Toto Wolff is a new Williams F1 shareholder & board member

Frank Williams and Patrick Head announced today that they have sold a minority interest in Williams Grand Prix Engineering Limited (Williams F1) to an
investment company led by Austrian investor Toto Wolff. Mr Wolff also joins the company’s Board.

AT&T Williams Launches Official Online Photo Store

The AT&T Williams team have today launched an exclusive online photo store offering the public the opportunity to create unique photo products.

Fans of the team can choose from 250 limited edition framed prints per Grand Prix, including 25 signed by Sir Frank Williams and Patrick Head, or they can create their own sporting memorabilia with the photo book, photo calendar or framed photo montage.

Users of the new online store and downloadable software will be able to browse the AT&T Williams team’s official image library from the 2009 season to select their favourite images – combining these with their own race day photographs to make a personalised memento or gift.

The software is simple to use and allows fans to drag and drop the digital images into the on-screen template for each product. Further personalisation is possible by adding captions to the pages of the books or marking the event on the framed photo montage. Prices and delivery option details are available to view online.

The AT&T Williams official e-photo shop is now open at www.attwilliamsephoto.com.

27-May-09: FOTA Temporarily Suspend Williams

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Today is the 27th May and this is your daily dose of F1 Minute.

The Formula One Teams’ Association met today in London to discuss their next step in the battle against the 2010 regulations. One of the only things we have learnt from that meeting is that Williams have been suspended from FOTA temporarily.

Williams put out a statement saying: “FOTA’s decision, although regrettable, is understandable. However, as a racing team and a company whose only business is Formula One, with obligations to our partners and our employees, submitting our entry to next year’s Championship was unquestionable.” There has been no other official word on this, so we’ll await reaction from the rest of the group later in the week.

Meanwhile, on the subject of Williams, Patrick Head has suggested that the team may not be so keen on KERS as they were initially, mostly because of the weight distribution. It was due to appear on the car in Turkey, but might be delayed.

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

Eyeing Nico’s Drive

Nico Rosberg heads down the pitlane during the French Grand Prix in 2008. Patrick Head has been talking about the 2010 season, and suggests that if Nico were to leave the team in search of a more competitive car, then Williams would want to hire an experienced driver, rather than promote a newbie.

Credit: Andrew Ferraro/LAT Photographic

18-May-09: Williams Looking for Established Driver

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Today is the 18th May 2009 and this is F1 Minute.

Patrick Head has said that if Nico Rosberg leaves the team at the end of this year, then they want to bring in an established driver. Rosberg has said he wants to be in a competitive car next year, and if that’s not Williams, then he’ll look elsewhere. Head said that they want the team to be competitive enough to attract a top name, despite having Nico Hulkenberg waiting in the wings as reserve driver.

Elsewhere, Max Mosley has spoken about the current problems with the 2010 regulations, and has said he thinks only six teams at most will meet the entry deadline for next year, which is next Friday. He confirmed teams that miss the deadline will either become a late entry, or they could start their own series. He said if that was the case, the FIA would check over the regulations for safety, and that would be the end of their involvement. He’s hoping that “common sense” – his words, not mine – will prevail, though, and more entries will meet the deadline.

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

FIA – Spain Press Conference – Friday

FRIDAY PRESS CONFERENCE – May 8, 2009

TECHNICAL DIRECTORS:
Ross BRAWN (Brawn GP),
Aldo COSTA (Ferrari),
Patrick HEAD (Williams),
Pat Symonds (Renault)

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Ross, would you like to start on the overtaking situation as you and Pat were on the overtaking working group I think.
Ross BRAWN: No, I wasn’t. Pat was. Our drivers are reporting that the cars are easier to follow. They have still got an imbalance when they follow other cars. But the cars are easier to follow. At the moment we have got the situation that some cars have KERS and some are without KERS. We have had several occasions where we have managed to get on the back of a car with KERS and we can’t overtake it as it uses KERS to pull away, so we have got a little bit of an odd situation at the moment but the general impression from our guys is that the cars are better and because they have got this adjustable front wing it also helps to get the car set up when you are coming up behind someone.

Q: Pat, has it pretty much worked the way you thought it was going to?
Pat SYMONDS: I have to say I am not completely sure. We are on race five now. We have had a couple of wet races, Australia is always a difficult track anyway. I have been quite impressed with the way the Brawns have overtaken us a couple of times, so maybe it has worked or maybe they are just quicker than us. But as Ross says the KERS is clouding things as well and I think it is certainly easier to follow now and that is what we set out to do. But it is not the magic panacea.

Q: Just going back a couple of weeks, your reaction to the diffuser. What sort of effort was required for that?
PS: It was a huge effort. All the guys at the factory, from aerodynamics through design and manufacturing, really pulled the stops out to get that done. You don’t just sort of design these things and they work first time. It takes  a while to understand how they work and get them to a state where it is worth investing the money and putting them on the cars and they really did a super job to get that diffuser to China.

Q: Same question to you, Aldo. As I understand it has been a massive redesign of the whole of the back end of the car and the diffuser has not been the problem. It is all the rest of it.
Aldo COSTA: Yes, it is not the composite part that is the problem. The problem was a complete redesign of the hydraulic system, electric system and modifications to the rear suspension, so it was as Pat said a very, very big, huge effort to be ready in time for here with such a modified car. It is a learning curve since we had to work on this concept that we thought was illegal. We are learning now but still it is our first attempt and I am sure we have got quite a lot to learn still.

Q: When did you start to react to the diffuser? Did you start before the ruling or did you react to it when the ruling was made?
AC: No, from the technical point of view we had to start the thing earlier because we could not wait for the decision to be made, so we started as soon as we felt that other teams had another rule interpretation.

Q: And tell us about the other modifications here? I understand Kimi has a new chassis as well?
AC: Yes, we are running with KERS. Obviously at the moment the heavier driver, in order to run KERS, has got a disadvantage, so we tried to help Kimi be under the weight limit developing a new chassis.  Later on in the season we will introduce it for Felipe as well.

Q: And other modifications?
AC: The car we have got here is a mix between a double deck diffuser concept, our first attempt,  and the development that we had already planned for Barcelona, so we have got other modifications on the bodywork and on wings.

Q: Patrick, can I ask you for a summary of the season so far. It seems that it goes very well on Fridays, as it has today, but perhaps you are a little disappointed when it comes to the race performances?
Patrick HEAD: Yes, as Pat mentioned we have had some fairly sort of unusual races. In Australia we messed up a pit stop for Nico (Rosberg) and then when he was on the option tyre I think his race engineer encouraged him to push very hard as I think they thought he might be able to get Rubens (Barrichello) and the option tyre was very delicate and it fell off a cliff really for us. It was between us and various things. We have not made the best of the grands prix. Then with Malaysia and Shanghai with the wet and the wet dry, which is an opportunity for everybody,  and for various reasons we did not make the best of that. In Bahrain, although Nico made a good start, he lost a lot of places going into turn one. He started ninth and finished ninth, nobody broke down. Massa broke down but I think Kimi got him going into the first corner, so it was not a very special race.  We are certainly disappointed with the results but there are a few teams in that position and there is no point in kicking the dog or anything like that. You just go back and work that bit harder and try and not make the same mistakes.

Q: What sort of modifications have you got to the cars here?
PH: We had a slightly modified diffuser for Nico in Bahrain which is on both cars now. Not big, just a  small modification,  and some other bits and pieces for the car all pushing up small amounts in improving the performance.

Q: Do you feel as an independent team that it is going to be hard for you to keep up the pace of development during this season?
PH: I think we have got the resources. We haven’t got maybe as big a budget as some teams but I don’t think we think we are budget limited in developing the car. It is up to us to keep up really.

Q: Ross, similar question. Do you feel it is going to be difficult for you to stay ahead development-wise?
RB: It is always very difficult to even maintain your position wherever it is in Formula One as it moves forward so quickly. The big challenge we all have is that with no testing you are effectively on a Friday trying to work out what you have got and where you are. It is not such a straightforward process as it used to be. Testing itself was always very difficult anyway but it is extremely difficult now. We have brought a new package here which seems to be working very well with Rubens but we have got a problem with it with Jenson (Button) and we have to understand what is going on. It is quite a difficult year for everybody and it will continue to be difficult with the testing rules that we have. We have a reasonable sized team now and we are not budget limited in what we can do, we are just being careful in how we spend that money. Perhaps we bring three or four sets of parts to a race whereas last year we might have brought six or seven. We make those sorts of judgement calls but we are certainly not holding back on doing any performance improvements that we can. There is a package here, there are some modifications for Monaco and there is another update for the Nürburgring, so we are working hard.

Q: When you say a package, what does that comprise?
RB: Well, it is a new floor, new engine cover, new bodywork around the rear suspension, so that’s what we have brought here.

Q: Pat, I saw a succession of cardboard boxes being carried into the paddock yesterday. What are your modifications here?
PS: Similar things. As we have said earlier we introduced our first double decker diffuser in China but it was very much our first attempt. There is a new attempt here. In addition, with  visible parts, we have got new front wheel fairings, we have got a new top rear wing here. We have got modifications on rear suspension, so there is a lot going on.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Mike Doodson) I suppose this is for all of you. As I understand it, you don’t know the full technical regulations for next year, especially the tank size. I wondered if since this impinges on costs that if you each think it is realistic for the President of the FIA to be imposing a budget cut before you even know the rules.
PH: I think teams are having to take a fairly strategic view and maybe cover a number of options. I think at the moment everybody is pretty clear that there is no refuelling next year. I think that was something that FOTA supported way back in December last year, so it is not as if there is any conflict at all about that position. I think there has been some talk about races changing in distance. Really I think everybody is working on the assumption that the races will be of the same length next year and they are doing their  numbers on that basis. But there are all sorts of factors, if you are able to move your rear wing and lower your drag level going down the straight obviously has a number of interesting effects both on lap time but also on your  fuel consumption as well.  But I think most people will be having to say ‘well, we will have to work out our fuel consumption on the basis that we won’t be able to move our rear wing and if we are able to move our rear wing we will probably have a little bit too much capacity,’ so there is quite a lot of strategic thinking. It is a difficult one. It is certainly not a comfortable position where rules can be changed without any consultation, without any passing through the technical working group and to me it seems unfortunate that Formula One rules seem to come about through change a lot of the time, through confrontation, rather than  through consultation. I think very often Max (Mosley) might say ‘well, I have given them the chance and they haven’t come up with what they wanted.’ But the teams are very open to realistic and practical ways of saving money. It is not as if the teams, and this goes for the manufacturer teams and the smaller teams, as if they are all rushing around wanting to spend more money. They’re not. They’re wanting to spend less money, so I think the environment is very positive towards a less costly Formula One but I don’t think anybody, and this goes for Williams certainly, I don’t think anybody thinks that a two-tier championship is a good idea. Even on the basis of being able to adjust the rear wing alone, that is going to be very significant. I mean it depends whether any additional things come in that limit how far you are able to adjust it, but on the basis of a completely adjustable rear wing with a single flap moving you are going to be talking about, I don’t know, a second-and-a-half, two seconds a lap. Now, no amount of expenditure on more expensive, more fiddly hydraulic blocks, no amount of expenditure anywhere else will make up for that difference. It is certainly a difficult environment at the moment but I think everybody, Ross, Pat, Aldo, are all having to sit in strategic meetings where you decide what possible option might come through and how you cover it and how, if that doesn’t go through, you then don’t find yourself significantly embarrassed by having made a wrong decision. It is a bit of a gambling imposition on what should be a logical design process but all part of the fun and the same for everybody.

Q: Aldo, your thoughts, and when do you need to know this?
AC: I think Patrick has recapped the situation very well. He’s speaking for Williams but I think he’s speaking for all of us. Certainly, as Ferrari, I would say exactly what Patrick has said.
PS: I think probably the two things that Mike mentioned are two of the few things that we do know. The sporting and technical regulations for 2010 have been published, races are still 305 kms, the refuelling rules have been altered as such that we can’t refuel during the race, we can only refuel in the garage, so we haven’t gone back to refuelling on the grid as we used to in the old days. I think we know those things but there are lots of other details which are perhaps less clear. I really echo what Patrick and Aldo said. I don’t think anyone wants two tier rules. I don’t think they’ve worked in any series, whether it’s saloon cars and sports cars, where they are trying to equalise diesels and spark ignition engines, whether it’s Formula One with turbos and normally aspirated engines – they just simply haven’t worked. I think it’s important to say that we are not necessarily all at conflict. I think that we all have the same intentions, as Patrick said. We all want to spend less money. We all need to spend less money, not just want to. I think that where there are some differences of opinion is perhaps monetary scale and time scale. I think there will always be a difference of opinion on monetary scale – those that have and those that don’t have – but I think the time scale is a very important factor in this. I think it’s very important to have a glide path down onto a cheaper formula – or rather a more cost-effective formula. It’s very difficult with the large organisations that we all have with very high capital investment, very high capital write-downs every year, a lot of employees. It’s very difficult to move to a new position which is vastly different to the one we have and to do it quickly. Given time, given a few years to do it, of course we can get there, and I think that’s an important point to make.
RB: We don’t want to see a two tier Formula One. We think that would confuse the public, we think that if there’s a big disparity in the regulations there will be no merit for those teams that succeed using the most advantageous regulation, so we don’t want a two tier Formula One. It’s a fact that stability – when the rules are right – is the cheapest way of going forward in many ways because you can plan, you can organise yourself but one of the difficulties of Formula One is that we’re turning into Swiss watchmakers. We’re just refining everything to the nth degree instead of being able to make conceptual changes or innovative changes because the rules are becoming more and more restrictive. In order to try and contain the costs, we’re just closing everything down so much that I’m not sure that that’s what Formula One should be. We, as a team, both in Honda days and now, support the idea of a constraint on resources of some sort, be it financial, be it people, be it some constraint where everything is enclosed and within that enclosure there is more freedom because most of the technical changes we’re doing are to save cost, so if we can save cost by saying ‘that’s all you’re allowed to spend’ and have more freedom, for me that’s a more exciting Formula One, for us, for the public and we’ve always supported that concept. What we want to do as a team is find a solution to that with all the other teams. We don’t want difficulties in Formula One, we want to work with the FIA, we want to work with all the teams and find a solution that fits with that. But for me, we’re going down the Swiss watchmaking route with Formula One and it’s not what I believe Formula One should be.

Q: (James Allen – Financial Times) We’re obviously talking about transition and how you manage it but if it’s difficult to negotiate in the next few weeks with Max Mosley on this, is it not possible that you would all run uncost-capped, all the teams, for next year and then try to work it out and negotiate it from that point onwards?
RB: I think all the teams within FOTA don’t want to have a two tier system and I think there will be discussions over the next week or so. It’s very unfortunate what has happened with Max, a terrible thing, so we’ve got to be sympathetic in that respect but as soon as it’s possible, we would like to meet with Max and try and find if there’s another way forward, where all the teams can be united and consistent in the solution. For us, there has to be some constraint on resources, not a constraint on the technical regulations.

Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Aldo, how did you judge the performance of the modifications today?
AC: Normally Friday is quite difficult to judge. We can judge it based on our numbers and based on what our drivers tell us, so at the moment we are happy about what we see but we have to see it compared to other teams that have, as we said before, brought here other developments, where we are in comparison with them and this we will know at the end of qualifying, of course and at the end of the race, not from today.

Q: (Dan Knutson – National Speed Sport News) Question for all of you: the weight limit has been raised for next year but it’s a general overall increase, so the taller heavier drivers are penalised. Would you support a system where you weigh the drivers, seat and helmet together, so that it’s a level playing field no matter what size your driver is?
RB: I don’t think you will get total equality. A big driver should be stronger, he should have more stamina, he should be able to drive the car over a longer period more consistently, so I don’t think you will ever get total equality. Possibly the weight limit now, particularly with the introduction of KERS, is making it quite difficult for teams who want to run KERS to find the weight distribution they want and accommodate the heavier drivers. I think there are two important things next year: one is the weight and the other is the smaller front tyre size which is going to push the weight distribution, let’s say, to a more natural position in the car. The ratio size of tyres at the moment is forcing everybody to run very forward weight distributions and that’s where people with KERS and bigger drivers also run into problems, so I think it’s a sensible change. I think with those changes, I don’t believe bigger drivers are penalised. Bigger drivers are stronger and they take those advantages.
PH: I rather agree with Ross. I’m quite happy with it as it is. We have, in the past, had quite heavy drivers. I don’t think it’s a problem particularly as it is. The problem at the moment is that the tyre regulation and the change to slicks is forcing – I wouldn’t say an unnatural weight distribution – but a weight distribution which within the layout that’s forced on us by the fuel location and various other things is quite difficult to achieve but with the tyre for next year, which we understand is 25mm narrower on the tread contact patch, that will be less of a problem, I think.
AC: It was an open point for sure. It has been discussed a few times during the FOTA meetings and during the Technical Working Group. As a team we were supporting the idea of increasing the weight limit. It just came out as a surprise in the new rules for next year, as Patrick said, without consultation. So for us it’s a good move anyway.
PS: I think the only thing that I would add to what’s been said is that it’s probably worth remembering that next year’s cars will be heavier per se, the bigger fuel tanks mean more monocoque to put that fuel tank in. The fuel tank material is quite heavy. If the FOTA material restrictions are adopted and of course they can be because material restrictions abide in the appendix to the technical regulations, so they can be changed in quite short order, if the recommendations which the FOTA technical regulation working group have come up with on material restrictions are applied, then again that will increase the weight of the cars, so I think that the increased weight limit, while not entirely neutralised, will be largely neutralised just by changes in regulations.

Q: (Alan Baldwin – Reuters) Ross, I wondered if you could perhaps give us a review of Rubens’s performances this season, because while Jenson has won three of the four races, Rubens has been on the podium once and that was somewhat fortuitous. Is he doing something different to Jenson or is Jenson just performing exceptionally?
RB: I think Rubens has had a little bit of bad luck. I know luck shouldn’t come into it but I think in China he was looking very strong, in fact probably for a dry race he was in better shape than Jenson but then in the wet he had a problem with the brakes, one of the brakes glazed over on the rear which made life very interesting for him. In the last race, in Bahrain, the front wing adjustor failed during his qualifying lap and the front wing flap dropped down as he was in the middle of his qualifying lap. We’d gone for a pretty aggressive strategy and that meant being at the front and he didn’t achieve it because we had a problem with the car. I’m pleased with Rubens’s performance this year. He’s contributed an awful lot to the team, helping sort the car out. He gives very valuable technical information and I think it just hasn’t quite fallen for him this season. Jenson’s doing a superb job, so that’s the reference but I’m very happy with Rubens’s performance and I’m sure that if we get a smooth weekend he’ll be up there.

Williams – Chinese Grand Prix – Race

Rain continued to play a part in this year’s World Championship as today’s Chinese Grand Prix played out under steady rainfall creating difficult conditions for the drivers and a host of cars falling off the race track throughout the 56 laps. With the race started under the safety car, the team opted to alter Nico’s strategy, bringing him in early from seventh position. Unfortunately, an unexpectedly premature end to the safety car period left Nico at the back of the pack and unable to recover position leaving him in P15 at the end of the race. Kazuki’s afternoon was similarly fruitless. After several excursions off the race track, his race ended on lap 43 following the team’s first mechanical failure since the Spanish Grand Prix last year.

Nico Rosberg:
The main problem I had today was drops sticking to my visor which wouldn’t run off making it virtually impossible to see. It’s a problem related to my visor’s anti-fog system which I’ve had in the past but haven’t been able to resolve. 15 laps before the end of the race we were not in a good position so I asked to be switched onto intermediates as I thought we had to try something. For the first few laps, they were good. It looked like the way to go so I was quite pleased, but then unfortunately more rain came and it was all over again. Bahrain is only a week away and a good result, which everyone in the team deserves, is overdue.

Kazuki Nakajima:
I had a transmission problem today so unfortunately I couldn’t carry on with the race. It was very difficult out there with really poor visibility. There was a lot of standing water and it was hard to keep the car on the track, particularly on the exit of the last corner. I made some mistakes but it was the same for everybody.

Patrick Head, Director of Engineering:
We thought the safety car would stay out for longer than it did at the start of the race so we decided to pull Nico in early to fuel him up. It turned out to be the wrong call as the safety car came in just one lap later. We then struggled for pace against Alonso who had done the same as us. We had what appears to be a gearbox failure on Kazuki’s car which forced us to retire him. It was not a good performance by us today. We made some wrong calls and we will have to look at the circumstances and improve for the future. It’s also very unusual for us to have a retirement for a technical failure. We will now look forward to a much better performance in Bahrain.

On a separate note, the team is saddened by the unexpected death of Jim Douglas. With Williams since the early days, Jim was a stalwart in our machine shop for 28 years.

07-Apr-09: McLaren Called Before WMSC

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It’s the 7th April 2009 and this is F1 Minute.

McLaren have been called before the World Motor Sport Council on the 29th April to face charges regarding the misleading of the stewards in Australia. The FIA have levelled several breaches of the Sporting Code against McLaren, with several separate incidents listed where the team continued to lie about what happened in Melbourne. McLaren have acknowledged the hearing and said they will co-operate at every opportunity. Also, the team have confirmed that they have parted company with Dave Ryan for good.

Elsewhere, Williams chief Patrick Head has said that the issue they raised against the Ferrari and Red Bull sidepods in Australia will now be brought up at the Technical Working Group meeting in a couple of days time. They appealed against the teams at the race but later withdrew their protest, suggesting it was for the good of the sport. Now Head says the matter will be resolved behind closed doors instead.

That’s all for now, please join me again tomorrow for another F1 Minute.

Williams – Malaysian Grand Prix Preview

At a Glance
When: Friday April 3 to Sunday April 5, 2009
Where: Sepang Circuit, Kula Lumpur, Malaysia
Round: 2 of 17
Standings: N Rosberg 3 pts (6th), K Nakajima -, AT&T Williams 3pts (5th)

Malaysia Hot Topics
Will the Melbourne form guide translate to Malaysia?
Will the step between the tyre options be so profound?
Will the late session times in Sepang mean track action in the rain?

Sepang circuit in a nutshell
At many Grands Prix, drivers who qualify towards the front favour two-stop strategies – a lighter fuel load equates to speed, rather than stealth – while some farther back gamble on a single pit stop, in the hope that circumstance might shuffle them into the reckoning. In the gruelling heat of Malaysia, significant tyre wear might dissuade anybody from taking such a gamble. The track often remains slippery, too, because fierce overnight storms wash away rubber laid down the previous day. Note that this year’s race is scheduled for late afternoon, when tropical rain is a possibility…

Talking Technical
Car dynamics
Average turn angle indicates the average angle of a circuit’s corners expressed in degrees. The higher the average turn angle, the more acute corners in the circuit configuration and hence the greater propensity for understeer to compromise lap time. At Sepang, the average turn angle is 1390, against a season average of 1100, ranking as the circuit with the highest average turn angle across the Championship. As a consequence of the circuit’s physical layout, an understeering car balance will have a high punitive effect on lap time.

The end of straight (EOS) speed at Sepang was 301kp/h in 2008. Sepang ranks as the 12th fastest EOS speed in the 2009 calendar, and this is one indicator of the wing level typically selected to optimise the downforce/drag ratio.

Pitlane & refuelling strategy
The pitlane length and profile (i.e. corners in the pitlane entry) contribute to the determination of the optimum fuel strategy. The pitlane loss at Sepang is approximately 22 seconds, the 5th most penalising pitlane in the Championship. To complete a normalised distance of 5km around the Sepang circuit requires 2.38kg of fuel against an average of 2.42kg per 5km across all circuits this season, making the circuit the 5th least demanding track of the year in terms of fuel consumption.

Safety car
Another key contributor to the determination of race strategy is the likelihood of safety car deployments, which are influenced by weather considerations, the availability of clear run-off areas that allow racing to continue while recovery takes place and the circuit profile, especially the character of the entry and exit into turn one at the start of the race. Since 2002, there have been no safety car deployments in Sepang, making it statistically unlikely that the circuit character, based on historic data, will induce safety car periods.

Temperature, pressure & humidity
It is a long observed tradition that drivers arriving at Interlagos complain about a lack of grip and an absence of engine power. Having become acquainted with a baseline of engine and aerodynamic performance during the season, the climb to 750 metres above sea level for one of the final races can, courtesy of the reduction in air density, rob a Formula One car of engine power, aerodynamic performance and cooling. The losses can come close to double digit percentages and thus have a very real impact on car performance.  Air density is a factor of the prevailing ambient temperature, which varies most significantly by season, air pressure which is closely linked to altitude and, to a much smaller degree, by humidity. Thus if races are run at the same time each year, the factor that tends to have the greatest bearing on air density is elevation. Sepang is 40m above sea level and has an average pressure (1004.41 mbar) when compared to other races venue in the 2009 Championship. As a consequence, the circuit’s ambient characteristics will be average for engine performance across all tracks visited during the season.

What the Drivers Say
On Sepang circuit
Kazuki “For me, Sepang is one of the most exciting tracks we visit during the year. That doesn’t mean it is an easy track, far from it, as it has some complex and technical corner sequences and some that demand special attention such as turns 11 and 14 where your braking and turn-in sequence is different to say the least.”

Nico “Just like Kazuki, I really like the Sepang circuit, it is fast and flowing and has a nice variation of corners that makes it really exciting to drive.”

On Malaysia (the climate, the people, the food..)
Kazuki “Well, Malaysia is closer to my home country than many of the places we visit, so I find it more familiar in terms of the culture, the food etc. I raced at Sepang in Japanese GT, so I am also a bit better acquainted with the place, but of course the heat and the humidity are quite exceptional.”

Nico “The climate makes the racing very demanding for driver and machine. The heat and humidity means that it is physically exhausting and this is one track where the fitness training over the winter really pays off. I love the country, there is a nice warmth about the people too and like almost everywhere in Asia, I like the food, so it is a good place to visit every year.”

Standing back from Albert Park – Reflections of the first race
Nico “Of course we would have liked to have achieved more in Melbourne, but three solid points was a good start. More encouraging was our pace as we were right there with the quickest, which makes me hopeful for a good season.”

Kazuki “I was running as high as P4 and this would have improved to P3 when Rubens pitted, so I can’t deny the sense of disappointment in how the race turned out, but I have shut this out of my mind already and I am only taking the positives of the potential we showed with me to Malaysia.”

On the late start times for the first two races
Kazuki “It was difficult with the low sunlight in Australia, especially as the light flickered and changed under the tree cover. We won’t have this type of shadow at Sepang, but there is a different issue which is the possibility of reduced light conditions mixed with the likelihood of rain, so for sure these late race start times will have a bearing on my approach to qualifying and the race.”

Nico “In Melbourne I found this a big concern as towards the end of the race the visibility was very poor, which increased the danger in my view as it was more likely that you could make a mistake. I’d rather the race changed back to its original start time or became a proper night race – that would improve matters a lot. ”

The historical perspective from Patrick Head – Sepang 2002
“AT&T Williams has good memories of racing in Malaysia because we’ve achieved some good results at Sepang. Our best race at the track was in 2002, when we finished first and second with Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya, and I have to say that our success was predominantly down to a good tyre from Michelin. It certainly suited the circuit, but the drivers both did good jobs as well..”

23-Apr-08: Heidfeld Thanks The Team In Munich

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Hi everyone, welcome to F1 Minute for the 23^rd April.

Nick Heidfeld was at the BMW factory in Munich today to say thank you for the hard work that’s been going on. He didn’t just say thanks and sign autographs, though, he drove the F1 car in a demonstration, did a couple of donuts and brought the factory to a halt for an entire 45 minutes. Heidfeld said: “It is nice to give the workforce something back. I lost track of how many hands I was shaking.”

Patrick Head has finally admitted what we’ve all known for a long time, that Nakajima’s signing to Williams was at the request of engine supplier Toyota. Head said that although Toyota had some influence over Rosberg’s teammate signing, they wouldn’t have picked Kazuki if they didn’t think he was good enough. He does admit though: “It’s true, Kazuki has made some mistakes, but he also has learned from them, and has great potential, and I think that is what really matters.”

Finally, today, we have an early weather forecast for the weekend: showers are predicted for both Saturday and Sunday, but even if it doesn’t rain, temperatures will be much lower than F1 usually finds in Barcelona.

That’s all for today, join me again tomorrow for another F1 Minute.

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