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Tag: Formula One
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Vettel’s hometown ready for title no. 4
The Indian Grand Prix next Sunday could see Sebastian Vettel being crowned four-time F1 World Champion. The first official “Sebastian Vettel Fan Club” invites all fans to outdoor screening to Heppenheim/Germany, Vettel’s hometown.
Inside Grand Prix Web News available here (web-optimised mp4):http://www.news2use.tv/clip/vettels-hometown-ready-title-no-4
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Mallya hopes Indian fans will inspire Force India to win big points
Greater Noida, 21 Oct 2013: Sahara Force India gets ready for its home race at the Buddh International Circuit near Delhi but in the last seven races its main driver Paul di Resta failed to score points while Adrian Sutil managed just three. After a very good beginning to the season where the Indian outfit were ahead of even McLaren for quite some time, the tyre safety issues after the British race ruined the team and now they are in 6th place behind McLaren and during the same period Sauber, who were ahead of SFI last year managed a handful of points and are now just 17 points behind at 45 with a double finish in the last race at Japan. Sahara Force India F1 team has 65 points in the sixth place behind McLaren who have 83 points with four races to go.Liquor baron and team Principal Vijay Mallya hopes that the Indian fans will inspire the team back to scoring points.Brief excerpts from an interview released by the team:Dr Mallya, how is the mood in the team with just four races to go?The races after the summer break haven’t been very positive in terms of scoring points, but the morale in the team remains strong. Korea and Japan were not the easiest of weekends, but everyone in the team is working really hard to recapture our early form. It’s all a matter of finding the right balance with the car – when we do that, we will be back in the points.How do you see the battle with Sauber for sixth place?Sauber have been doing a very good job lately. They are the in-form team at the moment and they have been taking all the opportunities that were presented to them. It’s going to be a real fight in these last four races: we need to make a step forward to hold them off, because they can qualify well and they have strong race pace as well.Tell us about your emotions ahead of the Indian Grand Prix…Our home race is always a very proud weekend for everyone in the team: the atmosphere at the track is incredible and we always enjoy plenty of support. The track itself is one of the best in the world. It’s also a good one for us – in the last two years we scored points in both races, so a similar result would be a good target for the team.Paul on IndiaPaul Di Resta gets set for the final part of the season and the team’s home race.Paul, this will be your third Indian Grand Prix. How important is this race for the team?This is always a massive event for us and comes at the end of a very busy week because we will be spending a few days in Delhi ahead of the race to meet the local media and fans. We come to India several times during the year and you can see the growing enthusiasm of the fans. It’s great that we get to spend time with them and show them the thrill of Formula One up close.What do you think of the track?I think the layout is one of the best from the new generation of tracks. Sector one stands out for me because it’s where you can really challenge somebody – it’s got long straights and big braking zones and can make for some exciting battles. The rest of the track has elevation changes and off-camber corners so it’s a challenging combination for the engineers as it’s important to have good mechanical grip.Have you set any expectations ahead of the weekend?We didn’t score points in Japan but we made some real progress with setting up the car, so going an extra step and getting in the top ten has got to be the goal this weekend. Friday is going to be crucial because this is one of those tracks where finding the right rhythm with a well-balanced car really pays you back with lap time.Adrian on IndiaAdrian Sutil talks about the challenge of the Buddh International Circuit.Adrian, you’re coming back to India behind the wheel of a Sahara Force India. Does it feel extra special?It is special – it’s our home Grand Prix and to have the colours of the Indian flag on the side of the car makes it even more memorable. I remember the first race there two years ago – so many people came to the race, showing such strong support for our team. We were in the spotlight for the whole weekend and scoring points in the first Indian Grand Prix was very important for us.What are your chances of picking up points this year?I think scoring points will be a big task, but we will go there ready to fight. The last couple of races have not been easy for us and I’ve struggled to get the balance and consistency with the car. We are moving forward, however – we’ve learned a lot from the last two races so hopefully that will help us find a direction that gives me the confidence to push the car harder.And what about the track – what do you need from the car?It’s a very demanding track which requires stability and a good front end. There are some similarities with Korea with some long, flowing corners in the second and third sectors where the downforce is important. We will need to find a good balance to be able to exploit these characteristics.
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Sahara Force India team principal Vijay Mallya obliges fans at a race this year. File photo by Sahara Force India F1 team. -
MRF Challenge 2013, the only support race for Indian F1 at BIC
Chennai, 21 Oct 2013: The MRF Challenge 2013 season will kick-start this weekend with the first round at the Buddh International Circuit (BIC) in Greater Noida. The FIA sanctioned MRF Challenge will serve as the sole support race for the Formula One Indian Grand Prix. The four round calendar will include 14 races, and will see the leading single-seater racing category in India go international with two rounds to be held in Bahrain in November and December. The final round of the championship will be held in Chennai in February. MRF also confirmed a prize money of Rs. 6,500,000 for the winners of the Championship, a press release said here today.
In its second year, the MRF Challenge 2013 will feature 18 MRF Formula 2000 race cars, which have been made in India by JA Motorsport based in Coimbatore, in collaboration with Dallara, world’s largest racing car manufacturer and also Jayem Automotives Ltd, which is a strategic partner for Tata Motors Ltd. The Formula 3 style car has been built by JA Motorsport in technical collaboration with Dallara, and is considered to be the fastest of its kind in Asia. The MRF Formula 2000 is powered by a 2.0 litre 210 BHP Renault Sport Engine and will have a Hewland 6-Speed sequential gearbox. The race car has also been crash tested to FIA F3 safety standards and will race with MRF ZLO slick and wet tyres.
Arun Mammen, Managing Director, MRF Tyres, said: “We are extremely pleased to launch the second season of the MRF Challenge. After the resounding success in our inaugural season we are keen to build on it and further improve the show. We are proud of the fact that this is the first time that an Indian motorsport series will be held internationally. JA Motorsport has done an incredible job developing the MRF Formula 2000 race car and is constantly innovating to ensure the cars are world class. These cars are part of the most technologically advanced series of its type and one of the fastest in Asia.”
Last year’s success has also led to the MRF Challenge 2013 having one of the strongest grids in Asia. Drivers from Formula Renault 3.5, British F3, European F3 will battle it out in this season’s MRF Challenge. Arthur Pic, FR 3.5 driver and brother of Caterham F1 driver Charles Pic, will race alongside Tio Ellinas, 2013 GP3 race winner, Harry Tincknell and Rupert Svendsen-Cook, British F3 multiple race winners, and Sam Brabham, son of Le Mans legend David Brabham and grandson of Jack Brabham. There will be four Indians on the grid with 2012 Formula Pilota Asian Champion Parth Ghorpade, former F2 racer Parthiva Sureshwaren, and 2013 MRF 1600 winner and runner-up Ashwin Sundar and Vikash Anand.
Narain Karthikeyan, India’s first Formula One driver, was impressed with the driver line up for this and was confident of another great season ahead. He commented, “The MRF Challenge 2013 promises to be the hottest championship in Asia this year with a great driver line-up. It is great to see the calibre of drivers committing to this series. Participation of drivers from across the globe is a testament to the credibility the series has built in just a year. MRF has done a great job in creating this world-class championship and I believe it will just get bigger in the years to come.”
The MRF Challenge 2013 will continue to use the professional setup that worked well last time around as they get the best European engineers and mechanics who were associated with F3, GP3 and F1 championships and also we have got very experienced professionals like, Mr. Antony Heitt and Mr. Jos Claes, Technical Head, Dallara.
J Anand, Managing Director, JA Motorsports, was pleased with the way everything was shaping up for the first race of the season. He commented, “When MRF first came to me with their vision of the MRF Challenge, I was excited to see the commitment from India’s largest tyre manufacturer towards motorsport. MRF was also very keen that we build everything in-house and put India on the motorsport map, as genuine experts in building Formula cars. In order to make this championship professional and transparent, we are bringing down F3 engineers and mechanics from Europe, and have a close association with Dallara and Renault Sport. We have developed the MRF tyres from last year and the test drivers have given us positive feedback with the new compounds. We are excited about a great season ahead.”
The first round will feature two races as part of the Indian GP weekend at BIC this coming weekend. The second round will take place in Bahrain as the support race for the World Endurance Championship final race, the third round will also take place in Bahrain as part of the Gulf National Racing Festival and the final round will be held at the MMRT in Chennai. The second, third and fourth round will feature four races each.
Last year’s MRF Challenge featured some of the top drivers in Europe. Race winners from last year have benefited from participation in this series. Race winner Jordan King won the British F3 title this year, while last year’s inaugural champion Conor Daly won races in GP3 in 2013 before making the switch to Indycar in the U.S. Jon Lancaster, another race winner, featured heavily in the GP2 championship winning two races along the way.
Arun Mammen, Managing Director, MRF Tyres, added, “It is heartening to see young international drivers wanting to drive in the India-based MRF Challenge 2013. To be support race at the Indian GP and World Endurance Championship round is an honour for us and speaks volumes of our commitment to promote motorsport not only nationally but internationally as well. I would like to thank all our partners for helping us create this exciting series.”
MRF Challenge 2013 Calendar:
Round 1: October 25-27, 2013, New Delhi, Buddh International Circuit (Formula One Support Race)
Round 2: November 28-30, 2013, Bahrain, Bahrain International Circuit (World Endurance Championship Support Race)
Round 3: December 19-21, 2013, Bahrain, Bahrain International Circuit (Gulf Racing Festival)
Round 4: February 14-16, 2013, Chennai, Madras Motor Race Trust
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Kimi will keep pushing while Romain is on a roll…
Kimi Raikkonen of Lotus F1 team heads to India looking forward to the cuisine and hoping for a stronger qualifying position than of late… as the Indian GP, the 16th round of the 19-round FIA Formula One W
File photo of Indian fans at the Indian GP. Photo by Lotus F1 team orld Championship unfolds this week-end:
What do you think of the Buddh International Circuit?
It’s quite an interesting track; one of the better ones from the modern circuits. It’s quite similar to Korea; long straights, not terribly challenging corners and hard braking. It’s not as technical as Korea which was another new track for me last year, but it’s good. It’s always nice to go to a new place like India. It’s certainly a good track to go fast with a strong car in front of all the others!
How was your first – and only – race at the track so far?
It was okay but it could have been better. We struggled for grip over the weekend last year and we made life difficult with the change of setup before qualifying. After that there was nothing really to do on Sunday. In the race itself we had enough speed to challenge for the top positions, but we got stuck behind slower cars and overtaking was impossible. I can remember spending a lot of the race trying to get past Felipe [Massa] so that wasn’t ideal.
Did you get to see much of India?
No, it was my first visit and I spent my time in the paddock and the hotel. We only come to race and India is a very big country! The thing I like is eating Indian food, which I really enjoy.
Japan was quite a straightforward race for you?
It was a pretty normal race I would say and it’s good that we got some points. I had a very poor start where I left the line with a lot of wheelspin and lost a few places. This wasn’t ideal and it meant I got stuck in traffic, but I managed to gain some places back later on.
You spoke over the weekend of the car feeling more to your liking, which much be a positive looking to the remaining races of the season?
The car felt pretty strong all weekend and we’ve made good progress with it recently. It’s still not exactly as I want it and we’re trying to get rid of some understeer which is something I don’t like. In Japan it was hard to show our real pace at the beginning of the race as I was stuck behind slower cars for quite a long time. After the final pit stop when I got a bit of free air the car was working much better. It ran well in the last half of the race and I was very happy with it.
We saw some more great overtaking moves from you…
Unfortunately when you don’t have an ideal qualifying it makes life a bit harder on Sunday. It’s not easy to overtake at Suzuka and we weren’t so fast in a straight line which made it more tricky, but I got past a few people which was important after the slow start. With Nico [Hulkenberg] I managed to get a good run on him leading up to the chicane which is what made the difference. We did what we could.
What’s the target for India?
Hopefully we finally get it right in qualifying as the last five qualifying sessions have not been that great for me. If we don’t, it’s going to be a difficult Sunday afternoon, although of course we’ll keep pushing. If we do get it right, then we can really go for it!
Romain Grosjean: “I’m on a roll right now…”
After a Japanese Grand Prix where he led for almost half of the race, Romain Grosjean heads into the remaining four rounds of the season determined to let the good times roll…
Your performance in Japan was pretty fantastic; how are you feeling heading into the remaining four races of the season?
I’m feeling really good with the car, my confidence is getting higher with every race and I’m very happy with the team, so I’ll keep working hard to improve the areas that need improving and we’ll keep pushing for top results right to the end of the season.
How good was that race start in Japan?
The start was fantastic; the clutch kicked in, I put my foot down and whoosh! It was superb to go past both the Red Bulls like that and it’ll be one of my best memories of the year. I saw Mark [Webber] in my mirrors and started to pull away which was a big surprise in itself, so I was screaming “come on baby, let’s go!” in the cockpit. After the first lap I honestly thought it was going to be my day, but that first win will come soon…
How wide were you driving your car to try to keep the Red Bulls behind you?
You never want to concede a place, but when you’re leading the race or fighting for a podium position you can find ways to make your car very wide! Sebastian [Vettel] had a lot more pace than me but we were able to fight a bit more in the battle with Mark [Webber]. It’s a shame we caught the back markers when we did as I think we’d have had an even stronger fight if it wasn’t for them.
What are your thoughts on the Buddh International Circuit?
I like it. I first visited the track as third driver for the team during the inaugural race weekend in 2011 and was really impressed by the facility, then of course I drove it for the first time last year. The layout includes a nice mix of corners with a bit of gradient change which is always a good thing. There are some decent straights with wide corners at the end of them to help with overtaking, although it’s still not the easiest place in the world to pass somebody. Then there’s the linked Turn 10 / 11 combination, which is a bit like Turn 8 in Turkey in that it seems to go on forever. It’s quite a fun track to drive.
What are your expectations for the Indian Grand Prix?
Our car is really performing well at the moment so I think we could be strong again. It’s fair to say we struggled there a little last year with finding grip and getting the right setup for the cars, so hopefully we can perform better this time. The tyre allocation was quite hard for the track in 2012, but this year it’s softer which should help us and make for better racing.
What do you think of India as a country?
It’s certainly a different experience from a lot of the places we visit and it’s great to see a different culture.
Aside from racing what will you be interested in?
I have a great love for cuisine so I’m always interested in local food, and there are so many interesting dishes, spices and ingredients in India.
How much are you looking ahead to 2014?
Right now I’m working on doing the very best I can at each remaining race in 2013 and I think that’s the best approach for now. As soon as the season’s over I’ll get a little rest and recharge my batteries, then we’re back to see the new cars launched and to start testing them. It will be a very interesting challenge with all the new rules that are coming in for next season. A new area is coming for the sport and that’s always very exciting.
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The FMSCI President, Vicky Chandhok speaks!
Vickey Chandhok (left), Karun Chandhok (2nd from left) and Vijay Mallya (right) at the British GP. File photo by Adrenna Communications. Letter from the President
Chennai, 18 October 2013:
We are in the midst of one of the busiest months in the year for motorsport in the country and it is great to see everything moving in the right direction. The entire motorsports industry is buzzing with excitement as we are less than a week away from India’s biggest sporting event. As I write this the team cargo is just arriving at the Buddh International Circuit. So let the games begin!!
FIA
Attending the World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) in Dubrovnik provided a great insight in to all the great work that is being done by the FIA across the world. This might get repetitive but I never get tired of saying how proud the entire Federation is of the Indian representations on the world bodies. It is fantastic to see how far we have come in the world of motorsport with so much presence in the various commissions. Shivu Shivappa represents the FMSCI on the FIA Rally Commission, Farhan Vohra on the Circuits Commission, Prabha Shankar on the Volunteers & Officials commission, B Vijayakumar, Balakrishnan & Anand Jayachandran on the Single Seater commission, Manjeev Bhalla on the Cross Country rally commission, Karun Chandhok on the Drivers commission, J Balamurugan on the Drag Racing commission, Anand Sashidharan on the FIM Legal commission, Roop Kumar on the FIM tech commission, Shyam Kothari the FIM representative and of course Vijay Mallya on the world council.
With unconditional support from the FMSCI members and governing council the team is doing India proud! Personally, it’s a wonderful feeling. FIA also gives special focus to developing ASNs across the globe. It is structured around four key building blocks for the establishment and running of a successful ASN, highlighting the need for competent structure and event organization, solid licensing, training and sport development. The FMSCI will also work closely with the FIA in growing grassroots motorsports and making it more affordable for young driver.
We were fortunate to have an informal international observer at the AVT South India Rally earlier this year. Based on this, the Head of our Rallying Commission Ashwin Pandit, at the Rallycom meeting in Johor Bahru, discussed the possibility of having an official observer for one of our rallies this year. I am glad to say that due to the efforts of the Rallycom, the Chikmagalur Rally will be officially observed so that our Indian events will now have the opportunity to be part of the FIA Asia Cup next year.
The Technical commission led by K Krishnamurthy and Kamlesh Patel has been exceedingly busy in drafting and monitoring the technical regulations. Your FMSCI has now invested over Rs. 15 lakhs on the import and local purchase of equipment that will aid the technical delegates and scrutineers.
It is with great pleasure that I announce 17 year old Akhil Rabindra as the Indian driver being chosen as the candidate for the FIA Institute Academy. Drivers from 11 countries across the Asia-Pacific region are set to take part in their regional selection event for the 2013/14 Young Driver Excellence Academy. Each FIA National Sporting Authority (ASN) in the region was asked to put forward their nomination, which was then assessed by the FIA Institute. To qualify, drivers had to meet a set of minimum criteria, as well as having demonstrated strong performance in competition so far. On the final shortlist are some of the top young drivers in motor racing and rallying across the Asia-Pacific region, including competitors from Australian Formula Ford, the Sri Lankan Supercross Championship, JK Tyre Racing Championship and the V8 Challenge Cup Championship.
Rallying
The K-1000 rally had to be postponed due to operational reasons but am glad to see everything is shaping up well for one of India’s oldest rallies. At the Rallycom meeting earlier this month we announced changes to the 2014 championship. There will be only 3 categories next year and most importantly we encourage the participation of foreign entrants. We hope to expand the grid and manufacturer list in the upcoming years. The 15th Raid de Himalaya was a success yet again and congratulations to Suresh Rana for emerging victorious for a record 9th time along with his co-driver Ashwin Naik. It is one of the most popular rallies in India and people have nothing but great things to say about the unique event. We were glad to finally kick off the 2013 Indian National TSD Rally Championship with the first round being held in Nashik. TSD rallying is picking up and next year looks good for the championship with ten rounds already being confirmed.
4W Racing
The BIC has been bustling with activity over the last month as the Indian GP approaches. The turnout for the 17th MMSC-FMSCI National Racing Championship & JK Tyre Racing Championship I must admit surprised me and is a clear sign that Indian motorsport is doing just fine. Both championships witnessed record numbers with over 20000 fans, which featured the top talent from the country.
This year there will only be one support race for the Indian GP with the MRF Formula 2000 kicking off its championship at the BIC. All these cars have been made in India by an Indian team and is probably one of the fastest in the region. The grid will include top drivers from all across the globe.
This weekend will also witness the final round of the JK Tyre-FMSCI National Karting Championship in New Delhi with titles on the line in the Micro Max, Junior Max and Senior Max categories. This year we have had more than 10 young drivers moving up from Karting to Single-Seaters action and more importantly they have all made the transition with ease. This definitely means that our karting program is on the right track.
2W Racing
Round 3 of the FMSCI-MMSC took place at the BIC and created history of sorts as it was the first time that motorcycles had raced around the grand prix circuit. It was good to see full manufacturer support in the form of TVS, Honda and Yamaha blasting around the BIC.
FMSCI team India rider K.Jagan was invited to particpate in the Asia Cup and did the country proud with a 3rd placed podium finish in Round 1. I am also personally thankful to Nasser at the QMMF for agreeing so spontaneously to a request to upgrade Rajni from the 600cc to a 1000cc bike at Losail for the weekend of the 5th October.
International Drivers
Gaurav Gill’s brilliant win in the Rally of Japan in his MRF Skoda Fabia means he is the favourite to win the APRC title with one more round to go. It was a fantastic effort in the Rally of Hokkaido by Gaurav Gill to take a comfortable win. Behind him Sanjay Takale won the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) Production Cup title.
Narain Karthikeyan continued his great form in the final round of Auto GP Championship to take his fifth win of the season. Karun Chandhok and Armaan Ebrahim did not have the best outing at the FIA GT Series with both drivers having to retire their cars. Another great achievement for Narain and Karun is that they have both been invited to represent India at the season ending Race of Champions. This is an invite only event for top drivers including Michael Schumacher, Sebastian Ogier, Sebastian Vettel, Jamie Whincup etc and it is a proud moment for Indian talent to be recognized with these great names.
Aditya Patel had yet another top ten finish in the Audi R8 in the ADAC GT Masters. Young Indian racer Parth Ghorpade continues to be a top 10 finisher in the Formula Renault 2.0 Alps championship with a 6th place finish in Imola. Lastly and quite importantly a big congratulations to Jehan Daruvala as he became the first ever Indian to win the British Karting Championship albeit on a MSA licence. The young Indian driver, backed by Sahara Force India, had two podium finishes in the final round to seal the title.
Motorsport has always been an unforgiving sport and I would like to take this opportunity to express my deepest sympathies to the families of Maria De Villota and Sean Edwards, who both passed away over the last week. Maria was doing a lot of work for women in motorsport with the FIA and will be sorely missed. Sean was close to wrapping up the Porsche Supercup Championship and is a great loss to the motorsport world.
All members of the FMSCI have been working on overtime in order to try to better the sport in India and I would like to thank them all for making my task easier. Hope everyone has a great time at the Indian GP!
Yours sincerely,
Vicky Chandhok
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Giving up was never an option: Monisha Kaltenborn
Hinwil, 16 Oct 2013: The first half of the 2013 season was anything but satisfying for the Sauber F1 Team. Seven World Championship points after ten races was a modest harvest. Nevertheless, since the Italian Grand Prix the team has shown a significant improvement: the Swiss outfit scored no less than 38 points in the last four races. This puts the Sauber F1 Team into a solid seventh place in the constructors’ championship. Team Principal Monisha Kaltenborn explains how the team was able to turn the tide. The Indian-born Austrian, became the first woman Team Principal in F1 in Jan, 2010.
File photo of Monisha Kaltenborn at the first Indian GP in 2011. Photo by Sauber F1 team. The Sauber F1 Team had a fantastic season in 2012. However, at the beginning of 2013 it was quite a different story. What happened?
Monisha Kaltenborn, Team Principal: “After the concept of the side exhaust system was very successful last year, our engineers decided to go with a different concept for the C32, that in theory had even more potential. In practice, however, it looked different. We realised that in Melbourne where we brought an update to the car that didn’t work as we expected it to. It then took some time for our engineers to understand the problem.”
What was the problem?
MK: “The aero balance of the car was not stable, especially during braking and turning in. Apart from the measurable implications, the side effect was that the drivers had less confidence in the C32. In addition, we didn’t have the resources to quickly modify the car. Instead, this process happened step by step. The largest update we brought was in Hungary, where we implemented a modified exhaust concept. We already saw a significant improvement back then, but, of course, it took some time until we were able to get the most out of that. In addition, our understanding of the car improved, which translated to a better set-up. Furthermore, we were able to maintain the high level of quality producing the parts back at the factory. The whole team, in the factory and at the track, did an outstanding job.”
Did the ‘new’ tyres, that came into effect in Hungary, also suit your car?
MK: “It’s not easy to pinpoint that as we brought our largest update at the exact same time. However, I believe in general the tyres helped, which was the opposite last year.”
Early in the season some people said the team should stop the development of the current car and fully concentrate on the 2014 car.
MK: “Giving up was never an option, because we wanted to make progress with the current car, in order to improve in the constructors’ championship. In addition the insight we are getting now will help with the development of the new car.”
Let’s be honest: Did you think it was possible to improve like that in the current season?
MK: “It would have been presumptuous to expect such a big improvement. Nevertheless we said very early on that we would be able to improve during the second half of the season. We were certain of this, based on the knowledge we gained. In addition everything came together during the last few races, including some competitors not being able to use their opportunities in the best possible way. But we didn’t expect to be able to score double digit points in three out of four races.”
The Sauber F1 Team now has 45 points, Toro Rosso 31 and Force India 62. Are you looking ahead or behind?
MK: “In general we are always looking ahead. If we continue to be as focused without making any mistakes, then there is still a lot to gain. We know however, that it won’t be easy to claim sixth place. And, of course, we will check the rear mirror in order to avoid a nasty surprise.”
How satisfied are you with the drivers?
MK: “Both drivers have shown a very good performance. Nico delivers what we expected from him. He is fast, consistent and very efficient. He has gained a lot of points through his fighting spirit, but he also knows how to seize and use chances if they present themselves to him during a race. Esteban had a tough start. In addition, the car was not as good at the beginning of the season as it is today, which didn’t help. Nevertheless he worked hard and improved continuously. It was only a question of time for everything to slot into place, as we could see last weekend. Looking at his times, he was often very close to Nico, but, because the competition in the middle field is so tight, sometimes it was a couple of positions away, which, at a first glance, doesn’t look good. However, he also did an outstanding job when, for example, giving feedback regarding the set-up of the car, which took the team forward.”ends
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Red Bull domination continues as Vettel takes his 9th win this year
Suzuka, 13 Oct 2013: Sebastian Vettel won a close tactical battle with team-mate Mark Webber to land his ninth victory of the season at the Japanese Grand Prix, the 15th round of the Formula One World Championship here on Sunday. The result edged the German ever closer to his fourth title as chief championship rival Fernando Alonso finished fourth behind Romain Grosjean. Meanwhile, Red Bull
Podium photo at the Japanese Grand Prix by Lotus F1 team. Both Vettel, starting second, and pole position man Webber made poor getaways when the lights went out. After initially trying to defend, Webber took a wide line into turn one, avoiding problems. Vettel though was in trouble. Lewis Hamilton and Grosjean passed on either side but as they funnelled into turn one, Vettel’s front wing clipped the right rear of Hamilton’s car.
The Mercedes driver was forced to pit with a puncture and later had to retire from the race as a result of the incident.
Vettel, though, escaped intact, but down in third place behind Webber and leader Grosjean. The situation led to a re-evaluation of his race strategy and Vettel was then told to back off from pursuit of Webber to save his tyres for a slightly longer first stint. Webber meanwhile, would soon move to a three-stop race in a bid to find pace at the end.
The Australian made his way to the pit lane after 11 laps and was followed a lap later by Grosjean, but Vettel stayed out until lap 14 before taking on the hard tyre and beginning a long stint designed to push him ahead of his rivals.
Behind the leading trio, Toro Rosso’s Daniel Ricciardo, one of only two drivers to start on prime hard tyre, rose to fourth after the others had stopped and was soon backing up the field behind. That played into the hands of Alonso who, after starting eighth, passed team-mate Felipe Massa and closed on Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg before Ricciardo made his way to the pit lane. A drive-through penalty for fifth-placed Nico Rosberg following an unsafe release from his pit stop also helped Alonso.
Ahead, though, Vettel was patiently stalking leader Grosjean and second-placed Webber.
And when Webber made his second stop on lap 25, Vettel pounced. He upped his pace and began to close on Grosjean and when the Frenchman made his second stop on lap 29, Vettel swept past into the lead.
Webber, though, was on fresher tyres and with Grosjean now third, the Australian began to close the gap to his Red Bull team-mate. A 12-second deficit dropped to seven by lap 37 when Vettel made his second stop and it looked like Webber might make a fight of it.
Vettel though was sensing victory. Third on the road after his stop he chased down Grosjean and passed the Lotus on lap 40. And when leader Webber made his third stop on lap 42, Vettel reclaimed the lead and powered towards the flag.
His team-mate attempted to respond with the better pace of his fresh medium tyres but a sequence of slow laps behind a defensive Grosjean on old tyres put paid to Webber’s chances and he was forced to settle for second behind his team-mate.
“We started already to go longer than Romain and Mark in the first stint,” said Vettel after taking his fourth career win in Suzuka. “We took into account that we were a second a lap slower for two or three laps compared to them in order to get the range in the next stint and then tried to extend that to really put them under pressure towards the end. That was, let’s say, the game plan.
“Obviously after the first pitstop, Mark decided to go for the three-stop which wasn’t far off. Before the race I think we targeted more towards two stop but the tyres weren’t holding up as well as probably we thought,” he added. “I really tried to manage the gaps in the beginning of the stint and then close the gap, which worked brilliantly, especially with Romain. The end of the second stint I was just on his tail when he pitted, able to stay out another couple of laps and then I had more or less fresh tyres when I was able to pass him, so, yeah, great strategy.”
For Webber it was a bitter sweet occasion, satisfying to be on the podium in his final visit to Suzuka in an F1 car but disappointing to have missed out on victory.
“I would have liked one more step on the podium but there were different strategies going on,” said Webber. “Seb went longer in the first stint and then it unloaded his race a bit better than mine at the end. So, in general, pretty happy with second but you always want a bit more but we got the best out of it today.
“Both of us had very poor starts, which put us on the back foot a little bit and then after that it was just really trying to pace the car again on the tyres and making sure they survived to do the sort of strategy we wanted to.”
Alonso, meanwhile, passed Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg on lap 45 to claim a fourth place that at least keeps the Drivers’ Championship battle alive for another race. The Spaniard now has 207 points, 90 adrift of Vettel.
Behind the Ferrari driver, Kimi Raikkonen also found a way past Hulkenberg to take fifth place. It was still a good weekend for the improving Sauber team, however, as Hulkenberg claimed eight points with sixth place and team-mate Esteban Gutierrez claimed the first six points of his F1 career with seventh place. Jenson Button finished ninth for McLaren and the final point was taken by Ferrari’s Felipe Massa.
2013 Japanese Grand Prix – Race Result
1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing 53 1:26:49.301 25
2 Mark Webber Red Bull Racing 53 +7.1 secs 18
3 Romain Grosjean Lotus 53 +9.9 secs 15
4 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 53 +45.6 secs 12
5 Kimi Räikkönen Lotus 53 +47.3 secs 10
6 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 53 +51.6 secs 8
7 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber 53 +71.6 secs 6
8 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 53 +72.0 secs 4
9 Jenson Button McLaren 53 +80.8 secs 2
10 Felipe Massa Ferrari 53 +89.2 secs 1
11 Paul di Resta Force India 53 +98.5 secs
12 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 52 +1 Lap
13 Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 52 +1 Lap
14 Adrian Sutil Force India 52 +1 Lap
15 Sergio Perez McLaren 52 +1 Lap
16 Pastor Maldonado Williams 52 +1 Lap
17 Valtteri Bottas Williams 52 +1 Lap
18 Charles Pic Caterham 52 +1 Lap
19 Max Chilton Marussia 52 +1 Lap
Ret Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 7 Puncture damage
Ret Giedo van der Garde Caterham 0 Accident
Ret Jules Bianchi Marussia 0 Accidentends
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For once Vettel is very happy with the fans; says a big thank you!
DRIVERS
1 – Sebastian VETTEL (Red Bull Racing)
2 – Mark WEBBER (Red Bull Racing)
3 – Romain GROSJEAN (Lotus)PODIUM INTERVIEWS
(Conducted by Eddie Jordan)
Q: [Sebastian] Nine times a winner already this season – but the championship is still alive. Tell me all about it.
Sebastian VETTEL: Konnichi-wa, first of all. Yeah, first of all, I would like to say thank you to all the fans. Every time we come here, the appreciation, the respect we get as drivers is incredible. Obviously, I’m blown away with today’s race. I had a very, very poor start. I think it was right between Romain and, I think, Lewis and I clipped a little bit the front wing. I think Lewis had a puncture after that. I couldn’t go anywhere. After that we were patient, looked after the tyres and had incredible pace towards the end. So we managed to get past Romain, beat Mark on another strategy so, all in all, fantastic. I’m so overwhelmed every time we come here. Thank you very much again for the support.
Q: Who made the final decision on what tyres you were going to run? We got the impression you made the decision right at the very last moment.
SV: Well, to be honest, it happened… I think the decision was already made in the first stint because we stayed out longer, so we obviously took into account that we lapped slower than the others who were on fresh tyres, in order to push them later in the race. We had a similar race in 2011, where I think I came in always as the first and I was under enormous pressure towards the end of the race and got passed by two cars. So this time we did it the other way around: had enough pace in the car to look after the tyres, control the race. Yeah, it was not easy to make the two-stop work, especially in the middle stint – but I think the first stint was crucial to make the decision to stay out and then decide for a two-stop, which turned out to be… [interrupted]
Q: Mark, your last grand prix in a Formula One car at Suzuka, one of the great all-time tracks. Tell us about it.
Mark WEBBER: Yeah, it’s an amazing circuit. The race today was pretty good, I’d say. Obviously I would have liked one more step on the podium but there were different strategies going on. Seb went longer in the first stint and then it unloaded his race a bit better than mine at the end. So, in general, pretty happy with second but, yeah, hey, you always want a bit more but we got the best out of what I could today. Both of us had very poor starts, which put us on the back foot a little bit and then after that it was just really trying to pace the car again on the tyres and making sure they survived to do the sort of strategy we wanted to. In the end we went to three-stop, which put us a little bit on the back foot but still we got back to where we were.
Q: Romain, we were writing you off last year, we didn’t think you’d have a seat, and here you are, on the podium. How does that feel?
Romain GROSJEAN: Well, much better than last year for sure. What a start! Terrific. From the past not the best memories here but today was just a very, very good race. The car was fantastic on option tyres to start the race with and we did manage to pull away. Then the Red Bulls catch us a little bit I think, but generally with the work we did, we are the only ones able to follow those guys. We almost catch the Bull I said to my engineer today – it’s a home race for my engineer and I think he’s very happy. Always very good to come here, always very proud of the fans and being on the podium at such a difficult track – it’s good.
Q: Sebastian, you’re ever so close to pulling it off with your fourth consecutive championship. What are your thoughts going into the next race?
SV: First of all, I would like to enjoy today. I think it was a fantastic race. I love this track. As I said, the people are great and make it a very, very special place for us. I’d love to enjoy that first, obviously it does no harm when you win, for the championship. I’ve won now four times here in Suzuka, which is incredible. I’m really looking forward to next year, to be honest. Regarding the championship, as I said, I think obviously we have a very, very good gap but we still keep pushing. I think we’ve proven in the last couple of years that we never give up. I think we’ve won one or two championships because of that. Obviously this year it looks very good at this stage – but it’s not over before it’s over.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Sebastian, you really did seem to enjoy this victory hugely. Is it because of the various problems that happened along the way? The start, for example, the first corner, one or two lock-ups, an interesting tactic…
SV: Yeah, certainly – but I think mostly it’s because of the circuit and the fans to be honest. It’s one of the highlights in the year. I love this track and I’ve been very, very fortunate to have a great car in the past and against this year, being able to finish on the podium and win four times now. Incredible. When we leave the hotel in the morning I think it’s the same for all of us. It makes it so special. The people are crazy about Formula One. They really, yeah, admire us, which is very nice. They love what we do and appreciate the fact we go around. You have the people on the grandstand yesterday, I ran the circuit and there were I think 5,000 people on the grandstand just watching. They are amazed by Formula One and I think that makes it so special and taste so sweet. As you touched on, obviously with the race today, a horrible start but then a fantastic comeback.
Q: That long middle stint – a 23-lap middle stint – and there were one or two lock-ups. Were you affected by that or were the tyres in good condition all the way?
SV: Well, you know, you struggle more in the end obviously. I tried to control the gaps. Obviously we started already to go longer than Romain and Mark in the first stint, so we took into account that we lap a second a lap slower for two or three laps compared to them in order to get the range in the next stint and then tried to extend that to really put them under pressure towards the end. That was, let’s say, the game plan. Obviously after the first pit stop I think very soon in the second stint, Mark decided to go for the three-stop, which wasn’t far off. Before the race I think we targeted more towards two stops but the tyres weren’t holding up as well as probably we thought. As I said, I really tried to manage the gaps in the beginning of the stint and then close the gap, which worked brilliantly, especially with Romain. The end of the second stint I was just on his tail when he pitted, able to stay out another couple of laps and then I had more or less fresh tyres when I was able to pass him, so, yeah, great strategy. It obviously worked. We made it… we didn’t lose the patience early on. Tried obviously to make the stints as long as possible to help us at the end of the race.
Q: Mark, I guess you were hoping you were going to be able to challenge Sebastian during the closing stages. That’s what the engineers suggested to both of you in fact – but you just couldn’t get past Romain.
MW: Ah, no. I don’t think the battle was going to be with Sebastian at the end to be honest. I think that it was pretty much done when we didn’t do enough damage on the three-stop against Seb’s pace on the two. I think we tried to race Romain at the start and then in the end we switched to the three. So I was the meat in the sandwich, trying to beat Romain on a two and then all of a sudden we decided to do a three. I was a little bit surprised. I asked was it the right thing to do because I felt we could get to the lap we were looking to get to. Of course Seb was two or three laps longer, four laps maybe but in terms of the target lap that we looked to get for the two-stop I thought was achievable but in the end Seb did a good race, the strategy worked out perfect and yeah, the three was… not absolutely ridiculous but it’s a bit more high risk we know, and you have to clear people obviously, so yeah, piggy in the middle, trying to do both. In the end, we got back to where we were in terms of position but Seb jumped both of us. But a great result for the team, a sensational result for me in my last time here in Japan in Formula One. The fans are incredible. I enjoyed the grand prix today, it was nice to have fresh tyres a bit more, which is always enjoyable around Suzuka. So that was today’s race.
I mentioned drama-filled for Sebastian, one or two things happened to him, what about yourself?
MW: Apart from the shocking start for both Seb and I, that was really it. After that we could plan our race accordingly. It wasn’t what we expected to be honest, both of us didn’t do anything off the front row. So that put us on the back foot already and Romain was quite strong on the option but I don’t think he was that strong on the prime. Anyway, as I say, I did everything I could today. It’s not too bad a result obviously. It’s nice to be back on the podium after the last few races where I think we could have certainly have been there but we weren’t. All in all, I leave here happy and off to Oz tomorrow for a bit more surfing.
Well done. Romain, tell us about that start because it was a lightning one.
RG: Yeah, it was probably one of the best; I just spoke with Seb [about it]. When I dropped the clutch I said ‘whoah, whoah, that’s a good one, come on, come on go for it’. Amazing. Then when you’re leading it makes the thing easier on the first stint. We were very quick on the option. The car was using less the tyres and I could open the gap. Unfortunately, it was less good on prime than option today for some reason, rather than yesterday when it was the opposite, so the pace dropped a little bit and Seb was really too quick for us. I think it would have been nice with Mark until the end of the race but we caught some slower cars, lapped cars, and they really blocked me a lot. I lost the position against Mark. I don’t know if I could have held him until the end but, yeah, it cost me, I think, quite a lot. Never mind, we were the only car to be able to follow them. We did not even think about racing them before the race and the strategy says that our target was Lewis, so, so far it was a pretty good race and for sure being ahead in the first corner helps quite a lot but we did a very good job to come back from a disaster Friday to have a very good Saturday and Sunday.
Q: You were right in the middle of a backmarker battle right at the end there – there was a lot of traffic around. A little bit of sadness having been out in front and finishing third?
RG: I thought it was the day that the first victory was coming. Honestly on option, I did struggle a little bit but then I could pull away to Mark and I said “our car is beautiful today, it’s gonna be good,” and then Mark pitted earlier than what we thought, we fitted the prime – hard tyres – and the degradation was not the same any more and it was making it harder to drive. I think I lost second with the Caterham in the middle stint when Mark catch me just before he pitted and then on the last few laps there were a lot of cars in front of us. I know it’s not easy for anyone to let us by but on such a nice big track it costs you a lot . As my tyres were really on the edge every small aero… wing perturbation will cost me a lot and at the exit of the chicane a little bit of wheelspin and Mark could go for it. So, a bit of a shame to lose the second position but never mind, I think the positives that I gain outweigh… were challenging them and that counts for us.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto, Motor und Sport) Mark, you spoke about the second stop but the first one was already pretty early for a two stop strategy. Was it just to do an undercut on Romain, or do you feel that you were in the role of a rabbit to challenge Romain to follow you and then obviously it paid out for Seb?
MW: Yeah, we were obviously looking to get in the lead, to put some pressure on Romain. I don’t think the option was easy to handle for any of us. I wanted to put some pressure on Romain towards the end of that stint. We were more or less in the window for a two stop. As soon as I pitted after the prime, the guys said ‘yeah, we’re on a two stop, it’s no problem. Look after the tyres and we’ll stay on two.’ And then I was on two and then we switched to three so I think they just saw that it was just a quicker way for me to do three stops. That’s what they thought, that was the reason they did it. That’s the reason for that.
Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action and National Speedsport News) Mark, in those laps, you were trying to get Grosjean but you couldn’t quite get him down the straights; what was happening through the chicane and down the pit straight?
MW: Well, at the end of the race, the DRS is not as effective because you’re on the limiter, basically. We managed to get off the chicane a bit better on the… when you arrive on someone you want to get the job done pretty quickly. First sector is obviously not that easy because… Romain is a bit low on tyres but they also had more downforce than us. I was quite low on wing. When I arrived on him, I was obviously hoping to get it done a little bit earlier but it was also knowing that his tyres were going to be quite tired, getting towards the end of the race as well. The backmarkers didn’t work out for Romain, it’s a bit of a nightmare when you catch so many guys; they all want the DRS, they all want to fight and in the end, it was beneficial for me to pounce when Romain got not the best run with the backmarkers, which was no fault of his own.
Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Romain, what do you think you still miss to get a victory: another car, another team, another strategy? And the same for you, Sebastian, about Romain.
RG: From my side, I think, today, was a little bit of pace on the hard tyre. We covered Mark on the first stop. It was two laps shorter than what we thought and then again, the second stop was just a little bit earlier than we thought because of the tyres’ age and so on. And I think we missed Friday, so we had to do a long run in FP3 to know how the tyres were going because from Friday we had no information from our long runs, we really struggled with the car, so we lost that information that we are normally pretty good on. Today the hard tyres didn’t behave as we expected and before the race, honestly, we said we’ll start on option but then what’s going on in the second stint, we didn’t know if we had to fit option or prime and it was just an unknown. I think the Red Bull today was… we said in the strategy meeting that we never thought that we could beat them. So we are where we expected to be. Just sometimes, it’s a little bit of everything. Today was not the luck missing, it was not the start, the driving, it was just a little bit of pace from the car.
SV: Well, I think after the start and the first stint, I thought that it would be a great race for Romain. Obviously we tried to make our stint longer and so on, to come back in the end but they looked very strong. I think they struggled a little bit more on the prime probably but then again as he just said, they didn’t expect to race where they ended up racing. I think he drove a fantastic race today. I don’t think it’s a matter of… he can beat me, he beat me last year at the Race of Champions. I put the car in the wall. I think it’s not a matter of that. The race is long. Today obviously favoured us over the distance which is a little bit unusual compared to the Lotus because I knew that being in third, losing out in the first stint, usually the distance is more, you know, let’s say the strength of the Lotuses. I think Romain did a great job, great performance all weekend I think, great qualifying yesterday again, outqualified Kimi. We know that Kimi is a strong driver. Last year I think Romain made some mistakes but the most important thing is that we learn from these mistakes as drivers so I think he learned a lot of things and gradually he’s improving, so big respect for that.
Q: (Anne Giuntini – L’Equipe) Mark, last year you had an incident with Romain here. Did you change your mind about him during this year, especially in this race, but also the whole season?
MW: No, I think it’s very clear that Romain has a very different mental approach to the job at the moment this year. He’s driven some quite strong races, putting together the whole weekend which is a sign of a driver starting to get a bit more relaxed and confident. A lot less mistakes, not just in races but in practice so it’s not… You know, we’re not here to blow smoke up his arse but in the end he’s doing a very good job this year and it’s a big step for him because last year, in Formula One, also the first year against Fernando in Formula One wasn’t easy for him and to come back… yeah, he’s doing a good job. It starts and stops with him. Hope he doesn’t improve too much more before the end of the year! And we can keep going.
Q: (Kate Walker – GP Week) Sebastian, you haven’t won your fourth consecutive title yet but it’s almost certain to happen this season, barring something very odd. Now you’re also a man who collects an awful lot of race wins, record after record. What means more to you: going down in history with the likes of Fangio and Schumacher as one of three men to have collected four consecutive titles, or to stand on the top of every podium on the calendar?
SV: I think I prefer the second thing you said. You know, I love racing. When I was small, I was dreaming about Formula One and honestly never thought that one day I would be able to test one of these cars. First time I tested the car, it was… Mark drove in the morning, I drove in the afternoon. I shit myself the first couple of laps and I thought, alright, that’s for real men, not for me. Then I got used to it and obviously wanted to do more. A couple of years later, obviously I had the chance to get a drive, Red Bull gave me the chance at Toro Rosso to get some races. It’s incredible what’s happened over the last couple of years but nothing has changed in the way that I still love racing, I love the challenge, I’m still nervous when I wake up on Sunday, still excited when I walk on the grid and tense, looking forward to the race. Enjoying – not the numbers – but enjoying the fact that I’m racing and a great crowd today, a fantastic day. As I said, I think it would be a shame if you were too tense and if you tried to force things too much. I think you have to allow yourself to enjoy it because this is not normal, it doesn’t happen to everyone. I think I’m very fortunate that I’m one of these 22/24 guys in Formula One. As I said, we leave the hotel, great respect from the fans, they’re cheering, they’re shouting our names and it’s just great. That’s what I’m looking forward to most, obviously try to do it again. I love trophies so I don’t mind collecting a few either!
Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Sebastian, after overtaking Grosjean, did you ask the team what position Alonso was in in the race?
SV: No.
Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Did the team inform you?
SV: After the race. Obviously I knew that in the last stint, once we got past Romain, I knew that Mark was the biggest threat from behind. He was on fresher tyres and pretty quick. Obviously he got stuck with Romain a little bit which helped us. But I didn’t really… I didn’t ask and I didn’t want to know because there are still things that can happen at the end, even if you have a little bit of a gap and so on. We’ve seen today a lot of lock-ups; I was wide once in turn two, at the beginning of the race. Mark just said he knew where I was in one of the stints in the race because there was smoke here, smoke there. I was struggling a little bit with locking up the tyres. I was busy enough, also carrying the car to the chequered flag.
Ends
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Webber seals Suzuka pole to claim his 12th career pole; 1st this season
Suzuka, 12 Oct 2013: Mark Webber powered to his first pole position of the season at Suzuka, finishing ahead of team-mate Sebastian Vettel, whose session was compromised by a KERS issue, at the Japan Grand Prix, the 15th round of the FIA Formula One World Championship qualification today. Webber claimed his 12th career pole position with a time of 1m30.915s,.
Championship leader Vettel’s problems began in FP3 when he missed the final, option tyre runs of the session due to a problem with his car’s energy recovery system.
The problem seemed to have been cured as Vettel then sailed through the opening segments of qualifying with ease, ending Q2 at the top of timesheet just over two tenths ahead of Webber.
Conditions remained dry throughout qualifying with ambient temperatures peaking at 25 degrees centigrade but a strong and variable 30kph wind. At the start of Q1 the frontrunners used mainly the P Zero Orange hard tyres, nominated with the P Zero White medium for Japan. With three minutes to go the session was red-flagged. When the session restarted, Lotus driver Romain Grosjean went quickest after his second run on the hard tyres, while many drivers switched to the medium compound.
In Q3, however, Vettel ran into trouble. Keen to stake his claim to a fifth consecutive Japanese Grand Prix pole position, Vettel was first out on track in the top-10 shootout. However, midway through his lap his race engineer got on the radio to tell him “KERS shutdown”. The problem led to his first run being over three tenths of a second slower than Webber’s, the deficit also caused by a mistake at the exit of Spoon corner.
In the second run, there were no driver errors as Vettel set session-best times in the first and third sectors but a conservative middle sector saw him miss out on pole for the first time since the Belgian Grand Prix.
Webber meanwhile, was continuing the good form he has shown all weekend. His first run in Q3 netted him a time of 1:30.975 and at that point he was the only driver to record a sub-1m31s lap.
He then shaved eight hundredths of a second off that time to land his first front-of-grid start since last year’s Korean Grand Prix.
“The laps weren’t too bad to be honest,” he said of the 12th pole position of his career. “You always want a little bit more here and there but in general it was pretty good. Sebastian had a problem in qualifying, so a little bit of a hollow pole position if you like, but I’m happy to be on pole. You’ve got to grab the opportunities when you can and still put the laps in. It’s a very nice farewell for me to have pole here on my last attempt at Suzuka, a really phenomenal circuit. I’ll never forget the first sector today.”
Vettel, meanwhile, said he was happy with his second place. “We did have an issue in qualifying but I’m not a big fan of ‘without this, with this, if this’,” he said. “It’s always unknown. As a fact, we are P2. So, happy, obviously, with the result. Front row for the team, which is great.”
With the Red Bulls locking out the front row, third place went to Lewis Hamilton, who admitted that third on the grid is a good result against Red Bull rivals who he said have “had a better package for a long time now”.
“I’m really happy,” he said. “Realistically it was difficult, or almost impossible, to finish ahead of these guys. They’ve had a much better package generally for a long, long time but I think we’ve come a long way and to be as close as we are, I think, is a huge compliment to the team.
“The car was feeling good,” he added. “My car felt awesome so I can’t imagine how it felt for them – and congratulations to Mark. I’m looking forward to racing them tomorrow.”
Fourth place went to Lotus’ Romain Grosjean, the fifth time in sixth races that the Frenchman has out-qualified team-mate Kimi Raikkonen, who will line up in ninth place tomorrow.
Felipe Massa, meanwhile, beat team-mate Fernando Alonso for the sixth time this season. The Brazilian will line up fifth on the grid, in front of Nico Rosberg in the second Mercedes and Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg. Alonso will start from eighth position, ahead of Raikkonen and 10th-placed Jenson Button.
Elsewhere, in Q1, Jean-Eric Vergne was forced to pull over at the side of the track with smoke and flames billowing out from the back of his Toro Rosso, an incident that briefly brought out the red flags.
“I thought I had an engine problem, but then I realised the rear brakes were stuck,” he said afterwards. “I tried to brake and there was nothing in the pedal, then I saw the fire and had to stop the car.
“The team will have a lot of work to do tonight, because it took quite a while for the fire to be out,” he added. “Hopefully the main components are undamaged, the engine and gearbox, but there will be many things to change.”
2013 Japanese Grand Prix – Qualifying Result
1 Mark Webber Red Bull Racing 1:30.915
2 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing 1:31.089
3 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:31.253
4 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:31.365
5 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:31.378
6 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:31.397
7 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 1:31.644
8 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:31.665
9 Kimi Räikkönen Lotus 1:31.684
10 Jenson Button McLaren 1:31.827
11 Sergio Perez McLaren 1:31.989
12 Paul di Resta Force India 1:31.992
13 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:32.013
14 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber 1:32.063
15 Pastor Maldonado Williams 1:32.093
16 Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1:32.485
17 Adrian Sutil Force India 1:32.890
18 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:33.357
19 Max Chilton Marussia 1:34.320
20 Charles Pic Caterham 1:34.556
21 Giedo van der Garde Caterham 1:34.879
22 Jules Bianchi Marussia 1:34.958ends
Mark Webber in his Red Bull as he take the Suzuka pole on Saturday. A Pirelli photo -
P3 is a huge compliment to the team: Hamilton after qualifier in Japan
DRIVERS
1 – Mark WEBBER (Red Bull Racing)
2 – Sebastian VETTEL (Red Bull Racing)
3 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)TV UNILATERAL
Mark, congratulations. It’s been a long time this pole position this year. It’s your first time fastest in a qualifying session.
Mark WEBBER: Yeah, it’s a great track. We all enjoy driving here. The laps weren’t too bad to be honest. You always want a little bit more here and there but in general it was pretty good. Sebastian had a problem in qualifying, so a little bit of a hollow pole position if you like, because he still did a phenomenal lap, but I’m happy to be on pole. You’ve got to grab the opportunities when you can and still put the laps in. Bit of a mixed session, people were throwing options and primes all over the joint in Q2; people were on scrubbed and unscrubbed. So it was a bit of a mixed session in terms of trying to predict who was showing their hand. But in the end we did the laps when it counted and that’s what was important. Very, very nice farewell for me to have pole here on my last attempt at Suzuka on a really phenomenal circuit. I’ll never forget the first sector today. That’s what us guys strive for and yeah, our profession is all about that so it was a real highlight for a lot of us out there today.
You said yesterday you needed to find performance. You obviously found that performance. How did that come?
MW: To be honest we needed to check the car this morning with the different wind conditions. That’s important. I think you’ll see everyone today went a lot quicker. So we were factoring that in. The circuit had changed a lot. Also, it’s a very strange circuit, it’s a very out and back track, it’s a very narrow circuit, a lot of kilometres but in a small gully, so obviously that was something we have to take in mind in terms of our preparation today for the wind. I think we did what we could. We’ve still got some quick cars around but in general we’ve got a good car for the race. Head down tomorrow.
Well done. Sebastian how much do you think losing that time this morning hurt you?
Sebastian VETTEL: Well obviously we had a problem this morning but I don’t think that made a difference in terms of finding the rhythm, I think we’ve done plenty of laps around this track. First of all, congratulations to Mark, I think he did a very good lap. We did have an issue in qualifying but I’m not a big fan of ‘without this, with this, if this’. It’s always unknown. As a fact, we are P2. So, happy, obviously, with the result. Front row for the team, which is great. The car was phenomenal today, as Mark touched on. The first sector – I think you realise afterwards that the car was fantastic through there and you don’t get many days like that, where the car feels great and you can really push it to the limit. Enjoyed qualifying and happy with second place.
In fact, in the two laps you did in Q3 it looked as if you just went a little bit wide out of Spoon on one lap and I’m not certain what happened in the middle sector on the final lap.
SV: Nothing. I kept it on the track. Obviously I tried hard on the first attempt, a little bit too hard. Tried hard on the second attempt but managed to stay on track. Obviously you gain a little bit before you go off track in the first attempt and then you lose down the straight and obviously the second time around I was a bit more conservative but gained down the straight, so overall it was a net gain. But, yeah, I think we were all pushing to the limit today, as Mark touched on. Again, with the wind it was tricky, some gusts here and there but in the end we are pushing and mistakes happen.
Q: Lewis, I don’t know how happy you are with third place. You’ve been a major challenger all weekend.
Lewis HAMILTON: Yeah. No. I’m really happy. I think the team did a great job so far this weekend and realistically it was difficult, or almost impossible, to finish ahead of these guys. They’ve had a much better package generally for a long, long time but I think we’ve come a long way and to be as close as we are, I think is a huge compliment to the team. The car was feeling good. My car felt awesome so I can’t imagine how it felt for them – and congratulations to Mark. I’m looking forward to racing them tomorrow.
Q: What’s going to be the major factor tomorrow? A lot of people talking about tyre management and making sure you don’t lock-up – that it’s too easy to lock-up at this circuit.
LH: Well, there are not many big braking zones but locking is always an issue. Degradation is going to be really the key tomorrow. I hope we can get a good start, being on the cleaner side and be able to at least put up a little bit of a fight for these guys, don’t let them walk away with it too easily.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Mark, it’s usually you who makes a really good start away from the press conference but the important thing is can you make a good start away tomorrow?
MW: Yeah! Haven’t been too bad of late, I don’t think. We’re doing the prep we can, the clutch is in good shape and we should be able to get away well and head down after that for a good race.
Q: Who’s going to be the major threat do you think tomorrow?
MW: At the front of the grid in the grand prix there’s no-one ahead of you so it always has to come from behind if there’s a chance, so I’ll focus on myself and try and get some gaps if I can. Obviously Seb, Lewis, Lotus as well in the race. Who knows? You’ve just got to be mindful of the fact of tyre management, get the strategy right, execute a clean grand prix from driver, pitstops, everything together. It’s got to work. We’re more than capable of that. Obviously a super-experienced team, we know what we’ve got to do tomorrow. Looking forward to it.
Q: Sebastian. What was the problem this morning? What actually caused you to lose so much time this morning?
SV: We decided to change the batteries on the car because we had an issue with KERS. Unfortunately we had the same problem in qualifying – so I think we have a little bit more time after qualifying now to have a look and see whether there’s something else broken or damaged. The whole team was pushing very hard. Obviously my car crew but also Mark’s car crew helped out to fix the car in time and get it out for qualifying – so we tried everything. It worked sometimes and as I said I’m sure we’ll find the problem tonight and hopefully it works tomorrow.
Q: Lewis, Were there big changes in conditions today, what with the wind? And also drivers were reporting more grip as well.
LH: Yeah. The wind direction changed, I think 180°, so you had a tail wind down into Turn One but then massive headwind going through the Esses, so it changed the characteristics of the circuit massively. I guess every car will have gained a lot more downforce, so it got a lot quicker today.
Q: And how much has that changed for the race itself?
LH: I believe… I was told it’s going to be like FP3. I think it was a little windier this afternoon, potentially. Hopefully it should be the same tomorrow.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Mark, did you put the black cat on Seb’s car and do you think that this is the end of your bad luck curse this year?
MW: You just have to look forward. It’s tough enough as it is to see the results that you lose, the amount of points that we’ve lost, there’s a lot of things which are out of my hands which you can get frustrated by but at the end of the day you have to look forward because it takes energy if you look back, so looking forward. Yeah, we have a great opportunity tomorrow. When I started up the last lap, when I came out of the last chicane and I thought it’s my last lap in a Formula One car here at Suzuka – come on, let’s really enjoy it but also put the car on the limit. I did my best. I enjoyed today; tomorrow will be the same mentality. It’s a beautiful circuit in a Formula One car, the tyres are finishing the lap which is also brilliant for us to push for most of the lap so in general it’s a nice day, and as you say, let’s hope it continues for another 24 hours and in India and so on and so on, to finish off as nicely as we can.
Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Mark, there’s no way not to ask this question: your teammate needs a victory to maybe – maybe – become World Champion. Here you are in front of him on a difficult circuit to overtake. Would you consider to work for the team?
MW: I think it’s such a long year. Seb’s had a phenomenal year. He will do his race tomorrow, I will do my race. It’s not like it’s the last race of the championship, obviously, in terms of what can unfold or whatever. Sebastian has a big points lead because of the work that he’s put in up to now. He can’t qualify on pole for every race. Tomorrow is a new day and let’s see how it’s looking at the end of the race. Normally you talk about these things and they never happen but in general, yeah, we’ll be there for ourselves tomorrow.
Q: (Abhishek Takle – Midday) Mark, we saw some replays of you exiting the pits in front of a McLaren, Perez. Can you explain what happened? Were you aware… were you told he was on a flying lap?
MW: He backed off so the engineers told me that he had finished his lap so we could pull in front of him because he was going to pit. If he was on a quick lap obviously I would have got out of the way.
Q: (Trent Price – Richland F1) For all of you: we’ve seen a lot of drivers lose a lot of time in the chicane over the weekend; have you guys opted for a compromise set-up for that or is it just something in the characteristics of the cars?
MW: The chicane is a normal compromise problem for this circuit. It’s a very slow chicane, it’s from a big speed in terms of braking, there’s also a bit of rise in there if you want to use the kerbs, and things like that and then the traction is also very important. As usual, with every Grand Prix track we go to we try to compromise the car as best we can. We’re aware there’s a lot of lap time in the chicane but there’s also a lot of lap time in the first sector so we do what we can. The driver sometimes has to fill the pockets in terms of those compromises.
SV: Sorry, what was the question again? I have the results here. Sorry. I think Mark has… I think you lose a little bit of the tyre towards the end but I’m sure that’s what he said.
LH: Same.
Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action and National Speedsport News). Mark, you said it’s a bit of a hollow pole because Seb had problems but out of the 12 (poles) how does this rate? Is it still quite sweet because it’s at this track?
MW: Yeah, you’re right Dan. You’ve got to take them when you can get them. It’s not like they hand them out. It was still a big lap. I’ve had a few laps in qualifying where I’ve had to attempt to qualify as best as I can without all the weapons as well and today we had the weapons sharp and we did a pretty good job on a phenomenal circuit. When you drive here… this is the links golf course of the golf world or the big wave stuff for the surfers or whatever. For us, it’s a really testing circuit. Unless anyone sees a Formula One car here live to see what happens in a sector, it’s very hard for them to understand how quickly we go through there.
Q: (Ian Parkes – Press Association) Seb and Mark: McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh has confirmed that Peter Prodromou has signed for the team, potentially for next season, certainly for 2015. Can you two guys give us an idea of what Peter has brought to Red Bull over the past few years, given the titles that you’ve won?
MW: Peter’s a great guy, obviously a huge amount of experience. Always enjoyed working with him. Obviously he’s an integral part of the team and did good job, been there a long time. It’s the first I’m aware of how formal you’re talking about it but these things happen in Formula One. There’s a lot of good guys moving around in teams. We’re open to that and that can happen. If that’s the case, I obviously wish him all the best. That’s the small industry that we work in.
SV: I only heard of it just now. As Mark touched on, he’s obviously been a very very strong character in the background responsible for a lot of good stuff that has happened to us over the last couple of years. Whether it’s more than just a rumour or not I’m not sure. Independently, he’s a very nice guy and whatever he decides to do, as Mark said, you wish him all the best. For sure I hope he stays with us but I don’t know. I only just heard, when I got out of the car.
Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Mark, you have been facing problems at the start of the race in many races and here, maybe, it’s one of the most difficult because it’s downhill. Do you have any special preparations for the start?
MW: Do my best, mate. Fingers crossed and go from there. We’ve had a few good ones. Obviously some pretty average ones: Seb in Singapore, it was not the best for him but Lewis has had some good and some poor ones as well. At Nurburgring we went straight round the outside of him so it can happen but I love taking the challenge on and tomorrow we will face it and do what we can to get into turn one first and then the race starts from there.
File photo of Lewis Hamilton (right) with team boss Ross Brawn. Photo by Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 team. Ends
