What You Want to See
June 25, 2009 by Christine
Filed under F1 Big Picture
Flavio Briatore talks with Nelson Piquet Jr during Free Practice of the Chinese Grand Prix weekend. Briatore has confirmed he will be working with the commercial rights holder to improve the show of F1, including some of the ideas they already suggested. He wants to give the audience what they want.
Credit: Steven Tee/LAT Photographic
Renault Cast Shadow Over F1 Future
May 13, 2009 by Christine
Filed under F1 Big Picture
Fernando Alonso in the R29 during the Chinese Grand Prix weekend. Renault confirmed today that they were joining the teams who have already threatened to boycott the 2010 season. Ferrari are still the most high-profile pull out, though, with reaction continuing from their statement yesterday.
Credit: Andrew Ferraro/LAT Photographic
The Business End
May 2, 2009 by Christine
Filed under F1 Big Picture
Looking forwards through the Toro Rosso garage during qualifying at the Chinese Grand Prix. Now that the calendar returns to Europe, teams will be updating many aero parts on their cars. Those without the double decker diffusers will hope to bolt them on as soon as possible.
Credit: Vladimir Rys/Bongarts/Getty Images
Williams – Chinese Grand Prix Preview
April 23, 2009 by Christine
Filed under Press Releases
SYNOPSIS
Nico Rosberg yet again demonstrated a positive pace over the course of the three practice sessions, but the team struggled to convert this to single lap pace for Saturday’s qualifying. From P7 on the grid, Nico Rosberg’s strategy as pre-planned on Saturday was to run a fairly short first stint and much would be reliant on claiming at least one position off the line with a good start, making the plan somewhat bold but risky.
Kazuki had a free fuel choice and, to provide the team with a good spread of options, he was placed on a long first stint. However, come the hour, the weather and the race start behind the Safety Car required a wholesale adaptation of strategy plans and it was decided to bring Nico in early on lap 5, a decision made on the expectation that the Safety Car period would be lengthy just as it was in Fuji in 2007, an expectation shared by Renault as they boxed Alonso on lap 7. In the event, a shorter-than-expected period before racing resumed meant that the other short-fuelled cars of Vettel, Webber and Trulli were able to press home their advantage before having to make their first stops. The weather had once again intervened to compromise the team’s strategy plans. Having rejoined the field at the back of the pack, Nico struggled for pace for the remainder of the afternoon, mainly due to poor visibility, and crossed the line in P15.
Meanwhile, further down the field, Kazuki Nakajima had a difficult day carrying a heavy fuel load in adverse conditions. Picking up Glock, the dispatch of the second safety car also compromised Kazuki’s position as all those ahead of him effectively gained a free pitstop. After several excursions off the race track, a puncture and subsequent damage to the drivetrain of his FW31, Kazuki’s race ultimately ended on lap 48. Kazuki’s car will require a gearbox change for the Bahrain Grand Prix, but a penalty will not be incurred as he completed less than 90% of the full race distance.
Q&A WITH SAM MICHAEL, TECHNICAL DIRECTOR
Q: Please sum up your feelings after the Chinese Grand Prix.
SM: It’s wasn’t our best performance. As a team, we made mistakes which we will be investigating this week at the factory before heading to Bahrain. We have a strong car at the moment and we really need to start capitalising on that and getting some points on the board.
Q: How accurate was your weather forecast? Were you expecting a fully-wet race?
SM: It was actually quite good. We had a link into the Chinese government’s weather information on the pitwall which is updated every 15 minutes, and we also share a weather radar with the other teams so we have plenty of resource available to us to ensure that the forecast is accurate. We were therefore expecting it to be wet for the duration of the race.
Q: When running in clear air, how did the FW31 perform in the wet?
SM: It went well, evident by the lap times Nico was putting in.
Q: Why did Nico pit while behind the first Safety Car?
SM: We thought the Safety Car would stay out for a much longer time than it did so, if we had to pit late and the Renault and the two Red Bulls had already pitted, we would have ended up behind them. Unfortunately, it turned out to be the wrong call. The decision cost us a couple of positions but it wasn’t the main reason why we didn’t perform well in China. In the end, we were just too slow in the wet.
Q: Had it not rained late-on in the race, where do you think Nico could have finished on Intermediates?
SM: The Intermediates worked well for a few laps and it was starting to look like a really good decision, but then the rain increased slightly and that was enough to hand the advantage back to the drivers on the Full Wet tyres. We took a risk because we were out of the points anyway.
Q: Kazuki seemed to have several problems towards the end of the race, what were they?
SM: Kazuki had a right rear puncture and was then forced to stop as he had a gearbox problem. We have subsequently traced the problem to the differential.
Q: In dry conditions, were you pleased with the performance of FW31 around Shanghai?
SM: Our long run pace was really good, but we weren’t good enough in qualifying.
Q: What did you think of Bridgestone’s dry-tyre compound selection?
SM: They are interesting to manage but overall they are ok.
Q: Looking ahead to Bahrain, how do you expect the FW31 to perform? Will the team have any development parts?
SM: The FW31 should work well in Bahrain so we’re looking forward to improving our performance.
Force India – Adrian: Very proud of this race
April 23, 2009 by Christine
Filed under Press Releases
Adrian Sutil put in another brilliant wet weather performance for Force India in China, running as high as sixth – ahead of Lewis Hamilton – before aquaplaning caught him out and pitched him into the tyre wall with less than six laps to go.
Adrian had started with a light fuel load, but the team changed strategy in the early laps behind the safety car by bringing him in and giving him more fuel. Once the race finally got going he pitted again on lap 19 and filled up to run to the flag in what was in effect a one-stop strategy. Running a very heavy car and keeping his extreme wet tyres alive for such a long stint was a huge challenge. We asked him for his thoughts on the race.
Q: You had a fantastic race in the wet in Monaco last year, and another one here, but sadly both ended in retirement. What are your feelings about today?
‘Our performance was really very good and we should all be very proud of this race. It was a risk to go on one-stop, because I stopped very early. I was very light at the beginning and then under the safety car we went into the pits and just filled it up. We knew it would have been tight on the tyres, but the grip in the corners was enough to stay in a good position, but with the aquaplaning on the straights it was sometimes hard to keep it on the circuit. You never knew what was going to happen because the car went to the left or the right. With six laps to go I hit another patch of water and ended up in the wall. It was very disappointing.’
Q: That set of tyres had to do a lot of laps. How did they look when you stopped?
‘They were still OK, but the profile goes down and down. We’re talking about a few millimetres, but it is still enough to cause a lot of problems with the water. I got a lot of understeer, and the traction went down of course, but after 30 laps that’s how it is.’
Q: Was it fun taking on the McLarens in an equal fight?
‘Yes it was good! I made a good pass on Kovalainen when he went out of the pits, so I could take his position. Then I was behind Lewis, and in the end he was behind me. It was nice to just race the guys in the front there. We had really good pace, so that was promising.’
Q: In Monaco you had the reigning World Champion behind you when you retired, and you did this time as well!
‘That’s true. Maybe it’s a little bit of bad luck then! It’s just a little co-incidence, but it’s nice to race the World Champions of course, when we don’t have the fastest car in the field right now.’
Q: Since Monaco there have been several wet races and potential opportunities, but luck hasn’t been on your side. Was it good to finally have another chance to show what you can do?
‘This was very nice, I’m pleased that it happened like this. We could have done a safe run, changed tyres, and maybe we would have been in the back. But that’s not the way we want it to go, we had to take a risk because we know that we’re good in the wet. Of course we were unlucky and it wasn’t possible to bring it home, but sometimes it’s just bad luck if you hit a patch of water. We couldn’t do anything about it.’
Q: You filled up quite early. How close was it going to be on fuel?
‘We were on the limit, but it was definitely enough, we just checked it. I tried to save a lot of fuel during the race. I knew it was going to be a long way to the end. In the last 10 laps I was attacking again, because we didn’t need to save the fuel anymore.’
Q: We’re unlikely to have a wet race in Bahrain next week. Any thoughts on going there?
‘I think there we’ll have seriously dry conditions! We’ll get a few updates on the car which will help us get a better performance in qualifying. But again it’s going to be difficult. We’re at the back of the field right now, and we have to take our chances, like we did here, and try to move on. Development is going on, and we’re getting new upgrades for the next few races, hopefully it’s enough to progress.’
Brawn GP – 2009 Chinese Grand Prix – Race
April 23, 2009 by Christine
Filed under Press Releases
For the second race in succession, the weather had a major impact as heavy rain showers led to the race starting under the safety car with all drivers fitting wet tyres. The racing got underway on lap nine with Rubens and Jenson lying in third and fourth places respectively behind the two Red Bulls cars.
Suffering from a brake warm-up issue throughout his first stint, Rubens ran wide on lap eleven giving Jenson the opportunity to move up into third place. In very tricky conditions, the pair largely kept their Brawn-Mercedes cars on the track, successfully negotiating two pit-stops and a further safety car period, to cross the line with Jenson in third position and Rubens taking fourth place.
After the first three races of the season, the Brawn GP team leads the Constructors’ Championship with 36 points with Jenson leading the Drivers’ Championship with 21 points and Rubens in second place with 15 points.
JENSON BUTTON
“A very difficult race today and I am so pleased that we got both cars to the end of 56 laps and scored as many points as possible. The conditions were pretty crazy with rivers of water all over the circuit which changed every time you encountered them. The last turn particularly was like a lake and you just couldn’t brake for the corner. I struggled with the car aquaplaning and the tyres shuddering as we couldn’t get the temperatures high enough to make them work properly. Mark Webber and I had a good fight for a few laps but I just couldn’t stay with him. However to finish the race today is an achievement in itself and to be on the podium is fantastic. We couldn’t have beaten the Red Bulls and congratulations to Sebastian and Mark on a great result.”
RUBENS BARRICHELLO
“It was a tough race in very challenging conditions out there today. I only had three brake discs working on my car for the first 19 laps which made it even more difficult for me to keep the car on the road. Thankfully the problem resolved itself when the brakes heated up during my first pit stop and I had a good pace from then but unfortunately it was a bit too late. However we got the car to the end of the race in difficult circumstances and I scored as many points as I could have done, so we have to be happy with that.”
ROSS BRAWN
“Another dramatic race today to continue what is turning out to be a very exciting 2009 Formula One season. Jenson and Rubens did an excellent job to bring the cars home in the difficult conditions which combined with a solid team performance over the whole weekend enabled us to score as many points as possible. We had a good strategy with both drivers fuelled long for their first stints which allowed us to bridge the gap to the leaders. However on similar fuel, Vettel and Webber were then able to pull away. Congratulations to Red Bull for their one-two performance today. We know from Australia what a fantastic feeling that achievement is and I’m sure they will enjoy every minute of it. Our focus now turns to Bahrain next weekend for what will hopefully be a dry race.”
Toro Rosso – GP China Sunday Race
April 23, 2009 by Christine
Filed under Press Releases
Sebastien Buemi (STR4-01) Pos. 8th
“I am very happy as the team did a super job so that we got another point to take away from here. I am pleased that in three races, I have scored twice. Maybe I could have done a little bit better, but I’m happy all the same. We were very competitive in the early stages and I got past Raikkonen and Hamilton, but after that I struggled a bit. I think it was one of my hardest races ever. As for the incident with Vettel, it happened under Safety Car conditions: I didn’t see him and I tried to swerve to the right, but it was not enough to avoid him. We changed the wing on my car and I’m glad I didn’t spoil his race.”
Sebastien Bourdais (STR4-02) Pos. 11th
“I started fifteenth and finished eleventh, even with a couple of spins. I’ve got mixed feelings, because I don’t think we should have raced as there was so much aquaplaning. The fact the cars have a lot less downforce this year, aggravates the situation as it’s hard to get the car down onto the track surface. I could have spun 15 or 20 times and Sutil’s crash showed what could have happened. The one positive thing is that it was probably a good show for the fans.”
Franz Tost: “First, well done to Red Bull Racing. Congratulations on doing a fantastic job with a one-two finish thanks to Sebastian and Mark. On our side, we picked up another point thanks to Buemi, who drove a good race, given the difficult conditions today, in what is only his third F1 race. Overall, it means we can head to Bahrain in an optimistic frame of mind.”
Renault – Chinese Grand Prix Sunday
April 23, 2009 by Christine
Filed under Press Releases
Fernando Alonso, R2903, P9
First stint: 7 laps, wet tyres
Second stint: 28 laps, wet tyres
Third stint: 21 laps, wet tyres
Fernando: “It’s a disappointing end to a weekend where we showed a lot of potential. The team have done a great job to improve the car, which was very competitive, especially yesterday when we qualified on the front row. However, today we were unlucky and I think it’s one of those days when you take decisions at the wrong moment and everything seems to turn against you. We thought that the safety car would be out for the next 10 or 15 laps so we came in to get fuel and at the same time the safety car came in so we found ourselves starting the race last. We were on the first row on the grid and all of a sudden we were last so this was the end of our race. Bahrain will be another big test and then we have Barcelona so we need to keep improving.”
Nelson Piquet, R2901, P16
First stint: 21 laps, wet tyres
Second stint: 7 laps, wet tyres
Third stint: 17 laps, wet tyres
Fourth stint: 11 laps, wet tyres
Nelson: “The conditions were so difficult today with really poor visibility and aquaplaning so just keeping the car on the track wasn’t easy. I had a few moments during the race, but managed to keep the car going, although I lost a lot of time and dropped to the back of the pack. So it was a disappointing weekend, but I’m now looking forward to Bahrain where hopefully we will have a dry race and some developments on the car.”
Flavio Briatore, Managing Director
“This was not a normal race and it’s a pity that we couldn’t really see the potential of the car. The conditions were difficult and everyone seemed to struggle, except for the top three. Fernando has shown with his qualifying performance that the car is improving, but unfortunately we were penalised by the bad weather. The car is getting better and more competitive, and by Bahrain we will have new parts on both cars. Already this week we have seen a great effort by the team both here and back at the factory to get the new improvements on Fernando’s car this weekend. The championship is long and I’m confident that from Bahrain things will get better for us.”
Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering
“It is a disappointing result today. We took an aggressive strategy expecting the rain to start later in the afternoon. The early start of the rain compromised us and the safety car start even more so. We didn’t make best use of what was available to us today.”
Remi Taffin, Head of Engine Operations
“We have not finished the race where we wanted to based on the performance we showed yesterday. With rain you can never be sure what will happen, but those who were fast yesterday were the fastest today. I feel we deserved to finish fifth at least. It isn’t a good result but we will take what we have learned to be stronger at next week’s race”
Bridgestone Motorsport’s Chinese Grand Prix Report
April 23, 2009 by Christine
Filed under Press Releases
Bridgestone’s wet tyres were the tyre of choice in trying conditions for the Chinese Grand Prix held at the Shanghai International Circuit where Sebastian Vettel took Red Bull Racing’s first and his second Formula One victory.
Vettel crossed the line 10.9 secs ahead of team-mate Mark Webber, who scored his best finish with second, meaning two Renault-powered cars on the podium. Drivers’ championship leader Jenson Button (Brawn GP) finished third. All drivers started behind the safety car and therefore on the wet tyres – as stipulated by the regulations – and persistent rain meant that almost all competitors stayed on wet tyres for the duration of the race.
Q&A with Hirohide Hamashima – Bridgestone Director of Motorsport Tyre Development
How was the race from Bridgestone’s perspective?
“Once more in 2009 we have seen an exciting race. Congratulations to Red Bull Racing for their first race win and Sebastian Vettel for his second win. I think our tyre allocation was interesting for this weekend and qualifying was exciting, whilst the race was another demonstration of our wet tyres working well in the correct conditions. Interestingly of the front-runners, we saw Rubens Barrichello opt to stay on his existing wet tyres in his final pit stop, rather than change to new ones. Also, we saw Nico Rosberg use the intermediate, but the track surface was never quite dry enough for these tyres.”
Another race where the wet tyres have been used, are you happy with their performance?
“The wet tyres have worked well here. Obviously, the 2009 specification cars have less downforce than before. In the dry, there is more mechanical grip to compensate for the lack of aerodynamic grip, whereas in the wet there is not that compensation. Despite this, our wet tyres worked very well in very difficult conditions. Of course, some parts of the track had very deep puddles, and we saw drivers struggle with aquaplaning, but overall we can be satisfied. Today I think we watched many demonstrations of excellent driving throughout the field.”
Toyota – Chinese Grand Prix Debrief – Q+A with Timo Glock
April 23, 2009 by Christine
Filed under Press Releases
How do you judge your start to the season?
It has been a good start to the season for me and the team. From a personal point of view it was really positive to be on the podium in just the second race but it also gave the team consecutive podiums after Jarno’s third place in Australia. China was a little disappointing overall but it has been great to start the season with a competitive car which is capable of fighting for podiums. I am happy with my performances; I’ve scored a lot of points already despite some difficult circumstances and I have to thank the team for that as well because they have worked really hard.
Have you adapted easily to the slick tyres this year?
I definitely have a much better feeling with the slick tyres. Last year one of the main points I had to work on was understanding the grooved tyres because they behave very differently to slicks and I didn’t have so much experience of them. For me it has been no problem to move back; I have driven nearly my whole career on slicks so it makes life easier this season. Of course, with the different compounds for each race, it is still a big challenge to get the best out of the tyres but I feel at home on slicks.
Are you happy with seventh place in China?
Before the weekend I would have said no because I was hoping for better. However, considering the problems on Saturday and the fact we started from the pit lane, in the end we have to be happy with two points. I have scored points in all three Grands Prix so far this year which is positive.
What were the conditions like early in the race?
It was really tricky in the first laps. I was at the back of the pack because of the gearbox-change penalty and from there it was almost impossible to see anything as a result of the spray. It was like driving blind; very difficult to see where you were going or just to keep the car on the track. I had a moment with Nick (Heidfeld) when I misjudged my braking point and unfortunately hit the back of his car, damaging my front wing.
Did the damage cause a problem?
It’s better not to have damage, that’s for sure, and the car didn’t feel perfect so we made my pit stop a little earlier than planned. We changed the front wing and I have to say the team did a great job to do it extremely quickly. The front wings are much bigger this year and that makes it harder for the guys to change it, but I know they have practiced a lot over the winter and they were super quick. When I had the new front wing the car immediately felt much better and I could push on to score points.
Was it easier to drive in those conditions out of traffic?
Visibility was a lot better when there wasn’t another car in front of you because the spray makes things so difficult. I had a clear run for five or six laps; I was on the pace and looking pretty quick but then I caught Kimi (Raikkonen). I was held up for a while because I couldn’t see where the standing water was so I just had to back off for a bit. In the end I got past but it wasn’t easy. The main problem is the visibility; you just can’t see exactly where to go when you are following another car.
What are your expectations for the Bahrain Grand Prix?
I am optimistic for this race. We tested in Bahrain in the winter so hopefully we can keep going in the right direction at this race and score a lot more points. Generally we need to continue pushing hard to constantly improve. We know the other teams are trying to get better so we need to be concentrated and work as hard as possible. We have to develop at least as fast as the others.
