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Tag: Pirelli
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Pirelli collects minimal tyre data during Jerez testing; next stop Bahrain
Jerez, 31 Jan 2014: Formula One’s new era got underway with four days of testing at Jerez (to be followed by two more four-day sessions in Bahrain next month) with teams trying out their new cars and the 2014 tyres for the first time.
With such a revolutionary series of technical changes, running was considerably limited compared to last year, and very little tyre work was carried out.
Nonetheless, the teams were able to have their first taste of Pirelli’s 2014 tyre range, which features new compounds and constructions. The teams could also try out the new Cinturato Green intermediate and Cinturato Blue wet on the second day, which was designated as a wet-weather test day. More rain then fell on Friday, providing another opportunity.
Pirelli additionally brought a bespoke ‘winter’ version of the hard tyre to Jerez, designed to enable teams to maximise running even in low ambient temperatures (which dipped down to six degrees centigrade).
Paul Hembery, Pirelli motorsport director:
“The emphasis was not on tyres during this test: instead the teams were simply trying to get an understanding of this radical new set of regulations and put the first kilometres onto their cars. With so much to understand about the new power units and aerodynamic rules, the teams aimed simply to increase their knowledge about the cars. The upcoming tests in Bahrain should allow them to focus on tyres a little more, having had two weeks to develop their cars and remedy any issues that have been identified at Jerez. We too are completely open, flexible and ready to adapt our tyres should the tests in Bahrain, where more meaningful running will take place, identify any need to do so. This year’s test regulations stipulate a day of wet weather running, which we were able to carry out on Wednesday morning. With more rain fallingon Friday, the teams had the opportunity to try out the wet-weather compounds before using them in race conditions.”
Testing Facts:
The opening day of running was extremely quiet, with just 93 laps completed from eight drivers and cars on Tuesday. The on-track action then ramped up, with teams attempting longer runs. The final day was the busiest day of the test, with 688 laps completed.
Teams had a maximum of 25 sets of tyres each at their disposal for Jerez. In total, 18 of those sets were selected by Pirelli (six ‘winter’, four hard, two medium, and three each of intermediate and wet). The teams were then allowed to choose in advance seven more sets of tyres to test per car, up to their total maximum of 25. In total, 135 sets of tyres are allowed per team for testing purposes throughout 2014.
Owing to the huge number of new variables at work, and the very wide spread of lap times seen throughout the four days, there was no real significance in the time difference between the compounds that were tested at Jerez. More meaningful tyre data should be seen in Bahrain, with all the teams expected to be present.
More Testing Facts:
A total of 22 drivers took part in the Jerez test, completing 1,470 laps and 6,509 kilometres.
The equivalent Jerez test last year took in 3,531 laps and 15,634 kilometres.
McLaren driver Kevin Magnussen set the fastest time of the Jerez test, with a time of 1m23.276s on Thursday. By way of comparison, the fastest time at the Jerez test last year was 1m17.879s, set by Felipe Massa in a Ferrari.
The highest number of total laps completed at this year’s Jerez test by any one driver was Nico Rosberg, who racked up 188 laps with Mercedes.
Testing numbers:
- Total number of sets brought to Jerez: 250 sets which equals 1,000 tyres
– of which supersoft tyres: 2 sets
– of which soft tyres: 9 sets
– of which medium tyres: 52 sets
– of which hard tyres: 52 sets
– of which ‘winter’ tyres: 69 sets
– of which intermediate tyres: 36 sets
– of which wet tyres: 30 sets
- Total amount of sets used: 99
– of which supersoft tyres: 1 sets
– of which soft tyres: 2 sets
– of which medium tyres: 23 sets
– of which hard tyres: 11 sets
– of which ‘winter’ tyres: 32 sets
– of which intermediate tyres: 20 sets
– of which wet tyres: 10 sets
- Longest run: 10 laps on the supersoft compound
9 laps of the soft compound
17 laps on the medium compound
24 laps on the hard compound
23 laps on the ‘winter’ compound
26 laps on the intermediate compound
13 laps on the wet compound
- Highest / lowest ambient temperature over four days: 17 °C / 5 °C
- Highest / lowest track temperature over four days: 23 °C / 6 °C
Testing Times:
Day 1
1. Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) 1’27’’104s on Winter compound, New 2. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 1’27’’820s on Winter compound, Used 3. Valtteri Bottas (Williams) 1’30’’082s on Winter compound, Used Day 2
1. Jenson Button (McLaren) 1’24.165s on Medium, New 2. Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) 1’24’’812s on Medium, Used 3. Valtteri Bottas (Williams) 1’25’’344s on Winter compound, New Day 3
1. Kevin Magnussen (McLaren) 1’23’’276s on Medium, New 2. Felipe Massa (Williams) 1’23’’700s on Hard, Used 3. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 1’23’’952s on Medium, New Day 4
1. Felipe Massa (Williams) 1’28’’229s, on Hard, New 2. Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) 1’29’’145s, on Medium, Used 3. Daniel Juncadella (Force India) 1’29’’457s, on Soft, New ends
A Pirelli photo after Jerez testing on 31 Jan 2014. -
Vettel storms to record 9th straight win; equals Schumy’s 13 in a year
Sao Paulo, 24 Nov 2013: This year’s world champion, Sebastian Vettel, has taken his 13th win of the season to equal Michael Schumacher’s 2004 record and also achieved the record for his ninth win in a row – at the Brazilian Grand Prix, the 19th and final round of the FIA F1 World Championship at the Interlagos circuit here on Sunday night. His Red Bull teammate Mark Webber finished second in his last F1
Now familiar Vettel’s donuts to end the season at Brazil. A Pirelli photo race.
The German started from pole but was beaten by Nico Rosberg. But he took the lead back on lap two and used a two-stop strategy to win: Notwithstanding the fiasco at the pits where he made a pit stop when the team is waiting for Mark Webber. The Australian ended his career with a brilliant podium taking second ahead of Fernando Alonso of Ferrari. Webber, who began in 2002, had nine career victories from his 215 race starts. Webber is moving to endurance racing next year.
The only other driver to have won nine races in a row before was Alberto Ascari in the 1950s – but this was across two seasons, also using Pirelli tyres.
The biggest challenge all the teams and drivers faced was having no dry running on the hard and medium tyres prior to the start of the Brazilian Grand Prix, due to consistent rain on Friday and Saturday. The race started in dry conditions with ambient temperatures of 20 degrees and track temperatures of 26 degrees, with a 50 per cent chance of rain.
All the drivers got underway on the medium compound tyre apart from McLaren’s Jenson Button, who started 14th on the grid, and Sauber’s Esteban Gutierrez, who started from 17th. The first driver to switch from the medium to the hard compound was Toro Rosso’s Jean-Eric Vergne, who came in on lap 10. Button took his first set of mediums on lap 20, the first of the hard tyre starters to stop – and was then back on the medium on lap 43. The strategy helped him to a fourth place finish by the end: his best of the year.
Vettel pitted from the lead on lap 24 for more mediums and re-emerged in front, stopping again for the hard tyre on lap 47: the same lap as his team mate, as Red Bull feared a safety car. Although there was no heavy rain, some drops then started to fall – adding an extra element of uncertainty. The rain became slightly heavier in the closing laps, but not enough for any of the competitors to use the Cinturato Green intermediates.
The tyres performed perfectly in line with expectations despite the varying conditions. There were punctures seen on the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and the Williams of Valtteri Bottas, but this was as the result of contact between the two.
The final record of this season – the last of the V8 engine era – was set by Marussia’s Max Chilton, who became the first rookie to finish every race of his debut year.
Pirelli’s motorsport director Paul Hembery said: “The fact that there was no dry running prior to the start of the grand prix meant that formulating the right tyre strategy was a matter of educated guesswork for all the teams. And with no rubber having been laid down on the track previously, it was extremely hard to calculate the wear and degradation levels. The weather forecast remained uncertain throughout the race to complicate matters even further, with different teams interpreting the information in various ways. However, they had to bear in mind their obligation to run both compounds if conditions stayed dry – which turned out to be the case. This race has marked the end of an era and now the cars, along with the tyres, change completely for next year. Congratulations to Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull for a record-breaking season, and best of luck for the future to Mark Webber, who ends his distinguished Formula One career here in Brazil.”
eom
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United States Grand Prix: A Pirelli view from the Circuit of Americas
Milan, 11 Nov 2013: The penultimate race of the season is the United States Grand Prix, which was held for the first time in Texas last year. This season, the same tyre nomination has been made: P Zero Orange hard and P Zero White medium.
Austin is an extremely varied circuit, which puts plenty of energy through the tyres by alternating fast and flowing sections with some slower and more technical parts.
It’s a very good test of a tyre’s all-round ability, with traction demands out of slow corners just as important as lateral grip through the high-speed changes of direction that are another key characteristic of the 5.513-kilometre Circuit of the Americas.
Paul Hembery: “The hard and medium tyres are the best choice for the United States Grand Prix, because it’s a circuit that places several high-energy demands on the tyres, so you need the most durable compounds in the range. There are some fast corners and many rapid elevation changes as well: in that respect it’s a bit like Spa. When you have more energy going through the tyre, you have a bigger heat build-up – which is what increases wear and degradation. Now that we’re coming to the USA for the second time we have a better idea of what to expect, whereas last year – when we also nominated the hard and the medium – it was much more of a step into the unknown. This year’s compounds are softer, so we would expect around two pit stops in the race, depending also on the rate of track evolution. Even though it’s November we’re still likely to have warm weather, which obviously affects thermal degradation too. Formula One received an absolutely fantastic welcome from the American public last year, which made it a truly memorable race, and we’re very much looking forward to going back to a country full of great F1 fans, which is also a key market for our Ultra High Performance tyres.”
Jean Alesi: “The United States Grand Prix in 1990 was actually my very first grand prix on Pirelli tyres, with the Tyrell, and it turned out to be a very good race for me. It was the first grand prix of my first full season, so always one that I’m going to remember. Back then, American Formula One circuits were mostly street circuits, and this one in Phoenix was no exception. Also, the rules on tyre development were completely open: the dimensions were fixed but apart from that the manufacturers could do what they wanted. With Pirelli, we could go the entire race without stopping, whereas the others had to stop. And this was key to our strong performance that surprised so many people: I led the race for several laps and in the end finished second only to Ayrton Senna in the much more powerful McLaren-Honda! And that was the difference that the tyres made. Of course the United States Grand Prix now is very different. The first year of Austin in 2012 was a real show, with special guests ranging from actors to astronauts, and it was fantastic to see the American people take so enthusiastically to Formula One. It really wasn’t like that in my day, when there was not so much interest in F1 in America. Austin looks like an exciting track to drive as well, which obviously helps. One of the details that I think everybody remembers is Pirelli’s cowboy hats on the podium: these were really a lot of fun…”
The circuit from a tyre point of view:
Just like Abu Dhabi, Austin is one of the few circuits on the calendar to run in an anti-clockwise direction. Other anti-clockwise circuits are Korea, Singapore and Brazil.
The track surface at Austin, which was new last year, is generally quite smooth. However, with the passage of time, surfaces generally tend to become a bit more abrasive year by year. This happens as the bitumen at the very top is swept away, exposing the small stones out of which the asphalt is made.
Further information about Austin and the demands it places on tyres, as well as information about how exactly grip is generated, 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:
There are two key areas that particularly challenge the tyres at the Austin Circuit. The first is Turn 1, which is unusually a hairpin, where the tyres have to provide optimal traction – even when cold on an out-lap. Turn 11 is also particularly demanding as the driver starts braking heavily with the car already turning, creating an uneven distribution of forces across the tyres. Good grip from the compound is essential for an effective turn-in.
The cars will run with low gearing and medium downforce: a set-up that is not dissimilar to the one that was formerly used for the Turkish Grand Prix at Istanbul – which has a few points in common with the Circuit of the Americas.
The top three finishers in America last year (Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso) used a one-stop strategy, starting on the medium tyre and ending on the hard. Last year there was around half a second of lap time difference between the two compounds; this year that should be slightly bigger.
The tyre choices so far:
PZero Red PZero Yellow PZero White PZero Orange Australia Supersoft Medium Malaysia Medium Hard China Soft Medium Bahrain Medium Hard Spain Medium Hard Monaco Supersoft Soft Canada Supersoft Medium Great Britain Medium Hard Germany Soft Medium Hungary Soft Medium Belgium Medium Hard Italy Medium Hard Singapore Supersoft Medium Korea Supersoft Medium Japan Medium Hard India Soft Medium Abu Dhabi Soft Medium United States Medium Hard Meet the Pirelli F1 Team: Ilaria Parolari, personal assistant to Paul Hembery
Ilaria was born in Italy near Como but grew up to close to Milan, where she is based now. Ilaria studied languages and has been part of Pirelli since 2004. Before moving into motorsport, she worked in Pirelli’s travel and logistics department but was always a fan of racing cars. Then, after Pirelli entered Formula One in 2011, Ilaria was offered a role as Paul’s PA.
Her priority is to take care of all activities related to Paul’s business needs, managing his diary and organizing every aspect of his life: meetings, travel, speeches and other commitments – both in the office in Milan and on the track all over the world. Ilaria works in collaboration with all the many other departments involved in motorsport: during each grand prix week she takes care of all the VIP guests and manages the guest tours in the paddock. And if that weren’t enough, she’s also in charge of requests for F1 passes and managing the paddock passes during every grand prix week. Which makes her a person in demand…
She doesn’t have much spare time, but when she’s at home enjoys seeing her family – especially her twin sister – and likes art exhibitions, concerts and clubbing.
“Above all I’m a very positive person,” says Ilaria. “When I’m upset people notice it, but I try and make sure that doesn’t happen very often. Normally I’m smiling all the time!”
Other news from Pirelli:
For the first time, the Pirelli-equipped GP2 and GP3 Series held a joint test, for three days after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, from Tuesday to Thursday. McLaren Formula One junior driver Stoffel Vandoorne set the GP2 pace with a time of 1m48.657s posted on the evening of the final day in a DAMS car. A number of this year’s GP3 drivers also sampled GP2 machinery at the test, such as Pirelli’s prize-winner Facu Regalia.
In GP3, Patric Niederhauser topped the time sheets thanks to a time of 1m55.372s, set on Thursday afternoon. Niederhauser, who drove for MW Arden at the test, was one of this year’s existing GP3 competitors. By way of comparison, Mark Webber’s pole position at this year’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was 1m39.957s. Both the GP2 and GP3 series used the current specification of Pirelli tyre, running in the daylight and also under the Abu Dhabi floodlights by night.
Pirelli has just won the prestigious ‘Top of Mind’ prize for the fifth consecutive year in Brazil, which is the Italian firm’s biggest market. This means that Pirelli has again been officially acknowledged as one of the most recognised brands in the country by Brazil’s leading research institute.
The latest winter products from the P Zero fashion range – including rubberised waterproof coats – have now gone on sale in their own dedicated section at Harrods of London, billed as the most famous department store in the world.
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Pirelli mechanics test the tyres ahead of US GP. A Pirelli photo -
Webber beats Vettel to take Abu Dhabi pole
yas Marina
From left: Sebastian Vettel, Mark Webber, Nico Rosberg after the qualification at the Abu Dhabi GP on Saturday. Webber took the pole position. An FIA photo (Abu Dhabi), 2 Nov 2013:
FIA Post-qualification Press Conference, Abu Dhabi GP
Drivers Present
1 – Mark WEBBER (Red Bull Racing)
2 – Sebastian VETTEL (Red Bull Racing)
3 – Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)Unilateral
Q: Mark, your second pole in three races now. Describe your feelings, particularly on a track where your team-mate has always been so strong.
Mark WEBBER: Yeah, I think this weekend so far has gone pretty smoothly for us. It’s not the easiest venue because of the temperatures, when the sessions are: obviously in the afternoon and then the night session. You’ve got to be on top of that as a driver and also from an engineering perspective. So, we did what we could do. Not the smoothest part, I would say, to the start of Q2. Also Q1, we were not, I would say, electric but then getting into the groove we changed the car quite a bit, with the front wing level and things like that, as the session went on. And I got more and more comfortable. So, I knew I had to work on certain sections of the track. Sebastian had already been doing a good job there already so I had to try to match him there and keep the areas where I was still doing a pretty good job. Overall happy with the pole. It was a good lap obviously on a track which in the past hasn’t been super-invigorating for me in terms of layout, let’s say, but we certainly enjoyed the quali today and really looking forward to the race tomorrow because we’ve got a good car for the race in these conditions.
Q: Sebastian, obviously a slightly unusual session from your point of view, didn’t top the times in any of the three parts of the session. What were the tactics today and where did it get away from you?
Sebastian VETTEL: Well, I wouldn’t call it unusual. I think we were still pretty competitive, that’s probably the difference from you guys and us inside the garage. There is no guarantee. I think it’s a great result for the team, first of all. Start of qualifying I think Mercedes looked very, very strong. Both Nico and Lewis, especially in Q2. I think Mark and myself weren’t hanging about in Q2 but they were very, very strong. But we seemed to be able to find a little bit of extra time in Q3. I think I did a very good lap so congratulations to him. I think I should have done a little bit better but I don’t know if it had been enough. As a fact he deserved to be on pole today. He did a good job, no mistakes. As I said, on top of that, a great result for the team. We should have a strong race tomorrow.
Q: Nico, previous visits here, two times ninth, two times seventh. So a big step forward for you. And again, for you, your team-mate has always been very strong here and you’ve beaten him.
Nico ROSBERG: In general I’m pleased with the result for sure: third place, best of the rest, which is our target for the weekend. It was nice to annoy Red Bull a little bit from time to time there in qualifying but in the end they were just too quick again. But anyway, third place is good, I’m pleased with that. And again [we’re] just looking at the Constructors’ [Championship]. That’s what counts for us, third and fourth, blocking out the second row of the grid. Lotus for sure are some way back but especially Ferrari, who are our direct competition, they’re well back, so that’s a very good result for us today in qualifying.
Coming back to you now Mark. You didn’t manage the win from pole in Japan. Just a few races to go before the end of your Formula One career and a great chance tomorrow to sign off with a win.
MW: Yeah, look as Seb touched on, there are no guarantees. We have a good car in the race I believe. As we’ve shown in the last few events we’ve always been certainly there or thereabouts and leading some race in the last few events and challenging for some very good results. Like you say in quali it’s been pretty strong. Korea in the race, yeah, coming back from the 10-place penalty and bits and bobs. So, in general the form has been very strong, carry that over tomorrow night, keep my head down and look for a very good result, there’s no question about that.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Mark, why is it that this year has been so different from previous years. What is it about you that’s just hooked it up here?
MW: Well, I was pretty competitive last year here in qualifying. I think it’s probably no super secret that I like the more flowing circuits but you have to put your heads down and get on with these types of circuits like Singapore and Abu Dhabi and do the absolute maximum and do the best. When you start in Formula One, there is not a huge amount of circuit around like this but there are more and more now and that’s part of our job. With that, I get more exposure at these type of circuits and I think you learn more and unfortunately, or fortunately, I have a guy in the other car who is pretty handy on these type of tracks and you can also do some learning in that respect. I think it’s a strong type of layout for Seb, as he’s proved in Singapore and those type of tracks. In the end, more experience. You can never stop learning, mate, even at this age, so it was a good day and puts us in a good position tomorrow.
Sebastian, we heard you on the radio at the end, just apologising to the team that you didn’t make the most of sector one in particular. You haven’t made that many mistakes so far in 2013, I guess the heat is off now, you’ve already done what you needed to do but is that what led to the mistake?
SV: I was pushing hard, that’s the reason behind it. Surely, I think, as a driver, you always argue that there is a little bit here, a little bit there but the bottom line is that if you look at it from the outside as well, if you push yourself to the maximum trying to get everything out then you do mistakes as well. I’m not very proud of that but I did what I could today and it wasn’t enough to be on pole and that’s why I said it before and I’ll say it again – Mark deserved to be on pole, no doubt. So, I think the car was good. That’s why I apologised, I said, ‘sorry guys, I messed up a bit at turn one’. It’s a tricky corner. If you get it right, it feels great. It you mess it up, it doesn’t and then you have a long lap trying to make up for it. But obviously there is a limit. Overall, as I said, I was happy but didn’t manage to get everything perfect. Whether it would have been enough, I don’t know, Mark did a very good laps, so we’ll see tomorrow.
Q: Nico, before qualifying you could say that you hadn’t perhaps hooked up the final sector maybe as well as the other two but you put it all together when it really mattered at the end. Maybe you could talk a little bit about your preparation for qualifying.
NR: I progressed really well through the weekend. Set-up progression was massive, it changed so much from the beginning to the end and it’s just very difficult because the first session of each day is so hot that you can’t really learn much and you just have to take an estimated guess where to go for the evening sessions with the set up and so that made it very, very difficult. And in the end… yeah, got there in the end in qualifying. Felt comfortable and there you are. P3. It’s good.
Ends
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Pirelli expects one-stop strategy for Abu Dhabi race
Yas Marina, 2 Nov 2013: Red Bull’s Mark Webber will start the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix from pole position after qualifying fastest on the P Zero Yellow soft compound, which has been nominated together with the P Zero White medium this weekend.
Qualifying was held as usual in the afternoon and evening, with Q1 starting in daylight and Q3 finishing in darkness, under the lights. Webber’s 1m39.957s pole lap, the 13th of his career and his second of this season, means that he equals the pole position record for an Australian, established by Jack Brabham. With Sebastian Vettel qualifying second, this was the fourth Red Bull one-two of the season.
With up to a second and a half lap time difference between the two compounds, strategy was an important consideration right from the start of Q1. The majority of the drivers started on the medium compound, but both Red Bull drivers were straight out on the soft tyres, and did not use the medium at all during qualifying. This then prompted the rest of the field to switch to the soft compound for the rest of Q1, with Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton going quickest in the closing seconds.
The top 16 drivers, who went through to Q2, were covered by just six-tenths of a
Webber takes pole in his last race at Abu Dhabi. A Pirelli photo second. They all used soft tyres throughout the session, at the end of which Mercedes was again quickest: this time with Nico Rosberg leading Hamilton.
The final top 10 all started Q3 on soft tyres. Webber set his pole lap right at the end of the session, with track temperature stabilising at 34 degrees. His time was more than half a second faster than last year’s pole from Lewis Hamilton.
Red Bull also finished one-two in the final free practice session, during which all the drivers used both tyre compounds. Vettel led Webber, concluding the session with a qualifying simulation.
Pirelli’s motorsport director Paul Hembery said: “Two key factors shaped the strategy during qualifying: the big lap time difference between the two compounds and the high degree of track evolution, which meant that the fastest times were usually set at the end of each session once the most rubber had been laid down on the surface. As an extra factor, track temperature was consistently falling with the sun going down during qualifying, which adds another challenge from a tyre engineering perspective. We’re expecting a one-stop race tomorrow for most drivers, but some may try something different. With the wear and degradation rates that we can see so far, the options are open. While the soft tyre has a significant performance advantage, it’s also capable of consistent performance over a longer run. We’ve got the same tyre nomination as India but the situation at this race is a lot less clear-cut, which means that strategy can make a real difference tomorrow.”
The Pirelli mystery strategy predictor:
One stop is theoretically the quickest approach to the 56-lap Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, irrespective of starting on the soft or the medium compound. So, if starting on the soft, we would expect drivers to change to the medium on lap 12 and then go to the end. Or if starting on the medium, change to the soft on lap 43 and then go to the end.
The optimal two-stop strategy is: start on the soft, change to the medium on lap nine, and a final stint on the medium from lap 32.
Fastest compounds in FP3:
1. Vettel 1m41.349s Soft New 2. Webber 1m41.571s Soft New 3. Hamilton 1m41.580s Soft New Top 10 tyre use:
Webber Soft 1m39.957s Vettel Soft 1m40.075s Rosberg Soft 1m40.419s Hamilton Soft 1m40.501s Raikkonen Soft 1m40.542s Hulkenberg Soft 1m40.576s Grosjean Soft 1m40.997s Massa Soft 1m41.015s Perez Soft 1m41.068s Ricciardo Soft 1m41.111s -
Pirelli sure of 2014 contract with FIA
TEAM REPRESENTATIVES – Graeme LOWDON (Marussia), Paul HEMBERY (Pirelli), Cyril ABITEBOUL (Caterham), Franz TOST (Toro Rosso), Claire WILLIAMS (Williams), Martin WHITMARSH (McLaren)
PRESS CONFERENCE
Franz, can we start with you? Obviously, Daniil Kvyat coming in next year. What lies ahead in the next few weeks and months in terms of getting up to speed for his Super Licence, practicing, testing? And what expectations do you have for him?
Franz TOST: We will have a test with him next week to get the Super Licence. Afterwards, he will go out on Friday in American and in Sao Paulo and of course we will have winter time, where he has to do a lot of work with physical training, mental training, then working on the simulator to prepare him as good as possible for the next season. I’m convinced he will do a good job because he is a very high-skilled driver. He has done, this year so far, a very good job in GP3 where he still can win the championship. He has 131 points, seven points behind the leader, and I’m quite sure that he will show a very good race tomorrow, and on Sunday. Apart from this he showed a very good performance in Formula 3 – in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship – where he won the last race in Zandvoort, starting from the pole position. If I remember correctly, his first race, in Hockenheim, he was also in pole position and finished the race in third. For us, for Red Bull and for Toro Rosso, he is a very high-skilled driver and I think that he will have a successful future.
Does this a little but like a home race for you, because obviously IPIC is getting more and more influential in your set-up. Most of your sponsors seem to come from their group, so is it beginning to feel like a home race for you?
FT: Yes, the grand prix here in Abu Dhabi is one of the highlights for Scuderia Toro Rosso because we have a very close business relationship with IPIC, which is a company based here in Abu Dhabi and our main sponsors, Cepsa, Nova Chemicals and Falcon Private Bank belong to this company and therefore we are every year very much looking forward to coming here and I just hope that we will improve our performance, which was not so good today, to show a good race on Sunday.
Moving to Graeme, you’ve already secured Jules Bianchi for 2014. What’s the right kind of driver to put alongside him for next year? Which direction are you looking?
Graeme LOWDON: It sounds simple to say a quick one but that’s what everybody wants – a quick driver. I think something special about next year are the new regulations for the power unit. That’s going to create really quite a few new challenges for everybody up and down the grid. I think there’s a very strong argument to say keeping the same line-up we currently have would be a good thing. That said, typically at this stage of the year, in previous years we wouldn’t have finalised our driver line-up and it’s the same this time. I think we’ll just have to evaluate where we stand, what’s the best solution for the team moving forward and then announce in due course. I have to say both drivers this year have done an exceptional job. I think a lot of people have forgotten that we started this year with a rookie line-up and that’s quite unusual and I think both guys have done a very, very good job, sometimes under some difficult and challenging circumstances. So, we’ll see how we move into next year but I think there is a strong argument to say that trying to keep the same line-up would be a very positive thing for the team.
You’ve secured your commercial arrangement with the commercial rights holder. What does that allow you to do now and what difference does it make to you?
GL: I think in all honesty the biggest difference is how we’re perceived in the outside world. It was a very strange situation when most of the teams in Formula One – in fact, all of the teams in Formula One – had an agreement with the commercial rights holder, apart from our team. It quite clearly would lead to questions when we’re looking at potential partners and sponsors for the future. Probably the biggest thing is that external perception in a way. We’re perceived to be on the same grid, in the same pit lane as every other team now and it’s just removed some of that uncertainty and allows us to focus on what we should be focusing on, which is going racing.
Cyril, coming to you. Obviously you’re in a race with Marussia for that important 10th place in the Constructors Championship. This time they’re ahead, a position that hinges on their 13th place in round two. Do you believe you can get that 10th place back off them again before the end of the season?
Cyril ABITEBOUL: It’s tough. It’s going to be a challenge, in particular because we don’t have all the answers in our hands. Obviously, we need to do the best we can, make sure that we go for them in turn one in particular, but also to finish the races, that we are reliable. Even if we do all of that and if we achieve a good result, we need more, we need a little bit of external help. Maybe a bit of retirements would assist. So, hopefully that’s something we will secure. We secured that last year in the last minute of the last race, so why not again this year? But I’m not against having that a bit earlier than last year to be honest.
Q: What’s the state of play with your drivers for next year? What are the important criteria for you and when do you hope to have that concluded?
CA: We would like to have that done fairly quickly, I would say. In particular sooner than last year – because we were late in confirming our line-up –because there is an awful lot of work to be done between the teams and the drivers. A lot of teams are changing, including for the drivers, and the sooner we can integrate and work together, the better it will be for next year. Having said that, in terms of what we want, there is a lot of options. Consistency is a good thing, so one of the options is that we continue with the two drivers that we have, building on the relationship that we have started. But everything is changing anyway, so I think one thing we want is someone who is reliable in his feedback because we will have to develop the car during the season. We didn’t develop much the car this season. Next season will be a totally different ball game – in particular the start of the season when everything will be new. We will have to adapt ourselves, the drivers will have to adapt themselves, so experience might be something that is interesting but more than anything I think someone who’s capable of being almost transparent and providing the most accurate feedback as possible to the engineers who’re trying to understand how the car is working, is something that will be important for us.
Q: Claire, do you feel you’re putting in place or making progress towards putting in place your ideal line-up for 2014?
Claire WILLIAMS: We’re making progress. I think we’d ideally like to be able to make our driver announcement soon. Historically we’ve probably left it until the end of the season. I couldn’t give you a date now as to when we’re going to make the announcement but we’re definitely making progress, yes.
Q: Obviously we find ourselves in the Middle East. You and your father have done a lot of work in Qatar. Is there any chance of getting any closer to them getting involved in the race team?
CW: We’ve been in Qatar for three years now. We’ve had a business out there that’s developing flywheel technology and also working on road safety campaigns. It’s not an easy marketplace, it’s Frank’s project – I think he came out earlier this week or last saying he’d really like to get the deal done and he’s working really hard to do that. He’s coming out tomorrow and will be spending some time down in Qatar next week – but we’ll have to wait and see.
Q: Paul, can you give us an update on what the situation was with Paul di Resta’s tyre during that session.
Paul HEMBERY: From what we’ve understood there was something to do with the brakes. Not sure what but that’s the only info we’ve had so far.
Q: Where does Pirelli stand in terms of tyre supply contract for 2014?
PH: It’s done really. There’s one last piece to be done with the FIA. The lawyers are dealing with that – when you get lawyers involved with anything it tends to add time to whatever you’re doing. So, it’s just rumbling along.
Q: What are the next steps you’re taking in terms of preparation of the tyres for 2014?
PH: There’s a couple of things that are happening quite quickly. We’ve got a 1000km test with McLaren coming up in Vallelunga. We will be bringing to the Brazil race for P1, a couple of sets of tyres of the prototype for next season. We’re hopeful to do a couple of tests in December and January with an old-generation car and there’s been some good ideas going forward as to what we could do during the pre-season itself. It’s clearly a big step forward, if we’re looking at it selfishly from our point of view, to be in Bahrain for pre-season testing, the temperatures will be right, aggressive track and that will be very, very useful for us to understand the real impact of the new cars.
Q: Martin, obviously you’re on a big recruitment drive at the moment, Peter Prodromou amongst others that you’ve been pulling in. Can you share with us your vision for the team and where you want to take it the next few years.
Martin WHITMARSH: Well, I think it’s the same vision we’ve always had. We’re here to win and this year’s fallen short of that. So, when those things happen you reappraise your organisation, the resources, and you try harder. So, we’ve been going through that process and that’s meant we’ve been out recruiting and we’re pleased with some of the recruiting that we’ve done. But in the meanwhile we’ve still got to produce a quick car next year – so we’re working hard to do that.
Q: You’ve got Kevin Magnussen and Stoffel Vandoorne to bring through into Formula One. Are you making any progress towards getting them a race drive for next year – or any kind of drive?
MW: Yes, we are. I think both will be racing next year. We didn’t set out to have perhaps the two hottest prospects at the same time but I think that’s in effect what we have with both of them. They both deserve to be at the highest level and we’re working hard. I’m fairly confident that we’ll have both of them racing next year.
Q: In Formula One?
MW: No, both of them racing next year.
Q: Either of them in Formula One?
MW: Possibly one of them.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Luke Smith – NBC Sports) Franz, I want to talk about Jean-Eric Vergne because he obviously missed out on the Red Bull seat. Where does his future lie within the Red Bull set-up? Is he purely a stop-gap before you feel that either Antonio Felix da Costa or Carlos Sainz Jnr are ready for a seat at Toro Rosso?
FT: I don’t see this. He will race for us next year. Jean-Eric Vergne is a high skilled driver. He has shown a couple of very good races and if the team provides him with a good competitive car, he is always – and at every race track – able to show a very good performance. I see a good future for him.
Q: (Mark Bryans – PA) Claire, I just wanted to ask, in terms of driver line-ups, is it more important now more than ever to get that nailed down sooner rather than later because of all the regulations coming in and the changes that are happening throughout the sport next year? Will it be better to have those people in place going forward sooner than you would normally?
CW: Yeah, I think clearly you want your driver line-up confirmed as soon as possible, so that they can start working with your engineers in order to support the development programme that you have in place, but most drivers have contracts that run up until certainly the last race of the season, and if not, the end of December so they can’t necessarily come in and help you when you want them to anyway. But yeah, inevitably, you want them to come in as soon as possible and just to get the whole announcement made as well and out there in the public domain and everyone can move on and everyone knows everyone else’s future.
Q: (Dieter Rencken – RacingLines) We’ve got five team principals and a very interesting split because you’ve got the two in the front who are members of the Formula One strategy group and then we’ve got Franz who’s… although Toro Rosso isn’t the associate team is, and then at the back we’ve got two who aren’t. I’d like to ask all five team principals’ opinion which side of the fence you’re on, how you justify or don’t the strategy group and particularly the two at the back, because what we have is a situation where a majority is actually dominated by a minority, a privileged minority and that, where I come from – South Africa – used to be called apartheid?
Q: Let’s start with one of the non-members, Graeme.
GL: Thanks James. I think it’s disappointing not to be included, that’s one thing for sure. If we’re looking at sports’ governance then sport is fundamentally built upon the ethics of fair play and everything that goes with it. And so, when you’re looking at a body that is making really the strategic direction then it would certainly be nice to have some inclusion. You would look for some form of democracy, some transparency and some accountability. From our point of view, we’re not too sure how it’s all meant to work or is going to work because we’re not part of it, so it’s really quite difficult to even say whether this new body is going to be able to make the correct strategic decisions, but inherently, you have to think, when you’re outside of a group, you have to think ‘how can that group be making a decision that could be beneficial for everyone involved, including us?’ So it’s quite an enormous leap of faith, I think, that the teams who are excluded from it are being asked to make, that the structure will work. Obviously only time will tell and the group has an incredibly onerous role to play, because it has the future of the sport that so many of us depend upon and our employees and the wider supplier base. So it has a very very important task and you would intuitively think that in particular an element of democracy would be good but I guess time will tell.
CW: I think that from the outset we would like to say that Williams as a team, we’re pleased that we are on it. Clearly it’s important that we are and the reason being is that we’re an historic team in the sport, we’ve been racing for 36 years. But Graeme talking about the democratic process around it, I don’t necessarily want to comment on that but I think from our perspective, certainly, we will be going in there, clearly representing Williams but also, I hope, representing the other teams and the greater good of our sport as well.
CA: First, I think an F1 strategy group is a good thing. I believe it’s something that was missing generally in the landscape of Formula One; that’s – to a degree – running the risk of upsetting some people. Maybe it’s a bit too technocratic. Having said that, I think we need to preserve the working group that will properly execute and follow up any decision that is made by the F1 strategy group. So I think generally that to have a group that is also thinking of the marketing side of things, the commercial side of things, ensuring the final consequences of the decisions that are made by technical sporting people, is the right thing to do. And maybe we will not come up with some situations in which we are… for instance, the engine which is quite expensive – so that, in itself, is a good thing looking ahead. Having said that, I think that regarding inclusion, I would totally share Graeme’s view and more than anything, I just simply don’t understand why all teams are not represented. I think we would not want a situation whereby one team can block a process and we need to make sure that we are progressive and that’s one of the things in any democracy but that, in itself, does not justify the fact that half of the grid is not represented.
Q: Franz, you’re in a unique position in that your sister team is very much represented.
FT: Exactly, I have a good relationship with Christian Horner from Red Bull Racing and therefore we are a little bit involved, but nevertheless, the strategy group does not approve new rules because this comes from the Formula One Commission and in the Formula One Commission all the teams are involved and there’s a working process; there I don’t see any problem.
Q: Final word from Martin; is there a FOTA dynamic to this, in terms of the fact you’re part of that, you represent their interests as well as your own?
MW: I think that we’re in an evolving process at the moment. The full governance of the sport hasn’t been defined in the new Concorde. I agree with many… there’s as much inclusion as you can have in the sport is a good thing and I think we’ve been consistent in that. I think McLaren endeavours to be a good citizen within the sport. But I also agree with some of the things that Cyril said, that Formula One… we haven’t done enough contemplation of the strategy or the strategic development of our sport. I think we can do a better job together in that regard. Let’s see what happens. I think it’s going to evolve over the next few months and hopefully it will evolve to a shape and a form where everyone feels comfortable.
Q: (Christian Nimmervoll – Motor Sport total. Com) At the beginning of the engine cycle, one manufacturer was allowed to make some changes. Obviously next year a new engine format is coming in – the turbo engine. I wonder if any process is in place, if any discussions are going on with regard to homologation and what happens when the engines are spread quite a lot at the beginning of the season? Is there any process in place to address that?
CA: Yeah. I think the first thing is that no one really knows what’s going to happen at the first race, so it’s very difficult, because we are talking about a framework or some re-tuning that will be allowed according to something that we don’t really know for the time being and there won’t be a magic KPI (Key Performance Indicator) or performance indicator that would summarise the whole performance of the package. So I think there must be an element of good faith in this process, see where we are, making sure that we get something that is sensible, such that any manufacturer who is short of performance is capable of doing something, also someone who is really too strong is capable of doing something else. Honestly I think it’s a bit terra incognita, I think we have to wait and see, unfortunately.
MW: Well, in answer to the question, actually there is no process at the moment to do so. Clearly it isn’t as straightforward as just understanding peak power which is the traditional metric. As Cyril pointed out there are lots of metrics that will affect the performance of the car, the efficiency of the cooling system, fuel efficiency etc etc. So it’s a much more complex process but inevitably, if there’s a big mis-match, then the sport would be wise to deal with it. We can’t and shouldn’t afford to lose automotive manufacturers from the sport. They are the biggest investors in our sport and it’s important that we find a situation where the sport is perceived to be level, it’s got a good competition and there’s an active interest from as many automotive manufacturers as possible. But at the moment there’s no process.
Q: (Gary Meenaghan – The National) To Cyril and Graeme: could you please put a value on securing tenth place, not only in terms of finances – basic financial value – but also in terms of how it will affect the future development of the team going forwards?
GL: Sadly, we can’t put a value on it because the terms of our commercial agreements are confidential and quite rightly so. But we’re all here to race, everyone in the team is a racer so… I get on very well with Cyril but I want to beat him and that’s the essence of our sport and that goes for every single person in the team. As you know, it takes a few hundred people to design and build a car and to race it and every single one of them is highly competitive and you can see when you go back to the factory there’s a… the factory’s a great barometer of what’s happening competitively at the race track. Tenth sounds a lot better than eleventh, ninth sounds better than tenth and so it goes on.
CA: Exactly the same. We believe that we deserve this tenth place and we are going to fight to obtain it, as I said at the beginning, but one thing I should make clear is that it does not jeopardise the team’s future – maybe my future but not the team’s future.
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PIRELLI nominates Medium and Soft P Zero Tyres unlike last year
A view of the Buddh International Circuit. A photo by Pirelli Tyres Milan, 24 Oct 2013 : India, a new addition to the Formula One calendar in 2011, features some sweeping elevation changes and a wide variety of corners, making it a truly spectacular venue that works the tyres hard, especially given the high ambient temperatures. After two years of nominating the hard and the soft compound at the Buddh circuit, this year Pirelli has opted to nominate the P Zero White medium tyre together with the P Zero Yellow soft tyre.
Paul Hembery: “We’ve decided to go for the P Zero White medium and P Zero Yellow soft tyres in India this year, which we think will be the best combination for the Buddh circuit and lead to closer racing. For the last two years running we’ve actually gone for the hard and soft compounds, which might have been slightly on the conservative side, so this year we’ve gone for a softer and slightly more aggressive choice. As a result, just like the last race in Japan, we’re not expecting to see a particularly big variation in lap times between the two compounds. Consequently, the strategy made a very big difference in Japan and this should be the same in India. We only had one pit stop per car in India last year, but this year we would expect two – which also provides the drivers and teams with more opportunities to make up places. With varying elevations and a wide variety of corners India provides the tyres with quite a test, as there are forces coming from all directions, so tyre management will once again prove to be important. As usual, it should be very warm in India, which increases thermal degradation as well. This looks set to be a decisive race for the championship so we hope that our tyre choice will help to make it a memorable contest with high-quality racing.”
Jean Alesi: “Before we talk about India, I’d just like to go back to the Japanese Grand Prix, which is a race that I very much enjoyed watching. I think it really showcased the difference that strategy can make, and the incredible thing is what a close result you can see even with completely different strategies being used. The tension and spectacle this creates for those of watching the race is fantastic. As for India, it’s not actually a circuit that I’ve ever raced on myself but I’ve heard some positive comments from the drivers. There is a bigger picture though: I think that having races in territories such as India is tremendously important because there is huge sporting and commercial potential. As well as driving the cars, the drivers have a real responsibility to be ambassadors for the sport: to awaken the public’s interest in Formula One and all the people who are involved in it. That ambassadorial role is so much more important in places like India than Monza, for example, which has hosted Formula One for many years already. You see tremendous enthusiasm for sport generally in India, particularly cricket, and it would be fantastic if Formula One could have the same sort of following.”
The circuit from a tyre point of view:
One of the most challenging areas of the circuit is the complex that makes up Turns 10 and 11: both of which are taken in quick succession almost as single corner. The tyres have to withstand a high-energy lateral force for around seven seconds. The front-left tyre is worked hardest here, and it has to withstand an acceleration force of up to 4g on the exit of the corner, where maximum grip is needed to hold the racing line.
Turn 4 is another crucial area of the circuit. Here, the cars decelerate from 320kph to 90kph in just 140 metres. The tyres are subjected to a deceleration force of 3.6g, but still have to guarantee stability and precision throughout the braking area.
India also has one of the longest straights of the year, which is more than a kilometre long. The tyre rotates around 50 times per second at full speed, and by the end of the straight the temperature on the tread can exceed 100 degrees centigrade.
Technical tyre notes:
The pit lane in India is one of the longest in Formula One at around 600 metres. This leads to a relatively significant time loss when changing tyres, which is an important factor when considering the race strategy.
The track surface in India is generally not very abrasive. However, having made its debut only two years ago, the asphalt is still evolving. Over time, new asphalt tends to get rougher, as the bitumen on the surface is swept away, leaving the stones that make up the asphalt exposed. This increases abrasion, which has an effect on tyre wear.
All the finishers at last year’s race – where the hard and the soft compound were used – stopped once only, at around lap 30. The most popular strategy by a long way was to start on the soft compound and finish on the hard compound, although one or two drivers further down the grid used the opposite strategy to their advantage.
Meet the Pirelli F1 Team: Fabrizio Tanfani, Chef
They say that an army marches on its stomach, and Pirelli is no exception. Not only that, but Pirelli’s guests are also able to experience the Italian firm’s catering, which has been popularly acclaimed as the best in the paddock. The man behind the magic is chef Fabrizio Tanfani: one of the most talented people in Formula One. He tells a fascinating story. “I started cooking when I was 16 years old: my passion for it came from my mother and my aunt and uncle, because food was like a religion in our house,” he says. “The real good fortune I had though was having friends and relatives who fished and hunted, so from a very young age I had access to the best and freshest ingredients and I found out how to get the best out of them.”
It was inevitable that Fabrizio would go to catering school, which he describes as an exciting period in his life as he learned new techniques and worked with other young chefs. In 2005 he met Christian Staurenghi, who heads up Pirelli’s hospitality, and Christian tried him out in Formula One. “I was quite nervous to begin with as there were some famous drivers and personalities around, but as soon as I started cooking and began to smell the flavours of the food, I relaxed because I was doing what I loved,” recounts Fabrizio. “And here I’ve been ever since…”
Fabrizio is in charge not only of cooking the food, but also of devising the menus and shopping for ingredients (supplemented by some uniquely Italian ingredients that are transported from Italy to the races). It’s very hard work as the catering team are the first to arrive each morning but the last to leave at night: “I’d like to thank my colleagues in the kitchen and the girls who work so hard in the hospitality,” adds Fabrizio. When he’s at home Fabrizio enjoys reading, running, music and – incredibly – cooking dinner for large groups of his friends…
Other news from Pirelli:
At the final round of the Italian Rally Championship, the Sanremo Rally, Pirelli clinched the manufacturers’ title with Peugeot Italia for the fifth time. The drivers’ title had already been wrapped up by Umberto Scandola, driving a Pirelli-equipped Skoda, on the previous round.
Pirelli has sponsored a professorship at one of the most prestigious universities in the United States. Pirelli has established the “Pirelli Visiting Professorship in Italian Studies” for a five-year term at Princeton University in New Jersey. Its aim is to promote the study of Italian history and culture.
Pirelli has launched a brand new bespoke P Zero road car tyre for the recently-revealed Alfa Romeo 4C, which lapped the Nurburgring in 8m04s on Pirelli P Zero Trofeo tyres. The new tyre has been specifically made to match the Alfa Romeo’s performance characteristics, with ‘AR’ branding on the sidewall.
The final round of the Pirelli-backed British Rally Championship also took place last weekend. Citroen driver Osian Pryce won the rally on Pirelli tyres while former Pirelli UK Star Driver Jukka Korhonen clinched the title.
ends
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Vettel takes 8th victory of the year, moves closer to 4th driver’s title
Yeongam, 6 Oct 2013: Sebastian Vettel marched to his eighth victory of the year with a controlled drive at a Korean Grand Prix, the 14th round of the Formula One World Championship, in which all the action happened behind the Red Bull Racing driver. The F1 circus will now move to Japan for the back-to-back race on Sunday while the next stop would be India on October 27. Then to Abu Dhabi, United States and Brazil on Nov 4, 17 and 24 respectively to end the 19-round F1 World Championship.
2013 Korean Grand Prix start shot by Pirelli Starting from pole, Vettel made a good start to hold his advantage through the first few corners, as behind him Lewis Hamilton and Romain Grosjean tussled for second position, the Lotus driver eventually winning out.
While the championship leader did not build the sort of gap to his rivals he has enjoyed at other circuits, Vettel was able to forge a three-second gap to Grosjean in the first stint and even when two rapid-fire safety car periods occurred in the middle of the race, the Red Bull driver controlled matters expertly at the front to eventually finish 4.2 seconds ahead of Kimi Raikkonen and third-placed Grosjean.
“I’m extremely happy with the result, great job by the team, we had two very good stops,” said Vettel. “I think it was quite good to have the safety car coming out the first time, we were just a couple of corners before the pit entry.
“Then, fortunately, we had enough pace to always open up a little bit of a gap, even though I think Kimi and Romain were pretty competitive the longer the stint was. So I think they did maybe a better job with their tyres, looking after their tyres. But all in all, fantastic.”
It was behind the race leader that all the drama took place. After a first stint in which Toro Rosso’s Daniel Ricciardo, the only man to start on the medium tyres, had climbed into the top 10 and during which Red Bull Racing’s Mark Webber also worked his way into the points positions, the order began to settle somewhat. Vettel led Grosjean, Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, while behind them a train was forming behind Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg, with Fernando Alonso, Kimi Raikkonen and Webber all waiting to pounce.
That began to change in the run-up to the second pit stops. First, Hamilton began to lose pace, complaining that his front right tyre was “destroyed”. That allowed Rosberg to narrow a 12-second gap to less than two. But moments after passing his team-mate the German’s front wing failed and trailing sparks he was forced back to the pits for a nosecone change.
His slow stop kept Hamilton out on track and when the Mercedes man finally was brought in by his team, Webber vaulted to third, the Australian having passed Alonso, when the Spaniard made a mistake on lap 28.
Any joy the Red Bull driver was feeling at being in a position to battle for a high points finish was eradicated just after his second stop however.
Webber dived into the pit lane on lap 30 and made a clean stop for a second set of medium tyres. But when he rejoined it was behind McLaren’s Sergio Perez, who was struggling with a damaged front right tyre. The Pirelli tyre blew, taking bits of the McLaren with it and Webber was forced to take evasive action. The Safety Car was deployed.
That was the cue for Vettel and Grosjean to pit and both got away cleanly. Behind them was Kimi Raikkonen who had, almost unnoticed, climbed through the order from ninth on the grid.
Webber, meanwhile, was brought in again by Red Bull Racing, taking on a set of supersoft tyres. He was sent back out in P11 but when the safety car left the circuit, the Australian was broadsided by the Force India of Adrian Sutil on the re-start. Webber’s car was pitched off track where it burst into flames. The Safety Car was back out almost immediately.
Ahead of the incident, Hulkenberg passed Hamilton for fourth place, while in the podium positions, Raikkonen forced an error out of team-mate Grosjean and stole second.
“I got a good run, he made a mistake in I think the second-last corner and I got the good run,” said Raikkonen of the move. “I had heard that there will be yellow flags at the end of the straight, so I knew he’s not going to pass me back with the DRS because it’s not open with the yellow flags. So I thought I would try to overtake and it was not too difficult.”
The Finn admitted, however, that his race to his eighth podium finish of the year had not been easy.
“The car was just understeering too much, the whole weekend, even today, so I had to try to look after the front tyre and that was really the limitation on how much I could push,” he said. “We were stuck behind the traffic after the pit stops. We decided to stop earlier and it was a good move and obviously the safety car helped a little bit but we had the speed and we could run until the end. So even without the safety car we could have maybe run until the end and still have a podium position. So it was good – but not ideal.”
In the final stages after the second safety car, the race was all about Hulkenberg. While the front three maintained position, the Sauber driver in fourth, fought a mesmerising rearguard action as Hamilton, Alonso and eventually Button and Rosberg queued up behind to attack.
The German, though was faultless, delivering a superb drive to claim his best finish of the season.
The order behind the Sauber man remained Hamilton, Alonso, but Rosberg eventually muscled past Button to take seventh place. The McLaren driver held eighth place, while Felipe Massa, whose race was compromised by a Turn 3 collision with Alonso just after the start, recovered to finish ninth, ahead of Perez.
Vettel’s win means he extends his Drivers’ Championship lead over Alonso to 77 points, with five rounds left. The championship now moves on to the Japanese Grand Prix, a race the German says he is looking forward to.
“I think it’s the best track in the world,” he said. “The fans are crazy – completely crazy in a positive way so really looking forward to Japan.”
It could be for more than the fan worship. It is possible for Vettel to win the title at Suzuka should he win and Alonso not finish above ninth place. A long shot perhaps but it certainly brings into focus how close the 26-year-old is to a fourth consecutive crown.
2013 Korean Grand Prix – Race Result
1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing 55 25
2. Kimi Räikkönen Lotus 55 +4.2 secs 18
3. Romain Grosjean Lotus 55 +4.9 secs 15
4. Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 55 +24.1 secs 12
5. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 55 +25.2 secs 10
6. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 55 +26.1 secs 8
7. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 55 +26.6 secs 6
8. Jenson Button McLaren 55 +32.2 secs 4
9. Felipe Massa 55 +34.3 secs 2
10. Sergio Perez McLaren 55 +35.1 secs 1
11. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber 55 +35.9 secs
12. Valtteri Bottas Williams 55 +47.0 secs
13. Pastor Maldonado Williams 55 +50.0 secs
14. Charles Pic Caterham 55 +63.5 secs
15. Giedo van der Garde Caterham 55 +64.5 secs
16. Jules Bianchi Marussia 55 +67.9 secs
17. Max Chilton Marussia 55 +72.8 secs
18. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 53 Mechanical
19. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 52 Mechanical
20. Adrian Sutil Force India 50 +5 Laps
Ret 2 Mark Webber Red Bull Racing 36 +19 Laps
Ret 14 Paul di Resta Force India 24 Accidentends
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Tyres to open up strategy at Korean Grand Prix: A view from Pirelli
Milan, 30 Sept 2013: Just like the previous race under the lights of Singapore, the P Zero White medium and P Zero Red supersoft compounds have been nominated for the Korean Grand Prix: but this is a circuit that is very different in character. Yeongam, close to Mokpo, to the south of the country, contains a bit of everything: from fast corners to slower and more technical sections. Having made its grand prix debut in 2010, the 5.615-kilometre track is run anti-clockwise which is no problem for the tyres, but is sometimes a source of strain the drivers’ neck muscles, a Pirelli press release said.
The Korea International Circuit is rarely used outside of the grand prix, so there is usually a high degree of track evolution over the course of the weekend. The combination of medium and supersoft, used for the fourth time this year, is designed to maximize speed in qualifying yet at the same time guarantee a high level of durability for the race, which offers plenty of opportunity for strategy.
Paul Hembery: “This year’s nomination represents a change from last season where we brought the soft and supersoft, as it best complements the characteristics of the 2013 range of compounds. We would expect there to be a significant difference in lap time between the two compounds we have selected, as was the case in Singapore, and that should help the teams to put together some interesting strategies. Korea is an interesting mix: you get some fast corners as well as some slower ones but actually it has the highest lateral energy demand of all the circuits where the supersoft is used, so tyre management is going to be important once more. In particular, the work done in free practice when it comes to assessing the wear and degradation levels on each compound with different fuel loads is going to be especially important, as that will hold the key to the correct strategy. We saw the difference that having the right strategy could make in Singapore, and although there is a lower probability of a safety car in Korea, this is still something that the teams will be paying a lot of attention to in the build-up to the grand prix, as the championship enters its final phase.”
Jean Alesi: “Korea is not a track that I have raced on myself, but I have heard many positive things about it from the drivers. This is encouraging, because when the modern generation of circuits first came in they were not universally popular but now it seems there is a different philosophy that ensures all the new tracks are real drivers’ circuits as well. What is interesting about this race is that the tyre nomination will be the same as Singapore, which was a very good race. We could see a big gap in lap times between the two compounds and some drivers were able to use this to their advantage to build a good strategy. The other thing that we saw was the consistency of the supersoft tyre: even though it is the softest tyre in the range it managed to complete quite long stints without any notable drop-off in performance, so I imagine that we will see the same in Korea.”
The circuit from a tyre point of view:
The most critical characteristics of this track from a tyre point of view are the high-speed corners and heavy braking areas, which allow the cars to use their maximum stopping power (or to be precise, deceleration) of 5.2g. With the weight transfer involved, this equates to the front tyres being subjected to a vertical force that is the equivalent of 900 kilogrammes.
As well as the braking, there are big lateral forces exerted on the tyres. Turns 7 to 8 for example involve a direction change at 270kph. This puts plenty of lateral energy through the loaded tyres, which peaks at 4.4g. The rapid direction changes demand maximum rigidity from the structure, which ensures steering precision and helps the driver to hold the ideal line.
Another crucial area is the slower sequence of corners from turns 15 to 17. The kerbs that the drivers use on the inside test the structure and mean that the road-holding from the outside tyre is critical: an issue that is dealt with by the high levels of mechanical grip generated by the supersoft tyre in particular.
Technical tyre notes:
The aerodynamic set-up adopted for Korea by the teams is quite similar to Japan, with medium to high levels of downforce. However, the traction demands are much higher than in Japan, so the teams use different engine maps to help put the power down out of the slow corners. The front-right tyre is worked hardest at the Korean track.
Graining can be an issue in Korea, particularly in the low-grip conditions at the start of the weekend. Graining is caused when the cars slide sideways too much, creating an uneven wave-like pattern of wear on the surface of the tread that affects performance.
The majority of drivers last year used a two-stop strategy, while only three tried a one-stop or a three-stop strategy. The top 10 qualifiers all started on the supersoft tyre, with Sebastian Vettel winning the race for Red Bull from second on the grid. Toro Rosso’s Jean-Eric Vergne was the highest-placed starter on the soft tyre from 16th, finishing the race in 8th position.
The tyre choices so far:
PZero Red PZero Yellow PZero White PZero Orange Australia Supersoft Medium Malaysia Medium Hard China Soft Medium Bahrain Medium Hard Spain Medium Hard Monaco Supersoft Soft Canada Supersoft Medium Great Britain Medium Hard Germany Soft Medium Hungary Soft Medium Belgium Medium Hard Italy Medium Hard Singapore Supersoft Medium Korea Supersoft Medium Meet the Pirelli F1 Team: James Gresham, Logistics Manager
James started off life as an engineer – and that clearly shows through in his passion for all things mechanical. He went to university in Birmingham and then joined March Engineering, doing pretty much everything at some point from mechanic to stores manager, sales manager, team manager and project manager. He then moved into the tyre industry and has been with Pirelli ever since the company started its Formula One contract from 2011. As logistics manager, his job in short is to ensure that all the correct tyres are fitted to the correct car, and organise all the people and equipment that are necessary to ensure that this process takes place smoothly. “That’s essentially it, and it’s the same job no matter where we are in the world,” James points out. The Englishman is based at Pirelli’s motorsport hub in Didcot but it’s what he does outside of work that is truly remarkable. He owns a collection of old cars including a 1897 tricycle – typical of one of the very oldest racing machines in the world – and a 1901 De Dion Bouton, which was bought new by his grandfather in 1902. In the 1990s he was a six-time national sailing champion as well as a three-time winner of the prestigious Cowes Regatta, and he still tries to find time to do some sailing now. If that wasn’t enough, he also volunteers on a vintage railway in north Wales and he is currently helping to build a signal box. He’s certainly the man with the widest range of hobbies in Pirelli – and probably in the whole of Formula One…
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I think a great result on Sunday is possible: Nico Rosberg
DRIVERS
1 – Sebastian VETTEL (Red Bull Racing)
2 – Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)
3 – Romain GROSJEAN (Lotus)Q: Sebastian, biting your nails at the end there. You took the decision not to go out and do a final run. Does it sit comfortably with you, being a gambler?
Sebastian VETTEL: Yeah. It’s a weird feeling. You stand in the garage when there’s roughly two minutes to go in the session and you know that it’s too late. But then it’s much worse when you see the others at the final attempt and you know there’s nothing you can do. Because you stand in the garage. I was watching the sector times very closely with obviously Romain, Nico and Mark in particular. Mark started with a purple sector one, very close in sector two, then Nico had a purple sector two, then Romain had a purple sector two. Then fortunately my last sector was strong enough to – yeah – just stay ahead. It was very close in the end with Nico. That’s a great feeling then, obviously, because it could go wrong but very happy obviously with the result. The car’s been phenomenal all weekend. Yesterday I think the gap was a bit of a surprise. Today’s been more what we expected – especially with Mercedes being very close behind.
Q: The gap is a tenth of a second Nico. You’ve had the upper hand over your team-mate here but not quite over the Red Bulls.
Nico ROSBERG: Yeah, unfortunately Sebastian especially has been really quick the whole weekend but it was very, very close in the end. A pity, because one tenth more, with the way they gambled in the last qualifying… One tenth more would have been possible somehow, y’know? That would have been great but anyway, second place is still a good result. A great result. And it gives me a good position to start the race tomorrow and I’m also very confident about our race pace. It’s looking OK so I think a great result is possible.
Q: Romain, a confident decision from you in the first part of qualifying not to use the faster tyre. Were you feeling confident today?
Romain GROSJEAN: Well, I think the car’s been OK today. If we look at how many laps we did in the whole weekend so far, P3 in the quali is not too bad. We knew we were strong this morning. I think we got a little bit caught by the night coming on and it was a little bit less quick than the fast time we expected in Q1 but nevertheless I think the team did a good decision about the strategy and the cut-off and everything, so then we had two attempts in Q3. It’s good to be at the front in this grand prix.
Q: Sebastian. You’ve won from pole the last two grands prix. Is it more of a challenge to do it around this Marina Bay circuit tomorrow?
SV: Yeah, definitely. It’s one of the toughest races we face all year. I would say the toughest – physically and mentally – because it’s so long. One lap is so long, there’s so many corners, there’s hardly any room for mistakes, it’s very bumpy and, as you can see, we’re all sweating pretty much even though we only did a couple of laps in qualifying. So the heat obviously and the humidity plays a factor. It will be very tough. Surely pole is the best position to start from – very happy with that as it is tricky to pass on this track. But because it is such a long race I think there is plenty of opportunities for all of us. Usually we get a safety car at some stage in the race. Yeah, as I said, happy to start from pole, try to have a good start and then settle into a nice rhythm and see what we can do.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: So Sebastian, your 41st career pole, sixth of this season, three in a row now after Spa and Monza. You’ve had a great record around here, won the last two times at Singapore. What is it about this Singapore circuit that really gets to you?
SV: I don’t know. We race at night. I think even though it hasn’t been in the calendar for many decades but still it seems like a classic and it’s a very nice place to come to. The circuit is a big challenge for all of us. It’s so long, so many corners, very difficult to keep the focus for the entire lap. Tomorrow’s race will be very long, it’s usually the longest race we have with two hours duration. So, yeah, it’s just… you hate it and love it at the same time. Obviously in qualifying if you get the lap right it feels fantastic. I think it’s the challenge that I love – that we love – when we come here.
Q: A quick word on your main title rival – Fernando Alonso seventh today.
SV: Yeah, obviously, I don’t know. We don’t really look at what the others do. At least I don’t. So, I think the race is long, as I touched on, especially around here. I think the Ferrari was struggling the last couple of events in qualifying but they have a very, very good race pace. I think the last couple of races Fernando always finished on the podium, so I’m sure they will come back. So, yeah, obviously it’s no harm for us today but first of all we have to look after ourselves and look at what we can do in the race. And then we see where we are. But I’m confident Fernando will do everything he can tomorrow in the race to fight back.
Q: Nico, it was reminiscent today of Monaco back in May. Another street track and very competitive again for you.
NR: Yeah, I really like street tracks generally. Always been quick on them and again today I felt comfortable with the car. Really the whole weekend, the progress has been nice. Starting on Friday, I wasn’t very happy with the car and everything, wasn’t feeling very good. We just worked through it, and really optimised it and it was just perfect in qualifying then. It’s just everybody together: me with my engineers, the mechanics, everybody working together well. I’m pleased with second. I think Sebastian was out of reach this weekend, all weekend, so second is OK. And with a good race pace, should be good tomorrow.
Q: A quick word on how it went from a second [off P1] after FP2 yesterday to less than a tenth this evening.
NR: Well obviously they gambled a bit. I’m sure they were still quite a step quicker than that lap time if Sebastian would have done another set of tyres. But for sure we’ve closed the gap again as we always do on weekends. And that’s good to see that we’re able to do that.
Q: Romain, you touched on the fact that you had a lot of problems yesterday but it’s another big improvement from the Lotus team from Friday through to today and from your own point of view overcoming those difficulties. How did you do that?
RG: Well to be honest, yesterday didn’t look that bad on the few laps we did – I think we had ten timed laps, something like that in total in the whole day but we were something like P5 yesterday evening and the lap wasn’t great. So I knew we had a good baseline to start today and this morning went pretty well. And Quali, yeah, we had a good strategy again. In Q1 it was tight because I guess the Prime tyres were less quick than what we expected but then we had a very good set of tyres for the Q2 and Q3 and we did manage to have good runs. We could compare between the two cars, what they were doing and what we were doing and try to get the best of both. It’s good. I think we could have tried to have a go at Nico but yeah, it was just not quite good for the first few corners.
Q: Is it fair to say you’re driving like a man who knows that his team-mate is moving on next year and you want to be the lead driver of the team next year?
RG: I don’t really care. Relation with Kimi has been always… not very ‘speaky’, and I just do my best on my own. I like the team, I’m sure they’re quite happy with the way we work so far and yeah, just focussed on what I have to do and then we’ll see for the future.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR.
Q: (Abhishek Takle – Mid-Day) Sebastian, I think you had a gap of around 0.6s after the initial runs in Q3. You chose to sit the last run out; were you surprised by the amount of time these guys gained? In the end the gap was less than a tenth.
SV: Well, it’s difficult to expect. I knew that obviously we had a cushion which is why we decided not to run again but the thing you don’t know is how much the track improves so I’m sure that there was a little bit of track ramping up plus the fact that if you run again you get a better feel for the tyres, for the track and you get a little bit more out of yourself, so we thought it was good enough and in the end it was good enough. But yeah, it was probably a bit closer. Both of them, Nico and Romain, had a very strong middle sector but fortunately my last sector was strong enough to keep them just behind.
Q: Just for clarity, on the radio you said you thought you could find another tenth when you were asked, and you didn’t look 100 percent convinced when you got out of the car, so was it a team decision rather than your decision?
SV: No, it’s a decision we, we… obviously Rocky (race engineer Guillaume Rocquelin) asked me whether I was happy not to run again and stay in the garage and I said ‘yes, I’m happy.’ He asked before that how much I thought I could improve if I went again. I told him that probably there was a tenth, maybe two. You take a little bit of track into account, a little bit of yourself, how much the track ramps up is difficult to know so I thought there was a tenth in me – it is the most famous tenth in the world, that all the drivers seem to have in their pocket but they couldn’t get it out in qualifying so it’s still there somewhere. It was very close and it’s not the best feeling when you stand there and watch.
Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Nico, we have some similarities between this race and the Hungarian Grand Prix until now, that Lewis starts better than Sebastian, got the lead in the first corner and then finished the race, he won the race. Do you think you always have the pace in race conditions to keep in front of Sebastian or here the overtaking possibilities mean that he can’t overtake you?
NR: Lewis was on pole in Hungary, I’m second here so it’s a bit different. Not sure. I’ll give it a go. For sure, he’s quicker on race pace, we saw that on Friday so if I can get by, then it’s possible that I can stay in front but it’s all down to the start. I think the left hand side has a little bit less grip than the right hand side on this track at the start but we will see. It’s possible.
Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto, Motor und Sport) Nico, where did the big jump from the first outing to the second come from? Was it just the circuit being better, was it because maybe you have been a bit conservative in your first outing or did you change something on the wing setting or whatever for the last outing?
NR: Very difficult to explain. I don’t know. I didn’t expect such an improvement either but I think it was the same for everybody so maybe it’s down to the track ramping up or cooling down a bit more, track temperature dropping or something of the sort. I’m not sure.
Q: Were you surprised by how much quicker the used supersofts were when you went out on them the second time at the beginning of Q2? Sebastian maybe take it first.
SV: I didn’t go out on them.
NR: Was I surprised at the time I could do? Not really, no, because I knew the track was getting better and I saw what my teammate did in Q1, pushing, so no, I wasn’t surprised.
Q: (Don Kennedy – Hawke’s Bay Today) Sebastian, you’ve won the last two races here, you’re on pole and you’re probably anything from half a second to a second faster than everybody else. Do you think now we can expect you to be more confident about not only winning this race tomorrow but also the championship?
SV: I think it was quite close. Whether… I think the track ramped up, whether we could have gone with that we don’t know because we didn’t do the run but I’m sure we had a little bit of time in hand. But yeah, for tomorrow I think the car feels fine, the race pace looked very strong on Friday, yesterday, so yeah, if all goes well we should have a very good chance to get a strong result but to be honest with you, I try… I’m not just trying… I do keep it very simple. I’ve got to do my homework. Just because of the fact that the last couple of races were pretty good doesn’t mean that there’s a guarantee that this one will be good again and the next one and so on and so forth. I think it’s the wrong strategy to lean back and see what the others can do. You might get surprised, so we keep going flat out, I keep pushing myself 100 percent. The target tomorrow is to win, not only for the championship but more so, to be honest with you, because it’s such a nice race. That means a lot to me. As I touched on, the challenge around here is one of the biggest we face all year so that’s why it means a lot to finish this race on the podium and even better if you can win it. You don’t have to be a genius (to work out) if you win, you score more points than the others and it feeds on itself.
Ends
