We started the design very early, we’ve been designing for over 18 months on the 2014 car. So that’s given us a good head start and in a way that’s meant that we could develop our 2013 car for longer through the year because we’re in such good shape with next year’s car. As Pat said it’s going to be a very interesting year in 2014. It’s the biggest rule change I’ve seen while I’ve been in the sport. Trying to optimise a car around what’s a very different power plant with very different cooling, it’s quite a big challenge. It is going to be interesting.
Andrew, coming to you now. You’re in a tight battle in the Constructors’ Championship with McLaren. Fifty-nine points to you at the moment, 57 for them, battling for fifth. What’s the strategy then? Are you going to try to hold on to that fifth place, even if it costs you some performance in 2014?
Andrew GREEN: Obviously we’re going to battle as hard as we can. The strategy at the moment is to extract as much as we can out of this car and take each race as it comes and try not to makes mistakes. That’s one of the things we have been guilty of in a few races this season. We haven’t really harvested the points we should have, we should be much further up. Now is the time to get our heads down and just not make mistakes, extract what we can, and not make mistakes and see where we end up. McLaren is… it’s going to be very difficult top keep McLaren behind us, they’re a huge team with huge resources and can carry on developing two cars simultaneously. We’re a much smaller outfit; it’s not something we can do. Our focus really has to be on next year, otherwise we won’t have a car next year, it’s as simple as that.
On the subject of balancing the technological development with budgets, how are you existing arrangements in terms of powertrain? How are you existing arrangements in terms of powertrain for next year and how will that go forward?
AG: Well, it’s nice to obviously keep the same engine partners. That does help. It is a massive change next year, there’s no doubt about it. Reiterating what the other guys have said, it’s the biggest change I’ve ever seen. And it is a challenge. We’re a small team, so it’s an even bigger challenge. There are lots of things we’d like to do. Lots of experiments we’d like to do, lots of information we’d like to take before we make some key decisions and we can’t do them all. It’s as simple as that. We have to make some best guesses and we don’t really want to be [doing that]. It’s a difficult place to be in and it can be very frustrating but it’s a challenge and we’ll see where we end up.
Q: Tom, the same theme really. It’s no secret that Sauber has had some issues on the financial side. You’ve obviously got some new investment coming in – so where are you as a technical group in terms of how you plotted out your development of 2014 and how it’s actually unfolding as we go forward?
Tom McCULLOUGH: Like the rest of the guys said, we started work on our car pretty early for 2014, mainly aerodynamically and then more and more during the year, working closely with our powertrain partner, developing that car. So, the two cars are simultaneously being developed still, at the moment. The current car is coming to an end at the factory. At the track we’ll still get bits later on this year. But it’s just a matter of splitting resources really.
Q: Obviously the 2013 car hasn’t worked out the way you would have hoped. Does that push you towards an earlier switchover to 2014? Considering where you are in the constructors’, some way behind Toro Rosso, does that push you towards thinking you’re not going to catch them and focussing your attention on next year?
TMcC: The start of this year wasn’t as competitive as we wanted. Understanding that is key to making a good car next year, so a lot of the work we’ve been doing on the car is in conjunction with next year’s car. So we couldn’t just stop designing this year’s car. We’ve worked very hard and we have made some good improvements. The update package we bought to Budapest, we were very happy with. We feel we’re understanding the car a lot better now. The wind tunnel programmes and the CFD programmes between the two cars help each other – and that process is still ongoing, especially with CFD. Overall that should give us a more competitive car next year.
Q: So you have grounds for optimism?
TMcC: Yeah! For sure. This year’s car, even though from a points point of view we were not scoring points and saw some of our direct competitors taking those points, in lap time we often weren’t far away. A small difference in lap time, different competitiveness from track to track, bringing improvements to the car… all of a sudden the points can come your way. I wish we’d started the year as we are now but we feel confident for the second half of this season.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Oana Popoiu – F1 Zone) Pat, as we are already halfway through the season, how will the team benefit from your work at this stage?
PS: Well, I think with a lot of what I’m trying to do with Williams is still a bit of a process rather than the detail and that process can have an effect, reasonably quickly. Now, we are engaged in a battle this year as well, and there are still updates to come to the car: there’s a new front wing, there’s new bodywork, there’s quite a few major upgrades but of course they are things that are already well in the pipeline and not things that I will be influencing. So really my job is to try and look at the process of determining how we get the performance out of the car and I hope that that will have some influence this year but of course it’s not a five minute job and I think we will see a lot more in 2014.
Q: (Kate Walker – GP Week) Andy Green, I wanted to go back to what James said earlier about balancing the development of the 2013 car versus 2014. Obviously you don’t want to sacrifice next year’s performance. Do you have a plan… I mean if McLaren pull ahead in the Constructors’ championship is that the point at which you switch more of your focus over? How much of your workforce is currently on 2014 versus 2013, because you’re the team in the middle with the hardest decision to make, it seems?
AG: It is a difficult balance. I would say the point at which they have more points – they are further ahead than us there are points to score – then that’s obviously over. Like I said, we’ll keep pushing as hard as we can with what we’ve got, but we have to keep an eye on next year, there’s no two ways about it. It’s too big a challenge not for us to have one eye over there. McLaren are a huge, huge team, a championship-winning team and I don’t expect they thought they’d be racing with us at the start of the season, and I’m pretty sure they probably didn’t set themselves the target of fifth in the championship when they started the year. So we’ll do what we can. We know it’s going to be difficult, we’ll take each race as it comes. There will be no step.
Q: Who will make that decision? Will it be the major shareholders or the technical people?
AG: It is a joint decision.
Q: (Mike Doodson – Auto Action) I guess my question is for Jean-Michel. Part of the success of the current V8 Formula One has been that the engine performance has been equalized between manufacturers. I’m wondering whether the FIA has informed you of when it intends to start imposing that same process, introducing controls to equalize the performance of the V6s and when that process does start, I wonder if you, as a highly competitive group, will try to resist it?
J-MJ: There will be a process for convergence after – I don’t know – the first two or three years, definitely there will be a process of convergence. Regarding the V8, one of our strengths is to work with the team to make the quickest car. We have never claimed to have the most powerful engine, we claim to work with the team to make the quickest car and that’s the kind of methodology we are developing for the 2014 car with our partners.
Q: (Mike Doodson – Auto Action) And the FIA controls?
J-MJ: I think there will be some kind of convergence because we cannot sustain – in terms of cost – free competition with open technology, open choices and open engineering. We need to have some limitation in order to reduce and control the development costs per season, so we need it.
Q: (Edd Straw – Autosport) Nick, the long wheelbase car, what’s the reasoning behind introducing that and how will you be doing it? Do you need to make some monocoque changes or can you do it a slightly easier way?
NC: Well, we’ve wanted to do it because we’ve seen there’s a performance gain associated with it. The way we’re going to do it is with a front suspension change.
Q: But there’s homologation to be done?
NC: Yeah, that’s already been done.
Q: (Panos Diamantis – Car and Driver) Mr Symonds, you said that 2014 will see the biggest technical change you’ve ever seen in Formula One, and obviously Williams provides this energy recovery systems to other means of transport in London. Do you think that this will be a turning point in the history of Formula One to launch more ecological technologies?
PS: Yes, I do. It really is a bit of a double-edged sword, the 2014 power train regulations. On one hand, I’m very very pleased that the FIA have had the foresight to really look at engine efficiency or powertrain efficiency and use F1 to push those technologies. I guess the downside for us is that it’s been a long process to introduce it and of course, from the time of starting to talk about it until introducing it we’ve been through a major worldwide recession which has made it difficult for all the Formula One teams to embark on such a big project. But we’ve managed to do it and I think what we need to do now is make sure that we capitalize on it. Formula One, I think, is guilty of far too often hiding its light under a bushel and a lot of the very great things we do as engineers in Formula One we like to keep to ourselves and I think it’s time for that to change. I think it’s time for the world to know what we are doing with Formula One powertrains in 2014 is really quite advanced. It really is something new, it really is the way of the future and therefore I think we can stop before it happens those who may wish to criticize Formula One and motor sport in general for carbon emissions, for use of fossil fuels. Fossil fuels are here to stay, let’s use them efficiently and I think Formula One is doing that, and I think we should be very proud of what we’re doing and we should tell the world what we’re doing.
Q: (Marc Priestley – F1 Times) Question for Nick and Tom: firstly, Tom, both you guys have used this passive DRS-type system on the car today. Tom, do you expect to use it any more this weekend. Nick, you’ve already clarified that you won’t, but is it something that you will continue working on? Do the 2014 rules mean that it’s a viable concept to continue developing?
TMcC: So, today we performed a lot of tests on some new parts and the system actually performed better than we were expecting. It’s still not at the stage where we think we’re going to race it, even though we are pretty tempted at the moment, so there’s plenty of engineers looking at a lot of data. We’ll make that decision later on tonight. With regards to next year, any system that you can use to help reduce drag will always help you, so yes, it is part of the consideration for next year’s car.
NC: And the same for Lotus; obviously anything that drops drag is a useful thing to have, so it’s an interesting direction to pursue.
Q: Just for clarity, the reason not to continue with it for the weekend, is that because the downside of it, not switching properly, outweighs the possible gains of having it?
NC: Partly, and also because we didn’t have a full dry session, we couldn’t get the normal feedback we would like on it and all the measurements we would like, so it just left us a little nervous after P1 that we didn’t want to go into the rest of the weekend with something that may give us a problem, particularly when the car’s already competitive and we didn’t want to risk having a problem in P3 or qualifying with it.
Q: (Edd Straw – Autosport) Pat, you talked about the need for getting more out of the potential of Williams with better technical leadership. Do you, based on your preliminary examinations of the team, think that you need further recruitment in senior technical positions to work just under you to achieve that?
PS: Well, the first thing to remember is that I’ve been there four days, so it’s very much first impressions, but those first impressions are that it’s a team with fabulous facilities, it’s a great factory, there’s most of the equipment that we need there and a lot of very good people. And of course, while I may have been there only four days, a lot of those people I have known for many years and worked with many of them, so there is a lot of quality and I think I would re-iterate what I said earlier, that I think that what we need to do at Williams is that we need to look at process and that’s really where my focus will be.
Q: (Edd Straw – Autosport) Nick, the wheelbase change, any concerns that will have a detrimental effect on the good tyre management you’ve seen from your car? Obviously it will slightly change the way you’re loading up the tyres.
NC: Yeah, we don’t expect so. If anything, it should make the car a little bit more stable, a little bit easier to drive, it could even give us a small tyre management advantage so we think it’s the right thing to do and we’re looking forward to bringing it to Monza.
Ends
Sahara Force India file photo of Andrew Green -
Jules Bianchi confident and pleased with Marussia
DRIVERS – Jules BIANCHI (Marussia), Charles PIC (Caterham), Giedo VAN DER GARDE (Caterham), Jean-Eric VERGNE (Toro Rosso), Sebastian VETTEL (Red Bull Racing), Romain GROSJEAN (Lotus)
PRESS CONFERENCE
Jules, can we start with you? Ten races into your Formula One career you’ve got some solid results. Do you feel you’re established as an F1 driver now?
Jules BIANCHI: Obviously the first part of the season has been really good for me and the team. The second part a bit more difficult. Now we’re going into the last part and I feel confident. I was really happy with the first result we had but we still need to push and improve.
What do you feel is the right move for you? I know the Marussia team are keen to keep you for next season. Do you think the right move for you is to stay there or are you looking beyond?
JB: Well, I think the right move is first of all to think about this year, finish the season and let my manager and Ferrari see what we can do and they will decide and they will a good call but for sure I’m happy and pleased with Marussia.
Giedo, moving to you now. A bit of a tough start to the year but things have really seemed to turn around recently, particularly in the last race. What was the secret of that turnaround?
Giedo VAN DER GARDE: I think it’s a lot to do with the workload. I’ve been working really hard. Of course, it’s for rookies not easy to come in. I think Jules was a little bit better than me at the beginning. But it went better and better and you see a good direction going, especially the last race, it was going really well. Happy with the team, happy with the performance and we keep on pushing like this.
And your own thoughts about next year?
GVDG: Next year is still far away. I still want to focus on the next following races, do well, maximise myself. I think the new tyres are helping me a little bit, with my style of driving, so then we’ll see where it ends up.
Moving to you Sebastian, I was going to ask you about highlights of the season but I see you’ve gone out and got a few highlights of your own, under your cap, you’re hiding it now. You obviously have a comfortable lead in the championship but after the performance of Hamilton [in Hungary] and with Mercedes winning three of the last five are you beginning to feel less comfortable?
Sebastian VETTEL: I think we had a great first part of the season. Very good results, unfortunately one DNF, but all in all I think we can be very happy with the first half. Now entering the second half and looking at the calendar I think it will be very busy for all of us but I think we have the same reason to be confident as we had starting the season. I think we have a great car, a great team, a strong package, which hopefully is good enough to fight for victories in the next couple of races.
Obviously things are hotting up in the search for your new team-mate – lots of discussions going on. What, to you… what do you feel would be the ideal characteristics of the person sitting in the car on the other side of the garage next season?
SV: At the end of the day I think it doesn’t really matter too much. I think ideally you would like someone who is competitive, as competitive as you are, so that we are pushing each other. You don’t have to be best friends with whoever is racing next to you. At the end of the day you have to work for the team. I think that’s one of the most important bits, so you work in the same direction and hopefully ensure that the car gets faster, you pull in the same direction in terms of car development. I think that’s the most important thing. Whether you like each or not is not that important. If it’s the case, then probably it’s a bonus, but I don’t think it’s absolutely necessary.
Romain, first of all congratulations from all of us on the birth of your son. How does it feel?
Romain GROSJEAN: It feels like good entertainment, the best thing ever in the world.
Will it change the way you drive?
RG I think I have a different mind from the past. I have been trying to progress a lot. It may not change lap times but I’m still trying to improve myself.
Twenty-three points in the last two grand prix, your best form of the season. What’s brought that about?
RG: We had a decent run since Bahrain, where we found out what I didn’t like on the car at the start of the season. In Silverstone we had a little bad luck. I had a bad Monaco, that was myself, but then I think I was getting better and better and we had in the last two races fights for victory, which is always good. The car was performing well in quali and the race, so happy with that, happy with the progress we are doing and the updates that being brought by the team. Just trying to do my best and giving 100 per cent every time.
You’ve had a clean sheet in race starts this season but obviously coming back here everyone remembers 12 months ago, what do think about that now?
RG: Well, as I say, a different state of mind and I think I’ve progressed a lot and worked on that and I think the 2013 starts prove that I did my duties. No, I’ll keep pushing and trying to do my best in every circumstance. When every eye is on you, it’s easier for the others to play with that. But I’m here today to give my best, trying to win races, what I’ve been trying to do in the last two grand prix and it’s getting close and closer, which is good. So I’ll keep progressing, keep working and keep doing the same things and I’ll keep doing clean starts.
Q: Jean-Eric, moving to you, we saw the interview you gave to L’Équipe just before the summer break. Perhaps you could spell out for us the situation as you see it between yourself, Toro Rosso, Red Bull and the future?
Jean-Eric VERGNE: The situation is pretty clear. I don’t have much to say. There have been absolutely no [statements] from Red Bull Racing or Toro Rosso. I’m happy where I am. I try to focus 100 per cent on my season and all the races that are going on for the rest of the year. Therefore I don’t want to think too much about next year.
Q: There was a quote from Franz Tost saying you are secure at Toro Rosso for next year, you didn’t have to worry about your future.
JEV: Yeah, absolutely I’m not worried. Of course as a driver I wish I could have a car to win races but I will be more than happy to stay in Toro Rosso. It’s a good team. It’s a team building up, just getting better and better. We have a new factory, a lot of good people coming in and I would be more than happy to stay in Toro Rosso next year. Nothing else to say really.
Q: Give us your thoughts on this race. Obviously a lot of support coming across the border from France, obviously always a very special feeling as well, racing on this historic track – a track on which Toro Rosso have done reasonably well in the past, certainly in qualifying.
JEV: First of all I love this track. I’ve always loved racing here. For some reason I realise I’ve had quite a decent car here with Toro Rosso. Especially this year I hope will be even better than the other ones. We are aiming for a good weekend, scoring some good points and ending all the bad results we’ve had recently.
Q: Charles, how do you feel about what you’ve been able to do so far this season?
Charles PIC: I think it was a good first half of the season for us. The two first races were difficult and for sure we were not at the pace we wanted to be but I think all the team, including the driver, made a good job and progressed race after race to become stronger and stronger after races. We finished in Budapest, I think our highest level of the season. So I think that is quite positive. Still not where we want to be so we need to continue like that and push it forward. But I think it was a good progression.
Q: This is the time of year where teams and the drivers and their managers are all thinking about the jigsaw puzzle which is who drives where in 2014. What are your feelings? Would you like to stay where you are? Do you see a move? What are you thinking?
CP: My job is to try to get 100 per cent out of my car every weekend. So I will be focussed on this for the next races and I will let my management do the rest.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Julien Febreau – Canal Plus) Question to all of you except Romain Grosjean: do you feel ready to be a father?
SV: Oof. I don’t know. Maybe. Obviously Romain is a father, so maybe he can comment on what made him think he’s ready or not. I think in the best case it doesn’t take too long to get the job done! I think in that case we are all ready!
JEV: Well, following what Seb says, I will be ready to do the job but not the rest.
GvdG: I think when Seb does one he will have a nice boy or girl with the same hair. Just kidding. I don’t know. First of all, I’ve been with my girlfriend for quite a long time. We’re getting married this year and after that we will see what comes. I think we’ll wait for a few more years.
SV: We are still in free practice!
JB: I think it’s the same (for me); I don’t feel ready at the moment but I’m practising!
CP: For myself at the moment I’m focusing on racing and my season and after that we will see.
Q: (Pierre van Vliet – F1i.com) Jean-Eric, do you still believe that you have a chance for the Red Bull drive next year?
JEV: It’s a difficult question. Obviously I don’t know much more than you. I don’t want to think too much about it so it’s difficult for me to answer this question but I still believe in our chances to have a good car next year, whether Red Bull or Toro Rosso but if I’m at Toro Rosso I’m sure we will have a good car. I don’t have much else to say.
Q: (Kate Walker – GP Week) Sebastian, I’ve been bothering you for the past few races asking about the prospect of racing against Kimi in the same car and you were quite positive and enthusiastic about the challenge. How does it feel now that you know that prospective challenge has been taken away and that you might be racing somebody entirely different? Are you looking forward to it?
SV: Well, first of all, I didn’t know how realistic it was or not. Obviously I’ve learned similar to most of us from the press that as it looks, it’s not the case (that Kimi will be my teammate). For sure I’m talking with the team, but as I’ve said many times, it’s not my decision and also I don’t want to get too involved. As I’ve said, I think Kimi would have been nice in many ways. Now it’s not happening so it doesn’t make much sense to talk about that but who knows? He’s still young, I’m still young so I don’t know. A lot of things can still happen. Never say never but probably for next year it’s not going to happen.
Q: (Jerome Pugmire – Associated Press) Sebastian, after Hamilton’s win in Budapest, do you now see him as your most dangerous rival for the remainder of the season?
SV: Well, I think he’s one of them. Obviously, like I said, we had a good first half of the season. We can be very happy with that. We just need to go step by step, race by race and then not get distracted by too many things happening around the outside, outside of the team. I think Mercedes has been very competitive, not just Lewis, also Nico who has won two races already this year. We know that they are very quick in qualifying. Hungary, in a way, for the first time – not really the first time – they had the ability, let’s say, to show their speed in the race as well but really since Monaco, in a way, they’ve been competitive in the races. As I said, Nico won the race at Silverstone. Lewis was in the lead when he had the tyre failure. Surely, the last couple of races they were most competitive but then I think Lotus has always been there scoring points with Kimi. Romain is fighting his way back. Ferrari, I think, has a little bit of a low at the moment but still they’ve got good points so I think all of these teams and the drivers, you still have to keep them in mind but as I said, for us it’s not that important to pick one particular driver or person or team. As I said, first of all we have to get our own stuff sorted and then we will see what happens.
Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Sebastian, there are rumours about Kimi that he might go back to Ferrari. Do you think that he and Fernando could be a more threatening couple for you, or would you prefer him to stay at Lotus?
SV: I don’t know. I get along quite well with Kimi so I would be happy in a way if he finds a spot where he’s happy. I think he has a good seat at the moment with Lotus but if he can improve then I would be happy for him. I think Kimi is very straightforward, you don’t get any bullshit with him and politics so in that regard I don’t know how realistic it is for him to return to Ferrari. Obviously he has been there and then Fernando came and Kimi left to go rallying. I think he’s very uncomplicated.
Q: (Peter Farkas – Auto-Motor) Jules, can you make it clear if you running for the Ferrari seat, and what other options are there for you apart from Marussia?
JB: Well, obviously I don’t know. Actually I am just focused 100 percent on my season and I just let my manager decide it for me. I think it’s not the moment to look at that, but for sure I will be ready if Ferrari call me, but for the moment I feel good at Marussia.
Q: (Luke Smith – NBC Sports) Romain, there are rumours of Kimi Raikkonen leaving the team at the end of the season; do you enjoy the prospect of potentially leading Lotus next season, in potentially a World Championship-leading car?
RG: Well, I always say that losing Kimi would be a loss for the team, he’s very good, he’s a World Champion, it’s good to have him as a teammate. We push each other to the limit but if he leaves then we still have to do the job and to try to win races and score a lot of points. So at the moment I think we have a good way of working together but yeah, if he leaves then I would be more than happy to get the deal and try to keep Lotus where it is or still improve.
Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action and National Speedsport News) Sebastian, we’re at Spa, a track you guys all love and we’re going to Suzuka, a track you all love. What is your most memorable race at Suzuka and why?
SV: So you’re not… you don’t want to talk about Spa? Correct. Nice introduction though! Looking back to Suzuka, I think I’ve had fantastic races there. I’ve been very lucky. I think the last four years I’ve always been on the podium: won three out of four races there so yeah, I really like the circuit, it’s fantastic. The first sector is great, similar to here: you have some corners which are very similar. I think we all enjoy the fact that when we get to challenge ourselves, not only ourselves but also the cars, and really get the cars to their limit and feel, once or twice, on these special types of circuits, what the cars can do and the corner speeds we have just through the first sector at Suzuka is very impressive. I enjoy that a lot, to feel the speed, to really get that sensation. It’s just a great level of satisfaction and that’s why it’s like a drug, you want more and more every lap and if you have a great car which fortunately I had the last couple of years, then it’s just great to go for another lap and another lap. I think the best memory I have is winning the championship there in 2011, even though I didn’t win the race but still it was a great experience, a crazy day and crazy karaoke at night after that.
Q: (Marc Priestley – F1Times.com) For anybody who has been to do a track walk today; you will have noticed that the first few grid slots have had some drainage channels cut into the track surface. Has there been talk amongst your teams, firstly about the different strategies for the start procedures and secondly about the possibility of even doing practice starts at some point over the Grand Prix weekend before we get to Sunday?
RG: Well, we noticed it while doing the track walk but we haven’t spoken with the start guy yet. It’s true that it looks different when you do the walk but I think the first eleven grid positions are more or less the same so there is no disadvantage; the advantage will be more with the eleventh, twelfth positions if there could be any problems, but I think from the first few rows, it should be the same for everyone.
JEV: Actually, we had a meeting just before the press conference and we were discussing it. I think we will probably bring it up during the drivers’ briefing or team managers’ briefing to try and ask if we can have a practice start to see if there is a difference or not.
SV: Yeah, we’ve noticed it, we’ve talked about it, we don’t know the difference because we’ve never had starts on that kind of surface. I don’t expect it to be a big difference. Obviously I think we are not allowed – at the moment, at least – doing any practice starts. Maybe that will change, to have a look for all the teams. If it’s wet, it’s better, if it’s wet for all of us for sure, but I think that’s the reason why they did it. Like I said, no experience so we don’t know.
GvdG: I think we are at an advantage then.
Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Romain, talking about Kimi, one thing that his manager said is that it depends a lot on Lotus whether he can stay or not, from what Lotus can offer technically and also financially. I think this is also something that interests you; have you spoken with Boullier and with Lopez, what do you know about next year? Do you feel secure about this?
RG: Well, I was a bit busy the last few weeks to be honest. I didn’t have much time to make phone calls. I feel very happy with the team. It’s no secret that I would like to stay there. I think we are on a good progression. There’s a lot of talk about Kimi but to be honest, at the moment I am just trying to focus on the way back and having the races that we’ve had in the last two Grands Prix and doing a good job.
Q: (Andy Young – Richland F1) Question for the back row: it’s forecast to rain on Sunday, are you hopeful that it does and therefore gives you a chance to maybe get a point or a decent result?
JB: Well, obviously when it’s raining I think it’s better for us because it’s like kind of crazy races so we have more chance to finish in the front but it’s also a chance for us to be out of the track, so it’s not easy. I would like to have some rain on Sunday.
CP: I think, as Jules said, each time you have changing conditions, for us it’s good because it means that if you take the right decisions you can take advantage from it and try to get a finishing position that you are not able to get without changing conditions. I think it’s good but then after it’s the same for everybody so you still have to take the right decision and a better one than the one (driver) you are fighting against.
GvdG: I think it’s a good opportunity for us. I think it’s always nice here in the rain. I think our car performs quite well in the rain and with that, a lot of things can happen in the race so we will see. I think it would be nice for us to have a little rain, a little luck here and there. Hopefully we can get back our tenth place in the team championship.
Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Sebastian, yesterday Alonso tweeted impressive numbers about his training during the summer break. Could you tell us what you did during the break?
SV: What did I do? Holiday, so rest a little bit and for sure, you use the time to… soon enough, hopefully, get back into rhythm and train. I didn’t log every kilometer that I did on the bike or run or swim so I don’t know what he did. I know that he’s quite active on Twitter but I’m not following him. I don’t have the… I don’t know if you actually need the application or not on your phone or if you… I don’t know, if you have to subscribe. I don’t know. I’m not a member, I’m not part of that exclusive club but yeah, I think he’s pretty fit, no doubt, so I’m sure he was training pretty hard.
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My best race is my next one: Pat Symmonds
Q: You have recently been appointed Chief Technical Officer of the Williams F1 Team – what does this new challenge entail?
Firstly, I think it’s a great team. The facilities are top class, we have a huge number of talented people and yet the results on the track are not a reflection of the quality we have. So I think my challenge is to analyse why this is happening, make the changes that are needed to empower the people and really get the focus in one direction: performance.
Q: What does it mean to you to join the Williams F1 Team?
Funnily enough I was reminded the other day, by a good friend, that many years ago when I was at Renault I was quoted as saying that the only other team in Formula One that I would work for was Williams. It’s taken me a long while to get here, but now I’m here I’m very happy to be.
I’ve been here in Grove for a couple of days now and the first thing that strikes me is how welcome I’ve been made. I’ve over 500 new names to learn and I need to learn my way around the place so it’s a bit like the first day at school! I’m impressed by what I see though: the facilities are fantastic; I know a lot of the people are very good and I feel confident.
Q: What does it mean to now be working alongside Sir Frank Williams – who has previously been one of your biggest rivals?
Frank has always been a fierce competitor but one that always competes with a lot of honour and dignity. Sometimes I beat him, sometimes I lost to him but I always had the utmost respect for him. I’m really thrilled that now we can combine our efforts to beat our competitors.
Q: Looking back at your career – you have worked with many outstanding drivers – who has been the most interesting to work with so far?
The most interesting are not always the most outstanding and I’ve met many who were very interesting over the years! I’ve always enjoyed working with every driver in different ways. I’ve worked with many outstanding drivers from Senna, Schumacher, and Alonso but if I had to pick one, I do have a special place for Michael (Schumacher). He is obviously a super talent, he very much thinks like an engineer and yet he’s also a really great person, so I definitely have a soft spot for him.
Q: From what you have seen, what do you think about the team’s current driver line-up of Pastor Maldonado & Valtteri Bottas?
So far I have really only seen them from the outside. I was able to spend time with both of them on my second day at Grove and what I can see is that they are both extremely committed and determined to see the team progress. I’m looking forward to working together with them to achieve greater success. They strike me as intelligent and committed drivers so let’s give them some equipment to show their talent.
Q: Your 30 year Formula One career has seen you achieve success with some of the sport’s most accomplished teams and drivers. With 32 race wins, four Drivers’ World Championships and three Constructors’ World Championships – what would you say was your proudest achievement to date?
I always say my best race is my next one. I’m not really a person that tends to look backwards very much but if you ask me specifically then the mid-90s with Michael and mid-2000s with Fernando, where we had a lot of dominant wins, of course I’m proud of those achievements. But in a different vein, I’m equally proud of the non-racing aspects. The work I’ve done building up various teams and people. It’s nice to see some guys who worked with me when they were very young now in senior positions at various teams. I certainly enjoy the mentoring and development of people.
Q: What do you hope to bring to Williams and how do you think your working style can benefit the team?
My primary aim is to bring success back to the team and I will be very singular in my focus to achieve that. I want the people who are working with me to enjoy that success and be an integral part of bringing Williams back to where I think it should be. It will take time to analyse what is happening and improve things but it’s up to me to facilitate this process.
Q: Coming into the team at this stage, can you make a difference this season or will your focus be on next year?
There are developments going on for the remainder of this season. We have new parts coming to races as far out as Korea and beyond. They are not things I’ve had influence on but I can see them in the development programme. I hope we can look at some smaller details from the wind tunnel to improve things over the coming races and I’ll be looking at the operational side too. Fundamentality focus has to be much more towards 2014 as it’s an immensely difficult programme, the most difficult we have had to tackle for a long while. The FW36 is well underway and I think it’s important I get my influence onto that. However, my influence will be much more on process rather than detail, so I hope that pays off and leads to the sort of structure that can lead to on-going success for the team.
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Pirelli choses Hard and Medium tyres for Spa-Francorchamps
Milan, 19 August 2013: Before the mid-season break, the Formula One teams visited the slowest permanent track on the calendar: the Hungaroring. Now they head to one of the quickest of all: Spa-Francorchamps, in the foothills of the Ardennes. Pirelli is bringing the P Zero Orange hard and P Zero White medium tyres: the two hardest compounds in the range. These are perfectly suited to the high-energy demands of the circuit, with its rapid corners and fast compressions such as the legendary Eau Rouge. One of the key characteristics of Spa is its variable weather conditions, which means that the Cinturato Green intermediate tyres and Cinturato Blue full wet tyres are also likely to be called into play over the course of the weekend.Paul Hembery: “Spa is not only an epic circuit, but also one of the biggest challenges for our tyres all year. Mostly this is because of the very high-energy loads that go all the way through the tyres, both vertically – due to the big compressions such as Eau Rouge – and also laterally at fast corners like Blanchimont. Often, the tyres are subjected to forces acting in different directions at the same time, which increases the work still further. So looking after the tyres is very important, particularly as it’s such a long lap. This means that there are a very wide variety of possible strategies available at Spa as well, with plenty of time to be won and lost if the right tactics are chosen. However, any strategy has to be very flexible, because it’s the changing weather that often makes Spa such a fascinating race. The conditions can change extremely quickly, which then makes how the teams use the intermediate and wet tyres the key to success – as we have seen so often in the past. Both our wet-weather tyres have proved their performance over previous races; with the intermediate tyre in particular showing how well suited it is even to inconsistent and drying conditions. There are plenty of overtaking opportunities, and the blend of performance and durability offered by our nominated tyres should maximise those chances this weekend.”
Jean Alesi: “Spa is a circuit that everyone talks about and over the years I’ve not heard anybody say anything apart from the fact that it is awesome. It’s so fast and so challenging, but one of the key characteristics is the fact that it’s very long. So it’s never monotonous, as you do very few laps compared to other tracks. Managing the tyres takes a special skill: there are lots of fast corners and the length of the track as well as the variable temperatures mean that your tyres can actually cool down after the first part of the circuit. But in qualifying, if you start off with your tyres too warm, then you won’t get the maximum performance from them throughout the entire length of the lap. There’s a huge amount of variation possible in terms of set-up as well: some teams add downforce to get more grip in the mid part of the lap, and that will also have an effect on how the tyres work. Probably the most important characteristic is the high possibility of rainfall. You can have a completely dry corner and then a fully wet track a few corners later. Underneath the water though, the surface is quite abrasive and offers good grip, so you can still drive. The bigger problem is the sudden rivers of water that run across the track in a zigzag shape: you’ve got to know where they are, so that the aquaplaning doesn’t catch you out. There’s also a lot of spray at Spa when it rains, which makes visibility very difficult in wet conditions.”
The circuit from a tyre point of view:
Spa is one of the circuits that has featured on the Formula One world championship since it got underway in 1950. While the track has altered radically over the years (the current layout dates from 1979) it maintains its fast and flowing nature, with an average lap speed in the region of 230kph.
The circuit is just over seven kilometres in length, making this comfortably the longest lap of the year. Cars are on full throttle for around 80% of the lap, sometimes for more than 20 seconds at a time. The variation in the lap means that starting from pole is not as important as it can be on other circuits.
At high speeds, aggressive camber angles can cause blistering as heat builds up around the edges of the tyres. However, teams are expected to comply with Pirelli’s maximum recommended camber angles, which should help prevent this phenomenon.
Further information about Spa and the demands it places on tyres, as well as more information about how tyres are tested in the laboratory, can be found on a 3D animated video starring Pirelli’s Racing Manager Mario Isola. This is copyright-free for media use on Pirelli’s Formula One website: www.pirelli.com/f1pressarea
Technical tyre notes:
The big compression at Eau Rouge subjects the front tyres to the highest vertical load of the season: 1000 kilograms.
The top two last year (Button and Vettel) used a one-stop strategy, while the third-placed finisher (Raikkonen) stopped twice. There was also plenty of variation in the start tyres selected: while most drivers started on the medium tyre, Hulkenberg started on the hard tyre and finished fourth with a two-stop strategy.
The performance gap between the hard and medium tyre is likely to be more than a second per lap.
The tyre choices so far:
PZero Red PZero Yellow PZero White PZero Orange Australia Supersoft Medium Malaysia Medium Hard China Soft Medium Bahrain Medium Hard Spain Medium Hard Monaco Supersoft Soft Canada Supersoft Medium Great Britain Medium Hard Germany Soft Medium Hungary Soft Medium Belgium Medium Hard Meet the Pirelli F1 Team: Jaime Alguersuari and Lucas di Grassi, F1 test drivers
Once more, Pirelli is able to rely on two high-calibre test drivers this year: Jaime Alguersuari and Lucas di Grassi, from Spain and Brazil respectively. Jaime has done the first two tests this season, while Lucas is scheduled to take over later this year.
Their work consists of assessing the latest experimental compounds from Pirelli during private tests, driving a 2010 Renault that has been modified to replicate the latest regulations. Once they have driven on the prototype tyres, they give their feedback to Pirelli’s engineers about each compound’s characteristics and how the tyres could be improved for the future. The use of two test drivers ensures that the engineers get two different perspectives and opinions: essential when tyres are being developed for a grid of 22 drivers.
Jaime became the youngest driver to start a Formula One race when he made his debut in 2009, then he completed two further full season with Toro Rosso before becoming a Pirelli test driver, with a best result of seventh in Italy and Korea in 2011. As well as a skilled racing driver, he is also a talented DJ, topping the charts in Spain.
Lucas drove for the Virgin Formula One team during its debut season in 2010, taking the car to 14th in Malaysia. He joined Pirelli in 2011 and is also a factory Audi driver in endurance racing, finishing on the podium at this year’s Le Mans 24 Hours.
Other news from Pirelli:
Pirelli recently announced its return to the World Rally Championship next year, making a comeback following its last spell in the WRC as single tyre supplier from 2008 to 2010. This time, three other tyre suppliers have also been appointed to supply the WRC.
Pirelli’s last outing in Spa was at the Spa 24 Hours last month. This was one of Pirelli’s biggest-ever logistical operations, with 8552 tyres available on site, transported by a convoy of 19 trucks. The fitting service delivered a tyre every 26 seconds on average (over a 22-hour period).
Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen tested a GP3 car on Pirelli tyres last week. The Finn tried out the car in Barcelona during an official development test. “The GP3/13 is a very good tool for young drivers, especially when you have to learn about tyre management like we have in F1,” he said.
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F1 2013 mid-season review
As the motorsport calendar reaches its mid-point, FIA.com takes a look at the championships in a mid-season review. Today it’s the turn of Formula One.
The first half of the 2013 Formula One season was dominated by talk of tyres. But with teams now on top of the new Pirelli constructions, the run to the chequered flag in Interlagos promises to provide dramatic racing between the grid’s top talents.
Despite Red Bull’s strong lead in the constructors’ standings, the 2013 season has not been an easy one for the team. During the Malaysian Grand Prix, in-house politics were brought dramatically to the fore when Sebastian Vettel ignored team orders and overtook teammate Mark Webber for the win. And the team’s usual strategy of taking advantage of Vettel’s qualifying pace to put the German on pole with a view to securing a lights-to-flag win has not paid off this season, thanks in no small part to Mercedes’ Saturday dominance.
Lewis Hamilton was roundly criticised for his decision to move from McLaren to the Silver Arrows this season, but the Briton has secured four poles, one victory, and three podium finishes, while teammate Nico Rosberg has three poles and two wins to his name. Those seven combined pole positions have proved to be a thorn in Red Bull’s side, and now that the Mercedes appears to have overcome its severe degradation issues the Brackley racers are in a strong position to remain in the fight during the nine races to come.
But Red Bull are not an easy team to beat; they have proved themselves capable of both impressive car development and consistency where it matters – on track. Their 69 point lead in the constructors’ standings is not unassailable, but it does give the team a strong advantage heading into the second half of the season.
Lotus started 2013 on a high, with a win for Kimi Raikkonen in Melbourne. But that early strong form has not led to further victories for the Finn or for the team, with Raikkonen collecting five second-place finishes while teammate Romain Grosjean has two third-places to his name. While Lotus have been in the fight at every race, thanks partly to a car that has run well on the 2013 tyres whatever their specification, the E21 has not had the outright pace in qualifying to make Sundays easy for the team.
It has proved to be a disappointing year for Ferrari, even though the team are third in the constructors’ standings, with Fernando Alonso third in the drivers’. The F138 proved itself to be an early-season race winner, with victories in China and Spain, but poor qualifying results have hampered the team’s efforts to challenge Red Bull and Mercedes for wins since the European season began in earnest. Alonso should never be discounted from a title challenge, but the Spanish racer’s growing frustration is causing public ructions within the team. On the other side of the garage, Felipe Massa’s season has been moving in a downward trajectory after a strong start that saw the Brazilian outqualify his teammate on a regular basis.
One of the biggest surprisesof the season was McLaren’s dramatic slump in form, with the usual front-runners finding themselves struggling in the mid-field. Thanks to a mid-summer improvement, the Woking racers left Budapest only two points shy of technology customers Force India in the constructors’ standings. Based on recent performances, the second half of the season should see McLaren back in the fight nearer the front, with Jenson Button predicting a podium finish in Spa.
Force India have had an impressive season, building a car that far outshines the team’s resources – humble, compared to many of their rivals. Adrian Sutil and Paul di Resta have both delivered on track, regularly finishing in the points and establishing Force India as the strongest of the mid-field contenders. The similarly budgeted Sauber have had a far more challenging year, arriving in Melbourne with a car that struggled with rear-end stability and two drivers new to the team. Nico Hulkenberg has done his best with the equipment at his disposal, securing the team’s seven points, while teammate Esteban Gutierrez has acquitted himself well for a rookie.
Toro Rosso are not a team fighting for titles and wins, although the Firenza-based team has shown significant progress this season, thanks in no small part to strong qualifying performances from Daniel Ricciardo and impressive race drives from Jean-Eric Vergne. The Toro Rosso battle has been between two teammates fighting it out for the chance to replace the departing Webber at Red Bull, and while Ricciardo is the top pick from the junior team, Raikkonen is also on the radar.
Further down the grid, it has been a disappointing season for Williams, who brought home their first point of the year from Budapest. The car lacks downforce and has proved challenging enough for both Pastor Maldonado and Valtteri Bottas to drive that the Grove racers undertook a mid-season overhaul of their technical team. It may be too late for a 2013 turnaround, however.
Marussia and Caterham continue their battle for 10th, with Marussia overhauling their rivals in the standings for the first time since the two teams joined the fray in 2010. Both teams started the 2013 with new driver line-ups, and Marussia’s rookie pairing of Jules Bianchi and Charles Pic were treated to a more stable car to drive than rivals Giedo van der Garde and Charles Pic. By the Bahrain Grand Prix, Caterham’s struggles were such that the team drafted in ex-driver Heikki Kovalainen to advise on improvements.
While the first half of the season was dominated by the tyres, the second half promises much in the way of close racing and a thrilling fight to the finish in Interlagos.
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