INDIA in F1

Tag: F1

  • Force India miss out on points at Canada

    Montreal, 10 June 2012: Even as Sahara Force India prepare for the next GP in Valencia, Spain next Sunday, we shall go back to last Sunday at Canada where Sahara Force India drivers Paul Di Resta and Nico Hulkenberg just missed out on points in the Canadian Grand Prix, coming home P11 and P12 respectively.
    P11      Paul Di Resta (VJM05/02)
    Tyre strategy: Used supersoft, New soft, New soft
    Paul: “I think we all feel a bit disappointed to miss out on points today. To qualify eighth and run as high as fifth shows we were well placed and things were running smoothly for the first few laps. Then I seemed to suffer with some high tyre degradation on the super-softs so we pitted quite early, but on the soft tyres we just didn’t have the performance to race the cars around us and we slipped back. It’s a missed opportunity but sometimes you get weekends like this. We need to go away and analyse things, lift our heads high and bounce back harder next time.”
    P12      Nico Hulkenberg (VJM05/03)
    Tyre strategy: New soft, New supersoft, New soft
    Nico: “Our result today is a bit disappointing. We thought we could get in the points, but every race is hard to predict this year and we were not able to deliver what we hoped for. Ultimately we didn’t have enough speed today and suffered with high tyre wear compared to the cars around us. We had to do a two-stop strategy while a lot of our rivals were able to stop once and they got a big benefit from that.”
    Dr Vijay Mallya, Team Principal & Managing Director
    “A hot afternoon’s work and unfortunately we didn’t come away with the results we wanted. The car has shown strong pace throughout the weekend, but for whatever reason we could not find the sweet spot today. It’s a shame because for the first stint we looked very strong and Paul moved up to fifth place before his first stop. But we were not able to make the super-soft tyres last long enough and we didn’t have enough pace on the soft tyres. So we leave here feeling that we didn’t quite realise our potential, but determined to learn from the lessons of today before we arrive in Valencia.”
    ends

  • Performance fell short of our capability: Peter Sauber

    Hinwil, 14 June 2012: Last Sunday in Canada, Sergio Pérez captured the second podium place of the season for the Sauber F1 Team. Team Principal Peter Sauber talks about this extraordinary race, an exciting season and the targets for the forthcoming grands prix.

    When did you realise on Sunday that a podium place was within grasp?

    Peter Sauber: “Not until late on in the race. Sergio had started from 15th on the grid, so you wouldn’t normally be contemplating a podium place – you’d be happy just to get into the points. But once the front-runners began to develop problems with their tyres towards the end of the race, it became clear that something very special could be unfolding. Unlike the other drivers, Sergio was not affected by these tyre problems and was able to continue his all-out offensive right to the end. He drove an extraordinary race.”

    Did the result come as a surprise?

    PS: “Yes and no. Of course it was a surprise that Sergio managed to advance from 15th on the grid to a third-placed finish in a perfectly normal race, without rain and without any safety car periods. But basically we knew the Sauber C31 was far better than the results of the last few GPs might have suggested. Our performance in Barcelona and Monaco fell well short of our capability. We had the potential in both races to be right up in front, but things just didn’t fall into place.”

    What are your expectations for the upcoming races?

    PS: “If we manage to exploit our full potential as a team, in other words get everything right from Friday morning to Sunday evening, a great deal is possible. After seven races it is patently clear that the C31 can be fast on virtually any kind of track.”

    Do you think a win would be on the cards?

    PS: “Before the season I don’t suppose anyone would have put that question to me. But now, after seven races with seven different winners, so much seems possible. In Malaysia we came very close to winning. Further podium places certainly seem a realistic prospect. The prerequisite of course is that our drivers go into the race from good grid positions.”

    Not everyone is happy about seven races with seven different winners – it throws them. What’s your take?

    PS: “As far as I can see it’s just a handful of people in the paddock who can’t get used to not knowing by Friday who’s going to win on Sunday. I think the fans see it in a completely different light. They’re delighted with the unpredictability, the sheer variety and the unbelievably close competition. I’ve been in Formula One for 20 years now and for me it’s never been better or more exciting. That’s partly down to Pirelli, who are supplying the tyres for this show.”

    Can the Sauber F1 Team keep up with the major players when it comes to further development of the car?

    PS: “Of course the four big teams have very different financial possibilities compared to the private teams in the middle of the pack. But that doesn’t in any way discourage us. Our forte is efficiency. The development package that was given its first airing in Barcelona showed what we are capable of. The crucial thing is that the C31 gives us an excellent foundation with real potential for further development.”

    What are your targets for the rest of the season?

    PS: “At the start of the season we said that we wanted to pick up points regularly and improve our position in the constructors’ rankings. That essentially remains in place, but naturally I’m now keen to see a few more podium places. The fact is that after seven out of 20 races we have a tally of 58 points. That’s already 14 more than we had at the end of last season. So far things are panning out quite well.”
    ends

  • Narain hopes for change in fortunes at HRT’s 2nd home race

    22nd-24th June 2012
    Valencia Street Circuit – 57 laps – 5.419km

    Madrid, 15 June 2012: After a brief stop in Canada the Formula 1 World Championship returns to the old continent for the European Grand Prix. This will be the second and final time that HRT Formula 1 Team races in front of its home crowd this season. The team showed clear signs of improvement throughout the entire weekend in Montreal but wasn’t able to convert these sensations into a good result in the Grand Prix as brake issues on both cars forced the drivers to retire. There’s no better place to try and put things right than at home with the backing of the Spanish fans providing the team with that extra push says the HRT team release.

    Valencia is a street circuit made up of long straights and slow corners. Overtaking is a difficult challenge and there isn’t much grip, especially towards the beginning of the weekend. The high temperatures are also a factor worth keeping in mind.

    Pirelli have elected their medium and soft tyres for this Grand Prix.

    Pedro de la Rosa: “Just like in Barcelona, I’m really looking forward to racing in front of our home fans in Valencia. At the Valencia Street Circuit we will encounter high air and track temperatures so the brakes will be put through their paces once again, but we’re confident we can make the necessary modifications to overcome the problems we experienced in Canada. Valencia has long straights but overtaking isn’t easy and it is a high-downforce track. I think we can do quite well here, although it’s not as favourable to our car as Canada, because there are a lot of braking areas and slow corners which are good for us. We’re looking forward to putting in a good performance in front of our fans and we want to continue with our progress from the last few races, where we’ve been at a good standard, but here we want to confirm this improvement in the race”.

    Talking to India In F1 site, Narain Karthikeyan said: “I am looking forward to our second home race and Valencia will be our third street circuit in a row. It is our second visit to Spain in just about five weeks but the circuit is as different as it could be compared to Barcelona. It shares some characteristics with Montreal and Monte Carlo, like emphasis on low-speed traction so I expect our car to do well here. Apart from that, it is a beautiful place and weather is pretty hot, just like India, but the track itself isn’t a huge challenge. Yes the walls are close but the adrenaline factor isn’t close to Monaco or even Montreal. But on the back of the promise we showed in Canada, I’m looking forward to the race and hopefully we’ll have a chance to build on it this time”.

    Luis Pérez-Sala, Team Principal: “We’re looking forward to racing in Valencia, as it will be the second time we do so at home this season. In Canada we were quick and performed well but were unable to finish the race. In Valencia we want to confirm this progress and achieve a good result, plus doing so in front of the Spanish public is even more special. I think that the characteristics of this circuit adapt well to our car and I hope we have good reliability and finish the race with a positive result”.

    ends

  • I dedicate this trophy to fans: Hamilton

    Montreal, 10 June 2012: The 2012 FIA Formula One World Championship lived upto the expectations throwing up Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team’s former World Champion Lewis Hamilton as winner with Romain Grosjean of Lotus and Sergio Perez of Sauber making it to the podium on Sunday at the Gilles Villeneuve circuit.

    At the mandatory post-race FIA Press Conference, the fourth and final for the week-end, the top three drivers attended.

    TV UNILATERAL

    Lewis, one word: wow. What a race. That must feel incredible?

    Lewis HAMILTON: It does, it does. Firstly, I want to say congratulations to these two guys [Grosjean and Pérez], who have done an incredible job, but also just to the team, who never seem to give up. Also, the race, I want to dedicate this one to all the fans out there, who are constantly sending letters and messages and always being so positive and supportive throughout the year. What a great feeling this is where I won my first grand prix. I knew today would be a tough, tough race but I loved every single minute of it and I’m really grateful.

    You say you loved every single minute of it but two delays on your pit stops and then you get out and the team tell you, ‘actually the guys ahead are one-stopping’. Did you ever think for a moment that it wasn’t going to happen today?

    LH: I never had a doubt in my mind that there wasn’t a possibility to win but I was thinking that these guys are falling quite far behind so I assumed they are doing a one-stop but I don’t think I’m going to be able to do a one-stop so I’m going to keep on pushing, increase the gap… Yeah, I had a couple of problems pulling away. It might have been my fault, I don’t know. But otherwise the pit stops were great and finally we’ve got some good pit stops and of course we can keep on improving in every area.

    Romain, an amazing result for you and the team. Was the plan always to go for a one-stopper or was that something that developed as the race went on?

    Romain GROSJEAN: Well, we thought about going for a one-stop and see what was going on later on. The question mark was can we go with the option tyres at the beginning especially that they are already two runs [old] from Q1 and Q3 , that was the one I set my fastest lap time with. But then the car felt pretty good. When I put on the prime tyre, I didn’t know what Nico Rosberg was doing in front of me or Mark Webber so it was difficult. I was fighting with them, pushing quite hard but I knew that I was trying to go for one stop and finally when I saw Mark coming in my tyres were quite fresh and then I didn’t realise I was third and I then I saw Fernando slowing down and I was second. It was a crazy end to the race because I was thinking P5 or P4 but the pace stayed there and the team did a fantastic job with the car, which was good on tyres. We knew with the heat we would be better today, so hopefully the sun came and it was good for us and it is fantastic to be on my second podium this season.

    Sergio, again an incredible drive, an incredible race. At what point did you know that a podium was on the cards?

    Sergio PÉREZ: Well, to be honest, until I passed Fernando, because starting 15th the last thing you would think about is ending up on the podium. We went quite aggressive, the first stint was quite good. Then the stop was very good. The second stint was really, really good. I managed to overtake some cars in difficult manouevres. I saw that degradation was not so high for me. I could manage my pace well. Then I managed to get some other drivers. It’s a great result for the team after such a bad day we had yesterday. We had a lot of trouble with the brakes. Today, it’s just great to finish here on the podium. It’s a great boost for the team. After Malaysia it’s our second time to get in the [major] points and the second podium, so hopefully we can keep this way. Obviously we have been very unlucky: what happened in Monaco for example. We were very quick there and in Barcelona as well. It’s great to come back and do a podium for the whole team and with this here being so close to home with a lot of Mexicans around, it’s great.

    Lewis, back to you. As you said, this is the place you won your first grand prix five years ago and we can see how much this meant to you today. Can you just sum up your emotions at the end of an incredible race and a wonderful weekend?

    LH: It’s still sinking in. It’s been five years since I won here for the first time but it feels just as good. Again, just massively proud of the team for continuing to push and it feels great to finally be here on the top step. Definitely, as always, we’ll never take it for granted and this for me feels like one of the best races that I’ve had for a very, very long time, so thank you to everyone.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Lewis, obviously you really enjoyed that. As you said, a huge amount of satisfaction from that.

    LH: Absolutely. Absolutely. One of the most enjoyable races that I’ve had ‘til now. I was just thinking today to finish at the front, as I did in my first win here in 2007, would be very, very special for me – which it has been. I couldn’t believe it when I was coming across the line. That feeling inside, it’s like an explosion. It’s really just incredible. And that’s what I love about racing and if I continue to have this feeling for many, many years, then hopefully I’ll be here for a long, long time.

    The tactics on the pitwall worked absolutely perfectly. You must have thought, ‘perfect’, every time you overtook somebody ‘yes, that’s the way it was meant to work out.’

    LH: I think the team did a really great job with the pitstops and the strategy. I was very, very surprised that I was able to look after my tyres and then push at the times that I needed to push. I was very, very surprised in the first stint, that I was able to close up on Sebastian. I never thought they would have such degradation. And so to catch them, and see them go in, and then still be able to push, was a real pleasure to see, because it’s very, very rare. But I knew that Fernando was going to be the one to beat. When he was behind me I thought he was going to be the one to beat today, as he generally has great pace on long runs. But we did it. I wasn’t able to do a one-stop. I don’t think I would have been able to do it – I think I would have fallen back as they did: perhaps even further. I think a two-stop was just right.

    Was that a result of knowing that you had trouble with the hotter temperatures?

    LH: No… well… of course we were aware of that. Of course we went into the race knowing that we’d be doing a two-stop. And when the guys were behind me I kinda had a feeling that Fernando would be doing a one-stop, so I knew I had to make a gap while looking after the tyres. I was able to make a gap and then hold it, even though Fernando started to pick his pace up. It was one of the best stints that I’ve had for a long, long time. And then at the end I had a serious gap to catch up but I was able to be 1.5-1.7 seconds faster than Fernando each lap, which was fantastic. And the greatest thing here is that at this circuit you can overtake. Even if it’s not the back straight, you still have opportunities to overtake, which always gives us good races.

    Romain, you were in traffic early on. That must have been very interesting. What did you think?

    RG: It wasn’t easy at the start because basically I was fighting in the traffic and I didn’t know whether the guys were going to do one-stop, two-stops. And then I tried to jump Rosberg on a pitstop but it didn’t work, so I was behind him again. And when you follow a car it’s not easy to save your tyres and protect a little bit. I know that we were trying to go for one-stop and I didn’t really know what to think about. And then I saw Nico coming to the pit and thought ‘good news.’ And then I caught Mark. Mark was quite the same pace as I was, so it wasn’t easy, and then he went to the pit as well. Then I was more safe and I couldn’t realize from P9 – I think – on my pit board to P2 in a few laps. I didn’t really understand what was going on but I knew that we had to carry good pace. Again, the team did an incredible job to give me a good car in the race. We knew with the sun it would be better today. I really want to dedicate this result to them, to friends and to, today, Guillaume Moreau, which was on my helmet, who had a crash at the Le Mans test day last week. I wish him a good recovery. And I’m very happy that he was on my helmet for this race.

    You’ve been a rookie here and obviously learnt the circuit. You’ve enjoyed taking on the Montreal accent – you’re feelings about your podium here.

    RG: It’s good. I’m feeling more at home. People speak French, the city is quite nice and the people are really welcoming, so it’s good to be here. The track is interesting; not an easy one to learn but as we say most of the time: if you have a good result then you like the track – so I think now I like Canada and I’m looking forward to coming back next year. But before that we have 13 more races until the end of the season and I hope we can keep our pace, our results and keep up the team.

    Sergio, you were almost a rookie, apart from three laps, and from 15th on the grid, one-stop, once again showing that you can keep the tyres alive.

    SP: Yeah. It was a great race for the whole team because after such a disappointing qualifying that we had yesterday, with so little pace as well – we didn’t have the pace we wanted to – so we had to fight in a different way with the strategy and try to make it work and make it happen with the strategy. We didn’t have any reference on the long runs. The long runs we did with the tyres, it was 10-15°C less track temperature. So, it was a lottery, basically, but I think the team has done a great job with the stop and the strategy, myself too, keeping the tyres alive and being so consistent. It’s been a great result for the whole team. We have been so unlucky since Malaysia. We had the pace but for some reason or another we don’t manage to get the result in the end. I think it’s great to come back into the points with another podium.

    You mentioned you had brake problems yesterday, was there any trace of that today?

    SP: No, when I mentioned we had a brake problem it was nothing like a failure. It was just that the balance was really bad for me and I could not manage to stop the car, I flat-spot my tyres, so I have a lot of vibration in qualifying. In the race it was different. We worked a lot during the night – yesterday – to fix the problems and today we did a great job.

    And after these two podiums that you’ve had, as you say a little bit of frustration that since Malaysia you haven’t had better luck. What do you feel you can do in the rest of the Championship?

    SP: The thing is we long to fight for a podium every race. Today was a very crazy race, as we have had many of this year. But I think we have the potential to do it. This has to be the target, to get the first win this season for our team.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Kate Walker – Girl Racer) Romain, earlier this weekend, you said that this was your favourite circuit because you learned it on Playstation. Do you think Playstation was a contributing factor to your strong performance today?

    RG: I think I should say X-Box or Microsoft. It’s true that on a video game it’s my favourite track and looking at it, it’s quite interesting. It’s more bumpy than on X-Box sitting on a sofa, but it’s pretty interesting and when you have a good result in a race, normally you quite like it and so I’m pretty happy about today.

    Q: (Julien Febreau – L’Equipe) Romain, what does this podium mean to you compared to Bahrain, because the start of the weekend wasn’t easy for you, so what does it mean?

    RG: It means quite a lot. It means that we’re in good shape for working with the team who are improving every time. We had a bad Friday with quite different conditions compared to today and having to learn the track and the set-up of the car wasn’t easy and I’m sure we could have achieved better but we know it for the rest of the season. We are working quite well, so I’m pretty pleased with this podium. It means that we are still here after seven races and it was not one shot that we could get in Bahrain. We are still fighting at the front with good performance and the team is doing well with the Lotus E20.

    Q: (Adrian Huber – Agencia EFE) Checo (Sergio), how do you feel now compared to the podium in Malaysia, and now you’ve got a second and a third place, there’s just one spot still missing on the podium; when do you think you might get that?

    SP: Well, I think every podium is special, especially when it’s only your second podium in Formula One, it’s a very special feeling. In the position that I am with my team, we are still fighting to get to the top, to be a top driver one day. It’s great, every opportunity I have to show my potential, because you don’t know how many opportunities you will have. I have been very unlucky in the last races so I think it feels great but I think the first podium feels a bit better.

    Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Lewis, when did you think about victory: when you passed Vettel, when you passed Alonso or when you crossed the line? Were you afraid of these two guys?

    LH: When I crossed the line. Of course when I saw them, and I saw that I was catching them and there was a possibility, and I knew how many laps that I would have to get past so I was not desperate to get past them in a real rush. I had a lot left in me, in the tyres so I was generally driving a little bit off the pace. There was no need to push because the guys had fallen behind and when I heard that these guys were catching a little bit, I knew that I had plenty in me if I needed to match the same times, and there were only a couple of laps left, but perhaps if circumstances were different and they were much quicker, then we would have had even more of a race.

    Q: (Paolo Ianieri –La Gazzetta dello Sport) Lewis, were you surprised when you saw that neither Fernando nor Sebastian stopped immediately after you? And now you’re also leading the championship, so is that a big bonus in this season which is completely crazy?

    LH: No, it definitely is… as I said going into the race, if I was to finish where I started, I would be very very happy with it, but anything above that would be a bonus, so it’s definitely a bonus for us today. I knew, when I had done the stop where Fernando came out in front and I had to overtake him and I was pulling the gap, I had a feeling that they were dropping back so quickly that they would definitely be doing a one stop and I did mention that to my team and they said they thought so, so I had to make sure that I got the gap that I had and tried to maintain it. I did think in my mind that at some stage Fernando would start putting in some very very quick times but then again he didn’t as he was doing such a long stint. I think I got absolutely everything out of the car today. I wouldn’t have been able to do a one stop, I don’t think. Again, the team did a great job in the strategy department.

    Q: (Bill Beacon – Canadian Press) Lewis, you’re only the third driver to win this race three times after Michael and Piquet. I just wonder, is there something particular about this track that suits you?

    LH: It’s like a go-kart track, isn’t it? It’s great fun, you’re bumping over the kerbs, with the low grip it’s very much mechanical grip like a go-kart. It’s the weather, it’s the city, the fans here are incredible, absolutely incredible, and there’s very few places that we go to throughout the year like this. I always say that Monaco is real special because of the amount of people there. I think this race here is perhaps even more special for me. Obviously my home Grand Prix, Silverstone, is very special. Today, with so many British flags and Grenadian flags, which was fantastic to see, and so many people wearing the caps and shirts, support has been phenomenal this weekend, so that’s why I wanted to dedicate this win to them.

    Q: (Julien Febreau – L’Equipe) Romain, how close to your first victory do you think you are, and do you think that the gap is still big or not?

    RG: The gap is not that big. We need to qualify better, that is not our strength this season but we are working on it. I think Friday and Saturday were quite difficult for us but we have been learning a lot about the car so it’s good that we now have that in our pocket for the next races. Then you never know. Lewis was maybe cruising a little bit at the end. We were not cruising that much but not trying to make any mistakes either. To be honest, when I was P5 or P4 I thought that would be a good result, having started in P7 but then Fernando was struggling and I could catch him up and then tried a little bit to catch Lewis but you never know what’s going on. It’s not an easy race, we were asking a lot of the car and the tyres and so on. When you pit on lap twenty-something and you know there are seventy laps and you have to stay on one set of tyres, you never know when they’re going to drop so you are a bit cautious about that.

    Q: (Randy Phillips – Montreal Gazzette) Lewis, when you passed Alonso in the DRS, you looked like you made a couple of tenths before that; can you just give us an indication as to how bad his tyres were at that particular point?

    LH: Those guys, Fernando and Sebastian, they looked like they were having oversteer moments and definitely struggling. I had so much traction with fresh tyres that there was almost a two second difference in pace between us. He must have been close to the limit already, the end of the tyres.

    Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) What changed from yesterday, Lewis, because yesterday after qualifying you were worried, you were happy to be second but looking at Sebastian and probably also Fernando, you were not so sure you could have such a race? And this is also a track where McLaren is doing very well: five victories in the last seven years.

    LH: Yeah, I think I was just very cautious. I think the Red Bull and the Ferraris seemed to… you know, we’ve not come here with any upgrades, we didn’t in the last race whereas Red Bull and particularly Ferrari have been upgrading their car consistently. They were just as quick as us in qualifying but then in the race, generally, they can look after their tyres a little bit better than us and maybe that was a little bit the case today. Obviously they were able to do a one-stop. I would have fallen even further behind maybe if I had done a one stop, so that’s just an area I know that we need to get stronger and we need to improve on as the season is probably going to be a lot like this, where you are having one or two stops throughout the season. If we can improve on that, then I think we are in a really good strong position but then again, when I was out there, when I was able to keep up with Sebastian and maintain the gap to me and Fernando, then I started to think, OK, we’re in a good fight here, we’re in with a good chance for winning.

    Q: (Vanessa Ruiz – ESPN Radio) Lewis, yesterday you were sitting here with Alonso and Vettel and you guys were asked about normality in Formula One, because, well, we had a McLaren, a Ferrari and a Red Bull driver, but now the race is finished, we have a Lotus and a Sauber driver on the podium. To all three of you, will there be a point when Formula One will reach this so-called normality this year, and what is normal for you and Formula One 2012?

    LH: I think this mix-up is normal, this is what is going to be normal for the season. It’s just my feeling, but then again my guess is as a good as yours. I think it will continue to be like this throughout the year. We’re still trying to fully understand these tyres. Sometimes you’re overheating them, sometimes you’re not heating them up enough. We don’t understand why sometimes a Lotus is quicker than us, or a Mercedes is quicker than us and then we’re quicker than them another time. But I think it’s great for Formula One, it’s great for the fans to see. I’m guessing there was a lot of overtaking today and a real mix-up and as I said, seven different winners in seven races – I can’t remember hearing of anything like that. I hope there’s no more, I hope there’s not eight winners in….

    SP: I hope so.

    LH: I hope not! I hope we’re able to keep it at seven and no more!

    RG: I think it’s pretty interesting for everybody. Who will complain about seeing different drivers and different cars fighting throughout the races?

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Lewis, the Drivers’ championship is very close now. There are seven points between you and Mark Webber in fourth. Does it mean that you plan your next victories now that you are leading. Do you think: maybe if I finish second or third… is it better in a season like this to be more consistent than to take a risk? Are you going to change your approach to the races now that you’re leading the championship?

    LH: I’m definitely not going to change my approach, but I think it’s working reasonably well so far. I probably definitely had to be more on the limit today to catch the two guys ahead, perhaps a little bit more risky than in the past but it is about consistency this year. I think it will be about consistency. It’s unbelievable to see just how close it is. We got a win and 25 points and I only have a two point lead, so it’s incredible how close it is and I think it will stay that close throughout the year. Again, it just highlights how important consistency is.

    Hamilton dedicates his trophy to fans at the Canadian GP on Sunday. McLaren photo.

    Ends

  • Vettel on pole; Can Hamilton pop up a new winner?

    Montreal, 9 June 2012: Except for a momentary scare when Hamilton threatened to ride roughshod, current champion Sebastian Vettel of REd Bull Racing took a comfortable pole position setting the bet qualifying time on Saturday for the FIA 2012 Formula One World Championship 7th leg to be held at the Gilles Circuit here. The nearest challenger to Vettel’s time of 1:13.784 was McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton, three tenths behind, and Fernando Alonso made it three manufacturers in the top three, seven-hundredths behind Hamilton on Saturday at the Canadian Grand Prix.

    The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve imposes some peculiar demands upon an F1 and so qualifying was a mixed affair. The front runners started on the soft tyre but most had to switch to the supersoft in Q1 to guarantee their further participation. Vettel bided his time and was the last man out on track with only nine minutes of the session remaining, Straight away he took P1. The real interest, however, was at the back of the field where Jean-Eric Vergne was struggling to avoid the drop. Having missed much of FP3 after crashing at the beginning of the session, Vergne was struggling in qualifying. On his last run he had to back off while on a better lap and then made a mistake on his final flyer. He went out along with the usual backmarkers, but behind the Caterhams, two-tenths adrift of Vitaly Petrov and four-tenths down on Heikki Kovalainen. The seventeen drivers who progressed were separated by less than a second.

    Q2 saw most cars starting on the supersofts but Ferrari sticking to the soft tyres. For a while the top of the order was dominated by Mercedes-powered cars but Vettel appeared and went to the head of the order again. Ferrarri soon switched to the supersoft as well with the times starting to tumble and Alonso slotted in behind Vettel. The top six of Vettel, Hamilton, Button, Webber, Rosberg and Schumacher elected to stay in the garage but the remaining 11 cars were all fighting for the remaining six slots. The focus of attention was firmly on Jenson Button. The McLaren man had missed a lot of running on Friday with a gearbox issue and had looked out of sorts for the last few qualifying sessions. He completed his run early and was eighth, but as times fell at the end of the session he was falling down the order.  In P10 with the chequered flag out, he looked like being eliminated by a flying Pastor Maldonado – but the Venezuelan driver hit the Wall of Champions and was unable to improve his time. Button survived by eight-thousandths ahead of Kamui Kobayashi’s Sauber. Also eliminated were Kimi Räikkönen, Nico Hulkenberg, Daniel Ricciardo, Sergio Pérez, and Bruno Senna.

    Hamilton was first out of the garage in Q3 but both he and Button cruised around their first timed lap five seconds off the pace. Paul di Resta elected to stay in the garage and conserve his tyres but everyone else was on track. Vettel was the first man to go under 1m14s. He had Alonso in close attendance. Button called it a day after his first run, having used the soft tyre, deciding to accept a lowly grid position and save his rubber for the race. Out on track it was all about Vettel who lowered his provisional pole time by another tenth to 1:13.784. Hamilton looked most likely to match that, but ultimately fell three-tenths short, just ahead of the charging Alonso. Mark Webber couldn’t repeat his Monaco performance and completed the second row. Nico Rosberg was ahead of Felipe Massa on row three, Romain Grosjean and the excellent Paul di Resta had row four, while Michael Schumacher and Button completed the top ten.

    Vettel professed himself delighted with back-to-back poles in Canada but it was left to Alonso to point out that Montreal rarely provides a straightforward race. “What we think on Saturday afternoon is normally not what happens on a Sunday afternoon!” he said with a smile.

    ends

    File photo of Hamilton, who is capable of springing a seventh winner this week-end in Canada. Vodafone McLaren Mercedes photo.

  • Force India exude confidence

    Montreal, 10 June 2012:Within 5 seconds of pole sitter Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull, Narain Karthikeyan, the evergreen hero of India, who is the only Formula One driver this season, accomplished the 107 per cent rule despite a lousy HRT car which gave him enough problems on both Friday and Saturday. The Coimbatore resident, who is into his third F1 season, will have to do with what he has in terms of a car and will be starting last on the 24th

    Force India's Nico Hulkenberg in Canada. Sahara Force India Photo.

    on the grid.

    Narain Karthikeyan HRT, clocked 1:18.330 3.669 the best of his 9 laps in the qualifying on Saturday.

    The other Indian interest is Sahara Force India, who continued to show strong form in Saturday’s qualifying hour as Paul Di Resta qualified in eighth place for tomorrow’s Canadian Grand Prix. Teammate Nico Hulkenberg will start from P13 after yellow flags disrupted his best lap in Q2.The Scot will line up behind Romain Grosjean on row four of the grid in Montreal but said after the top-10 shoot-out that he could have squeezed more from his VJM05 car, though it wouldn’t have altered his position.

    Narain Karthikeyan said: “It was a messy qualifying for me. On the first set of tyres I encountered a lot of traffic and on my quickest lap I got all the sectors right and I made a mistake coming into the last corner which cost me six tenths. My qualifying has been weak this year and I need to improve this. But we have a good pace and tomorrow we will fight with our main rivals to try and get a good result”.

    HRT Technical Director Toni Cuquerella, said: “Today we confirmed the progression which we proved yesterday and that we already demonstrated in Monte Carlo, and I want to thank the whole team for their work. Pedro completed a very good lap and Narain could’ve been there easily. Both we’re comfortably under the 104% and have a good pace with both tyres and we have a good set-up for the race so, although the race will be tough on the brakes, we’re optimistic about our chances. Depending on the temperature we will go for a one-stop or two-stop strategy”.

    Sahara Force India’s senior driver Paul di Resta said:  “I think we can be very happy with eighth today, which puts us in a strong position for the race,” he said. “There was probably a little bit more speed in the car because I was a little bit over-committed in the chicanes on my final lap in Q3, but I don’t think it would have made a big difference to my starting position.

    “In all the sessions so far we’ve shown how competitive the car is, especially during long runs, and I think we can be confident of scoring some good points tomorrow. It will be a long race and we just have to wait and see what happens with the weather and who has the best understanding of the tyres.”

    Team-mate Nico Hulkenberg will start from 13th on the grid and the German blamed yellow flags on his final Q2 quick lap for missing the top-10 cut.

    “I don’t think that P13 reflects the pace we had in the car today,” he said “We looked very strong in Q1 and I felt really happy with the car, especially after the changes we made between FP3 and qualifying. But I had some bad luck in Q2 when I got caught out by a yellow flag on my quickest lap, because a Sauber went off ahead of me in turn eight and I had to abort the lap. If I had managed a clean lap, I think I could probably have made Q3. I still feel positive for tomorrow and the field is very close. We know overtaking is possible here so I think we can expect a challenging and entertaining race.”

    ends

  • We learnt a couple of lessons: Pole sitter Vettel

    Montreal, 9 June 2012: As Sebastian Vettel overcomes the FIA jury decision to let go the “hole” in their car talks about now-legal, now-illegal ways of the international federation and says that his motivation is not affected. One has to wait and see as the 2012 FIA Formula One World Championship enters the third continent and 8th Grand Prix, will Canada throw up an eighth different winner this season.

    The mandatory FIA Saturday Press Conference was attended by the top three qualifiers Sebastian VETTEL (Red Bull Racing), Lewis HAMILTON (McLaren) and Fernando ALONSO (Ferrari) in that order.

    First the TV UNILATERAL as usual!

    Sebastian, we’ve seen pole decided all year being decided by mere hundredths of a second, but today it was almost a quarter of a second. What made the difference?

    Sebastian VETTEL: Well, it’s difficult to say. I think we’ve had a fantastic weekend so far to be honest. Yesterday was very smooth, we didn’t have any problems with the car. I think we have learned a couple of lessons, especially in the last two races where arguably we were quick on Sunday in the race but we didn’t get [the best] out of the car on Saturday in qualifying. So, we learned quite a bit and, as I said, it was important to have a clean run, yesterday was a good day and this morning. We trusted the car that we had, we were able to go with the circuit and tried to read the conditions, so I was very happy in qualifying – throughout qualifying really, Q1, Q2 and Q3 – so yeah I was able to always get a little bit quicker. It looked very tight in the beginning to be honest. I knew it would be within a tenth, but in the end it seemed that we could make a bit more of a difference, which obviously is good. But still the advantage we have over Lewis is eight metres on the grid. Looking forward to the race, I think we have a great car. This time we got it right in qualifying and I’m looking forward to the race tomorrow. It should be an interesting one I guess.

    Lewis, moving to you, so fast all day yesterday, how much has the change in climactic conditions affected car balance for you today?

    Lewis HAMILTON: It was definitely a bit harder for us today. We definitely struggled with working with the tyres in FP3 and in qualifying, having to push extremely hard to try to get the temperature, to get the tyres to switch on, but very, very fortunately we had still a new set in Q3 and just managed to get through. I’m very, very happy with the performance. I’m very surprised to see us on the front row but nonetheless we’ll definitely take it and work as hard as we can tomorrow.

    Fernando, some big upgrades this weekend, paying dividends almost immediately.

    Fernando ALONSO: Yeah, the car felt quite good yesterday when we tested some new parts and we feel much more happy with the balance of the car and the grip of the car, Felipe and me, straight away. It’s a first step. Obviously, the world will never stop, for us or for the competitors, but at the moment we are extremely happy and thankful to the guys in the factory.

    Sebastian, in recent weeks they’ve banned your floor, they banned your wheels this weekend and you guys are still on top, in pole position. How do you keep doing it?

    SV: I think it’s not just a hole in the floor that makes all the difference. Obviously reading the papers you get that impression. It was a bit of a shame that it went one way and then the other, being declared illegal, then legal and then illegal, but in the end we never feared a big impact on the performance of the car. I think generally, the car works as a whole – not the hole in the floor but a combination of all the parts together! We were not afraid that it would have a big impact on performance. This track is very special. As Lewis said it’s very tricky to switch the tyres on, there arte not so many corners, as in there are no long duration tyres so it’s difficult to work the tyres properly. But as I said, I think for us it was crucial that we learned from the experience especially of the last two grands prix. It was good fun today and even without the hole I enjoyed qualifying a lot.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Sebastian after the win in Monaco for the team was there a certain amount of confidence coming here. Was this, if nor expected, did you feel you’d taken a step forward?

    SV: Well, we changed the car. We had to close the hole or slot or whatever you call it. It seemed to work pretty well without the hole. No, I think there wasn’t a lot of time to react. It depends on what kind of schedule you follow. We’ve seen some teams bringing a big step here, Ferrari did. For us it was nothing big. We are always pushing very hard to improve the car but I think, as I mentioned in the [unilateral] press conference earlier, it was important that we really had a clean preparation, a clean Friday. We were focusing on ourselves, so that was important. Then in qualifying, we just tried to get the maximum out of every run, and we seemed to improve on every run and even we seemed to chip away a little bit from the guys behind, which was a bit of a surprise because I thought going into qualifying that it would be extremely tight. On this track it’s very difficult to make a difference, so I’m very happy.

    The first nine on the grid are going to be on the supersoft tyres tomorrow. One guy, last year’s winner, will be on the soft tyres. How crucial is that going to be, on the supersoft?

    SV: I think we’ve seen in Monaco that the tyre works pretty well. I think we’ve seen that yesterday. I don’t know where Jenson is… tenth, so it depends. It can work, but it depends also on how the race unfolds, where the other guys are, what other guys do with their strategy and when they pit etc. We started in a very good position here two years ago on the harder compound and it didn’t work. It can work both ways. In qualifying what you try to do is get on pole, which we did today, so I’m very happy with that. Looking forward to the race tomorrow, it’s going to be interesting. Making the tyres last around here is going to be tricky. We’ve seen it, not so much last year because it was, but especially the year before, so it should be a good race and I’m looking forward to it.

    Is there a little bit of unfinished business about getting on pole tomorrow?

    SV: Not really. Obviously you’re talking about last year’s race and last year’s last lap of the race. Obviously in that moment it hurt a little bit because the victory was so close, but in the end it was a tough race, easy to do mistakes. We didn’t except for me in the last half a lap, which cost us the victory. But it’s 2012 now and I think we had a quite decent 2011, so it’s not too bad. Of course, it would be nice. It’s a nice track, a nice atmosphere, always a lot of people here. It would be a great place to win for sure.

    Lewis, you have an extraordinary record at this circuit and again on the front row. Interesting that there are two different tyre choices, two different strategies at McLaren. We saw you go out on the supersoft as well in Q1 which is rare as well. Is there a big question mark over the tyre wear for you tomorrow?

    LH: No, we don’t have a different strategy, we were struggling throughout qualifying. Yesterday we had very good pace in the cooler conditions but as it got hotter today we really, really struggled. So, I for one didn’t expect to be so far up. For Jenson, he just didn’t have more tyres in Q3. I was fortunate enough just to make sure I got a good lap in Q2, which meant I still had one set [of supersofts] left. Otherwise, I probably would be a little bit further back as well.

    So how do you approach tomorrow if you feel you have been struggling today?

    LH: I don’t know. I’ve fortunately got myself into a reasonably decent position and I think yesterday when we did the long runs they seemed to be OK, but now that it has got hotter it’s going to change things and it’s going to be tough. But we just have to do the best job we can and try to maximise on everything we do. We can still have a really good race and get some really good points from where we are and I’m looking forward to it.

    Obviously you’re one of the very few driver who hasn’t yet won but are you just happy to stack up the points?

    LH: I am for now, yeah. Of course I want to win, but these guys are phenomenally quick at the moment and I’m not sure whether we have exact pace but we’ll wait and see tomorrow.

    Fernando, your equal best qualifying position so far this year, with Spain, and a lot of new parts on the car. Looking so good but you didn’t improve on the final run, what happened on that final run?

    FA: Nothing special. It’s not easy here to improve laps. There are only five or six corners on the circuits so you are gaining or losing milliseconds corner by corner. We repeat more or less the same timed lap, in the second I gained a little bit from the first sector and I lost a little bit in the last. But overall the limit was more or less there – the 14.1. So, happy with the performance of the car, it has been a very smooth weekend for us. All the new parts work as expected. Felipe and me felt straightaway a good grid and a step in performance in the car, so a very good weekend so far. As you said, best position so far. We repeat what we did in Barcelona. In Barcelona we got one important podium. In Monaco on a completely different circuit we had a competitive car again and a good podium once more. And here on completely different circuit, with long straights and chicanes, we are also competitive, so this is a very good sign for us. Very good teamwork, because all the improvements we have been making on the car are really paying off now.

    So, potential winners tomorrow?

    FA: You never know. Races this year are very difficult to predict. What we think on Saturday is normally not anywhere near what happens on Sunday. So we’ll see. A similar comment to Lewis: it would be nice to win here, it’s a good circuit for Ferrari historically, a lot of fans here. Also, it’s Gilles Villeneuve’s anniversary, 30 years. So, it would be nice to offer all the Ferrari tifosi here in Canada a good result. But we know there are, at the moment, two guys quicker than us, as they proved today, doing a very good job and tomorrow we need to do better if we want to win.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Sebastian, you said that now you are understanding the car better, you are putting everything together and you are surprised by the advantage. Does that mean that now you’re feeling more confident, that you’re reaching the level that you were at last year or is it still unpredictable?

    SV: It’s not as if we have major changes and it’s not as if we’ve had a completely different approach. I think we’re able to learn from the mistakes we made in the past, we did it in the last two races, where qualifying was arguably not fantastic for us and I think – just looking at the whole grid – I think this year is very different. It seems that a little bit of a mistake here or there, maybe not getting the tyres to work 100 percent, you are quite far away. That’s because 1), it makes a big difference to yourself, so you lose a lot of time and 2), there’s not one car that might fill the gap, there are ten, so then you end up… instead of third you are not fourth but 13th, and then the race weekend is completely different. I think that’s the reason for that.

    Q: (Adrian Huber – Agencia EFE) Fernando, how happy are you with Felipe Massa’s sixth place? And secondly, you three guys are in the top three, does that mean that the championship is becoming a little bit more normal?

    FA: For Felipe, of course, I’m very happy. I think he has all the support from the team, all the support from me, he’s had some difficult races at the beginning of the year, the car was not the easiest car to drive and he hasn’t been so lucky in some of the races at the beginning of the season, as I said, so now, from Barcelona, he’s done quite a good job. In Monaco he was very quick all weekend and here as well so I expect this is the normality and it will be like this from now until the rest of the championship. The first four races were a strange case, not normal races. We will see.

    As we said on Thursday, the championship looks a little bit crazy, a little bit unpredictable, some different winners and some different car performances every Grand Prix, but when you look at the championship table, it’s Red Bull, McLaren, Ferrari, Lotus. One thing is one single race, and then overall for the six races that we’ve done, the order is more or less not very different compared with what we saw in the last two or three years.

    Q: (Jeff Pappone – The Globe and Mail) Lewis mentioned earlier that as it’s getting warmer, he’s having a little bit more trouble and struggling. It’s going to be warmer tomorrow and obviously you’re learning a lot from Friday and today, but how much of that gets thrown out of the window for raceday and how much do you have to readjust your strategy and what you’re doing in the car in order to remain quick?

    SV: As I said, it will be difficult for the tyres to survive a certain amount of laps, but I think from yesterday to today, for us it was a bit easier, a step forward. Tomorrow is going to be a little bit hotter… it seems so far this year, for us at least, the cooler it is, the more we were in trouble; the warmer it is, the better it is. I hope if it’s warmer tomorrow, we can keep continuing that trend. We have seen that on Sundays a lot of things can happen so we have to be aware of whatever comes up and that explains the strategy and so on. Of course, if you have a plan in your head… but as we’ve seen many times this year, it can change quickly, so you have to react on the fly.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Sebastian, you are starting on pole position, you said that the gap has surprised you a little and yesterday you did 18 laps as far as I remember on the supersoft tyres on ‘green’ asphalt. It seems to be a very good package to start on pole position, a fast car, and even knowing that you have a very good car for the supersoft tyres.

    SV: We will see. Obviously it will be very important to have a good start. I think life is always a little bit easier when you are at the front so it will be crucial to defend that position and then we will see what happens. As I said, it’s a long race, the track will be more or less green when we start. It has always been difficult here at the beginning of the race. This place is a crazy place, it has delivered some crazy races in the past and safety cars are likely etc, so you have to be aware of all that and take it into account for your strategy. Sometimes it can help you, sometimes it may work against you. You don’t know these things. As I said, we have to look after ourselves and try to do the best we can, have clean pit stops and have the fastest race that we can.

    Q: (Randy Phillips – Montreal Gazette) Lewis, I believe that when you won here in 2010 you were on a two stop strategy. Given the conditions and the tyres and all the other factors, do you see tomorrow’s race being a multiple stop – three or four stops – during the course of the race?

    LH: I think it’s definitely possible we will have slightly more stops than we did in the last race so maybe a two or three stop, but we did see long runs yesterday that could lead into a one stop but here the likelihood of a safety car is usually quite high so with that in mind, people might prefer to do a one or two stopper, who knows? But it is dependent on the temperatures and how long the tyres will last. Yesterday they lasted quite long but today may be different and tomorrow may be different. I hope we don’t have any problems with it, but we will wait and see tomorrow.

    Q: (Mineoki Yoneya – La Vie Creative) Question for all three: can I ask about your helmet? How did you decide on the colour scheme of your helmet and what does it mean to you?

    SV: I’ve changed the design many times. It might take too long… there’s a football match starting in 15 minutes, German is playing, so if I answer that question now full length we will still be sitting here tonight. I’ve had so many helmets so far. I like to swap the design. The one I have currently I like, that’s why I wear it.

    LH: I think that’s the best and shortest answer I’ve ever heard him give! I’m going to say the same. I’ve commented loads of times on my helmet and try to keep it the same. It’s who I am, that’s how I use it.

    FA: As Seb, I think, wants to go, I will give you a very long answer now, starting from go-kart helmet… no, I’m… I change my helmet every year, little differences but always remaining with the blue from my region’s flag, Asturias, and then the Spanish flag always somewhere on the helmet and then all the rest of the details, because he’s on pole, we will save.

    Q: (Kate Walker – Girl Racer) Sebastian, you have shown us, very effectively, that whatever the FIA might say about the technical regulations concerning your car, it doesn’t affect you performance-wise. But psychologically, does it motivate you to prove that you can do it whatever the FIA says, or do you find it frustrating?

    SV: First of all, you have to understand that we have the hole because we were believing in a combination with all the other parts we have on the car and how the car looks it makes sense. Now it was declared illegal, then it was declared legal and now declared illegal again, so maybe next week it’s legal again. We have the parts in the garage! There’s no real extra motivation. I think we still have to make sure we get the best out of the car that we can. We see that this year is very tight so it’s up to us to make sure we use our package as well as we can and sometimes it might be good enough for the front row like here, sometimes maybe not good enough, but then we still have to make sure that we are very close.

    Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Fernando, I would just like to know if some jokes have already started between you and the mechanics in the team about tomorrow’s match?

    FA: No, not yet but if Spain wins, I think there may not be many people at the pit stop!

    Vettel at the Canadian Grand Prix on Saturday. FIA photo.

    Ends

  • Vettel lucky to escape with a warning! Sets pole

    Montreal: 8 June 2012: Senna was seen to wave a fist at Vettel after the world champion brushed past him in turn 13 in the morning session. In the incident, the Red Bull Racing driver lightly touched Senna’s Williams, leading to the stewards calling both drivers and their team representatives to explain themselves.

    However, despite the investigation, Vettel escaped without major sanction, the Red Bull Racing driver being handed a simple reprimand by stewards, Martin Donnelly, Jose Abed and Gerd Ennser.

    Vettel finished the opening in second place behind Lewis Hamilton and in the afternoon settled for fourth, behind the twin Ferraris of Felipe Massa and second-placed Fernando Alonso, and Hamilton, who held on to the top spot. Finally, he ended on pole in the qualifying session and anything other than a reprimand would have been a big loss.

    Afterwards, Vettel professed himself happy with his day’s efforts.

    “We were thinking to put on our supersoft tyres in the first practice being a bit afraid of the rain coming in the afternoon but it didn’t come. However you never know in advance. So, all in all, a good day, with decent laps and even with a little bit of a different approach in terms of when we put on which tyres, I think we can be fairly happy and we’ll see what we can do tomorrow,” added the Red Bull driver.

    Along with the German and Hungarian grands prix, the Canadian event is just one of three he’s raced at and not won. However, the champion insisted that his failure to win at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve was not preying on his mind.

    “There’s no pressure at not having won here, I just hope I can change it on Sunday. It’s a normal race. It’s a great track, with a lot of start and stop, some chicanes, quick changes of direction – it’s good fun.”

    ends

    Vettel at the Canadian Grand Prix on Saturday. FIA photo.

  • Mechanics, the unsung heroes that hold F1 aloft

    For the HRT hotline this week the theme was “in-charge of mechanical” and answering the  questions has been Richard Pegram, chief mechanic. Here are the answers as per a HRT release:

    Emilio Bello @ EmilioBelloV
    What training do you have? Do you make yourselves the pit stops? if so What will be notified in advance of the stop?
    I was an intern as a mechanic and then got a job in motorsport. It started as a hobby and eventually became my job. I went climbing in the different categories for several years before coming to F1. And yes, we do the pit stops.The timing with which we warn varies with the length of pit lane and the path but is between 20 and 60 seconds.
    javier navarro @ JanaluNavarro
    All mechanics make the same assignments or there is a specialty of areas: gearbox, brakes …
    Everyone has their area in which it specializes. Some may work in various parts of the car and others are more specific.
    @ victor curly viceeme
    Where is the battery located in the car? Does everyone have the same place?
    At the bottom. The other cars will imagine that the same area too so that you keep the center of gravity.
    Gines Haro Zamora @ GinesHaroZamora
    There is much talk of the Kers and DRS What are and what makes the car to go faster?
    The DRS is a system for reducing drag that allows the car to open one of the “flaps” of the rear wing at a specific point of the circuit, allowing the car to have less wind resistance with increasing speed and reducing the downforce. The KERS is a way to generate more force when using the brakes.
    David de la Fuente @ BiGFooT475
    What is the minimum time they have achieved in a pit stop? What about practices at the factory or free?
    In a race between 4 and 4.5 seconds. And practicing 3.2 or 3.3 seconds.
    Lia Seren @ raikolia
    Now begins the European Championship, for whom are the stakes in your garage?
    Spain!
    Lia Seren @ raikolia
    What is it that you like to work in F1? And the least?
    It’s the best of our profession, you can not get higher. What is heavier sometimes work long hours, days that do not sleep, and also get to travel fatigue, but nothing to really dislike this work.
    Snoopy @ JJ25CC
    You are the best mechanics in the F1. How does it feel when your FIERA, the F112 is the most improved car this year?
    I am very proud of what we have progressed in the last 6 races and everyone is quite happy but we still have much to do.
    Matthew Torres @ terminator4992
    What is the hardest part of your job?
    Be aware of car maintenance, it will not leak anything, and cope with the stress of having to do things within a very short time and very demanding.
    Angel Iglesias @ Gelanigle
    Who is more on top of you, Peter and Toni? Regards and good job Iberian warriors
    A very complicated question! Both work together because you can not do their work without the other. My work is perhaps more influenced by Toni but many of the decisions he makes sure he has much to do with the view of Peter. So the two are over.
    Angel Iglesias @ Gelanigle
    How long you need to assemble a complete car before each GP? Do desmontáis integers between races?
    Typically 3 days. Do not dismantle completely, depends on how many miles has the car and when he has to review certain parts. After Monaco to dismantle the chassis and returned to Madrid in the piece, but it depends on many things.
    JOSE A. DELGADO @ tenista1971
    What part of the car is more difficult to ride?
    The fuel tank. It is quite complicated and difficult to get inside him.
    Germain Lopez @ Hellacopter79
    What are the first factors, or what are the most critical when raising any set-up in each GP?
    The circuit, we have different setups for different circuits but once there the weather is a factor too.
    Robert Ferrando @ rofear
    How many sensors have the car and how many meters of cable?
    150 sensors including engine and transmission, and 1,500 meters of cable.
    Pippercillo @ pippercillo
    Hi team! Can you modify the Cosworth engine or use it as you must supply it? HRT Force! push push!
    I rode like what we provide. We do not touch anything in the engine, for that Cosworth has its own technicians who are responsible.
    ends

  • Sahara Force India inch closer to 7th place

    File picture of Nico Hulkenberg who helped Forced India double finish at Monaco. Sahara Force India pic.

    Monaco: The only Indian Formula One team Sahara Force India has a pair of two foreign drivers in Paul Di Resta and Nico Hulkenberg who powered Force India to a double finish in points getting their team ten valuable points to inch closer to seventh place in the Constructors’ Championship after they finished seventh and eighth respectively at the Monaco Grand Prix, the sixth round of the Formula 1 World Championship which saw a sixth different winner this season..

    With Sauber finishing out of the points, after Sergio Pérez see-sawed up and down the order to eventually finish 11th and Kamui Kobayashi retired due to damage sustained in a first-corner incident in which he hit the stranded Lotus of Romain Grosjean, Sahara Force India are now 13 points behind the Swiss team, on 28 points.

    After the race Di Resta paid tribute to his team’s strategy in helping him climb from 14th on the grid to his seventh-place finish, his fourth points haul of the season. “We went aggressive with the strategy and I have to say the team really optimised it,” he said of the decision to start on new Soft tyres before taking on Supersofts after 35 laps and making them work until the chequered flag. “The secret was managing the tyres and trying to find clean air when we could.

    “The car felt really good, much stronger than yesterday, and that allowed me to push when we needed to,” he added. “Fortunately, the rain held off at the end because that could have had a big impact on the end of the race. It’s great that we managed to get both cars in the points and we can celebrate tonight.”

    Hulkenberg, who had started ahead of Di Resta in 10th, was on a reverse programme, starting on Supersofts and then moving to Softs after 29 laps. The German, however, blamed traffic and the slow Lotus of Kimi Raikkonen for his eighth-place finish. “For the first few laps I was running with Michael [Schumacher] and we were stuck behind Kimi, who was struggling on the Supersofts, but it was difficult to get by,” he said.

    “Unfortunately, Kimi stopped on the same lap as me so I remained behind him and we came out in a lot of traffic, which is when Paul jumped ahead of me. The rest of the race was quite uneventful and I just focused on looking after the tyres. It’s a great result for the team and we should be happy with the result.”

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