Tag: Formula 1

  • Raj Bharath finishes 5th in race 2 and 3: Formula Masters

    Kuala Lampur, 15 Sept 2013: Indian racing driver Raj Bharath rounded off a challenging Formula Masters outing at the Sepang International Circuit with a pair of fifth place finishes. The 5.5-kilometer venue also plays host to the Malaysian F1 Grand Prix and MotoGP rounds, a press release from Meco Motorsports said.

    Raj Bharath finishes 5th in Race 2 and 3 after a DNF in Race 1 at Sepang in the Formula Masters on Sunday. A Meco Motorsports photo
    Raj Bharath finishes 5th in Race 2 and 3 after a DNF in Race 1 at Sepang in the Formula Masters on Sunday. A Meco Motorsports photo

    Supported by Bangalore-based Embassy Group and driving for Meco Motorsport, the start of the weekend was far from ideal for the 19-year old as he was stuck with a misfiring engine in the opening session of the weekend. The issue took the entire day to work through and cost him several hours of track time before it could be successfully diagnosed and fixed.

    “I had done maybe three laps and the engine started to misfire and grew worse, so I pulled into the pits and that was the end of the day”, said Raj recounting his inauspicious start to the weekend.

    The reliability of the Volkswagen-powered Formula Masters car has been satisfactory throughout the season, but this particular outing proved to be a difficult one.

    After several hours of troubleshooting, the issue was finally traced to a faulty fuel injector (which was clogged) that was not supplying enough fuel to one of the cylinders, leading to the misfire and subsequent loss of power.

    The injector was duly replaced and the car finally fired up normally, but Raj,  a student of the Centre for Management Studies in Bangalore, India  had lost two hours of track time by then, which given the mixed conditions was a major setback for the rest of the weekend.

    As a result, he went into qualifying with only a handful of laps under his belt, and found himself off the pace compared to the frontrunners who had driven and done setup work throughout the day.

    “We went into qualifying without a clue of what we needed to work on with the setup and so on, and we were almost two seconds off the pace, which is miles off”, he quipped.

    Luckily some other drivers had issues in qualifying as well, so Raj still managed to start seventh on the grid for race one. But lady luck had decided not to smile upon him yet and after a feisty few opening laps, Raj was tipped into an uncontrollable spin that ended his race in the gravel trap.

    “The car was feeling different somehow in the race, not just the balance but the way it was responding which was a bit inconsistent between right-handed and left-handed corners”, revealed Raj.

    “It was raining hard as well, so I just thought maybe it was the track surface, but having driven in the rain at Sepang before and won here, I knew something was amiss”, he elaborated.

    But he didn’t get much time to reflect on the issue as coming out of the long right-handed turn two, the car snapped into an uncontrollable spin and Raj was spitted into the gravel trap instantly.

    “I got some oversteer at the exit of turn 2, which is normal and I corrected it, but then the car just came around so fast – I had never experienced anything like that before”, said Raj describing the incident.

    The car was taken back to the pits and this time it was the left-rear damper that had given way, which had left the car with no compression damping when the car was loaded in right-hand corners. Given the torrential downpour, a complete loss of grip was imminent.

    With the component replaced for the next two races, Raj managed to finish fifth in both after starting towards the rear end of the grid.

    His pace improved significantly as well, as he effectively did his practice laps and setup work after the second race – the first hard laps he had done all weekend.

    “Driving the in race with other cars around I realised I was losing out a bit in the long corners, because we had excessive understeer. Stuff like this we usually do in practice but that’s how it is sometimes”, he remarked.

    With two fifth place finishes, Raj lies fourth in the championship with only the triple-header season finale at Shanghai International circuit remaining, the venue where he won in May earlier this year.

    Raj Bharath’s 2013 Formula Masters Stats:

    Rounds: 5
    Races:
    15 (3 per round)
    Pole positions: 1
    Wins:
    1
    Podium finishes:
    5
    DNFs:
    2
    Points: 118
    Championship standing: 4th

    About Raj Bharath:

    Born November 20, 1994 in Bangalore, Raj took his first steps in motorsport with karting in 2008 – like all aspiring F1 drivers. Then aged 14, he immediately showed glimpses of his potential in his debut year, winning the trophy for the ‘Most promising rookie of the year’ in the National Karting championship.

    He eventually won the title in 2010 and progressed to Formula BMW Asia in 2011 followed by the Ferrari Academy supported Formula Pilota in 2012.

    For 2013, Raj is participating in the Formula Masters China before moving to Europe in 2014, and getting closer to his aim of making it to Formula 1. He posted his first victory of the season at the Shanghai International Circuit in May.

    Raj Bharath Career Highlights:

    2008 Most promising rookie in the JK Rotax Karting championship.
    2009 Second runner-up in JK Rotax Max Karting championship.
    2010 Rotax Max Karting NATIONAL CHAMPION.
    2011 Debut in Formula BMW Asia Pacific – five top ten finishes.
    2012 Formula Pilota China – 10 podium finishes and three wins.

    Car Specifications:

    Chassis: Tatuus FA010, FIA F3 homologated
    Engine:
    Volkswagen Formula EVO 2.0
    Gearbox: Six-speed sequential with LSD
    Power:
    180 PS
    Torque:
    200Nm
    Suspension: Double-wishbone with pushrod activation
    Brakes:
    Four-pot Dixcel calipers
    Tyres:
    Front – 180/550 R13
    Rear – 240/570 R13
    Weight:
    540kg with driver

    Formula Masters China Calendar:

    Zhuhai (China)             10-12 May
    Shanghai (China)        
    24-26 May
    Ordos (China)              
    05-07 July
    Inje (Korea)                
    9-11 August
    Sepang (Malaysia)      
    13-15 Sep
    Shanghai (China)        
    25-27 Oct
    Macau Grand Prix          
    8-10 Nov

    ends

  • A fantastic race and we beat the red guys: Sebastian Vettel

    DRIVERS

    1 – Sebastian VETTEL (Red Bull Racing)

    2 – Fernando ALONSO (Ferrari)

    3 – Mark WEBBER (Red Bull Racing)

    PODIUM INTERVIEW  (Conducted by John Surtees and Jean Alesi)

    Q: Sebastian, you won your first grand prix, here at Monza, in an Italian team. So, it’s very special coming back for you, isn’t it?

    Sebastian VETTEL: Yeah, definitely. A fantastic race – but you can hear the difference, obviously, when you don’t win here in a red suit, you get a lot of that but in the end it’s very nice because it means you’ve done very good and beat the red guys. So we are very proud of that. Great job by the whole team today, very good job by Renault. Usually this is one of the toughest tracks we go to but this year the car’s been absolutely fantastic, the race has been incredible. I think for both of us towards the end we were struggling a little bit with the gearbox so we had to pace ourselves but obviously for me it was not that bad because I had a little bit of a cushion but very great to win here, to see all the fans coming, it’s the best podium of the season so very proud to be up here.

    Q: It’s important that they come and the emotion is all about Italy, isn’t it?

    SV: Yeah, for sure.

    …Fernando did a very good drive and kept you honourable, so that was fantastic.

    SV: Yeah, definitely. Most people, you can see are dressed in red ­– but there’s a lot of blue caps as well and I’m sure those guys are very happy. Thank you.

    Q: Fernando, you must explain how was the overtaking in the beginning of the race for you.

    Fernando ALONSO: It was difficult obviously. The car was OK and we overtook Nico [Hülkenberg] but then we had to overtake Mark and Felipe later on. And then with Sebastian we were not able to close to the gap so we were fighting with Mark until the end. Second place is good, to have this podium ceremony that is the most spectacular podium of the year for sure and hopefully next one, next year, we come back here but in the top place.

    Q: And Fernando, when you make the pass, the whole public jump on the grandstand, it was amazing. Inside the car, how it was? It was very close.

    FA: It was close. Obviously we have to risk. There is nothing now to lose for us. We are second in the championship and we have to take some risk. We did it and that’s OK.

    Q: You understand Ferrari love you? You have to love Ferrari, we are all behind you…

    FA: Ah, of course. I always said the same thing, big thanks to the team for everything they do for me and huge support from all the fans from all Italy. Some people still try to create some tension between team and driver but here is the better symbol: zero tension and we fight for the championship always.

    Q: Mark, you had to fight very hard to be on the podium. From the middle of the race you had… it looked like from outside you had better speed, compared to the beginning. Can you explain how it was at the beginning of the grand prix?

    Mark WEBBER: Yeah, I felt a little bit better on the tyre at the end of the race. The hard tyre was not quite as comfortable for me but I felt very, very good at the end. So it was a good battle with Fernando. Great team result. Thank you to Monza, last time here in Formula One, so thank you very much. See you next time.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Well done Sebastian, your third win here but tell us the problems you had with the gearbox – you said between fifteen and ten laps from the end. Was it getting worse or was it just one problem?

    SV: In the end we finished the race so it was not a disaster. I think yeah, the heartbeat was a bit higher in the car and also at the pitwall because we didn’t know what’s going on. Fortunately, as I said, we didn’t have any big issues. Just the last ten, fifteen laps, tried to pace myself a little bit more and control the gaps. Obviously it was good to have these ten seconds on hand, so I didn’t have to push that much and also I didn’t have to squeeze it all out of the tyres even though I stopped a couple of laps earlier than Fernando. So that was positive. But yeah, we didn’t know how bad the problem is. We’ll probably know better once we strip the car next week and have a look inside the gearbox. We’ll probably know for both cars, I think, how close it was.

    Q: Fernando, were you happy with that second place? Was that as much as you could have achieved today?

    FA: Yes, very happy. I think the weekend we took the maximum from the car. Practice were OK and we learnt some good information Friday. Saturday it was very good, both cars in the top five. I think the last time was Malaysia this year, so very, very long time, so we were very, very happy. Today, being in the podium again, it’s a fantastic feeling here in Monza. The fourth year that I drove for Ferrari, the four times that I was in the podium and every year is something amazing, something unique again, to be there in that moment. And we did the maximum and nearly a perfect weekend. We didn’t close the gap in the championship, which is obviously the goal every weekend but y’know, when Sebastian and Red Bull dominate Friday, Saturday and Sunday and they win the race we have to congratulate them. They were the best all through the weekend and we need to do hopefully a better job next time but from what we had this weekend I think we did the maximum. So we are extremely happy.

    Q: Mark, you’ve had your best finishing position here and finally experienced a Monza podium – but at the same time, tell us about the start, tell us why you pulled off at the end.

    MW: Yeah, very happy to be on the podium here at Monza. It’s one of the most famous ones in the world, up there with Monte Carlo and a few other signature events but yeah, brilliant to experience that, even though the atmosphere I was not completely a fan of, to be honest. Sebastian won the race and the atmosphere is not completely correct but anyway… that’s their choice. It was good to have a clean weekend from start to finish and then fight for top positions, which was certainly the case today. The start was pretty good but both Sebastian and I, I think, compared to the Ferraris were not as strong off the line. Felipe had a good one so he had to go to the other side. Seb gave me enough room up the inside. I thought he was going to go straight. He was very deep on the brakes but just managed to pull it up, so then we settled into the first part of the race. I was not super-happy on the hard tyre but anyway that’s the way it was. Fernando was into the rhythm a little bit quicker, we had a good little battle in the second chicane and then after that really just trying to managed the pace on the rear tyres to when we were going to stop to try to pass Felipe – which I was very, very happy with, the in-lap. And also the whole thing went well in terms of for the line, pitstop, exit, out-lap. We executed that as a team effort: driver, pitcrew, and got the job done against Felipe. And then actually it was a good battle with Fernando on the other tyre. Tried everything but yeah, as Seb touched on, we had to nurse the gearbox a little bit but in the end second was the maximum, we got third but we pushed Fernando all the way. It’s always a good battle racing Fernando, you have to be very accurate. We pushed as hard as we could and I’m satisfied with today’s result.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Adrian Huber Rodriguez – Agencia EFE) Fernando, is the only way for you to win this championship is for Sebastian to lose it?

    FA: Well, I think we need to be realistic about the championship now there’s a very big gap. We don’t have enough races and probably we don’t have the speed right now to win some consecutive races and hope to reduce the gap just by pace. We need to be lucky and we need to have some DNFs from Sebastian or something to win the championship. With the races left and the points disadvantage, it’s hard but in a way, it was exactly the same last year. We could only lose the championship, with 41 points advantage in front of Sebastian after the Monza race. It was difficult for him to catch up and so it was maybe up to us. We didn’t complete the job and we had a DNF in Suzuka and some other problems. There’s still a long way to go; we will try until the last race to be as good as we can and score as many points as possible and then in Brazil we will see how many points we have compared to him.

    Q: (Adrian Huber Rodriguez – Agencia EFE) And yesterday,  there was so much talk and so much written as to whether you had said this or said that. Did you feel today that the fans spoke out for you? They cheered you; do you feel much better today than yesterday?

    FA: Concerning yesterday, it’s the third or fourth consecutive race that some people have tried to create some tension between the team and the drivers. Then we come to the press conference, we explain everything but obviously this doesn’t sell so many newspapers – normality. Every time I leave an airport, the hotel, home, everywhere – here in Italy there’s huge support, huge love from them and me to them as well and to the team and we keep repeating this and we saw today on the podium maybe not many of them read the newspapers in the morning, luckily.

    Q: (Jaime Rodriguez – El Mundo) Fernando, can you explain the overtaking manoeuvre on Mark, maybe the most spectacular in the whole race?

    FA: I tried a lap before but I was not close enough in turn four, in the second chicane, and then we were very close in the first chicane on that lap. Mark had a little slower exit in the first chicane so I used all the KERS on that straight hoping that with the KERS plus the slipstream it will be enough to pass, but it was not enough so that we arrived side by side. At one point, I thought ‘well, I will miss the second chicane and I will give the place back’ but at the last moment I get the grip, we were very close to touching each other but again we come back to the point that it’s not the same fighting with an experienced and respectful driver compared to some others with whom you would never try that move, with whom we’ve had some incidents already.

    Q: (Cesare Manucci – Autosprint) Sebastian, in parc ferme you changed gears five, six and seven I think, because you already had a warning of the same problems with the transmission that you had during the race, or was it a completely different problem, or just to be more safe for the race?

    SV: We already saw something on Friday, obviously something similar but Friday to Saturday we changed the gearbox and then I think in the race it was a surprise. We were obviously aware of the Friday problem but we didn’t see anything before that.  There’s not much you can do; obviously once you start the car there’s nothing you can change so in the end, I think we were lucky or in a comfortable position to have a little bit of a gap especially towards the end. I don’t know what they saw on the pit wall in terms of data, if the problem got worse and worse and worse or stabilised, but obviously I tried to save the car, save the engine and gearbox as much as I can. In the end, I still have to go full power on the straights; basically try to short shift and save the car a little bit.

    Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Sebastian, does it hurt to see the people against you on the podium?

    SV: About the general atmosphere, fortunately I had an experience in 2008 which blew me away completely when we won here in an Italian team with a Ferrari engine so the atmosphere was fantastic. When we won here in 2011 and this year… 2011 was a surprise, this year I think it was kind of expected. I said on the radio on the in lap that the more booing we get, the better we have done today. It’s normal. I don’t blame the people to be honest, I think their love of Ferrari is in their genes. It’s something very special. Obviously Fernando is in a great position on the podium, whereas if you’re dressed in any other colour it’s not the same, but still, it’s a fantastic race, a fantastic podium here.

    Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Sebastian, I think the only hard moment was at the start when you locked up the front tyres a bit. How was it after that, please?

    SV: Our start was difficult, as I mentioned. I didn’t get off the line that well, couldn’t see Mark so tried to give him enough room and then tried to brake late, probably a little bit too late, locked the front right and then had lots of vibrations after that because I had a flat spot on the front right tyre. Fortunately we weren’t front limited on this circuit, so the front tyre was not a big issue, so I tried to look after the rears after that and we still got far enough to make the one stop work.

    Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action and National Speedsport News) Mark, can you describe your side of when Alonso passed you and how badly did that damaged wing affect your race?

    MW: I think that I braked pretty deep into there, so did Fernando. It was early in the race, we were still to get a feel for where everything is. Obviously as Fernando touched on, it’s very easy to go straight there and not make the entry to the chicane. I was also mindful of the fact that I wanted to make the entry to the chicane as well but when Fernando then got pretty much level on the outside of three, the chess match is over, basically, so you then obviously have to concede and look to take the fight to another part of the race. The wing, I think, wasn’t too bad. I think we’ve had quite a few little snags on the front wings this season but that seemed to be OK. It wouldn’t have helped; I don’t think we had the best balance in the first ten, 15 laps because of that. As the race went on towards the end, it might not have been too bad to help the stint but I couldn’t go anywhere against that with Felipe and at the end of the stop the guys might have tweaked it up a little bit, but in general, not a big difference. I was concerned that the wing might have been more damaged when I saw it go and also on the back straight on the way to the Parabolica I thought I saw Fernando’s left rear – just an illusion maybe – but I saw the tyre about to go down but it didn’t, it stayed up and in the end we both survived.

    Q: (Flavio Vanetti – Corriere della Sera) Sebastian, Adrian Newey in Spa said that Monza wouldn’t be a positive track for Red Bull, but looking at the dominance here, maybe he was wrong. What happened, how were you able to change the situation?

    SV: I think he was as surprised as we were. Just on the way up to the podium, he said ‘I thought that it was going to be damage limitation this weekend.’ I said to him ‘well, if  damage limitation is like that, I want to have a lot of damage for the rest of the season.’ It was very unexpected. Already the pace on  Friday surprised us. From a balance point of view, I was very happy with the car, similar to two years ago. So obviously we’ve been very competitive in Canada, very competitive in Spa on medium downforce tracks. This one was a little bit unknown. We haven’t been the fastest down the straights again, but fast enough, somewhere in the mid-field which is enough to use the strengths that we have through the corners, despite running as little wing as we can afford.

    Q: (Carlos Miguel – La Gaceta) Fernando, what do you expect for Singapore, because in theory it is very good for your car. Do you believe Red Bull is now at the level of 2011?

    FA: Yeah, we will see. Obviously we were expecting a lot from Monza and it was a very good Monza. It’s true that we didn’t win the race because Red Bull and Sebastian did an even better job and they were very very good but in our level of competitiveness that we had this year, Monza is one of the best weekends, as we expected before. We came from Silverstone, from Nurburgring, from Hungary where we had Red Bull in front of us, Lotus in front of us, Mercedes in front of us and some other cars sometimes, so here in Monza we were able to beat all those cars and fight for the wins, so if we can repeat this good performance in Singapore, we hope so but this will be the real test for us. We made some changes in the car, they seemed to be positive in Spa, seem to be good and positive in Monza, but when we reach the maximum level of downforce in Singapore, like we had in Hungary, we need to check. If we still have Mercedes in front, Lotus in front and some other teams, we will be more or less the same as in Hungary and we don’t want to be. I think we prepare the car and we prepare everything to make a step forward and in Singapore hopefully we can see it.

    The level of domination? Well, I think as Sebastian touched on before as well, already in Canada, Spa, Monza are very unique tracks in terms of level of downforce. They were quick in Spa so more or less… we saw it in Canada so Spa was not a surprise and here in Monza also they performed really well. I think it’s more tight this year than 2011 and also there are more teams in the battle. There is not only Red Bull who can be on pole position etc; there is Mercedes who have done many pole positions this year etc, so many races are coming with many interesting combinations of performance so what we have to do is try to be close to the top in all track characteristics.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Sebastian, you said some minutes ago that the car reminded you of the 2011 car here. It means a very dominant car as we already saw in Spa – Francorchamps, you have 53 points advantage over Alonso. What do you predict for the rest of the season? You are very close to being World Champion for the fourth consecutive time?

    SV: I’m trying not to think about it too much. I think that when I spoke about the fact that it was similar to 2011 I was speaking about the experience here in Monza because usually… you know, 2009, 2010, 2012 it was very tricky for us here. Obviously this year was similar to 2011 when the car just seemed to be very well balanced in the corners, I felt very good through all the medium speed and the chicanes. It’s not as simple as you think. People say ‘at Monza, you just need horsepower, little wing on the car’ but in fact if the car doesn’t feel right and doesn’t allow you to play, you lose a lot of lap time, just because you are not comfortable. The cars are sliding more than the rest of the year because you run less downforce so you need to be happy with that and accept that. We have a car this year that was similar in 2011 in that regard and allowed myself to play and still to feel comfortable, even though the car was loose. Other than that, I think I tend to agree with Fernando. Obviously the last two races have been very good for us but overall this year, I think it’s been very close. Yesterday was the first pole position we got in real dry dry conditions, if you don’t consider Melbourne because it was a little bit damp and drying up in Q3. So on that front, we seem to have made progress and in the race it has stood out this year that we have had a very very strong race car. Together with Ferrari, I think on average we have been the fastest in the race.

    Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Sebastian, during the race we heard a little message radioed by you that you were complaining about the rear light on the Vettel car. I would like to know how disturbing, how annoying it was for you during the race?

    SV: Me?

    FA: Was the question for me? Well, it was…

    SV: Will you listen now? You complained about the red light?

    FA: Yeah, yeah. It was disturbing a little bit. Obviously it’s a very strong light with no rain.

    SV: It’s worse in here.

    FA: Sebastian is not used to having a car in front so he doesn’t know how it feels to have a red light on but when you are behind, a little bit close, it’s always flashing and sometimes you just have to touch one button because that’s the red light or something that you press by mistake, if he could switch, but he didn’t. So the whole race I had it flashing in my eyes.

    SV: I was trying to get away so it wasn’t disturbing you so much.

    FA: You didn’t…

     

    Ends

    From left: Alonso (2nd), Vettel and Webber (3rd) on the the Podum at Monza on Sunday. An FIA photo
    From left: Alonso (2nd), Christian Horner (Red Bull), Vettel and Webber (3rd) on the the Podum at Monza on Sunday. An FIA photo
  • Swinging in absolute awe and complete delight… a Friday at the Paddock

    Chitra Subramanyam finally makes it to the Paddock at the Buddh International Circuit for the Friday Practice Session. She swings between absolute awe and a complete delight.

    By Chitra Subramanyam at BIC

    It is like entering a magical arena, full of mystique, with promises of wondrous surprises. It’s that place on a circuit, where people disappear to – you know the ones who belong to the world of F-1.

    So, when IndiainF1.com decided to pack me off to the Buddh International Circuit as their media representative, I hopped around like an excitable bunny ODing on carrots. You can’t blame me. I run a blog, and blogs don’t really go down well with the folks over at F1. I always thought accreditation was going to be a dream.

    So on Thursday, I drove up to the circuit, blinking through the haze, searching for MAC. Not the cosmetic company! The Media Accreditation Centre. Keep up folks! The car bounced over muddy, undulating terrain, snuck past a tractor and entered the Site Office. It was choc-a-bloc. I hopped out and scampered in to take my pass.

    Fast forward to Friday. A fancy-schmancy media shuttle dropped me to the Paddock and there I was. There it was.

    All cleaned up! Photo by Chitra Subramanyam/ RidingFastAndFlyingLow.com
    All cleaned up! Photo by Chitra Subramanyam/ RidingFastAndFlyingLow.com

    I last saw the Paddock in 2010. Then, it was a vast mud bath. No, seriously, I came back gritty. Mark Hughes, the then-vice president of operations at Jaypee had given us journalists, the royal tour. I remember him pointing at the building foundations. “And that will be Bernie’s office,” he had said.

    Today, that is an intricate and neat collection of buildings, with manicured mini-gardens and paths. Glass doors let you see through, into the team hospitality suites. If you are lucky, you will spot Kimi Raikkonen, maybe Monisha Kaltenborn busy in a meeting, or even Sebastian Vettel giving an interview.

    Pirellis All Laid Out. Photo: Chitra Subramanyam / RidingFastAndFlyingLow.com
    Pirellis All Laid Out. Photo: Chitra Subramanyam / RidingFastAndFlyingLow.com

    The cars growl in the background, always. The comforting hum hugs you like an old friend, as you walk past the team garages. The Pirellis are all out. Tyres colour-coded green and yellow stacked neatly all in a row, like that nursery rhyme.

    Getting ready to face the journalists. Photo: Chitra Subramanyam / RidingFastAndFlyingLow.com
    Getting ready to face the journalists. Photo: Chitra Subramanyam / RidingFastAndFlyingLow.com

    It takes a while to get used to the Paddock’s organized efficiency. The media centre has its own madness. But that’s just how it should be. We sit in rows, facing massive screens

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    – FP1 is on and for now the media centre is quiet. There is a focused intensity – occasionally the booming voices of radio journalists echo through the humongous room – French, Spanish, they speak rapidly, telling their listeners who is in the lead. Vettel, in case you are wondering. Sigh! Though there was a moment of absolute delight when I saw Jenson Button right up there. It only lasted till Vettel made it out of the pits. Oh woe! It is a blur – the afternoon. It is full of interviews, press conferences, FP2 and staring intensely at the laptop screen, waiting for the right words to pop into one’s head.

    As evening falls, there is just enough time for a quick scamper

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    up and down the Paddock. It’s quiet – more or less. There is a sudden flurry of activity down one side. We sprint down because there is a hoarde of racers coming our way – Valtteri Bottas, Pastor Maldonado, Adrian Sutil and Lewis Hamilton…and at a distance Kimi Raikkonen going the other way. (He knew where he was going…towards the Lotus hospitality)

    It’s a perfect way to end a Friday at the races. Saturday will not be this quiet!

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  • Pirelli preview for Silverstone: Hard, Medium tyres for race

    Milan, 24 June 2013: Pirelli will bring the P Zero Orange hard and P Zero White medium tyres to Silverstone for the British Grand Prix: effectively a second home race for the Italian squad, whose UK logistics hub at Didcot is less than an hour away from the Northamptonshire circuit.

    There will also be two sets per car of the same prototype hard tyres seen in Spain, available for use in Friday’s two free practice sessions only.

    Silverstone is one of the oldest and fastest circuits on the Formula One calendar, having benefitted from extensive revisions over recent years. The rapid circuit layout means that plenty of energy is put through the tyres, with a consequent effect on wear and degradation. In the past, teams have used strategy to their advantage on this track, resulting in some close finishes even with different tactics being employed.

    Paul Hembery: “Silverstone, with its very high average speeds and flowing series of corners, presents an extreme contrast to Canada three weeks ago – which was much more stop and start. Like Canada, it’s a circuit that takes a lot out of the tyres, but for very different reasons. We’ve brought the two hardest compounds to the British Grand Prix because of that, with a new bonding process connecting the tread to the steel belt, which is designed to eliminate the isolated delamination issues to reach a unanimous agreement about this: however, we do still have that possibility on stand-by should it be required in future. During free practice at Silverstone we will have the same prototype hard seen earlier this season. The actual construction of the tyre won’t change, as the teams weren’t able tyre available that we tried out on Friday in Spain, aimed at even greater durability than our current hard. This is in order to give the teams the chance to test this new compound on a different track to collect more data. Of course another important factor at Silverstone is the notoriously variable British weather: it would be no big surprise to see the Cinturato Green intermediate and Cinturato Blue full wet brought into play at some point. For that reason, it’s quite hard to predict the number of pit stops on race day. Last year we saw a two-stop strategy in dry conditions after two wet days but this year the compounds are softer, so if it stays dry we could have between three and four stops. We should be in a position to make a more precise forecast after free practice. Finally, and most importantly, we would like to pass on our sincere condolences to Allan Simonsen’s family and friends following the terrible accident at Le Mans last weekend. We were Aston Martin Racing’s partners for many years, and we can only imagine what they must be going through now.”

    Jean Alesi: “The real thing to watch out for in Silverstone is always the weather: absolutely anything can happen, and it’s often both wet and dry. You need to think on your feet. It’s a demanding circuit on the tyres, not so much because of traction and braking, but more because of the high levels of downforce that are always pushing down on the car, as a result of the very high speeds. This is what creates the tyre wear at Silverstone and so the hard and the medium tyres are a good choice. As a driver, I’ve been on the podium at Silverstone many times and always enjoyed it, in various configurations. The latest alteration with the new pit complex is a very impressive investment, but for me it’s a shame they took away Bridge corner: that used to be a fantastic challenge. In any case, Silverstone will always be a real drivers’ circuit, so I think we can look forward to a good race, less politics, and some interesting strategies. It’s always a pleasure to come here because the British fans are so knowledgeable and passionate about Formula One. There’s a real culture of motorsport in Great Britain, which I think everybody appreciates.”

    The circuit from a tyre point of view:

    While big speeds and high levels of lateral energy are the key characteristics of Silverstone, there are also some slower and more technical parts of the circuit where it has been modified in recent years. In those areas combined acceleration is particularly important. This happens when the driver is steering and accelerating at the same time on the exit of a corner: the work of the tyre is crucial here.

    Many parts of the asphalt at Silverstone are new, with the new asphalt less bumpy and abrasive than the older sections. Abrasive asphalt increases grip, but also adds to levels of wear and degradation.

    Last year a variety of strategies were seen following a wet qualifying session, which meant that the drivers could start on whichever slick compound they chose. Red Bull’s Mark Webber won the race from second on the grid, having started on the soft tyre before completing two stints on the hard tyre. Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso was on pole but finished second after doing the opposite: two initial stints on the hard tyre, then one on the soft tyre.

    Further information about Silverstone and the demands it places on tyres, as well as more information about how tyres are allocated for each race, can be found on a 3D animated video starring Pirelli’s Racing Manager Mario Isola. This is copyright-free for media use on Pirelli’s Formula One website: www.pirelli.com/f1pressarea

    Technical tyre notes:

    High-speed stability is particularly important at Silverstone, with braking energy extremely low. Downforce levels are medium: a compromise between ensuring enough aerodynamic grip to negotiate the fast corners as quickly as possible and eliminating drag on the straights.

    Lateral accelerations on the tyres are among the highest of the season, peaking at 5g. This means that the surface temperature of the tyre can exceed 110 degrees centigrade, towards the very top of its working range.

    Silverstone is not one of the easiest circuits to overtake on, meaning that qualifying high up the grid and selecting a strategy that can help gain track position is vital. The new infield arena section after Abbey curve was inaugurated in 2011 to help promote overtaking.

    The tyre choices so far:

    PZero Red PZero Yellow PZero White PZero Orange
    Australia Supersoft Medium
    Malaysia Medium Hard
    China Soft Medium
    Bahrain Medium Hard
    Spain Medium Hard
    Monaco Supersoft Soft
    Canada Supersoft Medium
    Great Britain Medium Hard

    Meet the Pirelli F1 Team: Matteo Albucci, F1 Travel Co-ordinator

    Matteo is Pirelli’s Formula One travel co-ordinator, responsible for moving Pirelli’s team of 50 or so people all the way around the world. He’s an Italian who was born and studied in Florence – the city of Leonardo da Vinci – but he currently lives in Oxford, close to Pirelli’s UK logistics hub in Didcot. His background has always been in travel and tourism but now he has taken up a full-time role within the Italian firm. Like da Vinci, Matteo has to be a true Renaissance man: his wide-ranging role involves organising flights, hotels, hire cars and transfers for all Pirelli F1 personnel, as well as travel for GP2 and GP3 tests and races, not to mention the FIA GT Championship and Brazilian stock cars too. Outside of work, he perhaps surprisingly enjoys travel, but he also likes meeting friends and going to the gym. He describes himself as a pretty normal type of person – just don’t look for him on Facebook, as you won’t find him there…

    Other news from Pirelli:

    The Pirelli-backed GP3 Series had a stand-alone race in Valencia two weeks before the British Grand Prix. America’s Conor Daly won the opening race to lead home an ART Grand Prix one-two, while Robert Visoiu took his maiden win for MW Arden in race two. The medium GP3 compound was used, at the Ricardo Tormo permanent circuit.

    The latest round of the Italian Rally Championship, the all-gravel Costa Smeralda Rally, took place on the island of Sardinia last weekend. Pirelli’s multiple champion Paolo Andreucci made a one-off appearance in a Peugeot 207 S2000, switching from his usual Peugeot 208 R2, and won the event by nearly a whole minute.

    The Pirelli-backed Lamborghini Blancpain SuperTrofeo, billed as the world’s fastest one-make series, is heading to North America. The five round championship, for the race version of the Gallardo, gets underway from July 5-6 at Lime Rock, during the American Le Mans Series meeting there.

    ends

  • It does not matter how much else you do, you ‘ve to make the tyres work: Bob

    TEAM REPRESENTATIVES – Christian HORNER (Red Bull Racing), Paul HEMBERY (Pirelli), Gerard LOPEZ (Lotus), Robert FEARNLEY (Force India), Franz TOST (Toro Rosso), Alain PROST (Renault Sport)

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Alain, it’s been a while since we last saw you in an FIA press conference, welcome. Explain a little bit about your role with Renault Sport?

    Alain PROST: Well, my role is mainly is an ambassador for Renault, the brand Renault, since last year. Even if I have done many things with Renault in the last few years, for different things. Also this year I’m advisor for the strategy, being part of the executive committee.

    In terms of 2014, how far advanced is Renault’s programme?

    AP: Everything goes well. The engine should run in June on the dyno, the final version. But everything is belonging to the programme.

    And when do you think that Renault Sport will be finalising its teams for 2014?

    AP: I’m not myself negotiating with the teams but we all know that it’s going to be accelerating during this weekend. I don’t know. I cannot say all the dates for all the teams but I hope very quickly.

    Paul, if I could turn to you next. An awful lot of debate and opinion in Formula One at the moment regarding the Pirelli tyres this year, some pro, some anti. What is your opinion on the way that the Pirelli tyres are influencing the racing, and also what changes will we see to the tyres from Canada onwards?

    Paul HEMBERY: Well, obviously there’s a lot of different opinion, quite divided, among fans, commentators, teams and you’re never going to please everyone. That’s one of the challenges you have but from our point of view it’s the same for everybody, they have exactly the same tyres to work with and somebody’s going to end up winning on a Sunday. From Canada? Well, we’re still finalising the ultimate details for Canada. We’re trying to minimise the changes, for sporting equity reasons of course. We want to resolve the delaminations that we’ve seen, that have occurred when we’ve picked up debris. That, from a tyre maker of course is something that we’ve wanted to solve. It doesn’t look good. The tyres have stayed inflated but it still doesn’t look good from an image point of view. So that’s where we’re at. We’re trying to finalise that, working with the teams. We’ve had good collaboration. Of course, some people might want something different and again you’re not going to please everybody but we have to do what’s correct for the sport and what’s correct for Pirelli.

    While we’re talking tyres I think it would be nice to get the reaction of the team principals and chairmen here on the panel. Christian, can I start with you. What’s your opinion on the Pirelli tyres and the racing this year?

    Christian HORNER: I think we’ve been pretty consistent throughout the year really. The tyres, on occasion, have been a bit too marginal. That includes races we’ve won at in Malaysia and Bahrain. I think it’s good that Pirelli are looking at it. I think the most important and most fundamental thing is from a safety perspective, if you do have a delamination, if you have a big chunk of rubber, you don’t want that to hit a car component or worst case a driver. So, there are safety issues that I know some of the drivers are concerned about. Hopefully, Pirelli are a very capable company. I think they know what they need to do and hopefully that can be resolved very quickly.

    Gerard, is that an opinion your share – that the tyres have been too marginal this year?

    Gerard LOPEZ: Yeah, we’ve echoed the safety issues and said that whatever needs to be done on safety grounds is obviously fine with us, we’re not going to go against that. As far as the tyres being marginal goes, we’ve found them to be quite consistent. But then again – different cars, different drivers, different styles… they work for us. So we’re actually quite happy with the way they are.

    Franz, what about you and Toro Rosso?

    Franz TOST: I think the problems started in testing, because in February it was very cold when we were out the first time this year and if I remember only Jerez was an acceptable test but otherwise in Barcelona it was quite cold. There we couldn’t do a proper test for the tyres. I think if we had tested in a warmer country some of the problems we observe now could have been sorted out. Therefore, I hope that in future we will do these tests under other conditions, under conditions under which we are racing and then I think Pirelli immediately will react and will come up with a proper solution. So far we at Toro Rosso haven’t faced bigger problems.

    Finally to you Bob. From a deputy team principal’s perspective: safety, racing, what’s your opinion:

    Bob FEARNLEY: I think Pirelli have done a good job. Fundamentally we’re looking to try to average out at two to three stops per race and I think if you take the extremes in any 20-race series you’re going to have some that might do four and some that might do one. But overall were going to achieve the objective. I agree with Paul, it’s the same for everybody. I think some of the teams will have put in resource perhaps this time year to start looking at how they’re going to develop their car, what suspension programme they’re going to put in to optimise the tyres, other teams will continued to work on aero. That’s the choice of the teams at the end of the day and you’ve got to deliver what you think is the most competitive package. But there are four points of contact on a track, it doesn’t matter how much else you do, you’ve got to make the tyres work.

    Alain, I’m sure you’ve been watching the racing quite intently. Has the sport got the right balance at the moment between exciting racing or tyres dominating too much?

    AP: I think in the past and very recently it’s been very [much] criticised for not having a show or indecision. We should [feel] very lucky that we have these kind of races. In the last few years, we have the decision only in the last grand prix. Obviously, also think about next year when we have the new engine coming we will talk maybe a little bit more about the engine, the technology, about being much closer to the product of the automotive industry. But we still need to keep the show also. We need to keep the indecision so it’s going to be even better balanced but at the moment I wouldn’t criticize what we have today.

    If I could move on and turn to you, Franz. Both of your drivers in their second year with Toro Rosso this season. What improvements are you seeing from Jean-Eric Vergne and Daniel Ricciardo and as drivers who have been part of the Red Bull driver programme, do you see something in either of them that suggests that they could move up to the senior team?

    FT: Yeah I must say that both of the drivers have increased their performance and their understanding of the car of the technik, of everything, much during the last two years and they are still learning a lot. But I must say that so far they have done a reasonably good job and if we provide them with a good car, a good package, they are always able to score points. Of course, Daniel Ricciardo has a little bit more experience as he did already 11 races with HRT and you can see this. Jean-Eric Vergne is coming up with good technical feedback. He is learning also a lot. I expect from both of the drivers a very competitive second half of the season, once more if we provide them with a good car and then we will see how the future will be.

    Christian, I’m sure as Red Bull team principal you keep an eye on all the young drivers in the young development programme?

    CH: Yeah, absolutely. Both youngsters have been members of the Red Bull Junior team for quite a few years now and or course we watch their progress with great interest. They’re both young, talented drivers, both developing very well. It’s good to see. They’re both racing here on merit. For sure they’re two guys we have a watchful eye over.

    Q: We’re getting to that stage of the season where traditionally you sit down, Red Bull, with Mark Webber and negotiate a new contract for next year, it’s normally towards the early part of the summer. Has anything been the case or has happened this season that might influence those negotiations? Will you be sitting down with Mark soon? What’s your thinking for the future?

    CH: Well, we’re sitting here at race six, so y’know there’s still quite a few to go. But at the relevant time we’ll sit down with Mark and see what he wants to do, what his plans are for the future. Our interest is quite simple: we want the best two drivers in our cars going forward. Mark and Sebastian has been a tremendously successful partnership. It’s won three consecutive Constructors’ World Championships for us and obviously Mark’s made a significant contribution to that. At the relevant time – which isn’t now – we will sit down and talk about the future.

    Q: Gerard, can we talk drivers with yourself too? Kimi Räikkönen has hinted recently that there are maybe a couple of options open to him for next season. He’s certainly being asked an awful lot about his future. I assume Lotus would like to keep him but realistically how likely is that?

    GL: Well I think Kimi’s quite happy where he is right now. Knowing Kimi well, outside of the track too, he could just as well announce that he’s stopping altogether. So, I wouldn’t take any bets whatsoever. I think we’re looking pretty good in terms of keeping him, as long as he gets what he wants, including a performing car, which is what he really wants. For the rest, we’ll see. He for sure will tell you there’s no such thing as a pre-contract, only real contract, and we’ll sit down at some point in time and discuss the future with him. But everything is wide open on the one hand but on the other hand everything is looking pretty good for us to stay with us. So we’ll see.

    Q: Do you feel external and internal pressure then? A) to develop a car that Kimi – and Romain – can perform in and b) is there external pressure from other teams who would be interested?

    GL: I don’t think we need to put on any additional pressure, I think I put enough pressure on them to perform – but I think it’s good if you have a driver that really wants to have the best possible package and actually can make use of it – and Kimi certainly can. The other thing with Kimi is that he needs an environment in which he can function, and he certainly has that with us.

    Q: Bob, turning to you, it’s been a very positive start for Force India this season. I wonder if the start changes the target and your goals for this year? Is fifth place in the Constructors’ Championship a realistic target given what’s happened so far?

    BF: I think it’s one that we certainly should aspire to. It would be very, very hard to continuously compete with McLaren through the year but they’re also going to have some issues in terms of when they switch over to the 2014 car and, like all of us, when do we move those resources? I think a lot will depend on how far they’ve got with this car when they actually do that. But for sure, we’ve already amended our programs and our team principal is very keen for us to ensure we stay fifth.

    Q: Finally on the subject of drivers, Alain, for French drivers in Formula One this season, we’re here in the South of France for the Monaco Grand Prix, do you see anything in those drivers that might indicate to you that one day they could be the next French World Champion?

    AP: Difficult question! Because the last 20 years there have been announced many, many times a new French champion. Just let them work, y’know? There are four, we are very lucky to have four, different competitiveness in teams. Romain for sure is in the best position to win at least maybe the first race very soon. And just wait and see. Don’t put them under too much pressure, they have enough.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Kate Walker – GP Week) Question for everyone except Monsieur Prost. Going on the subject of the tyres, one of the things, one of the theories that we’ve had in the press room is that the part of the difficulty has been the lack of a more modern test car. You know we haven’t got the DRS, the KERS, the… everything’s a bit different. Have the teams considered investing in a Dallara machine – or similar – that Pirelli might be able to use that you can all agree on? Then that way no one team would have an advantage.

    Christian?

    CH: I guess the fundamental thing is we can never agree. Everybody agreed for Lotus to do the testing when they weren’t so competitive. Now they’re competitive and probably there’s a few teams that aren’t so happy that they’re not doing the testing. So, it’s a difficult one. It’s a difficult one for Pirelli, it’s a difficult one for the teams but at the end of the day we don’t need to make it too complicated. I think the way things are at the moment is too complicated for the fans. It’s too difficult to follow races where you’ve got four stops, going on. It’s hard enough when you’re in the race. I think we need to just wind that back a little bit and more than anything make sure we eliminate any safety issues.

    Q: (Kate Walker – GP Week) That isn’t really what I asked. I was wondering what sort of things you guys as a group could do going forward to try and make sure the y’know, the focus of the… wasn’t necessary criticisms of the tyres but how you could actually improve them as a group so that everybody was happy with what they were running on?

    CH: Well, I don’t think you’re ever going to get everybody happy. Y’know, that’s the fundamental issue and unless you open testing up again, where everybody tests, it’s probably very difficult because people’s cars behave in different ways. So I can’t see a situation where the teams will say ‘yes, we’ll jointly fund and run a car for a tyre supplier.’ I’d be surprised.

    Franz?

    FT: No, we should use Friday morning, the first session or the first half-hour for testing new tyres – not sitting around like today, doing nothing. People in the grandstands, no cars out there. We just could use this – it was half an hour or 35 minutes as usually – to test new tyres. This is what I suggest since two years.

    Gerard, your thoughts?

    GL: My thoughts are… I would agree with Christian on the fact that it’s really difficult to get everybody to agree on anything in Formula One – be it tyres or be it anything else. And I think it’s going to stay that way just because it’s competitive both on and off the track and so on. I remember when, indeed, when we were asked to propose a car – and by the way, that car has nothing in common with what we’re running now – everybody agreed and now suddenly everybody thinks that’s the mystery to knowing how to use those tyres. And as I said, both cars are completely unrelated. So it’s very difficult to get anything done that everybody accepts. Maybe a solution like running Friday tests, I don’t know – but even that requires everybody to agree and some will and some won’t. And so I think that’s always going to be part of Formula One: The fact that this is agreement and disagreement and that’s the way forward I guess.

    Bob?

    BF: I think Franz’s idea’s got a certain amount of merit. I’d love to endorse that with the element of having young drivers in there as well, just so that it ticks two boxes. But I think that Pirelli have a great deal of resource, as we all do outside of actually track testing. And for instance, even with the incidents that we’ve had with the delamination, a lot of it can be done on rigs and everything else – and I think that’s where most of it will be done in the long term.

    So Paul, how difficult is the job that Pirelli have without the facilities to test in the way that was traditional in Formula One?

    PH: Well, it’s one of those cases where you’re damned if you do, damned if you don’t. You’re clearly not going to get everyone to agree, and with a tyre, certainly if you design it around a certain application you can make a certain vehicle go quicker  – and that’s clearly why we’re wanting to make changes now. Some people want more changes, some people don’t want any changes for example. The Friday is useful where you’re coming to a point of wanting to actually introduce a change – but you can’t go testing with 11 teams on a Friday with various specifications because it simply doesn’t work that way. I think a good step forward would be winter testing actually in hot conditions. Y’know, if we were able to get to Abu Dhabi or Bahrain before we get to Australia, at least you’d have an advanced indication. You’ve also got to remember, if we do find surprises, and I’m quite sure next season there could be – assuming we have a contract which we don’t have at the moment – but assuming we’re going forward, you could get to a situation with the new powertrain, which from the indications of the teams will have a lot of torque, and will increase wheelspin, tyre wear, overheating, you could end up in a situation with a surprise again. So there needs to be a balance. Teams have clearly got restrictions on resources. The test teams were got rid of for good reasons from their point of view – but some sort of mid-range solution would be useful to us, even if it means staying on after a few events during the season, then that would be extremely valuable from our point of view.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – The Citizen) Alain, as Renault Sport brand ambassador, how do you feel about the fact that the public perception is that in fact Infiniti won the championship last year as the engine supplier because if one looks at the team principal’s shirt, there are five Infiniti badges and two Renault badges, yet Renault seems to be paying it all. How do you feel about that?

    AP: I know it’s very difficult… it’s always difficult to answer this kind of question for me. The perception you can have here is obviously the right one, could be the right one. The involvement of Renault in Formula One, is very clear over the last few years. As you can see, the market in Europe is not very good and they’re already aiming for having a new image, new visibility in new markets: Russia, Brazil, India and a little bit less in China, those are the big markets for Renault. Obviously everybody would like to maybe have a different situation for Renault inside Formula One, for example, again, a new team, a Renault team,  but the strategy of the president and of Renault is very clear. They want to stay the way they are at the moment and I must say that in this country they were talking about how it’s working very well and they’re increasing the image of the brand and they’re selling more and more cars and they want to continue like this. As I said, the perception you can have here maybe is a bit different to what they achieve instead of having a proper team, more aggravation. Again, talking about strategy, if you see what Renault has done in the last 37 years, they went from the French national team to being a partner with Williams and Benetton and then another team and then now they are supporting a team with whom we have won the World Champion for the last three years. So they could change, they could maybe change in the future, but at the moment we need to keep to this strategy decided by the president.

    Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action/National Speedsport News) A question for Alain: there’s a lot of talk these days that the drivers cannot drive 100 percent flat out for the whole race Let’s take a year when you had a good car, say 1985. How much of the race could you drive 100 percent flat out? When you weren’t driving one hundred percent, what percent were you at and what parts of the car did you have to conserve, to make sure they lasted the race?

    AP: I think it’s difficult to compare, obviously, because today the cars are so advanced;  normally the driver can push 100 percent in normal conditions. The tyres this year are very soft which makes it a little bit different. In our time, if you want to compare, we had to take care of the brakes and gearbox and fuel consumption and obviously also tyres because sometimes we had to be careful of the tyres, but the regulations were also very different and at one stage we had three types of rubber and we could make changes and I very often ran hard tyres on the left and soft tyres on the front. I even raced in Las Vegas in ’81 with qualifying tyres on the front, but that means we cannot compare, but that also proves that you need to adapt yourself, as a driver, as an engineer, to the regulations and obviously we’re experiencing complaints this year… in fact it’s not that different compared to last year, except that you maybe don’t want to see some rubber on the track and having accidents. But apart from that, you just have to adapt to the situation, drivers or engineers. It’s typically Formula One.

    Q: (Alan Baldwin – Reuters) Christian, I may have misconstrued your comment earlier but do you seriously believe that Lotus have somehow benefitted from the fact that Pirelli are using a 2010 Renault for testing, and maybe Paul could answer whether privileged information has somehow been given to one team?

    CH: No, I don’t think privileged information or anything in any way has been done underhand. At the end of the day, Pirelli needed a car to test, they originally came to Red Bull. At that time, it was almost unanimously agreed that Red Bull shouldn’t provide a car and then it was a matter of finding who could provide a car. Lotus was an obvious choice. Running had to be done by Pirelli with drivers that weren’t current race drivers. You can understand that that work has had to be done. I wasn’t trying to point out that there was any specific advantage from that, I was trying to point out that you’re always going to struggle to achieve compromise and agreement.

    Q: Given the changes between 2010 and now, Paul, how different is your test car to what we would see on the track?

    PH: They’re probably, in terms of performance, closer to the 2011 cars with the blown diffusers. They’re going, certainly, a little bit harder than we anticipated this season. We’re probably lapping our 2010 car three to four seconds slower, for example. That gives you an indication that we’re not stressing the tyres during our testing as much as the cars are today. But there’s not a perfect solution to that. We’re not going to get unanimous agreement from  everybody. Next year, the cars are so different that there’s really nothing available today, even including today’s cars, that would allow us to simulate the effect of the new powertrain. I think if we just take a sensible approach, in terms as I’ve already mentioned, of the winter testing and the potential to make adjustments during the season, but bear in mind you need agreement, you need eleven teams to agree to adjustments so if we’ve something that’s affecting eleven teams, then that’s really often easy to do.  If you’re making something that might affect some teams and not all teams or perceived benefit to others then you can imagine that’s difficult. So that’s a very strange balancing act that we’re trying to do. We agree, we set out this year for two to three pit stops over the season, we probably will average that still, we will get some races like Barcelona which was won this time with four stops. It was won two years ago by Red Bull with four stops so it’s not exceptional but I guess as commentators it’s harder to follow, it keeps you awake, you don’t have your afternoon snooze any more, and that’s one of the difficulties. It will be easier here for you.

    Q: (Jerome Pugmire  – Associated Press) Alain Prost, it’s not been since Olivier Panis in 1996 for a French driver. What advice would you give Romain Grosjean, for example or the other French drivers… the frustration about that long spell, what advice would you give to them?

    AP: I don’t think you can give advice to the drivers to be honest. They know what they do, I’m out of Formula One as a driver for the last 20 years exactly and why should I give advice to… we all see what is happening, we see that Romain, for example, has a very good car, he should be able to win a race very soon as I said. But no advice from myself. If they want to have advice they can ask a question and I’m happy to answer but not giving advice like this, no. Mental is a very strong thing for sure, but also we give them a lot of pressure very often, but this is a cycle. As soon as one is going to be winning, it could snowball and I hope it works like this.

    Q: (Bob McKenzie – Daily Express) Alain, every year someone says that Monaco is too dangerous. This week’s hero was Ralf Schumacher. I wonder, it hasn’t really changed much since your day. Do you think it is too dangerous? Do you think it’s still a relevant place for a Formula One to be held?

    AP: I wouldn’t say that. It’s as dangerous as another race track can be dangerous. It’s different, for sure. You have to be a little bit careful, especially in the traffic with all the cars. Being alone is not being more dangerous than with another car. I must also say that the passive safety, what they do with the marshals and all the work they have done in the last thirty/forty years, is exceptional and yeah, there are some conditions… when it’s wet in some places where it could be a bit tough but it’s such a fantastic race for everybody, especially for the drivers obviously.  That is part of the tradition and you should accept it, even if it was a little bit dangerous, obviously. You should accept that.

    Q: On the pit wall, is that a bit of a worry when you send the cars out?

    BF: I think that Monaco represents the ultimate of the man and machine around a very difficult circuit and if I was a driver, I would relish the thought of it and I’m sure most drivers do. From a team point of view, it’s wonderful to see the cars on the limit so close to the barriers. It’s what we should be doing.

    GL: Yeah, Romain came close to the barriers too. On another race track we would have gotten away with it, just overbraked and instead of trying to go straight on, decided he could take the corner and just took off a little bit of the left front of the car. I think the drivers love it. It’s a  different track, they love it for the atmosphere, they love it for the excitement. If you talk to the drivers it’s quite an amazing experience. I’ve driven it myself actually, it’s quite an amazing experience if you get really close. I remember one of Robert’s laps, he probably thought it was one of the best laps he ever did and it was here in Monaco, so I think drivers love it.

    Q: (Rodrigo Franca – VIP Magazine) Speaking of 2014, what do you think about the improvement of the Formula One show and also, what is the biggest challenge for the teams and Pirelli for the new regulations of the V6?

    FT: First of all, the new regulation is a big challenge from the technical side, because it’s a new engine, new air system, the complete car will be new and then it’s a challenge also from the financial side because everything is much more expensive. Whether the show will be improved or not I can’t say yet because it depends how good the different engine manufacturers work. If there’s one of them finding a special solution then we will not have such interesting races as we have now because these cars will be in front. If they are all nearly equal as is the case in the current races then I’m sure we will also have very interesting races in the future. Nevertheless, this is a new regulation and we have to get the best out of it.

    Q: Challenge for Pirelli?

    PH: A contract? A contract is probably the first one. If you follow the regulations, on the first of September we’re meant to define the specification for next year but as yet we don’t really have a full picture of what the cars are going to be like, so you can imagine there’s a certain element of shooting in the dark. Having said that, it’s a probably a year where we will probably step back, be cautious. There’s going to be enough going on for the teams next year as you just heard from Franz, all those changes. So I think it’s a year where we’ll be stepping back: zero degradation, no pit stops and they can do all the talking.

    CH: It’s difficult to say. It’s a massive change, probably the biggest change Formula One’s seen for probably the last 25 years, I would have thought. It’s hellishly expensive, especially with trying to develop a car this year and design and produce a car for next year with the changes that have been introduced, the timing of which probably isn’t ideal for some of the teams further down the grid. It’s a big regulation change. I think you’ll probably see significant differences between the teams early on but that will then converge and engineers will undoubtedly be very creative with the solutions that they come up with. It’s going to represent a different challenge, a different type of racing as fuel economy will suddenly become a premium point. We’re yet to see what affect that will have on the racing. At the moment, we’ve very much got an open mind.

    GL: I would agree, the timing is… I don’t know if it’s well chosen. It’s certainly odd. We can understand the engine manufacturers who are trying to have a product that is closer to what people are buying out on the streets. At the same time, there comes a point where Formula One was doing really well in terms of excitement, in terms of cars being matched, in terms of races being open, so let’s hope that it doesn’t reshuffle the cards in a way that is… unexpected would be good but unexpected with huge gaps would be really bad. I don’t think any of us can really say today what the effect is going to be, so that’s it, a little bit of an unknown for everybody.

    BF: Yeah, I think that we won’t be having discussions about tyres next year, it will be a completely different programme.

    Q: (Ian Parkes – Press Association) Paul, you’ve talked about changing or tweaking the tyres from a safety perspective yet when we discussed the matter in Barcelona, you said that there had been no more failures this year than in previous seasons, so are you genuinely changing the tyres for safety aspects or are external pressures being brought to bear from other more powerful teams?

    PH: No, I think the team pressure is something that is really in the media rather than a reality. I think that if you’re a tyre maker and the mode of failure this year is more dramatic because the tyres aren’t deflating they’re actually cutting into what we have now is a high tensile steel belt, that creates an opening that overheats and then creates what you’ve seen with the delamination. That’s something that’s not very good from a tyre maker’s point of view and we wish to get rid of so we need to do it for good reason. I think every team would agree with that. So you’ve got to try and do it though with a minimum amount of change because there’s a number of teams that have taken an approach this year that’s different. They decided early on what the challenges of the tyres would be this year and quite rightly they’re saying OK, change but don’t make it so dramatic, so that’s the situation we’re in and we’re closer to finalising the changes for Canada and that should be the end of it.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – The Citizen) Alain, when we spoke a year ago here you said that what ultimately pushed your team, Prost Grand Prix, out of business was the engine costs. We’ve heard quite a few people here talk about engine costs next year. Renault, in particular has come out and said that their price will be between 20 and 25 million which is a 250 percent increase over the current price. What do you say to that? Is there a chance, do you think that teams could go out of business because of engine prices next year?

    AP: It is a problem, it’s first of all part of negotiation and the price you’ve said is much higher than it is in reality, but again, I’m not the one negotiating. Your reference with my team is obviously a good reference. I was paying 28 million dollars for the Ferrari engine in the first year and I was supposed to give 32 million the year after. I had to pay this money but I had to give a guarantee and pay almost cash before. That was in September, October or November, I don’t know. Why I say that because it’s always a way of trying to get the best for the general interest and we will see what is going to happen in negotiation but also you need to know that the budget of Renault Sport F1 is 150 million euros per year, and you can imagine… if you just make a very quick calculation about the price you can imagine divided by four teams, for example, and you will realise that Renault is paying a big contribution.

    Ends

  • Hamilton takes Singapore pole

    Singapore, 22 Sept 2012: Lewis Hamilton took a surprisingly dominant pole position as Sebastian Vettel had to settle for third.

    It was the McLaren driver’s 24th career pole, though Vettel had been heavily favoured, having finished top of the timesheets in each of the three practice sessions. The Red Bull driver, however, had no answer to Hamilton in Q3, and was over half a second off

    Lewis Hamilton of Team McLaren along with Pastor Maldonado (to his right) and Sebastian Vettel after qualification on Saturday at Singapore on 22 Sept 2012. McLaren photo

    the pace. The reigning World Champion was even pushed back to third by the charging Williams of Pastor Maldonado.

    “If you don’t do the last step in qualifying it’s a shame, because I think the speed was there. It didn’t come together in the end,” said Vettel. “In Q2 I got a lap and I was reasonably safe. I was off Lewis by one and a half tenths I think, but I was confident that we could go quicker. If, would, could, should – we don’t know. In the end I was even struggling to repeat the lap I did in the beginning. However, the speed is there and we have been competitive all weekend. The race is long, a safety car can happen and it’s important to be in the right place at the right time.”
    Hamilton was naturally delighted with his efforts: “It was a great lap and I’m very happy with it,” said the McLaren driver. “We’ve put ourselves in the best position so I hope that we will be able to capitalise on that tomorrow.
    Maldonado was bullish about his chances of taking the fight to Hamilton. “I think it’s possible to overtake here, especially because of the big tyre degradation that we will have tomorrow. I think everybody will be struggling with the tyres at some time, but the strategy must be really good for everyone, just to try to be consistent but I think here it’s possible to overtake. We have a long straight, good DRS, it’s not going to be very easy but we have a couple of places.”

    Vettel will be joined on row two by Jenson Button, while behind them Championship leader Fernando Alonso is fifth, alongside the Force India of Paul di Resta. Mark Webber was seventh in the second Red Bull and Romain Grosjean eight after an eventful qualifying session which included a spin and contact with the wall. Behind him the two Mercedes took the final places in the top ten, with Rosberg ahead of Schumacher, though neither set a Q3 time. “We could have tried to make up one or two positions, although this would have been very difficult,” said Schumacher. “However we decided to give up this possibility in favour of the fact that we now have a fresh set and free choice of tyres going into the race.”

    Nico Hülkenberg, having looked very competitive in practice was a surprising elimination in Q2, missing out by three-hundredths of a second. The others big scalps were Kimi Räikkönen (12th), Felipe Massa (13th) and Sergio Pérez (14th). Daniel Ricciardo narrowly edged out Jean-Eric Vergne for fifteenth as the Toro Rossos continued their own private battle. Bruno Senna did not set a time in Q2, damaging his suspension after heavy contact with the wall on his first timed lap.

    The surprise elimination in Q1 was Kamui Kobayashi (18th), though Sauber have not looked competitive throughout the weekend. Behind him Vitaly Petrov (19th) got the better of team-mate Heikki Kovalainen (20th). Timo Glock (21st) was in front of Charles Pic (22nd), while Narain  Karthikeyan (23rd) out-qualified Pedro de la Rosa (24th) for the second race in succession.

     

  • Hamilton survives Kimi to win Hungarian GP

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

     

  • 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.
  • Sergio completes 68 laps on Sauber C31-Ferrari

    Sergio on a C31-Ferrari at Jerez on 8 Feb 2012. A Sauber F1 team photo

    8 Feb 2012: After completing the second day of testing in the pre-seasonat Jerez de la Frontera, the Sauber team said in a Press Release that Sergio Pérez on Wednesday got his first taste of the new Sauber C31-Ferrari. He completed 68 laps. The pit crew had a busy day implementing some new aero parts and fixing a fuel system problem in the afternoon.

    After completing 58 laps on Wednesday, the 8th of February at Jerez, Sergio Perez of the Sauber F1 team said: “For me it was a positive day. It was great to be back on track after the winter break and so far I’m happy with the new car. I feel confident. It was a shame that we lost track time due to the fuel system problem in the afternoon, but I think we can catch up tomorrow. We have a huge programme for Thursday and I’m looking forward to it very much. Compared to yesterday we have already learnt a great deal more about the C31.”

    Team’s Head of Track Engineering Giampaolo Dall’Ara said: “It was Sergio’s first day of testing with the new car. To start with he had to familiarise himself with the C31 and he did a bit of set-up work in the morning. During the lunch break we implemented new aero parts on the car. They are working well and as expected which is important and good news. In the afternoon we unfortunately lost track time because of a problem with the fuel system. So far we have only used the medium tyre compound.”

     

    ends/9Feb2012

  • Vettel seals world title in Suzuka

    Sebastian Vettel became the youngest back-to-back and double world champion in Formula One history.

    It was not with the glory he had hoped for with a victory in Japan as that honour went to Jenson Button, the in-form Briton taking the chequered flag for the third time this year.

    But Vettel at least finished on the podium at Suzuka with a third place to take the acclaim of the crowd.