Force India team manager Andy Stevens believes that stewards were unnecessarily harsh in giving Adrian Sutil a three-place grid penalty for blocking Mark Webber in Bahrain qualifying. The German moved across in front of Webber at the final corner as the Red Bull finished its final Q1 flying lap and Sutil prepared to start his.
The delay left Webber 19th on the grid, which became 18th when Sutil was demoted three places from 16th as a punishment for the move.Amid suggestions that Force India was to blame for not alerting Sutil to Webber coming up behind him, Stevens said his driver was actually an innocent victim of a brush between Robert Kubica and Fernando Alonso ahead.
"We were watching the timing monitors and we could see that Webber was on a fast lap behind us, but what we felt at the time was that Adrian was far enough in front that we didn't really have to consider it - it wasn't going to affect Webber's lap as we saw it on the GPS monitor," Stevens explained in an interview on Force India's official podcast."But in front of us Alonso and Kubica had sort of tangled together in the last corner, which had meant that Alonso had backed out of the throttle, and Adrian came upon him a bit too quick.
"So Adrian came out of the throttle, looked in his mirrors, and Webber was there."It looked like he tried to move over to get out of the way just at the same point as Webber decided to go around Adrian, so they tangled a bit, which did ruin Mark's lap unfortunately."
Stevens did not feel Force India could have warned Sutil about Webber in the time available."Certainly my point of view was that at the time we could've given Adrian the message that Webber was coming, it wasn't a problem and we didn't need to inform him," he said.
"We don't want to break the driver's concentration as he's just about to begin his lap - they're focused and they're got to do one lap and lay everything on the line."Unfortuntely what happened between Kubica and Alonso affected us."
But the stewards insisted the team should have instructed Sutil to get out of Webber's way."In my mind, the timescale that we had to do that was too short," said Stevens."So I feel the penalty was very, very harsh."
He added that Webber had seemed sanguine about the incident, and suggested that the officials should not have been involved."When you look at the times from Webber as well, he probably wouldn't have made it through to Q2 anyway," Stevens said."It was a bit of sour grapes, I believe, on Red Bull's part.
"I believe these things should be kept out of the stewards' rooms and we look after it ourselves."We had dealt with it with Mark and he was quite happy that it was an innocent circumstance, but the stewards got involved."
News from Formula One in the Formation Lap.
Tuesday 28 April 2009
Brawn F1 team bring on improvements for Barcelona
The Brawn team is confident that it has the resources to stay ahead in the development race as the likes of McLaren and Ferrari try to fight back.
Although the Brawn GP BGP001 was designed and developed with the full might of Honda behind it, the team - now owned by Ross Brawn - has become much smaller since it was sold off by the Japanese manufacturer.
Jenson Button has been concerned that the pack has rapidly caught Brawn up after its dominant start to 2009, but the team's chief executive Nick Fry said Brawn could withstand whatever the established big guns threw at it.
"I think our team has got all the resources,” Fry told the Times newspaper.We have got a reasonable upgrade package for Barcelona."Whether it will be as big as some others, we don't know."Do we have the resources to develop for the rest of the year?""Yes, we do.”
Ross Brawn admitted that there had been a pause in the arrival of new parts due to the winter of uncertainty that the team endured after Honda pulled the plug, but said development had now been ramped up again.
"From the time that Honda announced they were stopping at the end of November, the budget was limited, the developments weren't coming,” he said."But they are coming now, so we can get the ball rolling again in terms of improving the car.”
Although the Brawn GP BGP001 was designed and developed with the full might of Honda behind it, the team - now owned by Ross Brawn - has become much smaller since it was sold off by the Japanese manufacturer.
Jenson Button has been concerned that the pack has rapidly caught Brawn up after its dominant start to 2009, but the team's chief executive Nick Fry said Brawn could withstand whatever the established big guns threw at it.
"I think our team has got all the resources,” Fry told the Times newspaper.We have got a reasonable upgrade package for Barcelona."Whether it will be as big as some others, we don't know."Do we have the resources to develop for the rest of the year?""Yes, we do.”
Ross Brawn admitted that there had been a pause in the arrival of new parts due to the winter of uncertainty that the team endured after Honda pulled the plug, but said development had now been ramped up again.
"From the time that Honda announced they were stopping at the end of November, the budget was limited, the developments weren't coming,” he said."But they are coming now, so we can get the ball rolling again in terms of improving the car.”
Monday 27 April 2009
Hamilton and McLaren fears backward F1 step in Spain
Lewis Hamilton is resigned to a less competitive showing from McLaren at next month’s Spanish Grand Prix after its resurgence in Bahrain.Hamilton battled with the leading group in the early stages of the Sakhir race and went on to finish fourth, his and the team’s best result of the season so far.
That prompted many to conclude that McLaren is making rapid strides with the development of its car and will be challenging for victories within the next few races.But speaking to reporters after Sunday’s race, Hamilton struck a much more cautious note, suggesting that McLaren has largely capitalised on its rivals’ mistakes and made only modest performance gains.“We’re not really fighting back [yet] – I think we’ve just done a better job than a lot of people, and whilst they make mistakes we are just collecting the points,” he said.“We are still a long way behind with the car. But for sure it feels good to have consistency and a step [forward in performance], and it gives us a better foundation to keep building and get better.”
Team boss Martin Whitmarsh admitted that the Sakhir track played to McLaren’s strengths and masked the car’s lack of downforce.
And while the whole field will be bringing new parts to the first European race of the season in Barcelona in two weeks’ time, Hamilton reckons the faster Catalunya circuit will be less forgiving of the MP4-24 than Sakhir.“I think the gap will be bigger when we get to Barcelona and [rival teams] will be a bit further ahead because it’s a high-downforce circuit,” he said.“We have to challenge for the top 10, but maybe a top five will be harder.”
Hamilton said his McLaren’s deficiencies were all too apparent to him when he was racing in close company with Jenson Button’s Brawn and Sebastian Vettel’s Red Bull.“It was very tough behind the top cars,” he said.
“They are so fast in the high-speed corners; the downforce they have is almost double mine... It’s very hard to follow.
“We just don’t have any rear downforce to keep up with the guys in front, but we will get there eventually hopefully.”
That prompted many to conclude that McLaren is making rapid strides with the development of its car and will be challenging for victories within the next few races.But speaking to reporters after Sunday’s race, Hamilton struck a much more cautious note, suggesting that McLaren has largely capitalised on its rivals’ mistakes and made only modest performance gains.“We’re not really fighting back [yet] – I think we’ve just done a better job than a lot of people, and whilst they make mistakes we are just collecting the points,” he said.“We are still a long way behind with the car. But for sure it feels good to have consistency and a step [forward in performance], and it gives us a better foundation to keep building and get better.”
Team boss Martin Whitmarsh admitted that the Sakhir track played to McLaren’s strengths and masked the car’s lack of downforce.
And while the whole field will be bringing new parts to the first European race of the season in Barcelona in two weeks’ time, Hamilton reckons the faster Catalunya circuit will be less forgiving of the MP4-24 than Sakhir.“I think the gap will be bigger when we get to Barcelona and [rival teams] will be a bit further ahead because it’s a high-downforce circuit,” he said.“We have to challenge for the top 10, but maybe a top five will be harder.”
Hamilton said his McLaren’s deficiencies were all too apparent to him when he was racing in close company with Jenson Button’s Brawn and Sebastian Vettel’s Red Bull.“It was very tough behind the top cars,” he said.
“They are so fast in the high-speed corners; the downforce they have is almost double mine... It’s very hard to follow.
“We just don’t have any rear downforce to keep up with the guys in front, but we will get there eventually hopefully.”
iSport waiting for finalised budget cap before entering F1
Former GP2 teams' champion iSport has moved to make it clear that it has no solid plans to make an entry into the 2010 Formula 1 World Championship until it knows exactly what the FIA's plans are to cap budgets.
Following widespread stories on the internet, team principal Paul Jackson told AUTOSPORT that his views at the weekend had been misrepresented.
He is waiting for Wednesday's FIA World Motor Sport Council meeting, when it is expected that the future plan for a budget-capped F1 will be unveiled.
"For many years I've said if the conditions were right and the numbers made sense, then we'd enter F1," said Jackson. "The budget cap could be the perfect opportunity for us, but until we find out what the magic number is, I don't know if it's do-able or feasible.
"When it's all in print, we'll look at it, start doing our sums and talking to potential investors. Until then, it's all speculation but there have been a few outrageous stories about us doing it."Of course we'd like to do it, and I think we can do a good job in F1, especially as we'd be working our team up to a budget cap, whereas the others would be coming down. But there's no way we could come in and take on the big boys. We'd simply be aiming to break in to the top 10."
iSport ran Timo Glock to the GP2 title in 2007 and Bruno Senna to the runner-up spot behind Giorgio Pantano last season.
Following widespread stories on the internet, team principal Paul Jackson told AUTOSPORT that his views at the weekend had been misrepresented.
He is waiting for Wednesday's FIA World Motor Sport Council meeting, when it is expected that the future plan for a budget-capped F1 will be unveiled.
"For many years I've said if the conditions were right and the numbers made sense, then we'd enter F1," said Jackson. "The budget cap could be the perfect opportunity for us, but until we find out what the magic number is, I don't know if it's do-able or feasible.
"When it's all in print, we'll look at it, start doing our sums and talking to potential investors. Until then, it's all speculation but there have been a few outrageous stories about us doing it."Of course we'd like to do it, and I think we can do a good job in F1, especially as we'd be working our team up to a budget cap, whereas the others would be coming down. But there's no way we could come in and take on the big boys. We'd simply be aiming to break in to the top 10."
iSport ran Timo Glock to the GP2 title in 2007 and Bruno Senna to the runner-up spot behind Giorgio Pantano last season.
iSport waiting for finalised budget cap before entering F1
Former GP2 teams' champion iSport has moved to make it clear that it has no solid plans to make an entry into the 2010 Formula 1 World Championship until it knows exactly what the FIA's plans are to cap budgets.
Following widespread stories on the internet, team principal Paul Jackson told AUTOSPORT that his views at the weekend had been misrepresented.
He is waiting for Wednesday's FIA World Motor Sport Council meeting, when it is expected that the future plan for a budget-capped F1 will be unveiled.
"For many years I've said if the conditions were right and the numbers made sense, then we'd enter F1," said Jackson. "The budget cap could be the perfect opportunity for us, but until we find out what the magic number is, I don't know if it's do-able or feasible.
"When it's all in print, we'll look at it, start doing our sums and talking to potential investors. Until then, it's all speculation but there have been a few outrageous stories about us doing it."Of course we'd like to do it, and I think we can do a good job in F1, especially as we'd be working our team up to a budget cap, whereas the others would be coming down. But there's no way we could come in and take on the big boys. We'd simply be aiming to break in to the top 10."
iSport ran Timo Glock to the GP2 title in 2007 and Bruno Senna to the runner-up spot behind Giorgio Pantano last season.
Following widespread stories on the internet, team principal Paul Jackson told AUTOSPORT that his views at the weekend had been misrepresented.
He is waiting for Wednesday's FIA World Motor Sport Council meeting, when it is expected that the future plan for a budget-capped F1 will be unveiled.
"For many years I've said if the conditions were right and the numbers made sense, then we'd enter F1," said Jackson. "The budget cap could be the perfect opportunity for us, but until we find out what the magic number is, I don't know if it's do-able or feasible.
"When it's all in print, we'll look at it, start doing our sums and talking to potential investors. Until then, it's all speculation but there have been a few outrageous stories about us doing it."Of course we'd like to do it, and I think we can do a good job in F1, especially as we'd be working our team up to a budget cap, whereas the others would be coming down. But there's no way we could come in and take on the big boys. We'd simply be aiming to break in to the top 10."
iSport ran Timo Glock to the GP2 title in 2007 and Bruno Senna to the runner-up spot behind Giorgio Pantano last season.
Button and Brawn capture a F1 Bahrain victory
Jenson Button reasserted his grip on the 2009 world championship with a brilliant victory in searing desert heat in Bahrain – his third win in four races extending his title lead to 12 points.The Briton and his Brawn team turned around the form book from qualifying to beat pre-race favourites Sebastian Vettel and Jarno Trulli thanks to a perfect strategy and inch-perfect driving, the Red Bull and Toyota drivers finishing second and third respectively
Button had expressed optimism that his BGP 001 remained a force to be reckoned with over a race distance after only qualifying fourth and after jumping the front-row Toyotas during the first pit-stop phase, a strong middle stint ensured he wouldn’t be caught at the front.Toyota’s hopes of finally scoring its maiden Formula 1 victory faded after both its drivers made early pit stops, Chinese GP winner Vettel eventually vaulting ahead of pole-sitter Trulli into second place.
Lewis Hamilton completed McLaren’s best weekend of the season so far to take a morale-boosting fourth, ahead of the second Brawn of Rubens Barrichello who now slips more than a win behind team-mate Button in the points standings.Meanwhile, Ferrari managed to avoid the worst start to a Formula 1 season in its history by finally getting on the scoreboard at the fourth attempt, Kimi Raikkonen racing hard to sixth place.
As had been the case all weekend at Sakhir teams were faced with sweltering race-day conditions and as the 20 cars lined up on the grid under the beating sun the track temperatures nudged 50 degrees.
At the lights, the significantly lighter-fuelled Glock outdragged pole-sitting team-mate Trulli off the line to take the lead into the first corner.And while this may have been a pre-planned arrangement given Glock’s inferior fuel strategy, Trulli came under attack for real by a predictably fast-starting Hamilton – the world champion’s KERS system's power boost having helped him catapult past Button and Vettel off the line from fifth.
Hamilton then put his KERS to good effect again on the long uphill straight betweens turns three and four to speed past Trulli.
But the world champion didn’t stay here for long, running wide under braking which allowed the Toyota to regain the position.Hamilton was then demoted to fourth at the start of the next lap by Button, the Brawn driver judging an out-braking move to perfection down the inside of the first turn.
The pass turned out to be crucial as it ensured the championship leader could keep the Toyotas in sight over the first stint.Glock, meanwhile, had immediately opened up a one second advantage at the front, but despite his lighter fuel load he never shook Trulli off by more than two seconds.
Indeed by the time he dived into the pit lane at the end of lap 10 his lead was only 1.8s and, after the published fuel loads suggested Trulli would be carrying on for several more laps, his team-mate now seemed set to take the race by the throat.
Surprisingly however the Italian headed for service himself at the end of the very next tour, Toyota seemingly bringing its driver’s planned stop forwards.
Whatever the reason for the change of strategy, it changed the complexion of Trulli’s afternoon and gave Button – who had remained just 1.5s adrift of the Italian – the chance he needed to flex his BGP 001’s muscles.
For Trulli, while he exited the pit lane ahead of Glock – the German just starting a mysterious slide down the order after switching to the medium tyres – he encountered problems in the shape of Fernando Alonso’s KERS-equipped Renault.Having held off his old team-mate on rejoining the track, Alonso quickly showed he was in no mood to have his crucial laps before his own pit stop spoiled by a heavier-fuelled Toyota by sensationally muscling his way around the outside of the Italian at turn four.
That certaintly wasn't in Trulli's gameplan but in any case as things turned out this made little difference to the Italian's hopes of staying ahead of Button, the Brawn driver using his extra four laps-worth of fuel to easily leapfrog the Toyota.
This was also the stage of the race when Vettel turned around his afternoon following a difficult first stint spent behind Hamilton in fifth.
Carrying the most fuel of the leading runners, the German’s RB5 had looked less balanced than it had done when he sped to the fastest time in low-fuel Q2 on Saturday but, as his fuel burned off, he began to push on as the cars ahead of him peeled into the pits.
By the time he eventually pitted from the lead by lap 18 – promoting Button to the head of the field – he had done enough to not only jump Hamilton, but get himself tagged onto the back of Trulli.However, the re-appearance of the notorious ‘Trulli Train’ scuppered his hopes of taking the fight to Button on the super-soft tyres.While Trulli was lapping up to a second slower on the medium compound, frustratingly for Vettel all he could do was follow the Toyota around the 3.3-mile track again, again and again – the German and Hamilton running under a second behind the Italian for most of the next 18 laps.
This was a god-send for Button, who had no similar road-block preventing him exploiting the full potential of the soft tyres and he duly scampered away into the distance.
The championship leader’s advantage was 16.8s when he pitted for the second and final time on lap 36, the Brawn driver exiting the pit just as Trulli and Hamilton entered for their own respective final stops.With Vettel again stopping later than his respective rivals, the Red Bull star almost inevitably was going to move up to second and his three extra laps on track were indeed enough to allow him to stop and then rejoin ahead of Trulli.
The situation was now reversed, however, with the Toyota driver now the one on the super-soft rubber. Trulli duly made a renewed charge and closed onto Vettel’s gearbox, but it was too little and too late and the pole-sitter had to settle for the lowest rung of the podium.As long as the now faster Toyota remained tucked up behind the RBR, Button was always going to cruise to the flag and ultimately clocked off the final laps to take the win 7.1s ahead of Vettel.
Hamilton struggled on the harder tyres in the closing stages but nevertheless finished a comfortable fourth, with Barrichello fifth after his gamble on a three-stop strategy never paid dividends despite some impressive overtaking moves.
Early leader Glock eventually came home right behind Raikkonen in seventh, thus maintaining his 100% points-scoring record in 2009.But he and Toyota will be seeking answers as to how his race unravelled in the middle stint so badly.
Alonso may have taken the honours for ‘overtaking move of the race’ with his move on Trulli earlier in the day, but a single point was not what the Spaniard or Renault would have been hoping for this weekend after making big progress last week in China.
Felipe Massa, however, is still waiting for his first points of the season after last year’s championship runner-up finished a lap down in 14th. The Brazilian made a poor start from eighth despite having KERS and then had to pit for a new nosecone after lap one contact. But while his Ferrari team can take comfort from Raikkonen’s result, rival BMW will want to forget its Bahrain weekend as quickly as possible after its most uncompetitive race showing as an F1 team owner.
Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld finished last of the classified runners after both picking up damage to their F1.09s on the opening lap, each having to pit for new front wings.A driver who enjoyed a more positive day, however, was the under-pressure Nelson Piquet Jr who produced his best race performance of his tough season so far to move up from 15th to the top 10 for Renault.
Bahrain Grand Prix result (57 laps)
1. BUTTON Brawn 1h31m48.18s
2. VETTEL Red Bull +7.1s
3. TRULLI Toyota +9.1s
4. HAMILTON McLaren +22.0s
5. BARRICHELLO Brawn +37.7s
6. RAIKKONEN Ferrari +42.0s
7. GLOCK Toyota +42.8s
8. ALONSO Renault +52.7s
9. ROSBERG Williams +58.1s
10. PIQUET Renault +1m05.1s
11. WEBBER Red Bull +1m07.6s
12. KOVALAINEN McLaren +1m17.8s
13. BOURDAIS Toro Rosso +1m18.8s
14. MASSA Ferrari +1 lap
15. FISICHELLA Force India +1 lap
16. SUTIL Force India +1 lap
17. BUEMI Toro Rosso +1 lap
18. KUBICA BMW +1 lap
19. HEIDFELD BMW +1 lap
20. NAKAJIMA Williams +9 laps
Fastest lap: TRULLI 1m34.556s (lap 10)
Button had expressed optimism that his BGP 001 remained a force to be reckoned with over a race distance after only qualifying fourth and after jumping the front-row Toyotas during the first pit-stop phase, a strong middle stint ensured he wouldn’t be caught at the front.Toyota’s hopes of finally scoring its maiden Formula 1 victory faded after both its drivers made early pit stops, Chinese GP winner Vettel eventually vaulting ahead of pole-sitter Trulli into second place.
Lewis Hamilton completed McLaren’s best weekend of the season so far to take a morale-boosting fourth, ahead of the second Brawn of Rubens Barrichello who now slips more than a win behind team-mate Button in the points standings.Meanwhile, Ferrari managed to avoid the worst start to a Formula 1 season in its history by finally getting on the scoreboard at the fourth attempt, Kimi Raikkonen racing hard to sixth place.
As had been the case all weekend at Sakhir teams were faced with sweltering race-day conditions and as the 20 cars lined up on the grid under the beating sun the track temperatures nudged 50 degrees.
At the lights, the significantly lighter-fuelled Glock outdragged pole-sitting team-mate Trulli off the line to take the lead into the first corner.And while this may have been a pre-planned arrangement given Glock’s inferior fuel strategy, Trulli came under attack for real by a predictably fast-starting Hamilton – the world champion’s KERS system's power boost having helped him catapult past Button and Vettel off the line from fifth.
Hamilton then put his KERS to good effect again on the long uphill straight betweens turns three and four to speed past Trulli.
But the world champion didn’t stay here for long, running wide under braking which allowed the Toyota to regain the position.Hamilton was then demoted to fourth at the start of the next lap by Button, the Brawn driver judging an out-braking move to perfection down the inside of the first turn.
The pass turned out to be crucial as it ensured the championship leader could keep the Toyotas in sight over the first stint.Glock, meanwhile, had immediately opened up a one second advantage at the front, but despite his lighter fuel load he never shook Trulli off by more than two seconds.
Indeed by the time he dived into the pit lane at the end of lap 10 his lead was only 1.8s and, after the published fuel loads suggested Trulli would be carrying on for several more laps, his team-mate now seemed set to take the race by the throat.
Surprisingly however the Italian headed for service himself at the end of the very next tour, Toyota seemingly bringing its driver’s planned stop forwards.
Whatever the reason for the change of strategy, it changed the complexion of Trulli’s afternoon and gave Button – who had remained just 1.5s adrift of the Italian – the chance he needed to flex his BGP 001’s muscles.
For Trulli, while he exited the pit lane ahead of Glock – the German just starting a mysterious slide down the order after switching to the medium tyres – he encountered problems in the shape of Fernando Alonso’s KERS-equipped Renault.Having held off his old team-mate on rejoining the track, Alonso quickly showed he was in no mood to have his crucial laps before his own pit stop spoiled by a heavier-fuelled Toyota by sensationally muscling his way around the outside of the Italian at turn four.
That certaintly wasn't in Trulli's gameplan but in any case as things turned out this made little difference to the Italian's hopes of staying ahead of Button, the Brawn driver using his extra four laps-worth of fuel to easily leapfrog the Toyota.
This was also the stage of the race when Vettel turned around his afternoon following a difficult first stint spent behind Hamilton in fifth.
Carrying the most fuel of the leading runners, the German’s RB5 had looked less balanced than it had done when he sped to the fastest time in low-fuel Q2 on Saturday but, as his fuel burned off, he began to push on as the cars ahead of him peeled into the pits.
By the time he eventually pitted from the lead by lap 18 – promoting Button to the head of the field – he had done enough to not only jump Hamilton, but get himself tagged onto the back of Trulli.However, the re-appearance of the notorious ‘Trulli Train’ scuppered his hopes of taking the fight to Button on the super-soft tyres.While Trulli was lapping up to a second slower on the medium compound, frustratingly for Vettel all he could do was follow the Toyota around the 3.3-mile track again, again and again – the German and Hamilton running under a second behind the Italian for most of the next 18 laps.
This was a god-send for Button, who had no similar road-block preventing him exploiting the full potential of the soft tyres and he duly scampered away into the distance.
The championship leader’s advantage was 16.8s when he pitted for the second and final time on lap 36, the Brawn driver exiting the pit just as Trulli and Hamilton entered for their own respective final stops.With Vettel again stopping later than his respective rivals, the Red Bull star almost inevitably was going to move up to second and his three extra laps on track were indeed enough to allow him to stop and then rejoin ahead of Trulli.
The situation was now reversed, however, with the Toyota driver now the one on the super-soft rubber. Trulli duly made a renewed charge and closed onto Vettel’s gearbox, but it was too little and too late and the pole-sitter had to settle for the lowest rung of the podium.As long as the now faster Toyota remained tucked up behind the RBR, Button was always going to cruise to the flag and ultimately clocked off the final laps to take the win 7.1s ahead of Vettel.
Hamilton struggled on the harder tyres in the closing stages but nevertheless finished a comfortable fourth, with Barrichello fifth after his gamble on a three-stop strategy never paid dividends despite some impressive overtaking moves.
Early leader Glock eventually came home right behind Raikkonen in seventh, thus maintaining his 100% points-scoring record in 2009.But he and Toyota will be seeking answers as to how his race unravelled in the middle stint so badly.
Alonso may have taken the honours for ‘overtaking move of the race’ with his move on Trulli earlier in the day, but a single point was not what the Spaniard or Renault would have been hoping for this weekend after making big progress last week in China.
Felipe Massa, however, is still waiting for his first points of the season after last year’s championship runner-up finished a lap down in 14th. The Brazilian made a poor start from eighth despite having KERS and then had to pit for a new nosecone after lap one contact. But while his Ferrari team can take comfort from Raikkonen’s result, rival BMW will want to forget its Bahrain weekend as quickly as possible after its most uncompetitive race showing as an F1 team owner.
Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld finished last of the classified runners after both picking up damage to their F1.09s on the opening lap, each having to pit for new front wings.A driver who enjoyed a more positive day, however, was the under-pressure Nelson Piquet Jr who produced his best race performance of his tough season so far to move up from 15th to the top 10 for Renault.
Bahrain Grand Prix result (57 laps)
1. BUTTON Brawn 1h31m48.18s
2. VETTEL Red Bull +7.1s
3. TRULLI Toyota +9.1s
4. HAMILTON McLaren +22.0s
5. BARRICHELLO Brawn +37.7s
6. RAIKKONEN Ferrari +42.0s
7. GLOCK Toyota +42.8s
8. ALONSO Renault +52.7s
9. ROSBERG Williams +58.1s
10. PIQUET Renault +1m05.1s
11. WEBBER Red Bull +1m07.6s
12. KOVALAINEN McLaren +1m17.8s
13. BOURDAIS Toro Rosso +1m18.8s
14. MASSA Ferrari +1 lap
15. FISICHELLA Force India +1 lap
16. SUTIL Force India +1 lap
17. BUEMI Toro Rosso +1 lap
18. KUBICA BMW +1 lap
19. HEIDFELD BMW +1 lap
20. NAKAJIMA Williams +9 laps
Fastest lap: TRULLI 1m34.556s (lap 10)
Bahrain Grand Prix - F1 Toyota Race Round-Up
======================================================================
1 J. Button Brawn GP Formula One Team
2 S. Vettel Red Bull Racing
3 J. Trulli Panasonic Toyota Racing
4 L. Hamilton Vodafone McLaren Mercedes
5 R. Barrichello Brawn GP Formula One Team
6 K. Raikkonen Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro
7 T. Glock Panasonic Toyota Racing
8 F. Alonso ING Renault F1 Team
Bahrain Grand Prix - Race Round-Up
Panasonic Toyota Racing is celebrating its third podium of 2009 after
Jarno Trulli took third place at today's Bahrain Grand Prix. On
another sweltering day, Jarno started on pole with Timo alongside him
on P2, both on the super soft tyre. Both cars made good starts but
Timo edged in front into the first corner. The pair were closely
matched early on, building up a cushion over the third placed car as
Jarno set the race's fastest lap. Timo pitted on lap 11 and Jarno
took advantage of his extra lap of fuel, jumping ahead at his first
stop. Both drivers swapped to the medium compound tyre and Jarno ran
second after the first round of stops. But Timo struggled for grip on
his heavy fuel load and he brought his second stop forward to lap 33,
fuelling to the end on the super soft tyre. Jarno also took the super
soft tyres when he pitted on lap 37, battling hard en route to the
podium. Timo added another two valuable points with 7th. Toyota was
already celebrating in Bahrain as third driver Kamui Kobayashi
wrapped up the GP2 Asia championship on Saturday.
1 J. Button Brawn GP Formula One Team
2 S. Vettel Red Bull Racing
3 J. Trulli Panasonic Toyota Racing
4 L. Hamilton Vodafone McLaren Mercedes
5 R. Barrichello Brawn GP Formula One Team
6 K. Raikkonen Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro
7 T. Glock Panasonic Toyota Racing
8 F. Alonso ING Renault F1 Team
Bahrain Grand Prix - Race Round-Up
Panasonic Toyota Racing is celebrating its third podium of 2009 after
Jarno Trulli took third place at today's Bahrain Grand Prix. On
another sweltering day, Jarno started on pole with Timo alongside him
on P2, both on the super soft tyre. Both cars made good starts but
Timo edged in front into the first corner. The pair were closely
matched early on, building up a cushion over the third placed car as
Jarno set the race's fastest lap. Timo pitted on lap 11 and Jarno
took advantage of his extra lap of fuel, jumping ahead at his first
stop. Both drivers swapped to the medium compound tyre and Jarno ran
second after the first round of stops. But Timo struggled for grip on
his heavy fuel load and he brought his second stop forward to lap 33,
fuelling to the end on the super soft tyre. Jarno also took the super
soft tyres when he pitted on lap 37, battling hard en route to the
podium. Timo added another two valuable points with 7th. Toyota was
already celebrating in Bahrain as third driver Kamui Kobayashi
wrapped up the GP2 Asia championship on Saturday.
Sunday 26 April 2009
Bridgestone to introduce softer F1 inter
Bridgestone will introduce a new softer compound intermediate tyre from the Monaco Grand Prix onwards.Formula 1's control tyre supplier made the decision to produce a more grippy intermediate specification of rubber to counterbalance the loss of aerodynamic grip in wet conditions caused by the change in regulations in 2009. This follows a wet start to the season both during pre-season testing and the Malaysian and Chinese grands prix where drivers struggled for grip in intermediate conditions.
"Our new intermediate tyre compound will debut at Monaco and we will use this for the rest of the season," said Bridgestone director of motorsport tyre development Hirohide Hamashima. "It is a softer compound and will allow more mechanical grip, however the lower downforce from the latest cars means that it is still more of a challenge driving in the wet than before."
Bridgestone has also announced the dry tyre compound allocation for the four races from the Monaco Grand Prix onwards. This includes a switch in running compounds separated by one step of hardness for the street circuit, where super soft and soft tyres will be offered.
"Our allocations for the next four races from Monaco onwards are based on the data we have collected so far this season, and the extensive knowledge we have of the race venues we visit. "In Monaco, there is a change to our allocation philosophy due to the unique characteristics of this smooth and slippery track. This means we will bring the super soft and soft tyres, which are next to each other in terms of softness, and also both from our low temperature working range family."
Tyre allocation for the next five grands prix:
Spain: soft, hard
Monaco: super soft, soft
Turkey: soft, hard
Britain: soft, hard
Germany: super soft, medium
"Our new intermediate tyre compound will debut at Monaco and we will use this for the rest of the season," said Bridgestone director of motorsport tyre development Hirohide Hamashima. "It is a softer compound and will allow more mechanical grip, however the lower downforce from the latest cars means that it is still more of a challenge driving in the wet than before."
Bridgestone has also announced the dry tyre compound allocation for the four races from the Monaco Grand Prix onwards. This includes a switch in running compounds separated by one step of hardness for the street circuit, where super soft and soft tyres will be offered.
"Our allocations for the next four races from Monaco onwards are based on the data we have collected so far this season, and the extensive knowledge we have of the race venues we visit. "In Monaco, there is a change to our allocation philosophy due to the unique characteristics of this smooth and slippery track. This means we will bring the super soft and soft tyres, which are next to each other in terms of softness, and also both from our low temperature working range family."
Tyre allocation for the next five grands prix:
Spain: soft, hard
Monaco: super soft, soft
Turkey: soft, hard
Britain: soft, hard
Germany: super soft, medium
Bridgestone to introduce softer F1 inter
Bridgestone will introduce a new softer compound intermediate tyre from the Monaco Grand Prix onwards.Formula 1's control tyre supplier made the decision to produce a more grippy intermediate specification of rubber to counterbalance the loss of aerodynamic grip in wet conditions caused by the change in regulations in 2009. This follows a wet start to the season both during pre-season testing and the Malaysian and Chinese grands prix where drivers struggled for grip in intermediate conditions.
"Our new intermediate tyre compound will debut at Monaco and we will use this for the rest of the season," said Bridgestone director of motorsport tyre development Hirohide Hamashima. "It is a softer compound and will allow more mechanical grip, however the lower downforce from the latest cars means that it is still more of a challenge driving in the wet than before."
Bridgestone has also announced the dry tyre compound allocation for the four races from the Monaco Grand Prix onwards. This includes a switch in running compounds separated by one step of hardness for the street circuit, where super soft and soft tyres will be offered.
"Our allocations for the next four races from Monaco onwards are based on the data we have collected so far this season, and the extensive knowledge we have of the race venues we visit. "In Monaco, there is a change to our allocation philosophy due to the unique characteristics of this smooth and slippery track. This means we will bring the super soft and soft tyres, which are next to each other in terms of softness, and also both from our low temperature working range family."
Tyre allocation for the next five grands prix:
Spain: soft, hard
Monaco: super soft, soft
Turkey: soft, hard
Britain: soft, hard
Germany: super soft, medium
"Our new intermediate tyre compound will debut at Monaco and we will use this for the rest of the season," said Bridgestone director of motorsport tyre development Hirohide Hamashima. "It is a softer compound and will allow more mechanical grip, however the lower downforce from the latest cars means that it is still more of a challenge driving in the wet than before."
Bridgestone has also announced the dry tyre compound allocation for the four races from the Monaco Grand Prix onwards. This includes a switch in running compounds separated by one step of hardness for the street circuit, where super soft and soft tyres will be offered.
"Our allocations for the next four races from Monaco onwards are based on the data we have collected so far this season, and the extensive knowledge we have of the race venues we visit. "In Monaco, there is a change to our allocation philosophy due to the unique characteristics of this smooth and slippery track. This means we will bring the super soft and soft tyres, which are next to each other in terms of softness, and also both from our low temperature working range family."
Tyre allocation for the next five grands prix:
Spain: soft, hard
Monaco: super soft, soft
Turkey: soft, hard
Britain: soft, hard
Germany: super soft, medium
F1 Toyota's Howett wary of McLaren, Ferrari
Toyota F1 president John Howett has urged his team to remain 'paranoid' that big guns McLaren and Ferrari will come back strongly soon - despite its lock-out of the front row at the Bahrain Grand Prix.The Japanese manufacturer has had a strong start to the campaign, taking podium finishes in the first two races, and could be on the verge of a maiden victory at Sakhir after Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock took the first two places on the grid.
With the performance of the TF109 pointing towards a potential title challenge, Howett wants his team to remain cautious."We are in the top three definitely," he told AUTOSPORT. "There is no question about that. We have got to be paranoid that the McLaren and Ferraris are recovering very strongly. But we have got to keep pushing and have confidence. If we can get a really strong result it will help."
Toyota's promising start to the year has eased speculation that the Japanese manufacturer could pull out of F1 – although Howett has reiterated that its future will not be totally secure until it scores a maiden victory."I think in the end Toyota is a winning company – we use the brand slogans on the back of our car relative to the market," he said.
"They are all about pushing the limits and winning. That is the culture in the company. We will never rest until we win, and then we need to win, and then we need to win for half the cost."Howett is refusing to take anything for granted about Toyota's chances for the Bahrain Grand Prix, even though the team appears to have the pace to beat its rivals.
"I am really happy – but qualifying is qualifying. It is only one step to winning. You need to qualify well but now we have got to focus on having a great race and capitalising on the advantage. Until we are there, don't get complacent."He added: "Yes, the car is quick. Relative to Brawn and Red Bull, I think it is very, very tight. And you can see some of the others catching up now. So, it means no sleep."
With the performance of the TF109 pointing towards a potential title challenge, Howett wants his team to remain cautious."We are in the top three definitely," he told AUTOSPORT. "There is no question about that. We have got to be paranoid that the McLaren and Ferraris are recovering very strongly. But we have got to keep pushing and have confidence. If we can get a really strong result it will help."
Toyota's promising start to the year has eased speculation that the Japanese manufacturer could pull out of F1 – although Howett has reiterated that its future will not be totally secure until it scores a maiden victory."I think in the end Toyota is a winning company – we use the brand slogans on the back of our car relative to the market," he said.
"They are all about pushing the limits and winning. That is the culture in the company. We will never rest until we win, and then we need to win, and then we need to win for half the cost."Howett is refusing to take anything for granted about Toyota's chances for the Bahrain Grand Prix, even though the team appears to have the pace to beat its rivals.
"I am really happy – but qualifying is qualifying. It is only one step to winning. You need to qualify well but now we have got to focus on having a great race and capitalising on the advantage. Until we are there, don't get complacent."He added: "Yes, the car is quick. Relative to Brawn and Red Bull, I think it is very, very tight. And you can see some of the others catching up now. So, it means no sleep."
Saturday 25 April 2009
Trulli heads all-Toyota front row Bahrain F1 2009
Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock delivered on the promise Toyota has been showing all season to lock out the front row of the grid for the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Qualifying master Trulli pulled out all the stops in a thrilling climax to Q3 to seize pole position from team-mate Glock and head the Japanese manufacturer’s first ever grid one-two.
Trulli prevailed by 0.3s, with Glock another three-tenths clear of Q2 pacesetter Sebastian Vettel – a margin almost certainly boosted by an aggressive fuel strategy.
But after a difficult Friday, Toyota seems to have found the set-up sweet spot with the TF109 and always looked like contending for pole.
Vettel will share the second row with championship leader Jenson Button, while reigning champion Lewis Hamilton will start fifth in the improving McLaren after by far his best showing of the season so far.
The two knockout sessions were a fitting warm-up for the main battle, Vettel setting the pace in both with the Toyotas hot on his heels.
In Q2 the Red Bull driver again showed his impressive ability to reel off an ultra-quick lap without the need for a prior ‘banker’ run, saving a new set of super-soft tyres for the race in the process.
Toyota came to the fore in the Q3 run-off, topping the charts by a comfortable margin on both runs.
On each occasion Glock was the first to show his hand and set a benchmark that fleetingly gave him pole before Trulli eclipsed him.
Vettel had to settle for third, fractionally ahead of Button, who admits that single-lap pace is currently a slight weakness of the Brawn BGP001 but believes he is in stronger shape for the race.
The points leader also expressed concern at the presence of four KERS-equipped cars close behind him on the grid, which is likely to leave him on the defensive at the start.
The first of those is fellow Brit Hamilton, who proved the strides McLaren is making with its MP4-24, even if team-mate Heikki Kovalainen just missed the cut for Q3 and will start 11th.
Rubens Barrichello was sixth fastest in the second Brawn ahead of Renault’s Fernando Alonso, while Ferrari was simply relieved to get both its cars into Q3 with eighth for Felipe Massa and 10th for Kimi Raikkonen.
Once again Nico Rosberg couldn’t live up to his practice form and will sandwich the Ferraris in ninth, three places in front of Williams team-mate Kazuki Nakajima.
Both BMWs fell at the Q2 hurdle and will share the seventh row, Robert Kubica just edging Nick Heidfeld.
Nelson Piquet, who is coming under increasing pressure to perform from the Renault management after a succession of desultory showings, broke out of Q1 for the first time this year but made a mistake on one of his Q2 runs and managed only 15th.
The luckless Mark Webber was consigned to 18th after being blocked by an inattentive Adrian Sutil on his crucial Q1 lap.
The Force India driver said he did not realise Webber was on a quick lap and apologised to the Australian, but his contrition didn't spare him from a three-place grid penalty.
Provisional Bahrain GP grid
1. TRULLI Toyota
2. GLOCK Toyota
3. VETTEL Red Bull
4. BUTTON Brawn
5. HAMILTON McLaren
6. BARRICHELLO Brawn
7. ALONSO Renault
8. MASSA Ferrari
9. ROSBERG Williams
10. RAIKKONEN Ferrari
11. KOVALAINEN McLaren
12. NAKAJIMA Williams
13. KUBICA BMW
14. HEIDFELD BMW
15. PIQUET Renault
16. BUEMI Toro Rosso
17. FISICHELLA Force India
18. WEBBER Red Bull
19. SUTIL Force India*
20. BOURDAIS Toro Rosso
* penalised 3 places for impeding Webber
Qualifying master Trulli pulled out all the stops in a thrilling climax to Q3 to seize pole position from team-mate Glock and head the Japanese manufacturer’s first ever grid one-two.
Trulli prevailed by 0.3s, with Glock another three-tenths clear of Q2 pacesetter Sebastian Vettel – a margin almost certainly boosted by an aggressive fuel strategy.
But after a difficult Friday, Toyota seems to have found the set-up sweet spot with the TF109 and always looked like contending for pole.
Vettel will share the second row with championship leader Jenson Button, while reigning champion Lewis Hamilton will start fifth in the improving McLaren after by far his best showing of the season so far.
The two knockout sessions were a fitting warm-up for the main battle, Vettel setting the pace in both with the Toyotas hot on his heels.
In Q2 the Red Bull driver again showed his impressive ability to reel off an ultra-quick lap without the need for a prior ‘banker’ run, saving a new set of super-soft tyres for the race in the process.
Toyota came to the fore in the Q3 run-off, topping the charts by a comfortable margin on both runs.
On each occasion Glock was the first to show his hand and set a benchmark that fleetingly gave him pole before Trulli eclipsed him.
Vettel had to settle for third, fractionally ahead of Button, who admits that single-lap pace is currently a slight weakness of the Brawn BGP001 but believes he is in stronger shape for the race.
The points leader also expressed concern at the presence of four KERS-equipped cars close behind him on the grid, which is likely to leave him on the defensive at the start.
The first of those is fellow Brit Hamilton, who proved the strides McLaren is making with its MP4-24, even if team-mate Heikki Kovalainen just missed the cut for Q3 and will start 11th.
Rubens Barrichello was sixth fastest in the second Brawn ahead of Renault’s Fernando Alonso, while Ferrari was simply relieved to get both its cars into Q3 with eighth for Felipe Massa and 10th for Kimi Raikkonen.
Once again Nico Rosberg couldn’t live up to his practice form and will sandwich the Ferraris in ninth, three places in front of Williams team-mate Kazuki Nakajima.
Both BMWs fell at the Q2 hurdle and will share the seventh row, Robert Kubica just edging Nick Heidfeld.
Nelson Piquet, who is coming under increasing pressure to perform from the Renault management after a succession of desultory showings, broke out of Q1 for the first time this year but made a mistake on one of his Q2 runs and managed only 15th.
The luckless Mark Webber was consigned to 18th after being blocked by an inattentive Adrian Sutil on his crucial Q1 lap.
The Force India driver said he did not realise Webber was on a quick lap and apologised to the Australian, but his contrition didn't spare him from a three-place grid penalty.
Provisional Bahrain GP grid
1. TRULLI Toyota
2. GLOCK Toyota
3. VETTEL Red Bull
4. BUTTON Brawn
5. HAMILTON McLaren
6. BARRICHELLO Brawn
7. ALONSO Renault
8. MASSA Ferrari
9. ROSBERG Williams
10. RAIKKONEN Ferrari
11. KOVALAINEN McLaren
12. NAKAJIMA Williams
13. KUBICA BMW
14. HEIDFELD BMW
15. PIQUET Renault
16. BUEMI Toro Rosso
17. FISICHELLA Force India
18. WEBBER Red Bull
19. SUTIL Force India*
20. BOURDAIS Toro Rosso
* penalised 3 places for impeding Webber
Branson working on new F1 Advertising Brawn deal
Richard Branson has made an offer to up his Virgin Group's sponsorship involvement with Brawn GP - but has insisted he will not break the bank to have a bigger presence on the team's cars.
Virgin announced at the Australian Grand Prix that it was to become a sponsor of Brawn, and Branson said at the time that there was a chance of him expanding the deal - to potentially become title sponsor.
Discussions about such plans are still ongoing, and Branson said in Bahrain on Saturday that he has laid out the terms to the team – and was now awaiting an answer.
"The team have become very popular since the beginning of the season," said Branson. "We are negotiating, as are other people, and we may or may not end up doing a full branding exercise.
"If we end up not doing it, we will obviously be the sponsor for this year and would be delighted with the way it has gone. If we end up doing it, even better.
"Let's see how it goes. Someone could come in and pay a silly price, and we will bow out gracefully if that happens. But we've made an offer we feel we can afford."
Team principal Ross Brawn did not rule out a deal happening as soon as the Spanish Grand Prix, but said no decision had been made about what they were going to do.
"It's still in discussion," he explained. "We are looking to try and develop a bigger longer term relationship and it is understanding what they want and what we want. So it is still ongoing. The right deal could happen any time.
He added: "Any team is looking for medium term commitments particularly in this environment so it would be nice to have our principal funding in place for the next few years."
Virgin announced at the Australian Grand Prix that it was to become a sponsor of Brawn, and Branson said at the time that there was a chance of him expanding the deal - to potentially become title sponsor.
Discussions about such plans are still ongoing, and Branson said in Bahrain on Saturday that he has laid out the terms to the team – and was now awaiting an answer.
"The team have become very popular since the beginning of the season," said Branson. "We are negotiating, as are other people, and we may or may not end up doing a full branding exercise.
"If we end up not doing it, we will obviously be the sponsor for this year and would be delighted with the way it has gone. If we end up doing it, even better.
"Let's see how it goes. Someone could come in and pay a silly price, and we will bow out gracefully if that happens. But we've made an offer we feel we can afford."
Team principal Ross Brawn did not rule out a deal happening as soon as the Spanish Grand Prix, but said no decision had been made about what they were going to do.
"It's still in discussion," he explained. "We are looking to try and develop a bigger longer term relationship and it is understanding what they want and what we want. So it is still ongoing. The right deal could happen any time.
He added: "Any team is looking for medium term commitments particularly in this environment so it would be nice to have our principal funding in place for the next few years."
Tuesday 21 April 2009
Toyota Bahrain Grand Prix - Preview F1 2009
======================================================================
Panasonic Toyota Racing returns to action swiftly after the Chinese
Grand Prix with a trip to the Middle East for the Bahrain Grand Prix
on the Bahrain International Circuit at Sakhir. The team benefits
from extensive recent experience of the track with the TF109, having
spent two weeks testing there in February, completing 3,847km over
711 laps. Toyota has scored points in every race so far this season,
with Timo Glock claiming a fighting seventh place in China on a day
when Jarno Trulli was eliminated after being hit from behind by a
rival. This weekend the team will again use the super soft and
medium compound Bridgestone Potenza tyres, having previously used
these in both China and Australia. Toyota has a strong record in
Bahrain and already has experience of the podium there following
Jarno's second place in 2005. More recently, Jarno finished sixth
there last year while Timo was ninth after a late gearbox issue
denied him points.
Read more :
http://www.toyota-f1.com/en/season/gp2009/04_bahrain/preview.html
for more information, please visit our website :
http://www.toyota-f1.com
Drivers Championship
1 Jenson Button Brawn GP Formula One Team 21
2 Rubens Barrichello Brawn GP Formula One Team 15
3 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing 10
4 Timo Glock Panasonic Toyota Racing 10
5 Mark Webber Red Bull Racing 9.5
6 Jarno Trulli Panasonic Toyota Racing 8.5
7 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber F1 Team 4
8 Fernando Alonso ING Renault F1 Team 4
9 Heikki Kovalainen Vodafone McLaren Mercedes 4
10 Lewis Hamilton Vodafone McLaren Mercedes 4
11 Nico Rosberg AT&T Williams 3.5
12 Sebastien Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso 3
13 Sebastien Bourdais Scuderia Toro Rosso 1
14 Adrian Sutil Force India F1 Team 0
15 Felipe Massa Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 0
16 Kimi Raikkonen Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 0
17 Giancarlo Fisichella Force India F1 Team 0
18 Kazuki Nakajima AT&T Williams 0
19 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber F1 Team 0
20 Nelsinho Piquet ING Renault F1 Team 0
Constructors Championship
1 Brawn GP Formula One Team 36
2 Red Bull Racing 19.5
3 Panasonic Toyota Racing 18.5
4 Vodafone McLaren Mercedes 8
5 BMW Sauber F1 Team 4
6 ING Renault F1 Team 4
7 Scuderia Toro Rosso 4
8 AT&T Williams 3.5
9 Force India F1 Team 0
10 Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 0
---- Race Schedule (All Local Time)-----------------------------------
FORMULA 1 Round 4 Grand Prix of Bahrain
24th April Friday 10:00-11:30 Free Practice 1
14:00-15:30 Free Practice 2
25th April Saturday 11:00-12:00 Free Practice 3
14:00- Qualifying
26th April Sunday 15:00- Race
Panasonic Toyota Racing returns to action swiftly after the Chinese
Grand Prix with a trip to the Middle East for the Bahrain Grand Prix
on the Bahrain International Circuit at Sakhir. The team benefits
from extensive recent experience of the track with the TF109, having
spent two weeks testing there in February, completing 3,847km over
711 laps. Toyota has scored points in every race so far this season,
with Timo Glock claiming a fighting seventh place in China on a day
when Jarno Trulli was eliminated after being hit from behind by a
rival. This weekend the team will again use the super soft and
medium compound Bridgestone Potenza tyres, having previously used
these in both China and Australia. Toyota has a strong record in
Bahrain and already has experience of the podium there following
Jarno's second place in 2005. More recently, Jarno finished sixth
there last year while Timo was ninth after a late gearbox issue
denied him points.
Read more :
http://www.toyota-f1.com/en/season/gp2009/04_bahrain/preview.html
for more information, please visit our website :
http://www.toyota-f1.com
Drivers Championship
1 Jenson Button Brawn GP Formula One Team 21
2 Rubens Barrichello Brawn GP Formula One Team 15
3 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing 10
4 Timo Glock Panasonic Toyota Racing 10
5 Mark Webber Red Bull Racing 9.5
6 Jarno Trulli Panasonic Toyota Racing 8.5
7 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber F1 Team 4
8 Fernando Alonso ING Renault F1 Team 4
9 Heikki Kovalainen Vodafone McLaren Mercedes 4
10 Lewis Hamilton Vodafone McLaren Mercedes 4
11 Nico Rosberg AT&T Williams 3.5
12 Sebastien Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso 3
13 Sebastien Bourdais Scuderia Toro Rosso 1
14 Adrian Sutil Force India F1 Team 0
15 Felipe Massa Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 0
16 Kimi Raikkonen Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 0
17 Giancarlo Fisichella Force India F1 Team 0
18 Kazuki Nakajima AT&T Williams 0
19 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber F1 Team 0
20 Nelsinho Piquet ING Renault F1 Team 0
Constructors Championship
1 Brawn GP Formula One Team 36
2 Red Bull Racing 19.5
3 Panasonic Toyota Racing 18.5
4 Vodafone McLaren Mercedes 8
5 BMW Sauber F1 Team 4
6 ING Renault F1 Team 4
7 Scuderia Toro Rosso 4
8 AT&T Williams 3.5
9 Force India F1 Team 0
10 Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 0
---- Race Schedule (All Local Time)-----------------------------------
FORMULA 1 Round 4 Grand Prix of Bahrain
24th April Friday 10:00-11:30 Free Practice 1
14:00-15:30 Free Practice 2
25th April Saturday 11:00-12:00 Free Practice 3
14:00- Qualifying
26th April Sunday 15:00- Race
Sunday 19 April 2009
F1 Vettel claims RBR's first win
Sebastian Vettel delivered Red Bull Racing’s first Formula 1 victory with a wet-weather masterclass in China, leading team-mate Mark Webber home in a sensational 1-2 for the Milton Keynes-based squad.
Having ended Jenson Button and Brawn GP’s dominant start to the season in qualifying with RBR’s first pole and a third, the pair proved too strong for the championship-leading combination in treacherous Shanghai conditions and denied them a hat-trick of wins.Vettel, not for the first time in the wet, stole the show with a flawless performance that was a carbon-copy of his metronomic drive to victory in the rain at Monza for Red Bull’s junior team Toro Rosso last September.
The Brawn BGP001 was no match for the RB5 in the conditions and Button finished a distant third ahead of team-mate Rubens Barrichello – the Briton nevertheless increasing his early points lead to six over the Brazilian.With standing water all around the circuit and rain still falling, a safety car start was declared and the Mercedes led the field around for the first seven laps.
The long caution period was bad news for the lighter-fuelled drivers, giving them ever less scope to make an aggressive strategy work.Fernando Alonso and Nico Rosberg elected to cut their losses and refuel under the safety car, at the price of falling to the back of the field.
The Red Bulls stuck to their original plan and duly led away from the Brawns once the race got underway in anger, Vettel building an immediate 2.4s cushion over Webber.Most of the action in the early laps came from the busy queue of cars that had formed up behind a struggling Jarno Trulli, who was all at sea in the conditions and began to tumble down the order.
Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen enjoyed a long duel, trading places several times (in between a brief spin from Lewis), but the man making the most impressive progress was Sebastien Buemi.The Toro Rosso rookie passed Raikkonen and Trulli with the confidence of a seasoned winner, snatching fifth place from the Toyota on lap 13.
In the meantime the two Brawns had exchanged places, Button capitalising on a mistake from Barrichello in turn 11 to take over third place.Webber was the first of the Red Bulls to pit at the end of lap 14, with Vettel following suit the following lap and relinquishing a 13.6s lead over Button.
By this time the rain had began to fall more heavily again, and on lap 19 the safety car was deployed once again, prompting the Brawns to make an immediate beeline for the pits.It worked out well for Button, who rejoined in between the two Red Bulls, but Barrichello slipped behind Hamilton and the two Ferraris.
The Maranello contingent was reduced to a single car when Massa’s F60 lost drive on the back straight and crawled to a halt, condemning last year’s championship runner-up to his third successive non-score.Meanwhile there had been a scare for leader Vettel when he was hit from behind by Buemi as they made their way through the murk – in an uncanny echo of the German’s own blunder while driving for STR in the wet 2007 Fuji race when he crashed into Webber.
Fortunately for Vettel (and Buemi’s own standing within the Red Bull stable), the only damage done was a broken front wing on the Swiss driver’s Toro Rosso, which was swiftly replaced at his pit stop.Vettel proved his car was unscathed by storming away at the restart, pulling out a 4.3s cushion over Button on the first flying lap and steadily increasing it until he had 10s in hand by lap 28.
Webber was hot on Button’s heels and pounced on a mistake from the Briton under braking for the turn 14 hairpin to reclaim second – only to return the favour a couple of laps later when he got caught out by a puddle on the turn-in to the final corner.As if irritated by that slip-up, Webber snatched the place straight back on the very next lap with an audacious move around the outside of the fast turn seven, restoring a Red Bull 1-2.
Vettel had taken full advantage of his team-mate’s antics with Button to cement his advantage, and while Webber matched his pace once he was clear of Button, he was 17.5s adrift when Sebastian pitted for the second time on lap 37.When Vettel rejoined directly behind Button, who still had to make his final stop, it was clear he had the race by the throat.
But such was his superior pace that he swept past the Brawn anyway on lap 41, getting a run along the back straight and outbraking it into the hairpin with clinical precision.Button pitted soon afterwards, clearing the way for Red Bull’s breakthrough 1-2 and relegating the championship leader to the bottom rung of the podium for the first time this year.
Barrichello moved back up to fourth to continue the team symmetry, withstanding a late challenge from Heikki Kovalainen, who finally got on the scoreboard after failing to complete a lap in the first two races.It was a sure-footed performance from the Finn, in contrast to team-mate Hamilton who provided plenty of entertainment as he mixed bold passing moves with a seemingly equal number of off-course excursions.
The world champion ran as high as fourth in the race’s middle stages prior to his only pit stop, but thereafter his progress was stymied by excessive tyre wear (which only worsened with each new off) and he slipped to an eventual sixth.Timo Glock likewise had a scrappy afternoon but kept plugging away and was rewarded with seventh.
The Toyota driver charged up the order early on after starting from the pit lane, but tangled with Nick Heidfeld’s BMW, damaged his front wing and had several other minor indiscretions.Buemi deservedly took the final point after his most impressive F1 performance to date, but might have done better still but for unlucky timing with the second safety car period.
Another to shine in the abject conditions was Sutil, who came within half a dozen laps of giving Force India its best ever result after using canny strategy and his own wet-weather talents to climb to sixth place.But, as in the Monaco rain last year when he was set for fourth until being rammed by Raikkonen’s Ferrari, there was late heartbreak for Sutil when he aquaplaned on a puddle at the turn five kink and slammed into the barrier.
Ferrari’s nightmare 2009 season plumbed new depths, with reliability problems resurfacing to cause Massa’s demise and Raikkonen finishing slipping down to 10th.Having failed to score a single point in the first three races, the reigning world champion team has now had its worst start to a season since 1981.
Chinese GP result - 56 laps
1. VETTEL Red Bull 1hr57m43.485s
2. WEBBER Red Bull +10.9s
3. BUTTON Brawn +44.9s
4. BARRICHELLO Brawn +1m03.7s
5. KOVALAINEN McLaren +1m05.1s
6. HAMILTON McLaren +1m11.8s
7. GLOCK Toyota +1m14.4s
8. BUEMI Toro Rosso +1m16.4s
9. ALONSO Renault +1m24.3s
10. RAIKKONEN Ferrari +1m31.7s
11. BOURDAIS Toro Rosso +1m34.1s
12. HEIDFELD BMW +1m35.8s
13. KUBICA BMW +1m46.8s
14. FISICHELLA Force India +1 lap
15. ROSBERG Williams +1 lap
16. PIQUET Renault +2 laps
R. SUTIL Force India +6 laps
R. NAKAJIMA Williams +13 laps
R. MASSA Ferrari +34 laps
R. TRULLI Toyota +38 laps
Fastest lap: BARRICHELLO 1m52.592s
Having ended Jenson Button and Brawn GP’s dominant start to the season in qualifying with RBR’s first pole and a third, the pair proved too strong for the championship-leading combination in treacherous Shanghai conditions and denied them a hat-trick of wins.Vettel, not for the first time in the wet, stole the show with a flawless performance that was a carbon-copy of his metronomic drive to victory in the rain at Monza for Red Bull’s junior team Toro Rosso last September.
The Brawn BGP001 was no match for the RB5 in the conditions and Button finished a distant third ahead of team-mate Rubens Barrichello – the Briton nevertheless increasing his early points lead to six over the Brazilian.With standing water all around the circuit and rain still falling, a safety car start was declared and the Mercedes led the field around for the first seven laps.
The long caution period was bad news for the lighter-fuelled drivers, giving them ever less scope to make an aggressive strategy work.Fernando Alonso and Nico Rosberg elected to cut their losses and refuel under the safety car, at the price of falling to the back of the field.
The Red Bulls stuck to their original plan and duly led away from the Brawns once the race got underway in anger, Vettel building an immediate 2.4s cushion over Webber.Most of the action in the early laps came from the busy queue of cars that had formed up behind a struggling Jarno Trulli, who was all at sea in the conditions and began to tumble down the order.
Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen enjoyed a long duel, trading places several times (in between a brief spin from Lewis), but the man making the most impressive progress was Sebastien Buemi.The Toro Rosso rookie passed Raikkonen and Trulli with the confidence of a seasoned winner, snatching fifth place from the Toyota on lap 13.
In the meantime the two Brawns had exchanged places, Button capitalising on a mistake from Barrichello in turn 11 to take over third place.Webber was the first of the Red Bulls to pit at the end of lap 14, with Vettel following suit the following lap and relinquishing a 13.6s lead over Button.
By this time the rain had began to fall more heavily again, and on lap 19 the safety car was deployed once again, prompting the Brawns to make an immediate beeline for the pits.It worked out well for Button, who rejoined in between the two Red Bulls, but Barrichello slipped behind Hamilton and the two Ferraris.
The Maranello contingent was reduced to a single car when Massa’s F60 lost drive on the back straight and crawled to a halt, condemning last year’s championship runner-up to his third successive non-score.Meanwhile there had been a scare for leader Vettel when he was hit from behind by Buemi as they made their way through the murk – in an uncanny echo of the German’s own blunder while driving for STR in the wet 2007 Fuji race when he crashed into Webber.
Fortunately for Vettel (and Buemi’s own standing within the Red Bull stable), the only damage done was a broken front wing on the Swiss driver’s Toro Rosso, which was swiftly replaced at his pit stop.Vettel proved his car was unscathed by storming away at the restart, pulling out a 4.3s cushion over Button on the first flying lap and steadily increasing it until he had 10s in hand by lap 28.
Webber was hot on Button’s heels and pounced on a mistake from the Briton under braking for the turn 14 hairpin to reclaim second – only to return the favour a couple of laps later when he got caught out by a puddle on the turn-in to the final corner.As if irritated by that slip-up, Webber snatched the place straight back on the very next lap with an audacious move around the outside of the fast turn seven, restoring a Red Bull 1-2.
Vettel had taken full advantage of his team-mate’s antics with Button to cement his advantage, and while Webber matched his pace once he was clear of Button, he was 17.5s adrift when Sebastian pitted for the second time on lap 37.When Vettel rejoined directly behind Button, who still had to make his final stop, it was clear he had the race by the throat.
But such was his superior pace that he swept past the Brawn anyway on lap 41, getting a run along the back straight and outbraking it into the hairpin with clinical precision.Button pitted soon afterwards, clearing the way for Red Bull’s breakthrough 1-2 and relegating the championship leader to the bottom rung of the podium for the first time this year.
Barrichello moved back up to fourth to continue the team symmetry, withstanding a late challenge from Heikki Kovalainen, who finally got on the scoreboard after failing to complete a lap in the first two races.It was a sure-footed performance from the Finn, in contrast to team-mate Hamilton who provided plenty of entertainment as he mixed bold passing moves with a seemingly equal number of off-course excursions.
The world champion ran as high as fourth in the race’s middle stages prior to his only pit stop, but thereafter his progress was stymied by excessive tyre wear (which only worsened with each new off) and he slipped to an eventual sixth.Timo Glock likewise had a scrappy afternoon but kept plugging away and was rewarded with seventh.
The Toyota driver charged up the order early on after starting from the pit lane, but tangled with Nick Heidfeld’s BMW, damaged his front wing and had several other minor indiscretions.Buemi deservedly took the final point after his most impressive F1 performance to date, but might have done better still but for unlucky timing with the second safety car period.
Another to shine in the abject conditions was Sutil, who came within half a dozen laps of giving Force India its best ever result after using canny strategy and his own wet-weather talents to climb to sixth place.But, as in the Monaco rain last year when he was set for fourth until being rammed by Raikkonen’s Ferrari, there was late heartbreak for Sutil when he aquaplaned on a puddle at the turn five kink and slammed into the barrier.
Ferrari’s nightmare 2009 season plumbed new depths, with reliability problems resurfacing to cause Massa’s demise and Raikkonen finishing slipping down to 10th.Having failed to score a single point in the first three races, the reigning world champion team has now had its worst start to a season since 1981.
Chinese GP result - 56 laps
1. VETTEL Red Bull 1hr57m43.485s
2. WEBBER Red Bull +10.9s
3. BUTTON Brawn +44.9s
4. BARRICHELLO Brawn +1m03.7s
5. KOVALAINEN McLaren +1m05.1s
6. HAMILTON McLaren +1m11.8s
7. GLOCK Toyota +1m14.4s
8. BUEMI Toro Rosso +1m16.4s
9. ALONSO Renault +1m24.3s
10. RAIKKONEN Ferrari +1m31.7s
11. BOURDAIS Toro Rosso +1m34.1s
12. HEIDFELD BMW +1m35.8s
13. KUBICA BMW +1m46.8s
14. FISICHELLA Force India +1 lap
15. ROSBERG Williams +1 lap
16. PIQUET Renault +2 laps
R. SUTIL Force India +6 laps
R. NAKAJIMA Williams +13 laps
R. MASSA Ferrari +34 laps
R. TRULLI Toyota +38 laps
Fastest lap: BARRICHELLO 1m52.592s
Saturday 18 April 2009
Vettel hands stunning Red Bull first F1 pole
Sebastian Vettel delivered Red Bull Racing its first Formula 1 pole position with a brilliant last-gasp lap in China, as Jenson Button and Brawn GP’s early stranglehold on the 2009 season was shattered in qualifying.Completing a new-look order at the head of the field was, totally unexpectedly, Fernando Alonso – Renault’s fortunes seemingly transformed by the introduction of an interim diffuser from Saturday morning’s final practice onwards.Mark Webber completed RBR’s best ever qualifying session by claiming third in the second RB5 having held provisional pole going into the dying seconds.
All this meant that hitherto pacesetter Brawn was shuffled down to fourth and fifth, with Rubens Barrichello outqualifying championship leader Button for the first time this season.Indeed after all the week’s arguments over the teams running two-step diffusers, the other two ‘diffuser gang’ squads were also usurped at the front with Jarno Trulli (Toyota) sixth and Nico Rosberg (Williams) seventh.And to heighten expectations that the early pacesetting teams may not run away with the championship as feared after all, the sport’s two big guns, Ferrari and McLaren, also showed much-needed improved form.Kimi Raikkonen was eighth in the lead Ferrari, although the Italian squad again couldn’t get two cars into Q3 after Felipe Massa was dumped out in the second phase.
And arch-rival McLaren’s previously steady progress away from the lower midfield seems to have been accelerated by its own interim diffuser and new front wing as Lewis Hamilton made the pole shootout for the first time in 2009, eventually claiming ninth.Rookie Sebastien Buemi completed a banner day for the Red Bull family by making the top 10 for the first time at just the third attempt, with STR another team to have made tangible progress since the Malaysian GP two weeks ago.
After practice form suggested that Brawn may face a more difficult time in Shanghai than at the first two races, RBR served notice of its intention to give the Brackley squad a run for its money in Q2.
Vettel and Webber lapped over 0.3s quicker than both Brawn cars in the low-fuel second session, and after Barrichello had topped the first Q3 runs Webber threw down the gauntlet as the decisive final laps got underway with a time of 1m36.466s.Team-mate Vettel had only needed one flying lap to top the second session order and repeated the feat in the third, sitting out most of the 10 minutes before uncorking a sensational 1m36.184s to seal his second career pole.
Alonso then produced an even more unexpected lap which split the two RBRs, 0.2s shy of Vettel, in a revised R29 car that had completed just six laps in its new form in final practice. While the Shanghai pole shootout was arguably the best of the season so far, the first two stages of the session also produced other unexpected results.
BMW had failed to get either car into the top 10 throughout practice and that form continued into qualifying – although things played out even worse that it may have feared as Robert Kubica was a shock Q1 casualty and will start 17th.
A late flying lap ensured team-mate Nick Heidfeld’s progression into the second phase and the German missed out on Q3 by just one hundredth of a second, although 11th place probably still represents a good result given the team’s current problems.
The second McLaren of Heikki Kovalainen will share the sixth row with the BMW, the Finn not being able to match Hamilton after deciding not to run with the MP4-24’s new front wing or diffuser.Massa faces another tough race from 13th on the grid, the Brazilian failing to make the final phase for the second weekend in a row.
Although at least he can take some comfort in the fact he at least got out of Q1 unlike at Sepang.Perhaps Saturday’s most disappointed man, however, was Timo Glock in the second Toyota.His problems started when a gearbox problem in final practice necessitated a change of the unit for qualifying, meaning he picked up the mandatory five-place grid penalty.
However, his TF109 still should have been fast enough to secure passage into the top 10, but Glock failed to even get that far and his 13th fastest time becomes 19th on the grid.The next five drivers are therefore promoted a place, with Kazuki Nakajima the first to benefit, moving up a spot from 15th, after the Japanese driver again failed to exploit the full potential of the Williams as demonstrated by Rosberg.
Another man to fall well short of his team-mate’s exploits was STR’s Bourdais – the Frenchman comprehensively outqualified by rookie Buemi for the second time in three races, failing to get past Q1.Nelson Piquet Jr’s long-standing problems over a single lap showed no sign off easing as he slumped to a Q1 exit for the third consecutive race.
While the Brazilian’s car doesn’t feature Renault’s interim diffuser, he nevertheless lapped half a second slower than he did when he set the fifth-fastest time in the morning’s final practice session.Kubica on the other hand experienced a Q1 elimination for the first time in his career after he failed to lap quicker than the 18th quickest effort – a time that worryingly for BMW was 0.3s below the cut line.
Having failed to finish higher than sixth in three previous visits to Shanghai, Kubica admitted he was desperate for a change of luck this year especially on the back of a point-less start to 2009.But despite ditching KERS for Saturday’s running after finding it of little benefit during a difficult Friday, his weekend of woe worsened as a continuing lack of grip continued to hamper his F1.09’s speed.
Force India, meanwhile, was adrift at the foot of the times with Adrian Sutil ahead of Giancarlo Fisichella, Sutil promoted off the back row courtesy of the demoted Glock.
The team expects to make more progress when the European season gets underway in two races time and the Spanish round now can’t come soon enough after both drivers lapped 0.7s slower than the struggling Kubica alone.
Chinese GP grid
1. VETTEL Red Bull
2. ALONSO Renault
3. WEBBER Red Bull
4. BARRICHELLO Brawn
5. BUTTON Brawn
6. TRULLI Toyota
7. ROSBERG Williams
8. RAIKKONEN Ferrari
9. HAMILTON McLaren
10. BUEMI Toro Rosso
11. HEIDFELD BMW
12. KOVALAINEN McLaren
13. MASSA Ferrari
14. NAKAJIMA Williams
15. BOURDAIS Toro Rosso
16. PIQUET Renault
17. KUBICA BMW
18. SUTIL Force India
19. GLOCK Toyota*
20. FISICHELLA Force India
* five-place penalty for gearbox change
All this meant that hitherto pacesetter Brawn was shuffled down to fourth and fifth, with Rubens Barrichello outqualifying championship leader Button for the first time this season.Indeed after all the week’s arguments over the teams running two-step diffusers, the other two ‘diffuser gang’ squads were also usurped at the front with Jarno Trulli (Toyota) sixth and Nico Rosberg (Williams) seventh.And to heighten expectations that the early pacesetting teams may not run away with the championship as feared after all, the sport’s two big guns, Ferrari and McLaren, also showed much-needed improved form.Kimi Raikkonen was eighth in the lead Ferrari, although the Italian squad again couldn’t get two cars into Q3 after Felipe Massa was dumped out in the second phase.
And arch-rival McLaren’s previously steady progress away from the lower midfield seems to have been accelerated by its own interim diffuser and new front wing as Lewis Hamilton made the pole shootout for the first time in 2009, eventually claiming ninth.Rookie Sebastien Buemi completed a banner day for the Red Bull family by making the top 10 for the first time at just the third attempt, with STR another team to have made tangible progress since the Malaysian GP two weeks ago.
After practice form suggested that Brawn may face a more difficult time in Shanghai than at the first two races, RBR served notice of its intention to give the Brackley squad a run for its money in Q2.
Vettel and Webber lapped over 0.3s quicker than both Brawn cars in the low-fuel second session, and after Barrichello had topped the first Q3 runs Webber threw down the gauntlet as the decisive final laps got underway with a time of 1m36.466s.Team-mate Vettel had only needed one flying lap to top the second session order and repeated the feat in the third, sitting out most of the 10 minutes before uncorking a sensational 1m36.184s to seal his second career pole.
Alonso then produced an even more unexpected lap which split the two RBRs, 0.2s shy of Vettel, in a revised R29 car that had completed just six laps in its new form in final practice. While the Shanghai pole shootout was arguably the best of the season so far, the first two stages of the session also produced other unexpected results.
BMW had failed to get either car into the top 10 throughout practice and that form continued into qualifying – although things played out even worse that it may have feared as Robert Kubica was a shock Q1 casualty and will start 17th.
A late flying lap ensured team-mate Nick Heidfeld’s progression into the second phase and the German missed out on Q3 by just one hundredth of a second, although 11th place probably still represents a good result given the team’s current problems.
The second McLaren of Heikki Kovalainen will share the sixth row with the BMW, the Finn not being able to match Hamilton after deciding not to run with the MP4-24’s new front wing or diffuser.Massa faces another tough race from 13th on the grid, the Brazilian failing to make the final phase for the second weekend in a row.
Although at least he can take some comfort in the fact he at least got out of Q1 unlike at Sepang.Perhaps Saturday’s most disappointed man, however, was Timo Glock in the second Toyota.His problems started when a gearbox problem in final practice necessitated a change of the unit for qualifying, meaning he picked up the mandatory five-place grid penalty.
However, his TF109 still should have been fast enough to secure passage into the top 10, but Glock failed to even get that far and his 13th fastest time becomes 19th on the grid.The next five drivers are therefore promoted a place, with Kazuki Nakajima the first to benefit, moving up a spot from 15th, after the Japanese driver again failed to exploit the full potential of the Williams as demonstrated by Rosberg.
Another man to fall well short of his team-mate’s exploits was STR’s Bourdais – the Frenchman comprehensively outqualified by rookie Buemi for the second time in three races, failing to get past Q1.Nelson Piquet Jr’s long-standing problems over a single lap showed no sign off easing as he slumped to a Q1 exit for the third consecutive race.
While the Brazilian’s car doesn’t feature Renault’s interim diffuser, he nevertheless lapped half a second slower than he did when he set the fifth-fastest time in the morning’s final practice session.Kubica on the other hand experienced a Q1 elimination for the first time in his career after he failed to lap quicker than the 18th quickest effort – a time that worryingly for BMW was 0.3s below the cut line.
Having failed to finish higher than sixth in three previous visits to Shanghai, Kubica admitted he was desperate for a change of luck this year especially on the back of a point-less start to 2009.But despite ditching KERS for Saturday’s running after finding it of little benefit during a difficult Friday, his weekend of woe worsened as a continuing lack of grip continued to hamper his F1.09’s speed.
Force India, meanwhile, was adrift at the foot of the times with Adrian Sutil ahead of Giancarlo Fisichella, Sutil promoted off the back row courtesy of the demoted Glock.
The team expects to make more progress when the European season gets underway in two races time and the Spanish round now can’t come soon enough after both drivers lapped 0.7s slower than the struggling Kubica alone.
Chinese GP grid
1. VETTEL Red Bull
2. ALONSO Renault
3. WEBBER Red Bull
4. BARRICHELLO Brawn
5. BUTTON Brawn
6. TRULLI Toyota
7. ROSBERG Williams
8. RAIKKONEN Ferrari
9. HAMILTON McLaren
10. BUEMI Toro Rosso
11. HEIDFELD BMW
12. KOVALAINEN McLaren
13. MASSA Ferrari
14. NAKAJIMA Williams
15. BOURDAIS Toro Rosso
16. PIQUET Renault
17. KUBICA BMW
18. SUTIL Force India
19. GLOCK Toyota*
20. FISICHELLA Force India
* five-place penalty for gearbox change
Kubica urges Sauber F1to improve quickly
Robert Kubica believes that BMW Sauber must make some rapid car improvements if the team is to avoid slipping permanently down the order after qualifying a disastrous 18th for the Chinese Grand Prix.
Despite showing strong form in the first two races of the season - Kubica was set for at least second place in Australia before a clash with Sebastian Vettel and Nick Heidfeld was runner-up in Malaysia two weeks ago – the Pole believes the team has been overtaken by many of its rivals."It will have to be really big (package) if we want to be at the top because the gap is quite big," said Kubica when asked by AUTOSPORT if he expects car improvements for next week's Bahrain Grand Prix."Some of the teams have moved forward and some of the teams are already, after the decision of the FIA, adjusting their cars to the clear idea of the regulations. We have exactly the same car that we had in Australia.
"The gap to the front cars is pretty much the same; the difference is now Toro Rosso, Renault and McLaren are stronger."If we don't bring anything new [to Bahrain] we can struggle as well there, although in Bahrain the gaps will be smaller because downforce is not as important. Braking stability and traction is more important, but the overall picture will not change."
Despite admitting to making a small mistake on his best Q1 lap, Kubica believes that the qualifying pace of the BMW Saubers is representative of their competitiveness in China."Today is not idea, unfortunately it didn't work out," he said. "The pace of the car and the way we approached qualifying has been a bit disappointing.
"Anyway, I would not be much further forward even without the small mistake. So that's how it is."Kubica also believes that his inability to run with KERS, which he tried in Friday practice but discarded today, is partly down to how sensitive the BMW Sauber F1.09 is to weight distribution in comparison to some of the other teams on the grid.
"There are some drivers that have no problem with it that don't weigh much less than me," said Kubica. "It looks like our car is very sensitive to weight distribution and it's very important not only for the car balance, but the setup as well."In the past, we were playing quite a lot with it, and for now the situation is like this. For the future, I don't know."
Despite showing strong form in the first two races of the season - Kubica was set for at least second place in Australia before a clash with Sebastian Vettel and Nick Heidfeld was runner-up in Malaysia two weeks ago – the Pole believes the team has been overtaken by many of its rivals."It will have to be really big (package) if we want to be at the top because the gap is quite big," said Kubica when asked by AUTOSPORT if he expects car improvements for next week's Bahrain Grand Prix."Some of the teams have moved forward and some of the teams are already, after the decision of the FIA, adjusting their cars to the clear idea of the regulations. We have exactly the same car that we had in Australia.
"The gap to the front cars is pretty much the same; the difference is now Toro Rosso, Renault and McLaren are stronger."If we don't bring anything new [to Bahrain] we can struggle as well there, although in Bahrain the gaps will be smaller because downforce is not as important. Braking stability and traction is more important, but the overall picture will not change."
Despite admitting to making a small mistake on his best Q1 lap, Kubica believes that the qualifying pace of the BMW Saubers is representative of their competitiveness in China."Today is not idea, unfortunately it didn't work out," he said. "The pace of the car and the way we approached qualifying has been a bit disappointing.
"Anyway, I would not be much further forward even without the small mistake. So that's how it is."Kubica also believes that his inability to run with KERS, which he tried in Friday practice but discarded today, is partly down to how sensitive the BMW Sauber F1.09 is to weight distribution in comparison to some of the other teams on the grid.
"There are some drivers that have no problem with it that don't weigh much less than me," said Kubica. "It looks like our car is very sensitive to weight distribution and it's very important not only for the car balance, but the setup as well."In the past, we were playing quite a lot with it, and for now the situation is like this. For the future, I don't know."
Tuesday 14 April 2009
F1 renault in Dubai
Renault complete spectacular Roadshow in Dubai The Renault team completed a successful Roadshow in Dubai this weekend as race driver Nelson Piquet led the demonstrations along with third driver Romain Grosjean and demo driver Adam Khan.
Entering its seventh year, the Renault Roadshow kicked off its 2009 campaign with a unique format which saw last year's Renault F1 car, the R28, demonstrated at various venues across Dubai, including the desert and Dubai Autodrome. However, the main venue for the spectator events was Downtown Barj Dubai in front of the world's tallest building with the demonstrations staged on a giant floating platform built on the Dubai Mall lagoon.
The climax of the Roadshow on Sunday saw Piquet demonstrate the R28 at 'Ski Dubai', an indoor ski slope. Fitted with specially-adapted Bridgestone studded snow tyres, Piquet completed a series of donuts in the snow at the bottom of the slope. It took the Bridgestone engineers 16 hours to manually insert all 2,016 studs, but the end result was well worth the effort.
Speaking at the end of the weekend, Piquet said: "Coming to Dubai has been a great experience and a real success for Renault. We packed a lot into this event and did some unusual things that I hope the fans enjoyed. Driving on the snow in an F1 car is something I never thought I would have the chance to do and it was a lot of fun."
Grosjean commented: "Dubai is such an amazing city and everyone here has really embraced the Roadshow. For me the highlight was driving through the desert, but the
downtown demos were great for the fans as they could get close to the team and the car, which is what the Roadshows are all about."
Khan, who made his Roadshow debut added: "To come to such an exciting place as Dubai and experience my first Roadshow has been really enjoyable. Seeing everything for the first time and the enthusiasm of the fans has made me realise just how special these events are."
Entering its seventh year, the Renault Roadshow kicked off its 2009 campaign with a unique format which saw last year's Renault F1 car, the R28, demonstrated at various venues across Dubai, including the desert and Dubai Autodrome. However, the main venue for the spectator events was Downtown Barj Dubai in front of the world's tallest building with the demonstrations staged on a giant floating platform built on the Dubai Mall lagoon.
The climax of the Roadshow on Sunday saw Piquet demonstrate the R28 at 'Ski Dubai', an indoor ski slope. Fitted with specially-adapted Bridgestone studded snow tyres, Piquet completed a series of donuts in the snow at the bottom of the slope. It took the Bridgestone engineers 16 hours to manually insert all 2,016 studs, but the end result was well worth the effort.
Speaking at the end of the weekend, Piquet said: "Coming to Dubai has been a great experience and a real success for Renault. We packed a lot into this event and did some unusual things that I hope the fans enjoyed. Driving on the snow in an F1 car is something I never thought I would have the chance to do and it was a lot of fun."
Grosjean commented: "Dubai is such an amazing city and everyone here has really embraced the Roadshow. For me the highlight was driving through the desert, but the
downtown demos were great for the fans as they could get close to the team and the car, which is what the Roadshows are all about."
Khan, who made his Roadshow debut added: "To come to such an exciting place as Dubai and experience my first Roadshow has been really enjoyable. Seeing everything for the first time and the enthusiasm of the fans has made me realise just how special these events are."
Ferrari reacts to slump with reshuffle
Ferrari has moved to address its worst start to a season for 17 years by announcing an organisational reshuffle which sees team manager Luca Baldisserri take on a factory-based role.
After failing to score a point in either of 2009’s first two races, the world champion team has created what it is calling a ‘working party’ in order to accelerate development updates onto its struggling F60 car.
The group will coordinate development work at its Maranello base with the results from on-track performance and be led by technical director Aldo Costa, with Baldisserri charged with overseeing the development process from the factory.
Ferrari says Baldisseri’s trackside tasks will be carried out by Chris Dyer, who this year became chief track engineer after six seasons as race engineer to first Michael Schumacher and then Kimi Raikkonen."The goal is to anticipate as much as possible the introduction of new technologies to reduce the performance gap as fast as possible, which, apart from the question of the diffuser, seems to be there," a team statement said.
"A working party has been set up under the coordination of Aldo Costa, which will follow the development programme at Maranello in close contact with the experience made on the track.
"A crucial element of this group is Luca Baldisserri. The Scuderia team manager will follow the single-seater's development step by step, while his role at the track will be covered by Chris Dyer."Ferrari also admitted that this weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix “must be a turning point” for its season following on from a crisis meeting which involved its president Luca di Montezemolo last week when it analysed the reasons for its troubled start to 2009.
And in an immediate bid to kick-start its title defence, the team says its F60 will feature several updates in Shanghai – including a revised front wing after Marc Gene signed off the modified part during straight-line testing at Vairano last week.Ferrari will attempt to resolve one key development area it is claims is currently handing the early-season pacesetters an unfair advantage when it, and rivals BMW, Renault, Red Bull and McLaren, take their complaints over ‘double decker’ diffusers to the International Court of Appeal on Tuesday.
The FIA hearing is set to either declare the designs legal – thus prompting all the other teams to introduce them as quickly as possible – or outlaw them completely.Ferrari says its case will be made at the Paris hearing by design and development consultant Rory Byrne and chief designer Nikolas Tombazis.
Fernando Alonso fears this season's formula one world championship could today be decided in court
• Former world champion says diffuser is unfair
• Spaniard says ruling in Paris is crucial to season's outcome
Fernando Alonso fears this season's formula one world championship could today be decided in court when Ferrari, Renault, BMW Sauber and Red Bull face Brawn GP, Williams and Toyota at an International Court of Appeal hearing in Paris.
The case centres around the diffuser - an aerodynamic body part that aids performance - at the rear of the cars belonging to the three defendants.In the opening two grands prix in Australia and Malaysia, the three teams have a clear performance advantage, with Brawn GP's Jenson Button winning both.
If the judges deem the part is illegal, they have the power to overturn those two race results, potentially wiping Button's two victories from the record books.
However, the double former world champion Alonso believes if the judges side with the diffuser teams, it will be difficult for any of the other seven to win either the drivers' or constructors' title."It's a complicated issue, but the championship could be more or less decided," said Alonso. "If the diffusers are legal, the Brawns are going to be nearly unreachable for any other team."
The major concern for Ferrari and the rest is that if they do lose, they will be forced into a radical redesign of their cars as the diffuser affects a number of areas."You have to work on the whole car," explained the Renault driver.
"It's not just about adding the diffuser and suddenly the car is a second quicker. The diffuser makes you go fast if you have a new front end, new sidepods, a new engine cover. You have to rebuild the whole car, and that would take a lot of months."
• Spaniard says ruling in Paris is crucial to season's outcome
Fernando Alonso fears this season's formula one world championship could today be decided in court when Ferrari, Renault, BMW Sauber and Red Bull face Brawn GP, Williams and Toyota at an International Court of Appeal hearing in Paris.
The case centres around the diffuser - an aerodynamic body part that aids performance - at the rear of the cars belonging to the three defendants.In the opening two grands prix in Australia and Malaysia, the three teams have a clear performance advantage, with Brawn GP's Jenson Button winning both.
If the judges deem the part is illegal, they have the power to overturn those two race results, potentially wiping Button's two victories from the record books.
However, the double former world champion Alonso believes if the judges side with the diffuser teams, it will be difficult for any of the other seven to win either the drivers' or constructors' title."It's a complicated issue, but the championship could be more or less decided," said Alonso. "If the diffusers are legal, the Brawns are going to be nearly unreachable for any other team."
The major concern for Ferrari and the rest is that if they do lose, they will be forced into a radical redesign of their cars as the diffuser affects a number of areas."You have to work on the whole car," explained the Renault driver.
"It's not just about adding the diffuser and suddenly the car is a second quicker. The diffuser makes you go fast if you have a new front end, new sidepods, a new engine cover. You have to rebuild the whole car, and that would take a lot of months."
Monday 13 April 2009
Force India car has potential for f1 season
The Malaysian GP was a frustrating race for Adrian Sutil, who was hoping that rain would give him the sort of boost that he had in Monaco last year. After starting on a light fuel load he made his first stop on lap 15, just before the skies darkened. With rain threatening he came in again just three laps later and gambled on wets, as did Kimi Raikkonen on the very same lap. The gamble didn’t pay off, but after the red flag he was ready with new wet tyres and a full tank for the run to the finish. However, the race was not restarted and thus he was unable to take advantage of his strategy. We asked Adrian for his thoughts on the weekend
Q: Why did you take the tyre gamble?
‘I pitted and I did one or two laps on slicks, but then I had a small problem with the car so I couldn’t really drive the car in the dry. We pitted again and changed onto the wet tyres and with slower speeds through the corners, it was alright, I could drive the car.’
Q: Did you realise straight away that the change was too early?
‘Yes, I think I was one of the first! I did five or six laps on wets in the dry but it was dark, it was starting to spot with rain and we had nothing to lose. Just before the race was stopped I put on new wet tyres because my first set was really worn out as we had changed too early, as we took a gamble. When the race stopped we had pitted and changed again and refuelled. In fact we would have been in quite a good position as some of the other teams still had to stop.’
Q: Any regrets on taking that gamble?
‘For sure we lost a lap or one and a half laps but we had to try, as we were at the end of the field. Sometimes it works out, sometimes not. I’m not really disappointed about that, I’m more disappointed that the race was suspended, and there was no other chance. We have to look at whether it’s really a good idea to run races so late! We were running out of time, and that’s a shame really.’
Q: So do you see it as a missed opportunity?
‘Yes, definitely. I was hoping to restart the race because we were filled up. We were the only car which went into the pits at that point and right at this time they stopped the race and we had to wait at the end of the pitlane. It was not a problem, as I was 15th with a good chance to gain a lot of places but it was just getting too dark.’
Q: Have had a chance to fight with anyone running KERS?
‘In Melbourne I had Nick Heidfeld in front of me, but like I said, our car is very fast on the straight, and I couldn’t really see a benefit of KERS. I was actually slipstreaming him sometimes and trying to overtake, so it is possible without KERS. Right now they seem to have a little bit of a problem with the balance all the time when they run KERS, so it’s very, very equal.’
Q: Any thoughts on the next race in China?
‘It’s quite a nice circuit, with good corners. Let’s see how the temperature is. It could be quite cold there now. In previous years we’ve had the race at the end of the season in hot conditions, so this could be the main difference. But I’m looking forward to it.’
Q: Why did you take the tyre gamble?
‘I pitted and I did one or two laps on slicks, but then I had a small problem with the car so I couldn’t really drive the car in the dry. We pitted again and changed onto the wet tyres and with slower speeds through the corners, it was alright, I could drive the car.’
Q: Did you realise straight away that the change was too early?
‘Yes, I think I was one of the first! I did five or six laps on wets in the dry but it was dark, it was starting to spot with rain and we had nothing to lose. Just before the race was stopped I put on new wet tyres because my first set was really worn out as we had changed too early, as we took a gamble. When the race stopped we had pitted and changed again and refuelled. In fact we would have been in quite a good position as some of the other teams still had to stop.’
Q: Any regrets on taking that gamble?
‘For sure we lost a lap or one and a half laps but we had to try, as we were at the end of the field. Sometimes it works out, sometimes not. I’m not really disappointed about that, I’m more disappointed that the race was suspended, and there was no other chance. We have to look at whether it’s really a good idea to run races so late! We were running out of time, and that’s a shame really.’
Q: So do you see it as a missed opportunity?
‘Yes, definitely. I was hoping to restart the race because we were filled up. We were the only car which went into the pits at that point and right at this time they stopped the race and we had to wait at the end of the pitlane. It was not a problem, as I was 15th with a good chance to gain a lot of places but it was just getting too dark.’
Q: Have had a chance to fight with anyone running KERS?
‘In Melbourne I had Nick Heidfeld in front of me, but like I said, our car is very fast on the straight, and I couldn’t really see a benefit of KERS. I was actually slipstreaming him sometimes and trying to overtake, so it is possible without KERS. Right now they seem to have a little bit of a problem with the balance all the time when they run KERS, so it’s very, very equal.’
Q: Any thoughts on the next race in China?
‘It’s quite a nice circuit, with good corners. Let’s see how the temperature is. It could be quite cold there now. In previous years we’ve had the race at the end of the season in hot conditions, so this could be the main difference. But I’m looking forward to it.’
F1 Toyotas Chinese Grand Prix - Preview
Panasonic Toyota Racing continues the 2009 Formula 1 season with
another trip eastwards, this time to Shanghai for the Chinese Grand
Prix, which comes much earlier in the season than its usual autumn
spot. Timo Glock and Jarno Trulli finished third and fourth
respectively in the Malaysian Grand Prix last time out, reversing
the result in Australia and taking the team's Formula 1 podium tally
to 10. After the race the team briefly returned home to its
technical centre in Cologne, Germany before making the trip to China,
although the cars and equipment went directly from Sepang to
Shanghai. Last year Timo Glock finished seventh in China to score
more points in his debut season while Jarno Trulli was eliminated in
an early accident. Toyota has finished on the podium before in China,
in 2005 with Ralf Schumacher, and that will be the target again this
weekend.
Drivers Championship
1 Jenson Button Brawn GP Formula One Team 15
2 Rubens Barrichello Brawn GP Formula One Team 10
3 Jarno Trulli Panasonic Toyota Racing 8.5
4 Timo Glock Panasonic Toyota Racing 8
5 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber F1 Team 4
6 Fernando Alonso ING Renault F1 Team 4
7 Nico Rosberg AT&T Williams 3.5
8 Sebastien Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso 2
9 Mark Webber Red Bull Racing 1.5
10 Lewis Hamilton Vodafone McLaren Mercedes 1
11 Sebastien Bourdais Scuderia Toro Rosso 1
12 Adrian Sutil Force India F1 Team 0
13 Felipe Massa Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 0
14 Giancarlo Fisichella Force India F1 Team 0
15 Kazuki Nakajima AT&T Williams 0
16 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing 0
17 Nelsinho Piquet ING Renault F1 Team 0
18 Kimi Raikkonen Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 0
19 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber F1 Team 0
20 Heikki Kovalainen Vodafone McLaren Mercedes 0
Constructors Championship
1 Brawn GP Formula One Team 25
2 Panasonic Toyota Racing 16.5
3 BMW Sauber F1 Team 4
4 ING Renault F1 Team 4
5 AT&T Williams 3.5
6 Scuderia Toro Rosso 3
7 Red Bull Racing 1.5
8 Vodafone McLaren Mercedes 1
9 Force India F1 Team 0
10 Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 0
---- Race Schedule (All Local Time)-----------------------------------
FORMULA 1 Round 3 Grand Prix of China
17th April Friday 10:00-11:30 Practice Session 1
14:00-15:30 Practice Session 2
18th April Saturday 11:00-12:00 Practice Session 3
14:00- Qualifying
19th April Sunday 15:00- Race
another trip eastwards, this time to Shanghai for the Chinese Grand
Prix, which comes much earlier in the season than its usual autumn
spot. Timo Glock and Jarno Trulli finished third and fourth
respectively in the Malaysian Grand Prix last time out, reversing
the result in Australia and taking the team's Formula 1 podium tally
to 10. After the race the team briefly returned home to its
technical centre in Cologne, Germany before making the trip to China,
although the cars and equipment went directly from Sepang to
Shanghai. Last year Timo Glock finished seventh in China to score
more points in his debut season while Jarno Trulli was eliminated in
an early accident. Toyota has finished on the podium before in China,
in 2005 with Ralf Schumacher, and that will be the target again this
weekend.
Drivers Championship
1 Jenson Button Brawn GP Formula One Team 15
2 Rubens Barrichello Brawn GP Formula One Team 10
3 Jarno Trulli Panasonic Toyota Racing 8.5
4 Timo Glock Panasonic Toyota Racing 8
5 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber F1 Team 4
6 Fernando Alonso ING Renault F1 Team 4
7 Nico Rosberg AT&T Williams 3.5
8 Sebastien Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso 2
9 Mark Webber Red Bull Racing 1.5
10 Lewis Hamilton Vodafone McLaren Mercedes 1
11 Sebastien Bourdais Scuderia Toro Rosso 1
12 Adrian Sutil Force India F1 Team 0
13 Felipe Massa Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 0
14 Giancarlo Fisichella Force India F1 Team 0
15 Kazuki Nakajima AT&T Williams 0
16 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing 0
17 Nelsinho Piquet ING Renault F1 Team 0
18 Kimi Raikkonen Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 0
19 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber F1 Team 0
20 Heikki Kovalainen Vodafone McLaren Mercedes 0
Constructors Championship
1 Brawn GP Formula One Team 25
2 Panasonic Toyota Racing 16.5
3 BMW Sauber F1 Team 4
4 ING Renault F1 Team 4
5 AT&T Williams 3.5
6 Scuderia Toro Rosso 3
7 Red Bull Racing 1.5
8 Vodafone McLaren Mercedes 1
9 Force India F1 Team 0
10 Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 0
---- Race Schedule (All Local Time)-----------------------------------
FORMULA 1 Round 3 Grand Prix of China
17th April Friday 10:00-11:30 Practice Session 1
14:00-15:30 Practice Session 2
18th April Saturday 11:00-12:00 Practice Session 3
14:00- Qualifying
19th April Sunday 15:00- Race
The f1 diffuser hearing
The 2009 season may not yet be a month old but it’s already on the brink of its first big turning point with the FIA’s International Court of Appeal meeting on Tuesday to clarify the legality of controversial ‘double decker’ diffusers once and for all.
ITV.com/F1’s James Allen sets the scene ahead of the crunch Paris hearing and assesses what the potential verdicts could have on the championship as a whole and pecking order going forwards as we head towards the European season.
It’s been a fairly quiet Easter as far as happenings in F1 are concerned.
I guess Malaysia was such a momentous weekend, with the McLaren/stewards affair and the crazy race, it’s hardly surprising that the sport needed to take a breather.
But tomorrow (Tuesday 14th) things will get intense again as the international appeal court makes its decision regarding the legality of the diffusers of Brawn, Williams and Toyota. This decision could well decide the outcome of the world championship – certainly that is the view of former world champions Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen, who are on the wrong side of the debate.
Ferrari, McLaren, Renault and Red Bull know that the first four races – a quarter of the season – will have been lost if the decision goes against them.
If the decision goes with the protesters, we will have to unpick the results of the first two grands prix, which will be very messy. We’ve already had a high-profile reversal before the season started on the points system. To tell the world also that the first two races are meaningless would make neutrals wonder what the heck is going on in F1.
However that’s a risk we have to take because the important thing here is that we get the right decision, so everyone can move forward. The top teams all have their own versions of the ‘double decker’ diffuser in the wind tunnel at the moment and will be ready to run them either in Bahrain or Barcelona, depending on their manufacturing capability. This should give them a vault in performance.
The Brawn team hopes to keep its nose ahead and has some updates of its own to roll out in Spain, because the team has the luxury of being one step ahead of the rest.
But it will be interesting to see whether these updates give anything like the returns that the diffusers will give to the rest. Meanwhile Toyota and Williams have benefited from the diffusers and, for as long as it lasts, they are taking points off the top teams.
McLaren and Ferrari look out of sorts at the moment, McLaren because of a slow car and the strife they have brought on themselves. Internally there is some real soul searching going on and a threat that they may lose their lead driver over the damage done to his reputation. That is very destabilising.
Ferrari are on the ropes because they have made mistakes and had reliability issues. They need to get onto the right path as a team and I’ve no doubt that they will.This is not like turning an oil tanker around, an F1 team with a winning culture can adapt and change direction very quickly.
BMW should benefit greatly from the updated package they will bring out in Spain.
They have combined the need to build a car with a trick diffuser with the need to make a lighter chassis for Robert Kubica, so he can use the KERS system and he will be driving essentially a B-spec car in Spain.
I expect him to start to feature in a big way after that. He’s been one of the few top team drivers to have given the diffuser cars a run for their money in the opening races.
Renault are coming from a bit further back, while Red Bull have a different concept to the rest and have been quick in the opening races. If forced to adapt to the trick diffusers, it will be interesting to see whether they gain or lose relative to the opposition.
If the appeal court decision goes Brawn’s way it will certainly give Jenson Button a fighting chance of winning the title, as he will have had four ‘open goals’ at the first four races, a head start that it will take the big teams a lot of the season to catch up.
ITV.com/F1’s James Allen sets the scene ahead of the crunch Paris hearing and assesses what the potential verdicts could have on the championship as a whole and pecking order going forwards as we head towards the European season.
It’s been a fairly quiet Easter as far as happenings in F1 are concerned.
I guess Malaysia was such a momentous weekend, with the McLaren/stewards affair and the crazy race, it’s hardly surprising that the sport needed to take a breather.
But tomorrow (Tuesday 14th) things will get intense again as the international appeal court makes its decision regarding the legality of the diffusers of Brawn, Williams and Toyota. This decision could well decide the outcome of the world championship – certainly that is the view of former world champions Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen, who are on the wrong side of the debate.
Ferrari, McLaren, Renault and Red Bull know that the first four races – a quarter of the season – will have been lost if the decision goes against them.
If the decision goes with the protesters, we will have to unpick the results of the first two grands prix, which will be very messy. We’ve already had a high-profile reversal before the season started on the points system. To tell the world also that the first two races are meaningless would make neutrals wonder what the heck is going on in F1.
However that’s a risk we have to take because the important thing here is that we get the right decision, so everyone can move forward. The top teams all have their own versions of the ‘double decker’ diffuser in the wind tunnel at the moment and will be ready to run them either in Bahrain or Barcelona, depending on their manufacturing capability. This should give them a vault in performance.
The Brawn team hopes to keep its nose ahead and has some updates of its own to roll out in Spain, because the team has the luxury of being one step ahead of the rest.
But it will be interesting to see whether these updates give anything like the returns that the diffusers will give to the rest. Meanwhile Toyota and Williams have benefited from the diffusers and, for as long as it lasts, they are taking points off the top teams.
McLaren and Ferrari look out of sorts at the moment, McLaren because of a slow car and the strife they have brought on themselves. Internally there is some real soul searching going on and a threat that they may lose their lead driver over the damage done to his reputation. That is very destabilising.
Ferrari are on the ropes because they have made mistakes and had reliability issues. They need to get onto the right path as a team and I’ve no doubt that they will.This is not like turning an oil tanker around, an F1 team with a winning culture can adapt and change direction very quickly.
BMW should benefit greatly from the updated package they will bring out in Spain.
They have combined the need to build a car with a trick diffuser with the need to make a lighter chassis for Robert Kubica, so he can use the KERS system and he will be driving essentially a B-spec car in Spain.
I expect him to start to feature in a big way after that. He’s been one of the few top team drivers to have given the diffuser cars a run for their money in the opening races.
Renault are coming from a bit further back, while Red Bull have a different concept to the rest and have been quick in the opening races. If forced to adapt to the trick diffusers, it will be interesting to see whether they gain or lose relative to the opposition.
If the appeal court decision goes Brawn’s way it will certainly give Jenson Button a fighting chance of winning the title, as he will have had four ‘open goals’ at the first four races, a head start that it will take the big teams a lot of the season to catch up.
F1 North American grand prix need extended calendar
Bernie Ecclestone says the future of Formula 1's North American grands prix depends on the teams' willingness to accept more races.With Montreal following Indianapolis off the calendar, there are no North American races on the 2009 schedule.
The teams have repeatedly expressed their frustration at this, insisting that America is a vital market for their sponsors.Ecclestone says he is willing to revive the American dates, but not at the expense of other venues as he wants F1 to continue visiting new destinations such as Singapore and Abu Dhabi.
He therefore believes that if the teams are so keen to race in the USA, they should be willing to drop their long-standing objection to the calendar being extended to 20 races."The trouble is that the teams don’t want to do more than 17 races," Ecclestone told Motor Sport magazine.
"If they don’t want any more than that then we cannot put on a race in America or get Montreal back."
He confirmed that efforts were underway to get Montreal back on the schedule as soon as possible."We are trying to get that back on again," said Ecclestone."The government is interested."
Ecclestone is less certain about America's prospects, as he believes Indianapolis is the only current US track capable of hosting F1.
Indianapolis replaced F1 with MotoGP last season after failing to agree a new contract with Ecclestone.
"Apart from Indianapolis, where we have been, there is nowhere in America we could go to and hold our head up and say, ‘This is comparable to other circuits we are building around the world,'" said the F1 supremo.He said his preference remains for a new track to be constructed in New York."It is the one place where someone could make a business out of it," he said.
The teams have repeatedly expressed their frustration at this, insisting that America is a vital market for their sponsors.Ecclestone says he is willing to revive the American dates, but not at the expense of other venues as he wants F1 to continue visiting new destinations such as Singapore and Abu Dhabi.
He therefore believes that if the teams are so keen to race in the USA, they should be willing to drop their long-standing objection to the calendar being extended to 20 races."The trouble is that the teams don’t want to do more than 17 races," Ecclestone told Motor Sport magazine.
"If they don’t want any more than that then we cannot put on a race in America or get Montreal back."
He confirmed that efforts were underway to get Montreal back on the schedule as soon as possible."We are trying to get that back on again," said Ecclestone."The government is interested."
Ecclestone is less certain about America's prospects, as he believes Indianapolis is the only current US track capable of hosting F1.
Indianapolis replaced F1 with MotoGP last season after failing to agree a new contract with Ecclestone.
"Apart from Indianapolis, where we have been, there is nowhere in America we could go to and hold our head up and say, ‘This is comparable to other circuits we are building around the world,'" said the F1 supremo.He said his preference remains for a new track to be constructed in New York."It is the one place where someone could make a business out of it," he said.
Sunday 12 April 2009
F1 driver Massa joins GPDA
The Grand Prix Drivers' Association (GPDA) has succeeded in boosting its membership numbers by convincing previous high-profile sceptics, including Felipe Massa and Adrian Sutil, to join the organisation, AUTOSPORT can reveal.
With the GPDA having endured a difficult 2008, with world championship frontrunners Lewis Hamilton, Massa and Kimi Raikkonen not members, its chairman Pedro de la Rosa together with directors Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber worked hard throughout last winter to get the doubters back on board.
With big progress being made on the eve of the season as Hamilton signed up to the GPDA for the first time since he entered F1 in 2007, AUTOSPORT has learned that Massa and Sutil also agreed to become members at the same time.
With a host of reserve drivers and F1 rookie Sebastien Buemi also joining up, it means that Kimi Raikkonen is now the only regular driver who has not yet agreed to become a member.
De la Rosa said he was delighted that the likes of Hamilton and Massa were now on board - which comes after a winter when the GPDA helped agree with the FIA a reduction in super licence fees for all drivers.
"It is important we are all there," de la Rosa told AUTOSPORT. "It is great news that Lewis, Felipe and Adrian have come on board, but also that test drivers like Christian Klien are there too, and new drivers like Buemi. It's quite reassuring.
"I admit we were weak last year, especially when Felipe left. But he has come back, and I'm glad he has. I'm really delighted about Lewis being there too."
De la Rosa said he hoped Raikkonen, who is still considering becoming a member, would also sign up to ensure that every driver on the grid is in the GPDA.
"We wish Kimi was there, as he is one of the top guys, so hopefully he will agree soon too," said the Spaniard.
"The GPDA is an important organisation. Although the drivers fight each other on the track, we must be able to work together off it to solve problems. I believe the GPDA today is stronger than ever."
With the GPDA having endured a difficult 2008, with world championship frontrunners Lewis Hamilton, Massa and Kimi Raikkonen not members, its chairman Pedro de la Rosa together with directors Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber worked hard throughout last winter to get the doubters back on board.
With big progress being made on the eve of the season as Hamilton signed up to the GPDA for the first time since he entered F1 in 2007, AUTOSPORT has learned that Massa and Sutil also agreed to become members at the same time.
With a host of reserve drivers and F1 rookie Sebastien Buemi also joining up, it means that Kimi Raikkonen is now the only regular driver who has not yet agreed to become a member.
De la Rosa said he was delighted that the likes of Hamilton and Massa were now on board - which comes after a winter when the GPDA helped agree with the FIA a reduction in super licence fees for all drivers.
"It is important we are all there," de la Rosa told AUTOSPORT. "It is great news that Lewis, Felipe and Adrian have come on board, but also that test drivers like Christian Klien are there too, and new drivers like Buemi. It's quite reassuring.
"I admit we were weak last year, especially when Felipe left. But he has come back, and I'm glad he has. I'm really delighted about Lewis being there too."
De la Rosa said he hoped Raikkonen, who is still considering becoming a member, would also sign up to ensure that every driver on the grid is in the GPDA.
"We wish Kimi was there, as he is one of the top guys, so hopefully he will agree soon too," said the Spaniard.
"The GPDA is an important organisation. Although the drivers fight each other on the track, we must be able to work together off it to solve problems. I believe the GPDA today is stronger than ever."
Saturday 11 April 2009
USF1 considering Cosworth engine deal
Team USF1, which plans to be on the grid at the start of next season, is 'seriously' evaluating using the standard Cosworth engine in 2010, AUTOSPORT has learned.
Although team chiefs Ken Anderson and Peter Windsor said at the launch of their outfit in February that they would approach every manufacturer on the grid, it has now been revealed that a deal with Cosworth may actually suit it better than alignment with a car maker.
"The engine decision is part of the whole rebirth that F1 is going through right now," sporting director Windsor told AUTOSPORT.
"The Cosworth engine is certainly an attractive proposition. It is homologated, those guys were doing a great job with Red Bull Racing when Red Bull suddenly switched to Renault.
"A lot of people who were at Cosworth have left, but equally there are a lot of good people still there too. That is a really interesting thing for us. Apart from anything else, Cosworth is now owned by an American, Kevin Kalkhoven, and that is a nice little link for us as well.
"The idea of working with a small specialist company is kind of in-tune with the way we are operating as a race team as well."
When asked if Cosworth was Team USF1's preferred option, Windsor said: "I wouldn't say preferred, but it is definitely an option we are looking at very, very seriously."
Windsor also said that the team's official new name should be formalised in the next few weeks, with it needing to add the 'Team' moniker because of trademark implications in using the term ‘F1'.
"The USF1 name was basically a place mark name that Ken [Anderson] came up with. It is a great name! It was a working title for a work in progress that we began four years ago.
"Like everybody, we know that 'F1' is a protected name, and we always wanted to do the correct thing. But until we were an existing operation there was no point in doing that because it was just a working title. As soon as we had a position publicly, and we were going to become a team, then we needed to sit down and see what the situation was.
"Ken had registered several domain names for that situation, so we immediately kept everything on ice with another domain name to keep it ticking over. The new name, which is not too far away from the original name, is due to be announced soon.
"When the entry is formalised, when the 2010 championship is announced by the FIA, that is when we will come on line with a team name and a few other really good announcements as well."
Although team chiefs Ken Anderson and Peter Windsor said at the launch of their outfit in February that they would approach every manufacturer on the grid, it has now been revealed that a deal with Cosworth may actually suit it better than alignment with a car maker.
"The engine decision is part of the whole rebirth that F1 is going through right now," sporting director Windsor told AUTOSPORT.
"The Cosworth engine is certainly an attractive proposition. It is homologated, those guys were doing a great job with Red Bull Racing when Red Bull suddenly switched to Renault.
"A lot of people who were at Cosworth have left, but equally there are a lot of good people still there too. That is a really interesting thing for us. Apart from anything else, Cosworth is now owned by an American, Kevin Kalkhoven, and that is a nice little link for us as well.
"The idea of working with a small specialist company is kind of in-tune with the way we are operating as a race team as well."
When asked if Cosworth was Team USF1's preferred option, Windsor said: "I wouldn't say preferred, but it is definitely an option we are looking at very, very seriously."
Windsor also said that the team's official new name should be formalised in the next few weeks, with it needing to add the 'Team' moniker because of trademark implications in using the term ‘F1'.
"The USF1 name was basically a place mark name that Ken [Anderson] came up with. It is a great name! It was a working title for a work in progress that we began four years ago.
"Like everybody, we know that 'F1' is a protected name, and we always wanted to do the correct thing. But until we were an existing operation there was no point in doing that because it was just a working title. As soon as we had a position publicly, and we were going to become a team, then we needed to sit down and see what the situation was.
"Ken had registered several domain names for that situation, so we immediately kept everything on ice with another domain name to keep it ticking over. The new name, which is not too far away from the original name, is due to be announced soon.
"When the entry is formalised, when the 2010 championship is announced by the FIA, that is when we will come on line with a team name and a few other really good announcements as well."
Friday 10 April 2009
F1 Ferrari team need to improve
Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo has told the struggling team to cut out the comedy routine following its worst start to a season for 17 years.
Montezemolo attended a crunch two-and-a-half hour meeting at the Italian squad’s Maranello base on Tuesday as the post-mortem began into its failure to score points in Australia and Malaysia.
After reliability failures struck both its cars in the Melbourne season-opener, Ferrari’s problems in taking the fight to the early-season pacesetters were exacerbated at Sepang last weekend by two embarrassing tactical gaffes.
Firstly Felipe Massa missed the Q1 cut in qualifying after the team kept him in the garage on the wrong assumption he had set a time which would be fast enough to progress to the second stage.
Then Kimi Raikkonen’s race was wrecked after his car was fitted with full wet tyres while the track was bone-dry. And now Montezemolo, who brandished a monk’s hood at the Maranello meeting, has warned the team not to become a laughing stock – although he did express his confidence in the reigning world champion squad’s abilities to turn the situation around.
"I met some very angry people and that’s an understatement,” he said on Ferrari’s official website following the meeting.“They were angry with themselves, but very determined to react.
"I brought a monk’s hood with me to make everyone understand that we have to tackle this season with humility and I made the point that I don't want to see us on "Candid Camera" after every race.
“Joking apart, I know that this group has a very strong sense of pride and that will help us to get out of this situation.”
Ferrari, along with other protesting teams, feels its chances of fighting for wins are currently being diminished by the fact that three of the front-running teams are using rear diffusers it claims are illegal and which offer clear downforce advantages.And while an FIA appeal hearing is set to clarify the situation once and for all next Tuesday, Montezemolo says Ferrari will in any case bring forward planned developments for the F60 in order to catch up.
“It was an intense but constructive meeting,” he said.
“We know that we have to react to close the performance gap, even if part of it is down to an interpretation of the technical rules that many teams consider to be incorrect.
“That's why we'll work very hard over the next few days to bring forward as much as possible the aerodynamic development of the F60
“I have faith in the team, which – let's not forget – has won three of the last four world championship titles.”
He insisted that the team was pulling in the same direction to recover from its poor start.
“Our discussions are held in the locker room, just like we did it with Todt and Brawn during difficult moments,” added Montezemolo.“The team remains united and I have every confidence in it."
Montezemolo attended a crunch two-and-a-half hour meeting at the Italian squad’s Maranello base on Tuesday as the post-mortem began into its failure to score points in Australia and Malaysia.
After reliability failures struck both its cars in the Melbourne season-opener, Ferrari’s problems in taking the fight to the early-season pacesetters were exacerbated at Sepang last weekend by two embarrassing tactical gaffes.
Firstly Felipe Massa missed the Q1 cut in qualifying after the team kept him in the garage on the wrong assumption he had set a time which would be fast enough to progress to the second stage.
Then Kimi Raikkonen’s race was wrecked after his car was fitted with full wet tyres while the track was bone-dry. And now Montezemolo, who brandished a monk’s hood at the Maranello meeting, has warned the team not to become a laughing stock – although he did express his confidence in the reigning world champion squad’s abilities to turn the situation around.
"I met some very angry people and that’s an understatement,” he said on Ferrari’s official website following the meeting.“They were angry with themselves, but very determined to react.
"I brought a monk’s hood with me to make everyone understand that we have to tackle this season with humility and I made the point that I don't want to see us on "Candid Camera" after every race.
“Joking apart, I know that this group has a very strong sense of pride and that will help us to get out of this situation.”
Ferrari, along with other protesting teams, feels its chances of fighting for wins are currently being diminished by the fact that three of the front-running teams are using rear diffusers it claims are illegal and which offer clear downforce advantages.And while an FIA appeal hearing is set to clarify the situation once and for all next Tuesday, Montezemolo says Ferrari will in any case bring forward planned developments for the F60 in order to catch up.
“It was an intense but constructive meeting,” he said.
“We know that we have to react to close the performance gap, even if part of it is down to an interpretation of the technical rules that many teams consider to be incorrect.
“That's why we'll work very hard over the next few days to bring forward as much as possible the aerodynamic development of the F60
“I have faith in the team, which – let's not forget – has won three of the last four world championship titles.”
He insisted that the team was pulling in the same direction to recover from its poor start.
“Our discussions are held in the locker room, just like we did it with Todt and Brawn during difficult moments,” added Montezemolo.“The team remains united and I have every confidence in it."
F1 McLaren not speaking at appeal
McLaren will not attend next week's International Court of Appeal hearing in an active role, the British squad has clarified.
The FIA confirmed on Thursday that eight teams, including McLaren, will attend the hearing that will decide on the legality of the rear diffusers of the Brawn GP, Toyota and Williams teams.
BMW Sauber, Ferrari, Red Bull and Renault have been the only four teams to officially lodge protests over the design of the diffusers.
McLaren has made it clear, however, that while it still believes the diffusers are not legal, the team is not planning to speak at the hearing.
"When questioned about this by media in the past, McLaren personnel have stated that we believe that the diffusers used on the Brawn, Toyota and Williams cars are outside the scope and intent of the technical regulations," a McLaren spokesman said.
"We will therefore be attending Tuesday's hearing, but will not be making any oral presentations.
"McLaren's role is therefore not an active one, whereas it is understood that BMW Sauber, Ferrari, Red Bull and Renault will all be making oral presentations to the ICA at the hearing. The ICA has acknowledged that McLaren will not be making any oral presentations at the hearing."
The FIA confirmed on Thursday that eight teams, including McLaren, will attend the hearing that will decide on the legality of the rear diffusers of the Brawn GP, Toyota and Williams teams.
BMW Sauber, Ferrari, Red Bull and Renault have been the only four teams to officially lodge protests over the design of the diffusers.
McLaren has made it clear, however, that while it still believes the diffusers are not legal, the team is not planning to speak at the hearing.
"When questioned about this by media in the past, McLaren personnel have stated that we believe that the diffusers used on the Brawn, Toyota and Williams cars are outside the scope and intent of the technical regulations," a McLaren spokesman said.
"We will therefore be attending Tuesday's hearing, but will not be making any oral presentations.
"McLaren's role is therefore not an active one, whereas it is understood that BMW Sauber, Ferrari, Red Bull and Renault will all be making oral presentations to the ICA at the hearing. The ICA has acknowledged that McLaren will not be making any oral presentations at the hearing."
Thursday 9 April 2009
F1 China preview quotes: Bridgestone
Hirohide Hamashima - Bridgestone Director of Motorsport Tyre Development, said:
What are the challenges of Shanghai?
"Shanghai International Circuit is severe on tyres. There are very high lateral forces and we expect to see graining on the front left tyres, especially caused by the increasing radius turn two and the banked turn thirteen. We could also see graining on the rear tyres here too. The circuit layout means that a medium downforce set-up will be used, as there are two long straights, but a large percentage of the track is also very twisty and technical. For the teams and drivers, finding the correct set-up to make the best use of their tyres will be a big challenge."
We will see the super soft compound in use again, how difficult will tyre management be?
"In Australia there was a particular challenge of graining on the super soft tyre, however this graining varied across the teams between the front and the rear, which means that the correct compromise set-up for these new cars is still being found. For this reason we would expect less graining in China as the teams now have better understanding of their cars than at the first race. Also, Shanghai is a permanent race track so the track surface should be better."
What are the challenges of Shanghai?
"Shanghai International Circuit is severe on tyres. There are very high lateral forces and we expect to see graining on the front left tyres, especially caused by the increasing radius turn two and the banked turn thirteen. We could also see graining on the rear tyres here too. The circuit layout means that a medium downforce set-up will be used, as there are two long straights, but a large percentage of the track is also very twisty and technical. For the teams and drivers, finding the correct set-up to make the best use of their tyres will be a big challenge."
We will see the super soft compound in use again, how difficult will tyre management be?
"In Australia there was a particular challenge of graining on the super soft tyre, however this graining varied across the teams between the front and the rear, which means that the correct compromise set-up for these new cars is still being found. For this reason we would expect less graining in China as the teams now have better understanding of their cars than at the first race. Also, Shanghai is a permanent race track so the track surface should be better."
Wednesday 8 April 2009
Brawn predicts formbook shake-up 2009 grand prix
Ross Brawn believes it is only a matter of time before struggling champions Ferrari and McLaren get to grips with the 2009 regulations and catch up with the current pace-setters.
Brawn’s team has sensationally dominated the opening two grands prix, despite being on the brink of extinction until March following Honda’s withdrawal from F1 at the end of last year.
Meanwhile perennial title rivals Ferrari and McLaren have barely troubled the scorers, with a single point between them courtesy of Lewis Hamilton’s seventh place in the rain-shortened Malaysian GP last Sunday.
But rather than heralding a ‘new world order’ in F1, Brawn reckons the shake-up in the pecking order is simply a logical consequence of teams’ differing priorities last year.
“I think it's a reflection on what's gone on over the last year or two with such a big change in regulations,” he said at Sepang.
“McLaren and Ferrari had a championship to fight over and I can understand that it was very difficult for them to say 'we'll stop pushing this year and put all our effort into next year'.
“For us it was a very easy decision. It wasn't a clever decision, it was a very easy one.
“We didn't have a good car so why waste time on it?”
While his team has clearly stolen a march on the field, Brawn feels the intrinsic quality of Ferrari and McLaren means they will rapidly make up ground in the development race.
“They're both very strong and fantastic engineering companies, so I'm sure they will sort it out, but I think they're just paying the price for winning the championship last year,” he said.
“Because normally if you're fighting for a championship you develop a car and that same car goes forward into next year so you don't lose anything.
“Everything they did last year for the championship last year was in the bin after the last race. It was gone.
“We had slick tyres, new aerodynamics, so virtually everything they ended last year with they could throw away.”
Brawn’s team has sensationally dominated the opening two grands prix, despite being on the brink of extinction until March following Honda’s withdrawal from F1 at the end of last year.
Meanwhile perennial title rivals Ferrari and McLaren have barely troubled the scorers, with a single point between them courtesy of Lewis Hamilton’s seventh place in the rain-shortened Malaysian GP last Sunday.
But rather than heralding a ‘new world order’ in F1, Brawn reckons the shake-up in the pecking order is simply a logical consequence of teams’ differing priorities last year.
“I think it's a reflection on what's gone on over the last year or two with such a big change in regulations,” he said at Sepang.
“McLaren and Ferrari had a championship to fight over and I can understand that it was very difficult for them to say 'we'll stop pushing this year and put all our effort into next year'.
“For us it was a very easy decision. It wasn't a clever decision, it was a very easy one.
“We didn't have a good car so why waste time on it?”
While his team has clearly stolen a march on the field, Brawn feels the intrinsic quality of Ferrari and McLaren means they will rapidly make up ground in the development race.
“They're both very strong and fantastic engineering companies, so I'm sure they will sort it out, but I think they're just paying the price for winning the championship last year,” he said.
“Because normally if you're fighting for a championship you develop a car and that same car goes forward into next year so you don't lose anything.
“Everything they did last year for the championship last year was in the bin after the last race. It was gone.
“We had slick tyres, new aerodynamics, so virtually everything they ended last year with they could throw away.”
BMW Sauber want urgent action on grand prix diffusers
BMW Sauber boss Mario Theissen has fired a fresh salvo in the diffuser controversy – saying the FIA must take “urgent action” in clarifying their legality to ensure the sport is not devalued by “meaningless” results.
The German also claims Formula 1's cost-cutting drive has been “torpedoed” by the fact that teams not running ‘double-decker’ designs are being forced to develop them, while the taller diffusers have also pushed cornering speeds back up.
Early season-pacesetters Brawn, Toyota and Williams have raised the ire of their rivals after all taking a different interpretation of the 2009 regulations regarding the diffuser at the rear of their cars.
And with the alternative designs appearing to offer a clear performance advantage, the season’s first two races have seen protests lodged against the trio’s cars, first by Ferrari, Red Bull and Renault in Australia and then by BMW last weekend in Malaysia.
Although race stewards declared on each occasion that the cars were legal, the four protesting teams will now take their grievances to the FIA’s International Court of Appeal on April 14 – where another green light from the governing body would force the rest of the grid to adopt them.
Theissen says the fact that teams have been working to different interpretations of the rule book has been damaging for the sport and has called on the FIA to make a definitive judgement on the situation next week.
“Once again, the dominance of the teams using the two-level diffuser was there for all to see in Malaysia,” he said on BMW Sauber’s official website.
“As early as qualifying it was difficult to break this trio’s stranglehold.
“The FIA must take urgent action to clarify the situation, to rule out different interpretations of the regulations.
“This kind of thing is not good for the sport.
“Sport is only interesting if everyone plays to the same rules.
“The diffuser issue is the equivalent of a 100m race in which some runners start 10m in front of the rest of the field.
“The result would be meaningless.”
If the ICA does reject the four teams' appeals next Tuesday then the rest of the grid will face a race against time to redesign their cars to incorporate the two-step diffusers.
Theissen says the continuing uncertainty over their legality has meant that BMW has had to get work on its own version underway.
But he says teams that have not been running the controversial designs will struggle to catch up given the head start the "diffuser gang" have had in optimising their performance.
“We have, of course, been forced to start developing a similar solution,” said Theissen.
“The teams without the so-called double diffuser must retro-fit their cars in order to be competitive, and this cannot be done in one fell swoop.
“The trio already racing with this solution will also continue to develop.
“We must assume that there is still potential for plenty of improvements in this sensitive area.”
Theissen added that the unexpected development push has only served to increase budgets again, while at the same time negating one of the intended effects of the sport’s technical overhaul.
“It goes without saying that this torpedoes the cost reductions we were striving towards,” he said.
“Another aspect is safety.
“The aim of the new aerodynamic regulations was to reduce cornering speeds.
“The double diffuser means these speeds are even higher than they were last year.”
After having its original protest against the controversial diffusers in Melbourne thrown out on a technicality, BMW officially lodged its displeasure at the designs by protesting against the three teams last weekend.
Theissen confirmed that the protest was designed to ensure that the results from both the Sepang race and the season-opener will be taken into account at next Tuesday’s appeal hearing.
“It is purely a formal matter,” he said.
“It is intended to ensure that the result in Malaysia is also taken into consideration in the judge’s decision in the appeal proceedings on 14th April."
The German also claims Formula 1's cost-cutting drive has been “torpedoed” by the fact that teams not running ‘double-decker’ designs are being forced to develop them, while the taller diffusers have also pushed cornering speeds back up.
Early season-pacesetters Brawn, Toyota and Williams have raised the ire of their rivals after all taking a different interpretation of the 2009 regulations regarding the diffuser at the rear of their cars.
And with the alternative designs appearing to offer a clear performance advantage, the season’s first two races have seen protests lodged against the trio’s cars, first by Ferrari, Red Bull and Renault in Australia and then by BMW last weekend in Malaysia.
Although race stewards declared on each occasion that the cars were legal, the four protesting teams will now take their grievances to the FIA’s International Court of Appeal on April 14 – where another green light from the governing body would force the rest of the grid to adopt them.
Theissen says the fact that teams have been working to different interpretations of the rule book has been damaging for the sport and has called on the FIA to make a definitive judgement on the situation next week.
“Once again, the dominance of the teams using the two-level diffuser was there for all to see in Malaysia,” he said on BMW Sauber’s official website.
“As early as qualifying it was difficult to break this trio’s stranglehold.
“The FIA must take urgent action to clarify the situation, to rule out different interpretations of the regulations.
“This kind of thing is not good for the sport.
“Sport is only interesting if everyone plays to the same rules.
“The diffuser issue is the equivalent of a 100m race in which some runners start 10m in front of the rest of the field.
“The result would be meaningless.”
If the ICA does reject the four teams' appeals next Tuesday then the rest of the grid will face a race against time to redesign their cars to incorporate the two-step diffusers.
Theissen says the continuing uncertainty over their legality has meant that BMW has had to get work on its own version underway.
But he says teams that have not been running the controversial designs will struggle to catch up given the head start the "diffuser gang" have had in optimising their performance.
“We have, of course, been forced to start developing a similar solution,” said Theissen.
“The teams without the so-called double diffuser must retro-fit their cars in order to be competitive, and this cannot be done in one fell swoop.
“The trio already racing with this solution will also continue to develop.
“We must assume that there is still potential for plenty of improvements in this sensitive area.”
Theissen added that the unexpected development push has only served to increase budgets again, while at the same time negating one of the intended effects of the sport’s technical overhaul.
“It goes without saying that this torpedoes the cost reductions we were striving towards,” he said.
“Another aspect is safety.
“The aim of the new aerodynamic regulations was to reduce cornering speeds.
“The double diffuser means these speeds are even higher than they were last year.”
After having its original protest against the controversial diffusers in Melbourne thrown out on a technicality, BMW officially lodged its displeasure at the designs by protesting against the three teams last weekend.
Theissen confirmed that the protest was designed to ensure that the results from both the Sepang race and the season-opener will be taken into account at next Tuesday’s appeal hearing.
“It is purely a formal matter,” he said.
“It is intended to ensure that the result in Malaysia is also taken into consideration in the judge’s decision in the appeal proceedings on 14th April."
TWG to clear up Williams complaint
Williams expects the complaint that led to its protest against Ferrari and Red Bull Racing at the Australian Grand Prix to get cleared up by technical chiefs later this week.
The Grove-based outfit originally lodged a complaint against the designs of the Red Bull Racing and Ferrari cars - claiming that the teams were illegally using an unregulated area in front of the sidepods for aerodynamic advantage.
The matter was discussed at length by the team and the race stewards in Melbourne but the protest withdrawn after it was found out that McLaren, Scuderia Toro Rosso and Williams' engine suppliers Toyota also featured similar design concepts.
Williams co-owner Patrick Head now says that the matter should get sorted out in a meeting of F1's Technical Working Group, which is made up of technical directors, later this week.
"As I understand it, it's one of the items on the agenda to be discussed at the next Technical Working Group, which is on Thursday," he explained.
"I believe there were ten cars on the grid with the particular design detail that we said didn't comply with the regulations, and it's not something we thought was a major performance differentiator. So I think it will be tidied up behind closed doors and clarified on Thursday."
Head denied any suggestions that Williams' decision to protest only Ferrari and Red Bull Racing over the matter was a tit-for-tat response to those two teams protesting its diffuser.
"No, [it is] none of that," he said. "Those were the teams we observed it on, and we were quite surprised to find the stewards said there were ten cars."
The Grove-based outfit originally lodged a complaint against the designs of the Red Bull Racing and Ferrari cars - claiming that the teams were illegally using an unregulated area in front of the sidepods for aerodynamic advantage.
The matter was discussed at length by the team and the race stewards in Melbourne but the protest withdrawn after it was found out that McLaren, Scuderia Toro Rosso and Williams' engine suppliers Toyota also featured similar design concepts.
Williams co-owner Patrick Head now says that the matter should get sorted out in a meeting of F1's Technical Working Group, which is made up of technical directors, later this week.
"As I understand it, it's one of the items on the agenda to be discussed at the next Technical Working Group, which is on Thursday," he explained.
"I believe there were ten cars on the grid with the particular design detail that we said didn't comply with the regulations, and it's not something we thought was a major performance differentiator. So I think it will be tidied up behind closed doors and clarified on Thursday."
Head denied any suggestions that Williams' decision to protest only Ferrari and Red Bull Racing over the matter was a tit-for-tat response to those two teams protesting its diffuser.
"No, [it is] none of that," he said. "Those were the teams we observed it on, and we were quite surprised to find the stewards said there were ten cars."
McLaren to appear at FIA hearing
McLaren will be hauled before the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council on April 29 to answer charges that it has brought Formula 1 into disrepute after being found to have lied to the Australian Grand Prix stewards.
The FIA announced on Tuesday that it had called an extraordinary general meeting of the WMSC after Lewis Hamilton and the team’s then sporting director Dave Ryan were found to have given “deliberately misleading” evidence to stewards following the season-opening race.
Hamilton was disqualified from third place in Melbourne after the stewards reconvened at Sepang last Thursday in the wake of new evidence coming to light, with radio traffic disproving Ryan and Hamilton’s earlier statements that there had been no instruction to allow Jarno Trulli's Toyota past during the late-race safety car period.
Ryan was suspended by McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh last Friday – and has since left the team altogether – while Hamilton later held a press conference to apologise for his role in the deception.
However the FIA did not rule out taking further action against the team and said that it would consider a further investigation into the affair once it had received a report from its stewards.
The governing body has now confirmed that the matter will be brought before the WMSC in Paris on the Wednesday after the Bahrain GP and cites five counts on which it says McLaren has breached Article 151c of the International Sporting code.
The FIA announced the five charges as follows:
- On 29 March, 2009, [the team] told the stewards of the Australian Grand Prix that no instructions were given to Hamilton in car no. 1 to allow Trulli in car no. 9 to pass when both cars were behind the safety car, knowing this statement to be untrue;
- procured its driver Hamilton, the current world champion, to support and confirm this untrue statement to the stewards;- although knowing that as a direct result of its untrue statement to the stewards, another driver and a rival team had been unfairly penalised, made no attempt to rectify the situation either by contacting the FIA or otherwise;- on 2 April, 2009, at a second hearing before the stewards of the Australian Grand Prix (meeting in Malaysia), made no attempt to correct the untrue statement of 29 March but, on the contrary, continued to maintain that the statement was true, despite being allowed to listen to a recording of the team instructing Hamilton to let Trulli past and despite being given more than one opportunity to correct its false statement;- on 2 April, 2009, at the second stewards' hearing, procured its driver Hamilton to continue to assert the truth of the false statement given to the stewards on 29 March, while knowing that what he was saying to the stewards was not true.
A breach of Article 151c is defined as "any fraudulent conduct or any act prejudicial to the interests of any competition or to the interests of motor sport generally".
It will be the second time in less than two years that McLaren has appeared before the World Council charged with contravening the disrepute clause, having been found guilty of possessing confidential Ferrari information in the 'spygate' scandal in 2007.
The FIA announced on Tuesday that it had called an extraordinary general meeting of the WMSC after Lewis Hamilton and the team’s then sporting director Dave Ryan were found to have given “deliberately misleading” evidence to stewards following the season-opening race.
Hamilton was disqualified from third place in Melbourne after the stewards reconvened at Sepang last Thursday in the wake of new evidence coming to light, with radio traffic disproving Ryan and Hamilton’s earlier statements that there had been no instruction to allow Jarno Trulli's Toyota past during the late-race safety car period.
Ryan was suspended by McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh last Friday – and has since left the team altogether – while Hamilton later held a press conference to apologise for his role in the deception.
However the FIA did not rule out taking further action against the team and said that it would consider a further investigation into the affair once it had received a report from its stewards.
The governing body has now confirmed that the matter will be brought before the WMSC in Paris on the Wednesday after the Bahrain GP and cites five counts on which it says McLaren has breached Article 151c of the International Sporting code.
The FIA announced the five charges as follows:
- On 29 March, 2009, [the team] told the stewards of the Australian Grand Prix that no instructions were given to Hamilton in car no. 1 to allow Trulli in car no. 9 to pass when both cars were behind the safety car, knowing this statement to be untrue;
- procured its driver Hamilton, the current world champion, to support and confirm this untrue statement to the stewards;- although knowing that as a direct result of its untrue statement to the stewards, another driver and a rival team had been unfairly penalised, made no attempt to rectify the situation either by contacting the FIA or otherwise;- on 2 April, 2009, at a second hearing before the stewards of the Australian Grand Prix (meeting in Malaysia), made no attempt to correct the untrue statement of 29 March but, on the contrary, continued to maintain that the statement was true, despite being allowed to listen to a recording of the team instructing Hamilton to let Trulli past and despite being given more than one opportunity to correct its false statement;- on 2 April, 2009, at the second stewards' hearing, procured its driver Hamilton to continue to assert the truth of the false statement given to the stewards on 29 March, while knowing that what he was saying to the stewards was not true.
A breach of Article 151c is defined as "any fraudulent conduct or any act prejudicial to the interests of any competition or to the interests of motor sport generally".
It will be the second time in less than two years that McLaren has appeared before the World Council charged with contravening the disrepute clause, having been found guilty of possessing confidential Ferrari information in the 'spygate' scandal in 2007.
F1 McLaren parts company with Ryan
McLaren said on Tuesday it has parted company with sporting director Dave Ryan, while vowing to work with the FIA ahead of the World Motor Sport Council hearing later this month.
The Woking-based team has been summoned to appear before the WMSC on April 29 to answer charges that it brought the sport into disrepute after lying to race stewards at the Australian Grand Prix - and then at a second hearing in Malaysia last week.
Stating that it wanted to work with the FIA for the best interests of F1, McLaren also confirmed that Ryan, who was suspended for his involvement in the matter last Friday, had now parted company with the team.
"McLaren acknowledges receipt of an invitation to appear at an FIA World Motor Sport Council meeting in Paris on April 29, received this afternoon," said McLaren in a statement issued on Tuesday.
"We undertake to co-operate fully with all WMSC processes, and welcome the opportunity to work with the FIA in the best interests of Formula 1.
"This afternoon McLaren and its former sporting director, Dave Ryan, have formally parted company. As a result, he is no longer an employee of any of the constituent companies of the McLaren Group."
The Woking-based team has been summoned to appear before the WMSC on April 29 to answer charges that it brought the sport into disrepute after lying to race stewards at the Australian Grand Prix - and then at a second hearing in Malaysia last week.
Stating that it wanted to work with the FIA for the best interests of F1, McLaren also confirmed that Ryan, who was suspended for his involvement in the matter last Friday, had now parted company with the team.
"McLaren acknowledges receipt of an invitation to appear at an FIA World Motor Sport Council meeting in Paris on April 29, received this afternoon," said McLaren in a statement issued on Tuesday.
"We undertake to co-operate fully with all WMSC processes, and welcome the opportunity to work with the FIA in the best interests of Formula 1.
"This afternoon McLaren and its former sporting director, Dave Ryan, have formally parted company. As a result, he is no longer an employee of any of the constituent companies of the McLaren Group."
Tuesday 7 April 2009
f1 biofuel future
FIA president Max Mosley is cautious about Formula 1 having a biofuel future - despite Richard Branson's move to try and make the sport greener.
Branson's Virgin Group has entered F1 as a sponsor of the Brawn GP team, and he made clear at the Australian Grand Prix that he wanted to create a 'clean fuel' revolution in the sport.
"I am delighted to say that they have come up with such a [clean] fuel and over the next few months we will be trying to talk to F1, talk to the various car companies and see if we can have this fuel introduced as the fuel that F1 uses, so this sport goes from a slightly polluting sport to a clean sport," he said.
But Mosley is more sceptical about plans to make clean fuel a standard in F1, because of concerns that shifting crop production away from food and onto biofuels can be detrimental.
"We're obviously just starting with serious efforts on the environment in Formula1," said Mosley. "The danger is people get carried away with new ideas for environmentally friendly motorsport, the most obvious one being biofuel.
"We now all understand the first generation biofuels are actually a negative in that what you're effectively doing is taking fuel away from people. The source of the first generation biofuels is the same as food and, when you've got one billion people in the world who don't have enough to eat, it's really not a good thing to do.
"Second generation biofuels perhaps, but the approach we have taken in Formula 1, and we intend to take in the future in the WRC, is to try to encourage efficient use of energy rather than to dictate which source of energy it should be."
Mosley believes the introduction of Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems (KERS) in F1 this year, and more use of similar technology in the future, will have a greater benefit on the environment that just biofuels.
"If you can get more work from a given quantity of energy or fuel, then that's precisely the direction the car industry is going and needs to go," he said.
"The KERS system is an example of that. Other examples are the recovery of energy from exhausts and even from the cooling system, both of which will come into Formula 1 in 2013.
"The KERS system is an obvious thing that needs doing because anybody can see that to waste the energy you have in a car when it is moving by simply turning it into heat and putting it into the atmosphere is completely wasteful.
"If the technology exists to recover the energy again and use it again then obviously we should use that. It doesn't matter if the car is an electric car, a hydrogen car, runs on biofuel or second generation biofuel, it doesn't make any difference. At the moment almost every car on the road and certainly every car on the rally whenever they put the brake on, that energy is lost.
"To reuse the energy again and again is clearly a massive step forward. We see this with some road cars such as the Toyota Prius is the obvious example. But those cars don't absorb all the energy when you put the brake on, certainly not if you brake at all hard."
He added: "Formula 1 is developing systems that are capable of absorbing all the energy, but at the same time are very small and very light like they have to be. The problem with the road cars is the systems tend to be very big and very heavy, so that's going in the right direction.
"That can continue to the car industry and the road traffic industry as a whole, and that's something we'd like to see coming in in rallies."
Branson's Virgin Group has entered F1 as a sponsor of the Brawn GP team, and he made clear at the Australian Grand Prix that he wanted to create a 'clean fuel' revolution in the sport.
"I am delighted to say that they have come up with such a [clean] fuel and over the next few months we will be trying to talk to F1, talk to the various car companies and see if we can have this fuel introduced as the fuel that F1 uses, so this sport goes from a slightly polluting sport to a clean sport," he said.
But Mosley is more sceptical about plans to make clean fuel a standard in F1, because of concerns that shifting crop production away from food and onto biofuels can be detrimental.
"We're obviously just starting with serious efforts on the environment in Formula1," said Mosley. "The danger is people get carried away with new ideas for environmentally friendly motorsport, the most obvious one being biofuel.
"We now all understand the first generation biofuels are actually a negative in that what you're effectively doing is taking fuel away from people. The source of the first generation biofuels is the same as food and, when you've got one billion people in the world who don't have enough to eat, it's really not a good thing to do.
"Second generation biofuels perhaps, but the approach we have taken in Formula 1, and we intend to take in the future in the WRC, is to try to encourage efficient use of energy rather than to dictate which source of energy it should be."
Mosley believes the introduction of Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems (KERS) in F1 this year, and more use of similar technology in the future, will have a greater benefit on the environment that just biofuels.
"If you can get more work from a given quantity of energy or fuel, then that's precisely the direction the car industry is going and needs to go," he said.
"The KERS system is an example of that. Other examples are the recovery of energy from exhausts and even from the cooling system, both of which will come into Formula 1 in 2013.
"The KERS system is an obvious thing that needs doing because anybody can see that to waste the energy you have in a car when it is moving by simply turning it into heat and putting it into the atmosphere is completely wasteful.
"If the technology exists to recover the energy again and use it again then obviously we should use that. It doesn't matter if the car is an electric car, a hydrogen car, runs on biofuel or second generation biofuel, it doesn't make any difference. At the moment almost every car on the road and certainly every car on the rally whenever they put the brake on, that energy is lost.
"To reuse the energy again and again is clearly a massive step forward. We see this with some road cars such as the Toyota Prius is the obvious example. But those cars don't absorb all the energy when you put the brake on, certainly not if you brake at all hard."
He added: "Formula 1 is developing systems that are capable of absorbing all the energy, but at the same time are very small and very light like they have to be. The problem with the road cars is the systems tend to be very big and very heavy, so that's going in the right direction.
"That can continue to the car industry and the road traffic industry as a whole, and that's something we'd like to see coming in in rallies."
Williams f1 Malaysian GP Review
Synopsis
After showing strong form at the opening round of the season, the second leg of the Australia-Malaysia back-to-back reinforced the team’s competitive pace and reliability, this time on a more traditional, high speed circuit. The weekend opened with Nico Rosberg and Kazuki Nakajima dominating Friday’s first practice session in their FW31s, followed by P4 for Nico and P8 for team-mate Kazuki in session two. In a closely fought qualifying battle, Nico secured P6 from the top ten shoot-out, while Kazuki just missed out on a slot in Q3 by a tenth of a second. Both drivers were promoted to P4 and P11 respectively following Vettel and Barrichello’s grid penalties.
A flawless start to the Grand Prix saw Nico take the lead going into the first corner, which he retained up until his first pitstop on lap 15. Wheel-spin off the line cost Kazuki position to the surrounding KERS-equipped cars at the start, forcing him to spend the opening stage of the race behind a slower Piquet in the Renault. A later start time of 5pm this year saw Malaysia’s notorious early evening storms arrive mid-way through proceedings, as anticipated. With lightening striking the grandstands and lashing rain quickly turning the track into a swimming pool, the safety car was soon deployed before Race Control red flagged the Grand Prix seconds later on lap 32. Little improvement in the conditions kept the cars on the start/finish straight for over 45 minutes before the stewards ruled out a re-start. With the race abandoned, the drivers were classified in accordance with their positions on lap 31; Nico in 8th and Kazuki in 12th.
Q&A WITH SAM MICHAEL, TECHNICAL DIRECTOR
Practice
Q What updates did you introduce on FW31, and did they perform as you'd hoped?
We bought a new suspension component and a front wing endplate. Both performed as we expected.
Q What set-up changes did you make to both cars on Friday?
We tested normal set-up items, so aero balance and roll stiffness, and we also concentrated on the two Bridgestone tyres.
Q Were you surprised that Nico was quickest in two of the three practice sessions?
Not especially.
Qualifying
Q How good was Nico's fastest lap on heavier fuel in Q3?
We appear to be more competitive with a heavier fuel load than when we are running with less fuel, like in Q2, so Nico's lap was good.
Q How much did the post-qualifying grid penalties of Vettel and Barrichello affect your fuel strategy with Nico?
We went a couple of laps shorter than normal to ensure a place on the second row.
Q Where was Kazuki losing out to Nico?
For most of practice Kazuki was very close to Nico but, when the grip ramps up like it did in qualifying, Nico seemed able to extract just a little bit more out of the car.
Race
Q It was an amazing start by Nico from the dirty side of the grid. How did he do it?
You could probably put it down to some great engine torque from Toyota.
Q How was his tyre wear during the first stint?
Tyre wear wasn’t a problem.
Q Kazuki lost out to various KERS cars at the start; when will we see the system on FW31?
As soon as possible.
Q What was your weather forecast telling you about the chances of rain? Was it accurate?
It was saying full rain was due around lap 20. That obviously wasn't accurate because we had moderate rain for about 15 minutes before the full-on deluge arrived. Going to the intermediates would have worked better for us but considering the radar pictures we had at the time it would have been risky to have made that call.
Q Once the race had been stopped, what information did you receive from race control about a potential re-start?
Just the normal information like grid positions for the re-start.
Q Should the race have been re-started?
No. It was too wet and by then too dark.
Q Do you think next year's Malaysian Grand Prix should start at 5pm?
I think it should start at 4pm.
STATS
Nico Rosberg
Practice 1: 1:36.260 (1st)
Practice 2: 1:36.015 (4th)
Practice 3: 1:35.940 (1st)
Qualifying: 1:35.750 (6th)
Grid: 4th - promoted following grid penalties for Vettel and Barrichello
Race: 8th
Fastest lap: 1:37.598 (4th)
Championship points: 0.5
Total points and championship position: 3.5 = 7th
Kazuki Nakajima
Practice 1: 1:36.305 (2nd)
Practice 2: 1:36.290 (8th)
Practice 3: 1:36.325 (8th)
Qualifying: 1:34.788 (12th)
Grid: 11th - promoted following Vettel's grid penalty
Race: 12th
Fastest lap: 1:39.387 (15th)
Championship points: 0
Total points and championship position: 0 = 15th
Race ResultsDriver Grid Position Pit Stops Best Lap Result
N Rosberg 4th 4 (15,22,27,30) 1:37.598 (4th) 8th
K Nakajima 11th 3 (21,28,30) 1:39.387 (15th) 12th
After showing strong form at the opening round of the season, the second leg of the Australia-Malaysia back-to-back reinforced the team’s competitive pace and reliability, this time on a more traditional, high speed circuit. The weekend opened with Nico Rosberg and Kazuki Nakajima dominating Friday’s first practice session in their FW31s, followed by P4 for Nico and P8 for team-mate Kazuki in session two. In a closely fought qualifying battle, Nico secured P6 from the top ten shoot-out, while Kazuki just missed out on a slot in Q3 by a tenth of a second. Both drivers were promoted to P4 and P11 respectively following Vettel and Barrichello’s grid penalties.
A flawless start to the Grand Prix saw Nico take the lead going into the first corner, which he retained up until his first pitstop on lap 15. Wheel-spin off the line cost Kazuki position to the surrounding KERS-equipped cars at the start, forcing him to spend the opening stage of the race behind a slower Piquet in the Renault. A later start time of 5pm this year saw Malaysia’s notorious early evening storms arrive mid-way through proceedings, as anticipated. With lightening striking the grandstands and lashing rain quickly turning the track into a swimming pool, the safety car was soon deployed before Race Control red flagged the Grand Prix seconds later on lap 32. Little improvement in the conditions kept the cars on the start/finish straight for over 45 minutes before the stewards ruled out a re-start. With the race abandoned, the drivers were classified in accordance with their positions on lap 31; Nico in 8th and Kazuki in 12th.
Q&A WITH SAM MICHAEL, TECHNICAL DIRECTOR
Practice
Q What updates did you introduce on FW31, and did they perform as you'd hoped?
We bought a new suspension component and a front wing endplate. Both performed as we expected.
Q What set-up changes did you make to both cars on Friday?
We tested normal set-up items, so aero balance and roll stiffness, and we also concentrated on the two Bridgestone tyres.
Q Were you surprised that Nico was quickest in two of the three practice sessions?
Not especially.
Qualifying
Q How good was Nico's fastest lap on heavier fuel in Q3?
We appear to be more competitive with a heavier fuel load than when we are running with less fuel, like in Q2, so Nico's lap was good.
Q How much did the post-qualifying grid penalties of Vettel and Barrichello affect your fuel strategy with Nico?
We went a couple of laps shorter than normal to ensure a place on the second row.
Q Where was Kazuki losing out to Nico?
For most of practice Kazuki was very close to Nico but, when the grip ramps up like it did in qualifying, Nico seemed able to extract just a little bit more out of the car.
Race
Q It was an amazing start by Nico from the dirty side of the grid. How did he do it?
You could probably put it down to some great engine torque from Toyota.
Q How was his tyre wear during the first stint?
Tyre wear wasn’t a problem.
Q Kazuki lost out to various KERS cars at the start; when will we see the system on FW31?
As soon as possible.
Q What was your weather forecast telling you about the chances of rain? Was it accurate?
It was saying full rain was due around lap 20. That obviously wasn't accurate because we had moderate rain for about 15 minutes before the full-on deluge arrived. Going to the intermediates would have worked better for us but considering the radar pictures we had at the time it would have been risky to have made that call.
Q Once the race had been stopped, what information did you receive from race control about a potential re-start?
Just the normal information like grid positions for the re-start.
Q Should the race have been re-started?
No. It was too wet and by then too dark.
Q Do you think next year's Malaysian Grand Prix should start at 5pm?
I think it should start at 4pm.
STATS
Nico Rosberg
Practice 1: 1:36.260 (1st)
Practice 2: 1:36.015 (4th)
Practice 3: 1:35.940 (1st)
Qualifying: 1:35.750 (6th)
Grid: 4th - promoted following grid penalties for Vettel and Barrichello
Race: 8th
Fastest lap: 1:37.598 (4th)
Championship points: 0.5
Total points and championship position: 3.5 = 7th
Kazuki Nakajima
Practice 1: 1:36.305 (2nd)
Practice 2: 1:36.290 (8th)
Practice 3: 1:36.325 (8th)
Qualifying: 1:34.788 (12th)
Grid: 11th - promoted following Vettel's grid penalty
Race: 12th
Fastest lap: 1:39.387 (15th)
Championship points: 0
Total points and championship position: 0 = 15th
Race ResultsDriver Grid Position Pit Stops Best Lap Result
N Rosberg 4th 4 (15,22,27,30) 1:37.598 (4th) 8th
K Nakajima 11th 3 (21,28,30) 1:39.387 (15th) 12th
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