13-Jan-10: Fisichella Hopes for Race Seat in 2010

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Welcome to F1 Minute, it’s the 13th January 2010.

Giancarlo Fisichella has said that he is still hopeful that he might get a race seat for one of the teams with a seat available in 2010, even though he is signed with Ferrari as a reserve driver. Fisi said: “Abu Dhabi could have been my last race, but maybe not. It would be nice to know my future, but in the case of not racing I’ll be in the Ferrari team as third driver and for me that’s still a very good opportunity.” Ferrari have already said there is nothing in Fisichella’s contract to stop him racing elsewhere.

Whilst we’re on the subject of Ferrari, the team confirmed the launch of their new car will be on the 28th January – a Thursday – and naturally, it will be in Maranello.

Finally, the new points scoring system has come under fire from Bernie Ecclestone who thinks although the numbers are bigger, the incentive to win still isn’t enough. It seems as though the teams are still discussing the system, though.

That’s all for now, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.

Kobayashi to drive for BMW Sauber F1 Team from 2010

Kamui Kobayashi has been signed on as a BMW Sauber F1 Team driver as of season 2010. The 23-year-old Japanese drew attention to himself in 2009 with two strong performances as a substitute driver for Toyota.

“I’m very much looking forward to working together with Kamui,” said Peter Sauber. “In the final two Grand Prix of last season he was granted an unexpected chance to show his skills, and he made impressive use of it. Particularly in the Abu Dhabi race he demonstrated not only that he can drive fast and aggressively, but also his ability to successfully implement a strategy. I am convinced he has a great deal of potential and will be able to make the most of it in our team.”

“Ever since the start of my career I have dreamed of racing in Formula One,” said Kobayashi. “Now this dream has come true. I am very happy that my two races in 2009 have earned me a cockpit place. I will do my very best for Peter Sauber’s team and I am proud to be able to carry on flying the Japanese flag in Formula One.”

Kamui Kobayashi was born on 13th September 1986 in the Japanese city of Amagasaki. He took up karting at the age of nine. Toyota’s Young Drivers’ Programme was the passport to Formula Renault in 2004 and 2005, after which he took part in the Formula 3 Euro Series, winning the race in Magny-Cours, France in 2007. Further podium places earned him fourth place in the final rankings – and with it promotion. At the end of 2007, Toyota had already signed him on as a Formula One reserve driver from 2008 on.

At the same time, Kobayashi was competing in the GP2 Series in Asia and Europe in 2008 and 2009. He claimed an early maiden win in the European GP2, and in winter 2008/2009 he took a convincing title in the GP2 Asia.

Kamui Kobayashi lives in Paris. He speaks Japanese and English.
He is 1.70 m tall and weighs 63 kg

11-Dec-09: FIA Confirm Calendar and Points System

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Hello and welcome, this is F1 Minute for the 11th December.

The FIA have been busy today with a World Motorsport Council meeting to discuss many things including the 2010 F1 season. Some interesting things came out of it, including the fact that the potential points system we discussed yesterday has been introduced with a win worth 25, and points all the way down to 10th place. Also, Abu Dhabi got their way and have been handed the final grid slot on the calendar, with Brazil moving up to be the penultimate Grand Prix.

Another key point was the stewarding process, with a permanent panel of three stewards, including experienced ex-F1 drivers, to attend each race, alongside national stewards. There will no longer be a non-voting Chairman, ie. Alan Donnelly, but each group of stewards will elect a Chairman at each race.

That’s all for today, have a great weekend and join me on Monday for another F1 Minute.

FIA – Abu Dhabi Takes Promotional Awards

Alongside the FIA champions, two trophies were presented for best promoter and best race broadcaster at the FIA Gala in Monaco.

The Race Promoters’ Trophy went to Abu Dhabi Grand Prix for providing Formula One with a state-of-the-art circuit in a stunning setting and for organising the first-ever twilight race. The award was collected by His Excellency Abdulla Khouri, Board Member of the Yas Marina Circuit.

His Excellency Abdulla Khouri said:

“I’m honoured to receive this trophy on behalf of the Yas Marina Circuit and the many organisations and people back in Abu Dhabi who were involved in organising the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. I thank all of those who supported us and helped to make our event such a success, which led to receiving this prize here in Monaco.”

The twilight concept and the spectacular setting of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix also proved popular with television viewers across the world. Formula One Management took the Television Trophy for its outstanding coverage of the event, with the award presented to FOM TV Director Dean Locke.

Rounding Off the Season?

The Yas Marina hotel awaiting it’s next opportunity to light up a Formula 1 session. CEO of the circuit Richard Cregan has requested that the FIA rethink the 2010 calendar, and give the season finale back to the Abu Dhabi circuit, rather than Brazil.

Credit: Yas Marina Circuit

09-Dec-09: Abu Dhabi Request Final 2010 Grid Slot

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Welcome to F1 Minute for the 9th December 2009.

Organisers of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix have appealed to the FIA for yet another calendar change that would see them granted the final race of the year once more. Initially, they had the last calendar slot, but then Brazil was given the November 14th season closing position instead. CEO Richard Cregan said: “The final meeting is this week and we will know after that where we are on the calendar. Fingers crossed we will get the last race but I don’t know what the situation will be. I think that either way we are going to be happy.”

Elsewhere, the Motorsport Business Forum in Monaco has many top F1 personnel talking about the sport and how it can improve. Today they were talking about media, and Lotus chief Tony Fernandes said: “I look at the future of where F1 could go if managed correctly. It is a massive sport that is as yet untapped. We haven’t touched the whole world yet, through online. I left the music business because it didn’t want to embrace the internet…”

That’s all for today, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.

Force India – Adrian Sutil: ‘It was another one to learn from’

Force India – Tonio Liuzzi Q&A: ‘We achieved the maximum we could get’

With its tight corners Abu Dhabi was always going to be a challenge for the Force India team. It was a tough weekend for both drivers, and after starting 16th Tonio Liuzzi brought the car safely home in 15th in F1’s first ‘twilight’ race. We asked him for his thoughts on the season finale.

Q: After challenging for points in recent races was it a bit disappointing to be near the back in Abu Dhabi?
We knew that it would be difficult at these end of the season races because our car is a low drag car, so we thought maybe we would struggle at this kind of circuit. We were hoping got a good result in Abu Dhabi, but we were conscious that we would have a hard time as well!

Q: So how did the race go for you?
I think in the race we achieved the maximum we could. In qualifying we had a problem with one set of tyres, and without that maybe we could have got into Q2. But the race showed that our performance wasn’t there, and the maximum we could have achieved was this position. We didn’t have the pace, we had a lot of problems to stick the car to the ground. As usual we were really fast on the straights, because we have low drag, but in the last sector, with the tight corners, we were losing a lot of time. We were ready for this, but unfortunately we cannot change the track just for us!

Q: Did you have any issues in the race?
After six laps we had a problem with the brakes, the pedal was getting longer and we were struggling to stop the car in the corners with big braking, like Turn 6 and Turn 10.

Q: You were quicker than Adrian in qualifying. Was that encouraging?
For me it doesn’t count for much, it wasn’t my target. I knew that once I was getting back in the rhythm things would be OK. I was disappointed that in Suzuka and Interlagos we couldn’t achieve what we wanted in qualifying, and in Abu Dhabi as well. In Monza we showed that we were competitive and similar to Adrian, and the most important thing was to bring back some points for the team and for myself. I was not fighting to be ahead of Adrian, it’s about getting back into the rhythm.

Q: And you were battling with him for a while in the race?
It was not really a fight, I knew he was coming really fast, and he was on a different strategy. So I didn’t block at all, I just moved aside and let him by, because he was running at a different speed. There was no point to stop him, we are a team.

Q: What did you think of the track?
It’s an easy circuit. I don’t like all these tarmac run-off areas, like so many new circuits! At the end of the day it’s better than many others. It was a fun race, a fun circuit, it’s just somehow too easy because of all tarmac allows people to make mistakes and come back on the track!

Williams – Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – Review

Q&A WITH ROD NELSON, CHIEF OPERATIONS ENGINEER

Q: How much of a technical challenge was the new Yas Marina Circuit?
RN: Yas Marina has the layout of a street circuit, at least in sector 3, but the surface of a dedicated track, unlike its fellow street circuits, Monaco and Singapore. This means that you can run a relatively stiff set-up to optimise aero efficiency, as you would on a typical road course.  While the tight and twisty nature of sector 3 suggests a maximum downforce set-up, it must be tempered to accommodate the relatively long straights in the first two sectors.

Q: How dusty was the asphalt and how much did it rubber-in during the weekend?
RN: Because the circuit is effectively in the desert it was covered in a very fine dust for the start of practice on Friday. Conditions were also fairly windy due to its proximity to the sea so, although the circuit cleaned up during running, much of the dust settled back on track overnight. That left us with relatively low grip levels again for the start of P3 on Saturday morning. We definitely saw an improvement on Sunday with the drivers remarking that they preferred driving the track with the heightened grip levels felt towards the end of the race.

Q: Did you expect the FW31 to be more competitive?
RN: With a more “normal” street track we might have expected the FW31 to be more competitive, as we were in Monaco, Valencia and Singapore. We were, however, still hopeful of a fourth row grid slot in qualifying, but we lost a couple of tenths on the final lap of Q3 which put us down the order for the race.

Q: Most cars struggled on the option tyre. Was that the case with the FW31 and, if so, why?
RN: The option tyre was particularly sensitive to the dusty conditions while the prime was more stable. The option improved somewhat during the race as the circuit rubbered in though.

Q: Did the heat cause any technical issues for the team?
RN: The absolute temperature didn’t cause any issues. However, because qualifying and the race were held in twilight conditions, track temperature dropped throughout both sessions. This affected tyre warm-up and car balance so we had to account for that with car set-up and tyre pressures.

Q: Was eighth place ever on the cards for Nico?
RN: The best chance for points would have been with an early overtaking manoeuvre in the first couple of laps. Strategically, there was not much more that we could have achieved.

Q: Please sum up the 2009 season for AT&T Williams…
RN: Although the car was competitive at the start of the year, we had some difficult races with accidents in Melbourne and poor weather in Malaysia and Shanghai. The middle of the season saw consistent performances, with eight points-scoring races in succession. The consistency faltered somewhat with a poor performance at Monza’s low downforce Autodromo, followed by a pitlane penalty at Singapore which robbed us of a good podium finish. We were once again looking likely for a podium finish at Brazil had it not have been for the gearbox failure, and we finished just out of the points at Abu Dhabi meaning we were unable to defend our position in the Constructors’ Championship.

Q: What plans does the team have for the winter months? Which young drivers will you test and when can we expect to see the new FW32?
RN: The design, development and manufacture process of the new car is well under way now so the entire factory is flat out. We have the three day young driver test that the FIA allows us in December during which we will be testing Andy Soucek following his victory of the inaugural F2 Championship, together with our new race driver, Nico Hulkenberg. The FW32 will be ready to run at the start of the February testing period.

Toyota – Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Debrief – Q+A with Kamui Kobayashi

What did you think about the new Yas Marina Circuit?
The new facility is just amazing and I’ve never seen a racing track like that. The organisers did a great job with the facilities, which were perfect for everyone. The track itself was interesting and fun to drive; also you could overtake there which makes it even better.

How would you sum up your second Grand Prix weekend?
It was a great weekend for me and I have to thank the team for this opportunity. Sixth place was a fantastic result and better than I imagined at the start of the weekend, so I am very pleased with how things worked out. Still, there is room for improvement and I have several areas to improve, such as qualifying pace. My target was to qualify in the top 10 but I just missed out, so there is a bit of work to do there.

How did you feel when you crossed the line to score your first Formula 1 points?
I was just really, really happy because my goal since I was a little kid was to be a Formula 1 driver and to score points in only my second Grand Prix felt great. Actually, I had the potential to finish even higher but I lost a little time in traffic; otherwise I could have been fighting for fourth because I was getting close at the end of the race. It was a great moment to come back to the team after parc fermé and see how happy everyone was.

You had another exciting race, tell us about it.
At the start I got a good getaway and managed to pass Kimi (Raikkonen) which was very important for our one-stop strategy. If I had been behind him during my first stint it would have been much tougher to score points but when I was past I concentrated on setting consistently fast lap times, even though I had a heavy fuel load. Towards the end of my first stint Jenson (Button) came out of the pits just in front of me. He was heavier than me and on cold tyres so I was able to pass him. Again that was important because I needed some fast laps at that time to make my strategy work. On the option tyres I struggled a bit to start with but then I found a rhythm and just kept going faster and faster, so at the end I was getting close to the battle for fourth.

How did it feel to overtake two World Champions?
I don’t think about them as World Champions; they are just my rivals on the track like everyone else and my job is to get past them if I can. It’s fun to battle on track, particularly when you can overtake, but I’m only thinking about my race position, not about what another driver has won or whatever.

How did you prepare for this race? Did you concentrate on anything specific after Brazil?
Well, I didn’t know for sure I would be driving until the week of the race but obviously there was a chance because of Timo’s injury. So I spent as much time as I could in Cologne at the factory; I was only at home in Paris for one day after Brazil. We looked at all the information from Brazil and identified areas to improve – things like car set-up, tyre management, communication with engineers. We studied everything and thought about improvements, which really paid off. One area I particularly worked hard on was race pace because that wasn’t perfect in Brazil, so when I started the race I was confident I had the potential to get into the points.

Were you happy with your qualifying performance?
It was not bad but I was aiming for the top 10 and I definitely think I had the potential to do that. In the end I was just a tenth of a second away which was a bit disappointing. But as we proved on race day, I was close enough to finish in the top six so everything worked out well.

What will you do now?
My first priority is to take a holiday! For the past two years I have hardly had a day off with GP2, GP2 Asia and Formula 1 testing so I am really looking forward to a bit of a break to relax and recharge my batteries. After that, we’ll see what happens.

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