Force India’s Adrian Sutil and Vitantonio Liuzzi on coming back down to earth with a bump after being powerless to make it through to Q2; Brawn GP’s Rubens Barrichello on causing an early end to the action after crashing; and McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton on taking his second consecutive pole position. All 20 drivers and senior team personnel report back on the Saturday action in Singapore…
McLaren
Lewis Hamilton (1st, Q3 - 1m 47.891s):
“It’s an absolutely fantastic result. We came here with several technical upgrades, and we didn’t know if we’d be up there - particularly after Friday practice, which wasn’t spectacular for me. My pole lap was very relaxed: the car has just got better and better as the track has evolved, and I think I would have gone faster on my final lap if the session hadn’t been aborted. I didn’t expect to be on pole today, but our pace has been really good. We’ll need to see what fuel loads everyone else is running, but I feel quite confident in what we’re doing and I’m in the best position for the race tomorrow.”
Heikki Kovalainen (10th, Q3 - 1m 49.778s):
“This is a very disappointing result for me. In the first two sessions, things went smoothly - although my lap times weren’t as competitive as I was expecting. For Q3, I didn’t get a good enough lap in during my first run as I’d been running the harder tyre, which wasn’t quick enough. I also made a couple of mistakes, but I was focusing my efforts on my second run - which would have been on a set of new option tyres. It’s going to be a tough race tomorrow: starting from 10th will make things very difficult, but there’s nothing I can do about that now, so I’m just going to absolutely go for it tomorrow.”
Martin Whitmarsh, McLaren team principal:
“Although today’s qualifying ended slightly anticlimactically, owing to an accident that befell Rubens (Barrichello) and triggered a red flag that prevented the session from running its full allocated hour, Lewis thoroughly deserved his pole position. Other drivers were also pushing hard at the end, and undoubtedly it would therefore have been close, but we feel relatively confident that Lewis would have remained unbeaten. By contrast, on the harder tyre, Heikki hadn’t managed to cut a really quick lap in Q3 by the time the session was red-flagged - but we believe that, with the benefit of another lap, he would have been able to go significantly faster. As a result, although he’s understandably disappointed that he’ll be starting the race from P10, there’s no reason why he shouldn’t put in a competitive showing tomorrow. Overall, then, we’re hoping to score plenty of points - but, since Lewis will be starting from pole, I grant you that that isn’t a particularly bold statement. I make no apology for that: the weather will be hot and humid, and we may even see rain; the walls are close and unforgiving; the circuit is a challenging one. But we think we’re pretty well set.”
Norbert Haug, vice-president Mercedes-Benz Motorsport:
“Congratulations to Lewis for a fantastic job and his third pole position in the last four Grands Prix since Valencia at the end of August.Also, a big, big thank you to everyone in the team who worked through the night until 10 this morning to build up a different chassis for Lewis as a precaution after a problem related to a cable of our KERS Hybrid. Sorry for Heikki, who was strong all weekend until the last session when his first run did not work out in the expected way. After Rubens’ crash there was no time for a second run left, so Heikki has to start from 10th position. Strategy-wise we should be in a good position and hopefully we can fight for a win tomorrow.”
Red Bull
Sebastian Vettel (2nd, Q3 - 1m 48.204s):
“Unfortunately, when the red flag came out it was my first run on new tyres. I had previously been on used tyres, so my flying lap wasn’t as easy or relaxed as it might have been. But, at the end of the day, it’s great to be back qualifying near the front, especially on a street circuit. The car has been very good all weekend and I’ve been feeling comfortable. It was a shame the red flag came out, but we’ll keep pushing tomorrow. Let’s see - it’s a long race and it will be tough, but we have all that it takes, so I’m looking forward to it.”
Mark Webber (4th, Q3 - 1m 48.722s):
“You never think your first run is going to be for the grid, so I think everyone always leaves a little bit of a margin. I was on scrubbed tyres and was banking on a big lap in my second run. I’m not sure who was on new tyres, but we’re fourth so let’s see - it could have been a lot worse. My guys have been absolute superstars this weekend, putting the car back together after yesterday, in very tough working conditions for them here. I have a lot of motivation to reward them tomorrow.”
Christian Horner, Red Bull team principal:
“An exciting qualifying session. It was disappointing that it got red flagged just before the end, as both our guys were on really strong laps and we felt we could lock out the front row today. But, both drivers drove very well throughout all the sessions and second and fourth are good starting places for tomorrow’s race, which will be long and tough. The spectacle of seeing the cars driving under the lights again here is fantastic.”
Fabrice Lom, Renault, principal engineer track support:
“A mixed feeling again today. It’s a very good qualifying result, we didn’t expect to be as quick as we are, so second and fourth is very good, but I think we were quicker than our final times show. We didn’t demonstrate exactly what we can do, due to the red flag interrupting the final runs, but let’s see tomorrow. I think we can have a strong race and close the gap to the Brawns here.”
Williams
Nico Rosberg (3rd, Q3 - 1m 48.348s):
“It’s been a great day as it has been the result of some good work to change and adapt the set-up of the car in practice and even in Q1. Going into qualifying, it all came alive in Q2 and I got a super lap in. Although Q3 was not as easy on heavy fuel loads, I think we are seeing the benefit of a lot of development work that has gone into the car and I am really pleased for the whole team that we have made another step towards a podium finish and we may even be able to fight for a win sometime soon. P3 is a great position to start from tomorrow and I will be on the clean side of the track, which might prove to be important.”
Kazuki Nakajima (11th, Q2 - 1m 47.013s):
“It was frustrating to be P11 and just miss out making it into Q3. The car had more potential if I had been able to find more from the tyre on warm up, but I had quite a few different points on the lap where I was struggling. That said, I think we have a good chance to score some points from where we are tomorrow.”
Patrick Head, Williams’ director of engineering:
“It was a fantastic qualifying performance from Nico tonight with his true pace only shown in Q2 because of the red flag in Q3. So I’m really happy for him and expect him to race well tomorrow. Kazuki just missed the cut for Q3, but can race for points tomorrow with a good fuel strategy. We could see from yesterday’s practice that the FW31 upgrades were working well, so development is going in the right direction and well done to everybody in the team that has contributed to this progress.”
Renault
Fernando Alonso (6th, Q3 - 1m 49.054s):
“We start the race in fifth, which is a good position for us. It might be difficult to fight for a podium tomorrow, but for sure finishing in the top five would be our main goal. Our race pace was not fantastic during practice so we need to improve that a little bit for tomorrow, otherwise we might have a defensive race as I will be determined to defend this fifth place.”
Romain Grosjean (19th, Q1 - 1m 48.544s):
“We were having problems with the brakes and the team was trying very hard to solve them, but in the end it was a difficult session. I don’t believe that 19th on the grid shows the true pace of the car so I look forward to the race where hopefully I can make some progress. I remain in a positive frame of mind and want to gain some valuable experience from this demanding track.”
Bob Bell, Renault team principal:
“Unfortunately Romain did not have a great qualifying session as he had brake problems which hampered his progress. In Q2, Fernando picked up pace - maybe because the track temperature was falling slightly or perhaps because the circuit was picking up grip. Whatever the reason, the balance of the car certainly improved and Fernando was able to gain time and had more confidence in the car. He did a very good job in Q3 although it’s fair to say we benefited from Barrichello’s incident, but I think it was a good solid performance considering our expectations prior to qualifying.”
Toyota
Timo Glock (7th, Q3 - 1m 49.180s):
"I am happy to be back in the top 10 again. I like this track and I feel confident in the car set-up here. The sessions went well generally; particularly in second qualifying when I was straightaway a second faster than I had been in the first session. The car felt really good and it was nice to get through to third qualifying. My lap was okay in that session but I was on used options and they were a bit worn out. I was really looking forward to my last run on new options but the red flag destroyed it. I know I could have improved my lap time and who knows where that would have put me. But in the end I start from sixth so it looks pretty good. I hope we can have a clean first lap then try to finish in the top six. I will be fighting for as many points as possible."
Jarno Trulli (15th, Q2 - 1m 47.413s):
“The main problem for me was a lack of grip. The track conditions seem like they have improved but we couldn't improve our lap times enough from yesterday. I am not sure why because Timo looked strong but I just had no grip at all. The car didn't feel particularly good so we didn't quite get it right today unfortunately. Anything can happen in the race tomorrow and I will fight as hard as I can but it will be difficult to score points from 15th."
Pascal Vasselon, Toyota senior general manager chassis:
"As expected we are stronger here in Singapore than we were at the last race so it is disappointing not to get both cars into the top 10. Timo did a good job to get through first and second qualifying. In the end we are a bit frustrated that the final session ended early due to the red flag because he didn't have the chance to use his final set of new options so there was an opportunity to qualify even higher. The target for Timo is clearly a strong points finish but the race will be harder for Jarno. We need to analyse the grip problems he had and we will see what we can do with our strategy to recover some positions."
BMW Sauber
Nick Heidfeld (8th, Q3 - 1m 49.307s):
“Although it might appear nice to be in top ten again, as we have had worse results this season, I’m really disappointed. The car had improved and it all looked good in Q1 and in Q2. But in Q3 I could not use the advantage of the softer tyres because of the red flag. I had just started my fast lap and from the early corners it was clear to me it would be a huge improvement, but then Rubens Barrichello crashed and the session was red flagged. In hindsight it would have been better to use the softer tyres earlier, but of course you don’t want to sacrifice the advantage of the track being at its best in the last minutes of the session. That’s bad luck.”
Robert Kubica (9th, Q3 - 1m 49.514s):
“Of course our qualifying performance was influenced by the red flag caused by Rubens Barrichello’s accident. I think most of the drivers are in a similar situation. We used the harder tyre compound in our first run of the top ten qualifying. This cost us a lot of lap time - the prime tyres were about two tenths slower just in the first two corners compared to the softer compound. It will be a very difficult race tomorrow. The track is very challenging. It requires lots of traction and braking stability. Also physically the circuit is very demanding as there are a lot of corners and you are permanently fighting with the car. Tomorrow a lot will depend on tyre degradation and possible overheating.”
Mario Theissen, BMW Motorsport director:
“Qualifying brought some surprises. In Q1 with 20 cars on the track it was difficult to find a lap without traffic. Both our drivers were only able to get the right time to advance in Q2 on their second try. Also the way from Q2 into Q3 was anything but easy. Positions five to ten were only fractions of a second away from each other. In Q3 we saved our last set of soft tyres for the final run, but this was stopped by Rubens Barrichello’s accident. We were one of three teams today that made it with both cars into the top ten. For us it was only the second time this season we managed this. This confirms the positive trend and the work we all put into the new development package.”
Willy Rampf, BMW Sauber head of engineering:
“Our comprehensive development package made us move a step forward. For the second time this year both our cars made it into the final qualifying session. Anyhow we are not satisfied with our qualifying positions, even though both Nick and Robert will move up the grid one place because a driver finishing in front will be penalized. Both drivers had to cancel their crucial final run in Q3 on the softer tyre compound due to Rubens Barrichello’s accident. Therefore both of them qualified in the final session only on the harder compound.”
Ferrari
Kimi Raikkonen (13th, Q2 - 1m 47.177s):
“Unfortunately, today we were just not quick enough to get into Q3 and there was not much we could do about it. It’s logical that, as other cars improve, race after race, we pay a higher price for our decision to stop developing the F60. Tomorrow, we can expect a tough race as it is very difficult to overtake here, so getting into the points will be very difficult. It’s true that anything can happen on a track like this and we will have to do our best to make the most of every opportunity, maybe getting some help through a good start as we have usually managed in the last few races. As for the tyres, I think that tomorrow, there could be a problem with wear on the softer tyre, even if the situation could improve during the race.”
Giancarlo Fisichella (18th, Q1 - 1m 48.350s):
“Obviously, I am disappointed with this result. I really wanted to do well, but I still haven’t managed to find the right level of confidence in this car: it’s almost as if it is driving me rather than the other way round. Especially on such a difficult track, I don’t have the confidence to go right to the limit. Naturally starting from eighteenth place means I can expect a very difficult race. I will try and make up some places at the start and then make the most of the race pace. Getting into the points would be the maximum, but even that will be a very tough target to reach.”
Stefano Domenicali, Ferrari team principal:
“Our target today was to get at least one car through to Q3 and the other to Q2, but we did not succeed and we have to accept that our package just wasn’t quick enough in this qualifying session. Furthermore, if so many of our competitors continue to develop their cars, while we stopped doing so with ours several weeks ago, then the more time goes by, the more we will find ourselves in an ever more difficult situation. However, what really matters is the race result, where reliability is always the key factor, especially in a race that looks like being very tough and where all sorts of things could happen. Clearly, we will be trying to fight our way towards the front, which means it will be difficult to reach our minimum target of finishing in the top eight.”
Chris Dyer, Ferrari chief engineer:
“A really difficult qualifying for us, even more so than we expected. We knew it would be tough, but we felt we could have made it through to the final part of the session. But honestly, today we did not have the performance to do that. Kimi did two good laps in Q2, but it was not enough. Tomorrow’s race will be very long, so let’s hope we can make up some places at the start and then try and get into the points.”
Toro Rosso
Sebastien Buemi (14th, Q2 - 1m 47.369s):
“I am quite happy, as the session went smoothly without any mistakes. I got the most I could out of the car and am pleased to have got ahead of Trulli. I’m glad to finally be back in Q2 as it’s been a long time. Now we need to work on a race strategy, make a good start and run the pit stops well.”
Jaime Alguersuari (17th, Q1 - 1m 48.340s):
“We did quite well and we’re getting faster. It was quite difficult to do better than that, but I am feeling more comfortable with the track every time I get in the car. This has been the hardest track I have driven apart from Macau. With it being a street circuit, anything could happen tomorrow, so hopefully I can have a good race.”
Laurent Mekies, Toro Rosso chief engineer:
“We had a very difficult Friday and made a major change to the car set-up overnight, which seems to have been a step in the right direction. Sebastien and Jaime also improved their performance. Jaime has got better throughout the weekend on a track that is difficult to learn and Sebastien is back in Q2 after a gap of a few races. We’re still not where we want to be, but having made a good step forward from Friday to today, there is still room to make another one for the race, which is likely to be very chaotic, so anything can happen.”
Force India
Adrian Sutil (16th, Q1 - 1m 48.231s):
“As we can see, we are still very quick on the straights and on the high speed circuits such as Spa and Monza, but here it is all about downforce. It's a very similar configuration to Monte Carlo, but about twice as long with twice as many corners and that's why we lost so much over one lap. We have had a problem with the grip level the whole weekend. I did expect us to be a little bit more competitive, but the field is very tight and if you lose out a bit in the traffic suddenly you are at the back. I lost some time on my fastest lap when Giancarlo was in front of me in the middle sector and I finished 16th. It's going to be difficult but let's see what we can do. It's a long race and anything is possible and we will still be giving it our best.”
Vitantonio Liuzzi (20th, Q3 - 1m 48.792s):
“We knew we would struggle more on this type of circuit compared to the low downforce tracks such as Spa and Monza but we didn't expect it would be this much. We were suffering with a lack of traction and weren't able to find the right balance - Adrian and I seem to have the same problems. My quickest lap was quite clean, perhaps there were a couple of tenths more in it, but to get through to Q2 this time would have been quite difficult. With more fuel on board we are quite competitive but from this point on the grid it will be tough. However at a circuit like this anything can happen and if we have a good pace in the race and a good balance we could still get some points. Street circuits are always a bit crazy so we won't give up just yet.”
Dr Vijay Mallya, Force India chairman and team principal
“After the outstanding performance in Spa and Monza we were expecting more of a challenge this weekend for sure. We feel we have a car that is now amongst the quickest in the field but unfortunately in high downforce trim we are not seeing a reflection of this performance as teams that were behind us in Spa and Monza are ahead of us here. There are however only two extraordinarily high downforce tracks on the calendar - here and Monaco - so we cannot trade this improvement in performance for just one race. We are still looking forward to the Grand Prix, which is sure to be eventful, long and challenging and will try our best to continue our current run of points' scoring finishes. We are however anticipating a better performance at the more traditional tracks of Suzuka and Interlagos, which will be sure to suit us a lot better.”
Hirohide Hamashima, Bridgestone director of motorsport tyre development:
“We have to investigate the data in depth however it seems like circuit conditions might have continued to change quite quickly today. This means that some teams could have struggled to adjust their cars for the increased grip from the improved track surface. This means that car balance could alter, so it has been a difficult day once more here in Singapore due to the good challenge of this circuit.It is still very difficult to say exactly, and we did see a lot of track improvement through the race last year here. We continue to see more degradation from the super soft tyre, in particular at the rear, although the degradation does not initially look to be as much as yesterday. However, there are no easy answers here. I suspect that the teams will be working very hard analysing their data and deciding their strategies for tomorrow."
News from Formula One in the Formation Lap.
Saturday, 26 September 2009
Hamilton on pole after Rubens crashes
Lewis Hamilton claimed his second successive pole position at the Singapore Grand Prix after a crash from title challenger Rubens Barrichello brought qualifying to an early end under the lights at Marina Bay.
The McLaren man held provisional pole after topping the first Q3 runs by just over 0.2s from Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel and Williams’s Nico Rosberg, but both his rivals were in the middle of quicker final laps which would have threatened Hamilton’s position with the Briton in turn just about to start his own final run.
However, what was set to be a tantalising climax to the session never played out after 37-year-old Barrichello slammed into the wall at turn five after losing control of his BGP 001 under braking after appearing to hit a big bump.
At the time the Brazilian veteran was trying to improve on – or perhaps more realistically hold onto – his provisional fifth-place position to minimise the damage to be incurred by an impending five-place penalty for a gearbox change with Brawn surprisingly struggling for pace.
But whatever would have happened in the final 26 seconds of the session the early end to Q3 ensured that despite the grid drop relegating him to 10th, Barrichello will still start ahead of team-mate and title rival Jenson Button after the Briton endured a dismal session.
After complaining of a lack of grip in final practice, Button appeared to be in better shape for qualifying after setting the second quickest time to Hamilton in Q1.
However, Brawn’s form fell away as the pace increased on low fuel in the second session and Button appeared far from confident in his car’s handling as he made several mistakes on both of his final hot laps to wind up with only the 12th quickest time.
Indeed Barrichello looked set to join him in Q2 elimination after clouting the floor of his car at the chicane, but despite the damage produced a brilliant final lap to crucially ensure his place in Q3.
The Brazilian’s subsequent crash ensured Hamilton held onto his third pole of the season, with the threatening Vettel and Rosberg denied the chance to dislodge him.
Nevertheless Red Bull will no doubt be delighted with its positions relative to Brawn as with Mark Webber claiming fourth, it now unexpectedly has been presented with a golden chance to blast itself back into realistic title contention with a big points haul on Sunday.
Rosberg’s third position equals his best-ever in his 67-race F1 career and confirms a major return to form for Williams after its FW31 struggled badly in the low-downforce conditions of recent races.
Indeed the German was the fastest man in low-fuel Q2 after clocking a blistering lap of 1m46.197s and now surely has his best chance of finally claiming the team’s first podium finish of the season, exactly a year on from its last top three finish in Singapore.
Barrichello’s five-place penalty promoted Fernando Alonso from sixth to fifth after the Spaniard steadily improved his pace throughout the hour to give the troubled Renault team a much-needed morale booster.
Timo Glock enjoyed a strong session for Toyota and will start sixth, while the BMW duo of Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica will share the fourth row after the heavily-upgraded F1.09 delivered on its practice promise.
The second McLaren of Heikki Kovalainen is almost certain to have qualified much heavier on fuel than his pole-sitting team-mate after lapping almost two seconds slower than Hamilton’s time, the Finn to start alongside the relegated Barrichello on row five.
The Brazilian’s title rival Button is two places back, with the second Williams of Kazuki Nakajima to start between the two Brawns.
While the Brackley squad’s day was unexpectedly dismal, Ferrari had been fearing a tough qualifying session after running outside the top-10 for most of practice and so it turned out for the Scuderia.
The in-form Kimi Raikkonen did his best to hustle the F60 around the 3.15-mile circuit but couldn’t prevent his first Q2 elimination since Spain and will start 13th, while Giancarlo Fisichella didn’t get beyond the first stage.
Toro Rosso will be happy with its Q2 position after Sebastien Buemi impressively claimed 14th, the Swiss outqualifying Jarno Trulli who unusually fell a long way short of Toyota team-mate Glock over a single quali lap.
Force India, meanwhile, suffered something of a reality check following its sensational front-running form at Spa and Monza as both of its drivers were knocked out in Q1.
Monza front-row starter Adrian Sutil just missed out on the second stage in terms of position in 16th, but he would have needed to have produced a time over half a second quicker to have progressed.
And after impressing the paddock with his performance on his F1 return after two years away a fortnight ago, the sister car of Tonio Liuzzi was slowest of all on his first experience of the physically-demanding Singapore streets.
Jamie Alguersuari couldn’t match STR team-mate Buemi’s efforts, but nevertheless the 17th-fastest time equals the best grid slot of the 19-year-old’s five-race Formula 1 career.
Indeed in a tough session for all the drivers either adapting to F1 or new teams, Fisichella experienced more difficulties in getting the best out of the Ferrari and wound up a disappointing 18th – the veteran unable to get within a second of Raikkonen.
Renault rookie Romain Grosjean will line up alongside Liuzzi on the back row in 19th after struggling with the brakes on his R29 from the off in qualifying after a new set were installed before the session.
The Frenchman enquired over the radio whether his brakes were working at all after running down the escape road at turn seven on his out-lap and despite completing 10 laps over the next 20 minutes couldn’t get near the cut line.
Singapore Grand Prix grid
1. HAMILTON McLaren
2. VETTEL Red Bull
3. ROSBERG Williams
4. WEBBER Red Bull
5. ALONSO Renault
6. GLOCK Toyota
7. HEIDFELD BMW
8. KUBICA BMW
9. KOVALAINEN McLaren
10. BARRICHELLO Brawn*
11. NAKAJIMA Williams
12. BUTTON Brawn
13. RAIKKONEN Ferrari
14. BUEMI Toro Rosso
15. TRULLI Toyota
16. SUTIL Force India
17. ALGUERSUARI Toro Rosso
18. FISICHELLA Ferrari
19. GROSJEAN Renault
20. LIUZZI Force India
The McLaren man held provisional pole after topping the first Q3 runs by just over 0.2s from Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel and Williams’s Nico Rosberg, but both his rivals were in the middle of quicker final laps which would have threatened Hamilton’s position with the Briton in turn just about to start his own final run.
However, what was set to be a tantalising climax to the session never played out after 37-year-old Barrichello slammed into the wall at turn five after losing control of his BGP 001 under braking after appearing to hit a big bump.
At the time the Brazilian veteran was trying to improve on – or perhaps more realistically hold onto – his provisional fifth-place position to minimise the damage to be incurred by an impending five-place penalty for a gearbox change with Brawn surprisingly struggling for pace.
But whatever would have happened in the final 26 seconds of the session the early end to Q3 ensured that despite the grid drop relegating him to 10th, Barrichello will still start ahead of team-mate and title rival Jenson Button after the Briton endured a dismal session.
After complaining of a lack of grip in final practice, Button appeared to be in better shape for qualifying after setting the second quickest time to Hamilton in Q1.
However, Brawn’s form fell away as the pace increased on low fuel in the second session and Button appeared far from confident in his car’s handling as he made several mistakes on both of his final hot laps to wind up with only the 12th quickest time.
Indeed Barrichello looked set to join him in Q2 elimination after clouting the floor of his car at the chicane, but despite the damage produced a brilliant final lap to crucially ensure his place in Q3.
The Brazilian’s subsequent crash ensured Hamilton held onto his third pole of the season, with the threatening Vettel and Rosberg denied the chance to dislodge him.
Nevertheless Red Bull will no doubt be delighted with its positions relative to Brawn as with Mark Webber claiming fourth, it now unexpectedly has been presented with a golden chance to blast itself back into realistic title contention with a big points haul on Sunday.
Rosberg’s third position equals his best-ever in his 67-race F1 career and confirms a major return to form for Williams after its FW31 struggled badly in the low-downforce conditions of recent races.
Indeed the German was the fastest man in low-fuel Q2 after clocking a blistering lap of 1m46.197s and now surely has his best chance of finally claiming the team’s first podium finish of the season, exactly a year on from its last top three finish in Singapore.
Barrichello’s five-place penalty promoted Fernando Alonso from sixth to fifth after the Spaniard steadily improved his pace throughout the hour to give the troubled Renault team a much-needed morale booster.
Timo Glock enjoyed a strong session for Toyota and will start sixth, while the BMW duo of Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica will share the fourth row after the heavily-upgraded F1.09 delivered on its practice promise.
The second McLaren of Heikki Kovalainen is almost certain to have qualified much heavier on fuel than his pole-sitting team-mate after lapping almost two seconds slower than Hamilton’s time, the Finn to start alongside the relegated Barrichello on row five.
The Brazilian’s title rival Button is two places back, with the second Williams of Kazuki Nakajima to start between the two Brawns.
While the Brackley squad’s day was unexpectedly dismal, Ferrari had been fearing a tough qualifying session after running outside the top-10 for most of practice and so it turned out for the Scuderia.
The in-form Kimi Raikkonen did his best to hustle the F60 around the 3.15-mile circuit but couldn’t prevent his first Q2 elimination since Spain and will start 13th, while Giancarlo Fisichella didn’t get beyond the first stage.
Toro Rosso will be happy with its Q2 position after Sebastien Buemi impressively claimed 14th, the Swiss outqualifying Jarno Trulli who unusually fell a long way short of Toyota team-mate Glock over a single quali lap.
Force India, meanwhile, suffered something of a reality check following its sensational front-running form at Spa and Monza as both of its drivers were knocked out in Q1.
Monza front-row starter Adrian Sutil just missed out on the second stage in terms of position in 16th, but he would have needed to have produced a time over half a second quicker to have progressed.
And after impressing the paddock with his performance on his F1 return after two years away a fortnight ago, the sister car of Tonio Liuzzi was slowest of all on his first experience of the physically-demanding Singapore streets.
Jamie Alguersuari couldn’t match STR team-mate Buemi’s efforts, but nevertheless the 17th-fastest time equals the best grid slot of the 19-year-old’s five-race Formula 1 career.
Indeed in a tough session for all the drivers either adapting to F1 or new teams, Fisichella experienced more difficulties in getting the best out of the Ferrari and wound up a disappointing 18th – the veteran unable to get within a second of Raikkonen.
Renault rookie Romain Grosjean will line up alongside Liuzzi on the back row in 19th after struggling with the brakes on his R29 from the off in qualifying after a new set were installed before the session.
The Frenchman enquired over the radio whether his brakes were working at all after running down the escape road at turn seven on his out-lap and despite completing 10 laps over the next 20 minutes couldn’t get near the cut line.
Singapore Grand Prix grid
1. HAMILTON McLaren
2. VETTEL Red Bull
3. ROSBERG Williams
4. WEBBER Red Bull
5. ALONSO Renault
6. GLOCK Toyota
7. HEIDFELD BMW
8. KUBICA BMW
9. KOVALAINEN McLaren
10. BARRICHELLO Brawn*
11. NAKAJIMA Williams
12. BUTTON Brawn
13. RAIKKONEN Ferrari
14. BUEMI Toro Rosso
15. TRULLI Toyota
16. SUTIL Force India
17. ALGUERSUARI Toro Rosso
18. FISICHELLA Ferrari
19. GROSJEAN Renault
20. LIUZZI Force India
Thursday, 24 September 2009
ING ends Renault deal immediately
Renault title sponsor ING has terminated its deal with the French car manufacturer with immediate effect on the back of the team being found guilty of fixing last year's Singapore Grand Prix. This is the second sponsor to drop Renault today.
Just days after Renault was handed a two-year suspended ban for its involvement in causing a crash in Singapore 12 months ago to help Fernando Alonso win, ING dropped a bombshell in the early hours of Friday morning when it announced it was ending its involvement in the team immediately.
A statement issued by ING confirmed that it had chosen to pull its sponsorship deal because of the events of the last week.
"ING announced today that in light of the verdict of the World Motor Sport Council of 21 September 2009 concerning the events that occurred at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, ING will terminate the contract with Renault Formula 1 with immediate effect," said the statement.
"ING is deeply disappointed at this turn of events, especially in the context of an otherwise successful sponsorship. As announced on 16 February of this year, ING decided not to renew the three year sponsorship (2007-2009) contract with Renault F1 and to end its presence in Formula 1 after the 2009 season."
A spokesperson for the Dutch banking giants confirmed to AUTOSPORT that the decision will result in the ING logos being removed from the cars and other team areas.
However she stated that ING's commitment to trackside advertising would remain until the end of the year.
ING's decision comes hours after Spanish insurance company Mutua Madrilena announced that it was also ending its Renault sponsorship deal as it felt the team's involving in the race fixing scandal amounted to a breach of contract.
Just days after Renault was handed a two-year suspended ban for its involvement in causing a crash in Singapore 12 months ago to help Fernando Alonso win, ING dropped a bombshell in the early hours of Friday morning when it announced it was ending its involvement in the team immediately.
A statement issued by ING confirmed that it had chosen to pull its sponsorship deal because of the events of the last week.
"ING announced today that in light of the verdict of the World Motor Sport Council of 21 September 2009 concerning the events that occurred at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, ING will terminate the contract with Renault Formula 1 with immediate effect," said the statement.
"ING is deeply disappointed at this turn of events, especially in the context of an otherwise successful sponsorship. As announced on 16 February of this year, ING decided not to renew the three year sponsorship (2007-2009) contract with Renault F1 and to end its presence in Formula 1 after the 2009 season."
A spokesperson for the Dutch banking giants confirmed to AUTOSPORT that the decision will result in the ING logos being removed from the cars and other team areas.
However she stated that ING's commitment to trackside advertising would remain until the end of the year.
ING's decision comes hours after Spanish insurance company Mutua Madrilena announced that it was also ending its Renault sponsorship deal as it felt the team's involving in the race fixing scandal amounted to a breach of contract.
Singapore Grand Prix Preview
The outcry over the ultimate result notwithstanding, last year's inaugural Singapore Grand Prix, Formula One racing's first-ever night race, was an outstanding success. And this weekend's follow-up is just as eagerly anticipated.
The 5.073-kilometre Marina Bay Street Circuit is located in the heart of downtown Singapore, and passes several famous landmarks including Saint Andrew's Cathedral, City Hall, the Supreme Court and the Esplanade Bridge.
It comprises public roads and features 23 corners, two of which will be taken at speeds in excess of 100 mph. Running in an anti-clockwise direction it is the only circuit which crosses two bridges and travels beneath a grandstand.
Since this is a night race, teams face the unusual prospect of the track temperature being cooler than the air temperature. This could create slippery conditions for drivers, hence the need for maximum downforce. Over 1,500 light projectors, each with 2,000 watt white metal halide lamps, will be used to illuminate the way.
As usual, everyone has developed bespoke aerodynamic packages, and this time their tyre choice falls between Bridgestone's soft and super-soft tyre compounds. Red Bull desperately need a strong result here to stay in the world championship fight, in both the drivers' and constructors' stakes. They will have a new aero package, as will their main rival, Brawn GP.
"We have a significant aerodynamic upgrade for the BGP001 for this weekend which should bring another good step in performance for the final races of the season," says Ross Brawn. "The nature of the Marina Bay Street Circuit is tight, twisty and very narrow in places with many first- and second-gear corners resulting in low average speeds, so we will be running the car in a high aerodynamic downforce configuration."
Points leader Jenson Button spoke for many when he said: "As last year, we will stay on European timing for the race weekend which means staying awake throughout the night and sleeping most of the day to ensure that we are alert and the body is ready to react in the right way for the evening timetable.
"I spent some time at the factory last week driving the circuit on our simulator which helps with the track layout, gears and downforce levels, so we are well prepared and looking forward to arriving in Singapore and getting the weekend underway."
Lewis Hamilton is also hopeful of a strong performance, with McLaren's final upgrade of the season.
"Last year's inaugural Singapore Grand Prix was a real example of how to host a new Formula One race - fantastic facilities, slick organisation and a unique and interesting track that was not only fun and demanding but also really forced you to push to the limit and take a few risks to get the best from the car," he says. "I remember my race in Singapore last year was all about damage limitation - I was driving with one eye on the world championship and wasn't going to take too many risks. I was happy to finish on the podium. This year, it's very different. I know I'm out of the title hunt and I want to attack these last four races, pushing for as many victories as I can."
Ferrari are quietly hoping the F60 will be quick here, while last year's controversial winner for Renault, Fernando Alonso, says: "I like Singapore because it's quite challenging and there are some interesting corners like the high-speed chicane at Turn 10 where you have to carry a lot of speed and use the curbs. Overtaking isn't easy here, but there are some opportunities. How will the R29 perform this weekend? The car is working well at most circuits so I believe we are competitive enough to get close to the podium, which has to be my target this weekend."
The drivers will all try to stay on European time, and Friday's opening free practice session will start at 1800 hours local time. Qualifying is the latest session of the weekend, kicking off at 2200 hours on Saturday, and the race starts at 2000 hours on Sunday. The local time in Singapore is eight hours ahead of GMT.
The 5.073-kilometre Marina Bay Street Circuit is located in the heart of downtown Singapore, and passes several famous landmarks including Saint Andrew's Cathedral, City Hall, the Supreme Court and the Esplanade Bridge.
It comprises public roads and features 23 corners, two of which will be taken at speeds in excess of 100 mph. Running in an anti-clockwise direction it is the only circuit which crosses two bridges and travels beneath a grandstand.
Since this is a night race, teams face the unusual prospect of the track temperature being cooler than the air temperature. This could create slippery conditions for drivers, hence the need for maximum downforce. Over 1,500 light projectors, each with 2,000 watt white metal halide lamps, will be used to illuminate the way.
As usual, everyone has developed bespoke aerodynamic packages, and this time their tyre choice falls between Bridgestone's soft and super-soft tyre compounds. Red Bull desperately need a strong result here to stay in the world championship fight, in both the drivers' and constructors' stakes. They will have a new aero package, as will their main rival, Brawn GP.
"We have a significant aerodynamic upgrade for the BGP001 for this weekend which should bring another good step in performance for the final races of the season," says Ross Brawn. "The nature of the Marina Bay Street Circuit is tight, twisty and very narrow in places with many first- and second-gear corners resulting in low average speeds, so we will be running the car in a high aerodynamic downforce configuration."
Points leader Jenson Button spoke for many when he said: "As last year, we will stay on European timing for the race weekend which means staying awake throughout the night and sleeping most of the day to ensure that we are alert and the body is ready to react in the right way for the evening timetable.
"I spent some time at the factory last week driving the circuit on our simulator which helps with the track layout, gears and downforce levels, so we are well prepared and looking forward to arriving in Singapore and getting the weekend underway."
Lewis Hamilton is also hopeful of a strong performance, with McLaren's final upgrade of the season.
"Last year's inaugural Singapore Grand Prix was a real example of how to host a new Formula One race - fantastic facilities, slick organisation and a unique and interesting track that was not only fun and demanding but also really forced you to push to the limit and take a few risks to get the best from the car," he says. "I remember my race in Singapore last year was all about damage limitation - I was driving with one eye on the world championship and wasn't going to take too many risks. I was happy to finish on the podium. This year, it's very different. I know I'm out of the title hunt and I want to attack these last four races, pushing for as many victories as I can."
Ferrari are quietly hoping the F60 will be quick here, while last year's controversial winner for Renault, Fernando Alonso, says: "I like Singapore because it's quite challenging and there are some interesting corners like the high-speed chicane at Turn 10 where you have to carry a lot of speed and use the curbs. Overtaking isn't easy here, but there are some opportunities. How will the R29 perform this weekend? The car is working well at most circuits so I believe we are competitive enough to get close to the podium, which has to be my target this weekend."
The drivers will all try to stay on European time, and Friday's opening free practice session will start at 1800 hours local time. Qualifying is the latest session of the weekend, kicking off at 2200 hours on Saturday, and the race starts at 2000 hours on Sunday. The local time in Singapore is eight hours ahead of GMT.
Theissen confirms Ferrari engine deal
Mario Theissen has confirmed that the BMW Sauber team will be Ferrari powered if it can get a place in the 2010 field under its new ownership.
After BMW's decision to withdraw from Formula 1, the squad has been rescued by the Qadbak investment group, but its chances of racing next season depend on the FIA convincing the rest of the pitlane to allow the entry to expand to 14 teams, or another team dropping out. BMW's original place in the entry has gone to the new incarnation of the Lotus team.
The Sauber squad has been strongly linked to a return to the Ferrari engine deal it had prior to the BMW takeover, and in Singapore today current team boss Theissen confirmed that this had been finalised.
"It will run a Ferrari power-train," he said.
Theissen said it was not too soon to decide whether he would remain in charge of the new-look team.
"My personal future is fully open, and I will keep it open until the end of the season," he said. "It would not be helpful to mix up my own situation with all the efforts to secure the future of the team. And I am not concerned that there will be [too little] time later this year."
But he believes the team has a bright future, and that it will definitely be in the field despite the current uncertainty.
"We are very confident to be on the grid next year, and the new investor apparently is quite strong," Theissen said.
"He wants to continue with the team in a strong state, not just as an also-ran. That is an excellent perspective for the team. We could not really expect that.
"So there is strong morale. The team is really positive. We have a good upgrade for the car here, and we want to achieve something in the final four races."
After BMW's decision to withdraw from Formula 1, the squad has been rescued by the Qadbak investment group, but its chances of racing next season depend on the FIA convincing the rest of the pitlane to allow the entry to expand to 14 teams, or another team dropping out. BMW's original place in the entry has gone to the new incarnation of the Lotus team.
The Sauber squad has been strongly linked to a return to the Ferrari engine deal it had prior to the BMW takeover, and in Singapore today current team boss Theissen confirmed that this had been finalised.
"It will run a Ferrari power-train," he said.
Theissen said it was not too soon to decide whether he would remain in charge of the new-look team.
"My personal future is fully open, and I will keep it open until the end of the season," he said. "It would not be helpful to mix up my own situation with all the efforts to secure the future of the team. And I am not concerned that there will be [too little] time later this year."
But he believes the team has a bright future, and that it will definitely be in the field despite the current uncertainty.
"We are very confident to be on the grid next year, and the new investor apparently is quite strong," Theissen said.
"He wants to continue with the team in a strong state, not just as an also-ran. That is an excellent perspective for the team. We could not really expect that.
"So there is strong morale. The team is really positive. We have a good upgrade for the car here, and we want to achieve something in the final four races."
Tuesday, 22 September 2009
Singapore Grand Prix - Renault team and driver preview quotes
Last year's inaugural Singapore Grand Prix was anything but pedestrian and the floodlit night race was celebrated as a welcome addition to the Formula One calendar. Drivers and senior team members discuss their prospects for this year...
Fernando Alonso, Renault
2008 Qualifying - 15th, 2008 Race - 1st
“I like Singapore because it's quite challenging and there are some interesting corners like the high-speed chicane at Turn 10 where you have to carry a lot of speed and use the kerbs. Overtaking isn't easy in Singapore, but there are some opportunities. The car is working well at most circuits so I believe we are competitive enough to get close to the podium, which has to be my target this weekend. Last year I decided it was better to remain on a European schedule rather than adjusting to local time so I will do the same this year as it's the best way to manage my energy levels.”
Romain Grosjean, Renault
2008 Qualifying - N/A, 2008 Race - N/A
“I enjoy street circuits and the track layout looks interesting. I saw the race on television last year and thought the cars looked great under the lights. This will be my first ever night race and I'm really looking forward to it. I've been doing a lot of work with my engineers and I've watched some videos to try and learn the track as much as I can before I arrive there. I already know the layout from studying the map, but it's only when you drive a lap and feel the grip that you start to understand the circuit. My aim is to put together a strong weekend to maximise practice, qualifying and the race. I will try and get close to Fernando in qualifying and hopefully race for some points.”
Bob Bell, Renault technical director
“The R29 doesn't have any specific weak points and delivers a similar level of performance with both high and low downforce. Its weakness is that it needs more overall performance in terms of grip through downforce and mechanical set-up. This weekend we will use a similar package to the one we used in Monaco, although we will incorporate the evolutions made since that race. Based on our experience last year, I would say that night racing has not caused too many difficulties for the team and the facilities and lighting in Singapore are excellent. We're effectively working nightshifts in Singapore, but as a team we remain on UK time so it works quite well. The team keeps to the same schedule as at any other race, except that everything is shifted a few hours later in the day.”
Fernando Alonso, Renault
2008 Qualifying - 15th, 2008 Race - 1st
“I like Singapore because it's quite challenging and there are some interesting corners like the high-speed chicane at Turn 10 where you have to carry a lot of speed and use the kerbs. Overtaking isn't easy in Singapore, but there are some opportunities. The car is working well at most circuits so I believe we are competitive enough to get close to the podium, which has to be my target this weekend. Last year I decided it was better to remain on a European schedule rather than adjusting to local time so I will do the same this year as it's the best way to manage my energy levels.”
Romain Grosjean, Renault
2008 Qualifying - N/A, 2008 Race - N/A
“I enjoy street circuits and the track layout looks interesting. I saw the race on television last year and thought the cars looked great under the lights. This will be my first ever night race and I'm really looking forward to it. I've been doing a lot of work with my engineers and I've watched some videos to try and learn the track as much as I can before I arrive there. I already know the layout from studying the map, but it's only when you drive a lap and feel the grip that you start to understand the circuit. My aim is to put together a strong weekend to maximise practice, qualifying and the race. I will try and get close to Fernando in qualifying and hopefully race for some points.”
Bob Bell, Renault technical director
“The R29 doesn't have any specific weak points and delivers a similar level of performance with both high and low downforce. Its weakness is that it needs more overall performance in terms of grip through downforce and mechanical set-up. This weekend we will use a similar package to the one we used in Monaco, although we will incorporate the evolutions made since that race. Based on our experience last year, I would say that night racing has not caused too many difficulties for the team and the facilities and lighting in Singapore are excellent. We're effectively working nightshifts in Singapore, but as a team we remain on UK time so it works quite well. The team keeps to the same schedule as at any other race, except that everything is shifted a few hours later in the day.”
Williams planning to race KERS in 2010
The Williams team is planning to use KERS in next year's car, despite the Formula One Teams' Association having agreed to drop the system voluntarily.
FOTA teams announced in June that they would not be using KERS in 2010 as they deemed the technology, used by a minority of squad this year, was too expensive.
The pact, however, could now collapse, with Williams having confirmed it is continuing with the development of its KERS with the intention of using it in next year's car.
"We fully support the use of KERS and always have done," Williams technical director Sam Michael said on Tuesday.
"Given the environmental and sustainability pressures that Formula 1 is going to face in the future, KERS is a positive step for the sport.
"It's in next year's regulations, so we're continuing developing our system with a view to using it on next year's FW32."
Williams, developing a flywheel-based KERS, has not used the system this season.
The Grove team recently rejoined FOTA after it was suspended earlier this year when it broke ranks with the rest of FOTA and entered the 2010 world championship before the FIA's initial deadline.
Only McLaren and Ferrari have been using KERS regularly this year.
FOTA teams announced in June that they would not be using KERS in 2010 as they deemed the technology, used by a minority of squad this year, was too expensive.
The pact, however, could now collapse, with Williams having confirmed it is continuing with the development of its KERS with the intention of using it in next year's car.
"We fully support the use of KERS and always have done," Williams technical director Sam Michael said on Tuesday.
"Given the environmental and sustainability pressures that Formula 1 is going to face in the future, KERS is a positive step for the sport.
"It's in next year's regulations, so we're continuing developing our system with a view to using it on next year's FW32."
Williams, developing a flywheel-based KERS, has not used the system this season.
The Grove team recently rejoined FOTA after it was suspended earlier this year when it broke ranks with the rest of FOTA and entered the 2010 world championship before the FIA's initial deadline.
Only McLaren and Ferrari have been using KERS regularly this year.
Monday, 21 September 2009
FIA agrees to engine re-equalisation
The FIA has agreed to allow a re-equalisation of engines in Formula 1 next year if teams believe it is necessary, but has said moves will only be done so by pegging back the best power units.
Last year, Renault was allowed to re-tune its engine to help bring its performance up to the level of its rivals - with some manufacturers having benefited from minor tweaking during the engine freeze.
Calls for a further parity re-emerged after the Italian Grand Prix, when many teams believed that Mercedes-Benz had opened up a clear advantage at the front of the field.
Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner told AUTOSPORT at Monza: "I think it is something that perhaps needs to be carefully looked at.
"The FIA has all the information they can see where the differences are on, I don't think it is a coincidence that you have three Mercedes-powered teams that dominated six out of the top seven places in qualifying and looked dominant again here in the race today.
"So, the FIA I am sure, they have all that information to hand, but it is always the danger of a freeze that you can freeze in a competitive advantage."
Teams are set to discuss the matter soon and the FIA has made it clear that it will allow changes to be made if there is agreement from the outfits. But parity will not be brought about by bringing the worst power units up to the level of the best.
In a statement issued after the FIA World Motor Sport Council hearing on Monday, the governing body said: "Following suggestions that there is a differential between the performance of engines used in Formula 1, the World Motor Sport Council has decided that should this be the case, and should the teams wish to eliminate this performance differential, they may be allowed to do so by reducing the performance of the more powerful engines. However, no engine upgrades will be allowed."
Should this scenario happen, it could result in Mercedes-Benz being forced to make changes to its engine to bring its performance back down to the level of its rivals - although achieving this will be far from straightforward.
Last year, Renault was allowed to re-tune its engine to help bring its performance up to the level of its rivals - with some manufacturers having benefited from minor tweaking during the engine freeze.
Calls for a further parity re-emerged after the Italian Grand Prix, when many teams believed that Mercedes-Benz had opened up a clear advantage at the front of the field.
Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner told AUTOSPORT at Monza: "I think it is something that perhaps needs to be carefully looked at.
"The FIA has all the information they can see where the differences are on, I don't think it is a coincidence that you have three Mercedes-powered teams that dominated six out of the top seven places in qualifying and looked dominant again here in the race today.
"So, the FIA I am sure, they have all that information to hand, but it is always the danger of a freeze that you can freeze in a competitive advantage."
Teams are set to discuss the matter soon and the FIA has made it clear that it will allow changes to be made if there is agreement from the outfits. But parity will not be brought about by bringing the worst power units up to the level of the best.
In a statement issued after the FIA World Motor Sport Council hearing on Monday, the governing body said: "Following suggestions that there is a differential between the performance of engines used in Formula 1, the World Motor Sport Council has decided that should this be the case, and should the teams wish to eliminate this performance differential, they may be allowed to do so by reducing the performance of the more powerful engines. However, no engine upgrades will be allowed."
Should this scenario happen, it could result in Mercedes-Benz being forced to make changes to its engine to bring its performance back down to the level of its rivals - although achieving this will be far from straightforward.
F1 2010 calendar
The FIA's World Motor Sport Council has announced a 19-race calendar for the 2010 season, confirming the return of Canada.
The governing body also confirmed South Korea will make its debut in Formula 1 next year with an October date.
Next year's championship will begin in Bahrain, as reported earlier this year by AUTOSPORT, with Australia moving to second place on the calendar.
Canada, absent from this year's calendar, will return on a June date subject to the completion of contract talks with FOM.
Brazil will close the season on 14 November.
14/3 Bahrain
28/3 Australia
04/4 Malaysia
18/4 China
09/5 Spain
23/5 Monaco
30/5 Turkey
13/6 Canada*
27/6 Europe (Valencia)
11/7 Great Britain
25/7 Germany
01/8 Hungary
29/8 Belgium
12/9 Italy
26/9 Singapore
03/10 Japan
17/10 Korea
31/10 Abu Dhabi
14/11 Brazil
* Subject to the completion of contract negotiations with Formula One Management. If these are not completed then the Turkish Grand Prix will be moved to 6 June.
Note: The race in Australia will start at 1700 local time, in Malaysia at 1600 local time, in Singapore at 2000 local time, and in Abu Dhabi at 1700 local time.
The governing body also confirmed South Korea will make its debut in Formula 1 next year with an October date.
Next year's championship will begin in Bahrain, as reported earlier this year by AUTOSPORT, with Australia moving to second place on the calendar.
Canada, absent from this year's calendar, will return on a June date subject to the completion of contract talks with FOM.
Brazil will close the season on 14 November.
14/3 Bahrain
28/3 Australia
04/4 Malaysia
18/4 China
09/5 Spain
23/5 Monaco
30/5 Turkey
13/6 Canada*
27/6 Europe (Valencia)
11/7 Great Britain
25/7 Germany
01/8 Hungary
29/8 Belgium
12/9 Italy
26/9 Singapore
03/10 Japan
17/10 Korea
31/10 Abu Dhabi
14/11 Brazil
* Subject to the completion of contract negotiations with Formula One Management. If these are not completed then the Turkish Grand Prix will be moved to 6 June.
Note: The race in Australia will start at 1700 local time, in Malaysia at 1600 local time, in Singapore at 2000 local time, and in Abu Dhabi at 1700 local time.
Renault apologises to F1 for scandal
Renault has issued an unreserved apology to the rest of Formula 1 for its involvement in the Singapore crash scandal, having been handed a suspended ban by the FIA in Paris today.
And while hoping that it could now "focus on the future", the team stopped short of confirming that it would stay in the sport.
The World Motor Sport Council ruled that as Renault had parted company with Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds - the instigators of the plan for Nelson Piquet to deliberate spin into the wall and cause a safety car - and because no one else in the team had been aware of the scheme, the squad itself should not be thrown out of the sport.
Briatore has been banned indefinitely from involvement in motorsport, with Symonds receiving the same punishment for five years, and Renault will both pay the costs of the FIA's investigation, and contribute significant sums to the governing body's safety projects.
Team president Bernard Rey told reporters outside the hearing that Renault was deeply sorry for what had happened.
"We are very sad to find ourselves in front of the World Motor Sport Council today," he said.
"By way of background, as a result of our own enquiries, we informed the FIA last week that we would not defend the charges and we accepted our responsibilities in relation to the incident in Singapore and we immediately took appropriate action inside the team.
"Today, we fully accept the decision of the Council.
"We apologise unreservedly to the F1 community in relation to this unacceptable behaviour."
There has been speculation that the affair could lead to Renault pulling out of F1 even if it was not banned, and Rey declined to confirm that the team would definitely be on the 2010 grid when quizzed in Paris.
"We sincerely hope that we can soon put this matter behind us and focus constructively on the future," he said.
"We will issue further information in the next few days."
And while hoping that it could now "focus on the future", the team stopped short of confirming that it would stay in the sport.
The World Motor Sport Council ruled that as Renault had parted company with Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds - the instigators of the plan for Nelson Piquet to deliberate spin into the wall and cause a safety car - and because no one else in the team had been aware of the scheme, the squad itself should not be thrown out of the sport.
Briatore has been banned indefinitely from involvement in motorsport, with Symonds receiving the same punishment for five years, and Renault will both pay the costs of the FIA's investigation, and contribute significant sums to the governing body's safety projects.
Team president Bernard Rey told reporters outside the hearing that Renault was deeply sorry for what had happened.
"We are very sad to find ourselves in front of the World Motor Sport Council today," he said.
"By way of background, as a result of our own enquiries, we informed the FIA last week that we would not defend the charges and we accepted our responsibilities in relation to the incident in Singapore and we immediately took appropriate action inside the team.
"Today, we fully accept the decision of the Council.
"We apologise unreservedly to the F1 community in relation to this unacceptable behaviour."
There has been speculation that the affair could lead to Renault pulling out of F1 even if it was not banned, and Rey declined to confirm that the team would definitely be on the 2010 grid when quizzed in Paris.
"We sincerely hope that we can soon put this matter behind us and focus constructively on the future," he said.
"We will issue further information in the next few days."
Renault given two-year suspended ban
Renault has been handed a two-year suspended ban for its involvement in fixing the result of last year's Singapore Grand Prix, with Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds receiving bans from motorsport.
Following a meeting of the FIA's World Motor Sport Council in Paris on Monday, the governing body ruled that the team was guilty of an offence of "unparalleled severity" after causing a deliberate crash in last year's Singapore event.
Although the FIA deemed that the offence was worthy of exclusion from the F1 world championship, it was decided to suspend the ban for two season because Renault admitted to its guilt - and took action against the men involved in the actions – former team principal Briatore and director of engineering Pat Symonds.
A statement from the FIA said that Renault "had accepted, at the earliest practicable opportunity, that it committed the offences with which it was charged and cooperated fully with the FIA's investigation. It had confirmed that Mr. Briatore and Mr. Symonds were involved in the conspiracy and ensured that they left the team; It apologised unreservedly to the FIA and to the sport for the harm caused by its actions;
"It committed to paying the costs incurred by the FIA in its investigation; and Renault (the parent company, as opposed to Renault F1) committed to making a significant contribution to FIA safety-related projects."
Explaining the decision to impose a two-year suspended ban, the FIA said: "The World Motor Sport Council considers Renault F1's breaches relating to the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix to be of unparalleled severity.
"Renault F1's breaches not only compromised the integrity of the sport but also endangered the lives of spectators, officials, other competitors and Nelson Piquet Jr. himself. The World Motor Sport Council considers that offences of this severity merit permanent disqualification from the FIA Formula One World Championship.
"However, having regard to the points in mitigation mentioned above and in particular the steps taken by Renault F1 to identify and address the failings within its team and condemn the actions of the individuals involved, the WMSC has decided to suspend Renault F1's disqualification until the end of the 2011 season. The World Motor Sport Council will only activate this disqualification if Renault F1 is found guilty of a comparable breach during that time."
The FIA has also taken tough action against Briatore and Symonds. It has been decided that for an 'unlimited period' the FIA will not sanction any event, championship, cup, trophy, challenge or series involving Briatore in any capacity – or grant any licence to a team or entity that is engaged with Briatore.
The statement added: "It also hereby instructs all officials present at FIA-sanctioned events not to permit Mr. Briatore access to any areas under the FIA's jurisdiction."
Briatore will also not be allowed to manage any drivers in F1, with the FIA stating that it will not renew any Superlicence granted to a driver who is associated with Briatore. At the moment Briatore manages Fernando Alonso, Mark Webber, Heikki Kovalainen, Romain Grosjean in F1.
"In determining that such instructions should be applicable for an unlimited period, the World Motor Sport Council has had regard not only to the severity of the breach in which Mr. Briatore was complicit but also to his actions in continuing to deny his participation in the breach despite all the evidence."
Symonds faces a similar ban for a period of five years – and will not be allowed at FIA-sanctioned events.
The statement added: "In determining that such instructions should be effective for a period of five years the World Motor Sport Council has had regard: (i) to Mr. Symonds' acceptance that he took part in the conspiracy; and (ii) to his communication to the meeting of the World Motor Sport Council that it was to his "eternal regret and shame" that he participated in the conspiracy."
Piquet himself apologised to the FIA for his involvement in the matter, and receives no punishment after being offered immunity in exchange for providing details about the matter.
The FIA also ruled that Alonso, who testified at the hearing, was not involved in the Renault race-fix matter.
Following a meeting of the FIA's World Motor Sport Council in Paris on Monday, the governing body ruled that the team was guilty of an offence of "unparalleled severity" after causing a deliberate crash in last year's Singapore event.
Although the FIA deemed that the offence was worthy of exclusion from the F1 world championship, it was decided to suspend the ban for two season because Renault admitted to its guilt - and took action against the men involved in the actions – former team principal Briatore and director of engineering Pat Symonds.
A statement from the FIA said that Renault "had accepted, at the earliest practicable opportunity, that it committed the offences with which it was charged and cooperated fully with the FIA's investigation. It had confirmed that Mr. Briatore and Mr. Symonds were involved in the conspiracy and ensured that they left the team; It apologised unreservedly to the FIA and to the sport for the harm caused by its actions;
"It committed to paying the costs incurred by the FIA in its investigation; and Renault (the parent company, as opposed to Renault F1) committed to making a significant contribution to FIA safety-related projects."
Explaining the decision to impose a two-year suspended ban, the FIA said: "The World Motor Sport Council considers Renault F1's breaches relating to the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix to be of unparalleled severity.
"Renault F1's breaches not only compromised the integrity of the sport but also endangered the lives of spectators, officials, other competitors and Nelson Piquet Jr. himself. The World Motor Sport Council considers that offences of this severity merit permanent disqualification from the FIA Formula One World Championship.
"However, having regard to the points in mitigation mentioned above and in particular the steps taken by Renault F1 to identify and address the failings within its team and condemn the actions of the individuals involved, the WMSC has decided to suspend Renault F1's disqualification until the end of the 2011 season. The World Motor Sport Council will only activate this disqualification if Renault F1 is found guilty of a comparable breach during that time."
The FIA has also taken tough action against Briatore and Symonds. It has been decided that for an 'unlimited period' the FIA will not sanction any event, championship, cup, trophy, challenge or series involving Briatore in any capacity – or grant any licence to a team or entity that is engaged with Briatore.
The statement added: "It also hereby instructs all officials present at FIA-sanctioned events not to permit Mr. Briatore access to any areas under the FIA's jurisdiction."
Briatore will also not be allowed to manage any drivers in F1, with the FIA stating that it will not renew any Superlicence granted to a driver who is associated with Briatore. At the moment Briatore manages Fernando Alonso, Mark Webber, Heikki Kovalainen, Romain Grosjean in F1.
"In determining that such instructions should be applicable for an unlimited period, the World Motor Sport Council has had regard not only to the severity of the breach in which Mr. Briatore was complicit but also to his actions in continuing to deny his participation in the breach despite all the evidence."
Symonds faces a similar ban for a period of five years – and will not be allowed at FIA-sanctioned events.
The statement added: "In determining that such instructions should be effective for a period of five years the World Motor Sport Council has had regard: (i) to Mr. Symonds' acceptance that he took part in the conspiracy; and (ii) to his communication to the meeting of the World Motor Sport Council that it was to his "eternal regret and shame" that he participated in the conspiracy."
Piquet himself apologised to the FIA for his involvement in the matter, and receives no punishment after being offered immunity in exchange for providing details about the matter.
The FIA also ruled that Alonso, who testified at the hearing, was not involved in the Renault race-fix matter.
McLaren preview of Singapore
Lewis Hamilton
“Last year’s inaugural Singapore Grand Prix was a real example of how to host a new Formula 1 race – fantastic facilities, slick organisation and a unique and interesting track that was not only fun and demanding but also really forced you to push to the limit and take a few risks to get the best from the car. I remember my race in Singapore last year was all about damage limitation – I was driving with one eye on the world championship and wasn’t going to take too many risks. I was happy to finish on the podium. This year, it’s very different – I know I’m out of the title hunt and I want to attack these last four races, pushing for as many victories as I can.”
Heikki Kovalainen
“We really seem to have discovered the sweet-spot of this year’s car. I’ve had points finished in every race since the Nurburgring, and we’ve got some interesting new upgrades in the system that are planned for the Singapore race. Of course, racing at night is what really makes this event unique, but the lighting system is so fantastic that you tend to forget that you are even racing in the dark! Singapore is the sort of circuit that should suit our package – there are lots of slower corners and we’ll be able to use KERS to our advantage. Overall, the city is also a fantastic backdrop to what has already become one of the best circuits on the Formula 1 calendar.”
Martin Whitmarsh Team principal, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes
“Our pace in recent grands prix increasingly shows that we have developed MP4-24 into a pretty decent all-round competitor and we remain confident for the Singapore Grand Prix. For this race, we are introducing our last major upgrade package of the season before fully devoting our efforts and resources towards next year’s car. Last year’s event was a fantastic success and a testimony to what can be achieved in Formula 1 when you have vision, dedication and foresight. Everybody at Vodafone McLaren Mercedes is looking forward to these final four flyaway races, the climax to a thrilling, eventful and unexpected title battle and our own steadily improving fortunes. Singapore is a fantastic advertisement for Formula 1 – one that vividly reminds you what a fantastic sport we operate in. Let’s hope for some good, close racing.”
Norbert Haug, Vice-president, Mercedes-Benz Motorsport
“Formula 1 will present some challenging weeks. After the end of the European season, four grands prix within six weeks will take place in Singapore, Suzuka, Sao Paulo and Abu Dhabi. As with last year’s inaugural race, Singapore will again be held at night. This street circuit has a total of 23 corners and six of them are slower than 100km/h. Our target is to continue our trend shown over the last five races.”
“Last year’s inaugural Singapore Grand Prix was a real example of how to host a new Formula 1 race – fantastic facilities, slick organisation and a unique and interesting track that was not only fun and demanding but also really forced you to push to the limit and take a few risks to get the best from the car. I remember my race in Singapore last year was all about damage limitation – I was driving with one eye on the world championship and wasn’t going to take too many risks. I was happy to finish on the podium. This year, it’s very different – I know I’m out of the title hunt and I want to attack these last four races, pushing for as many victories as I can.”
Heikki Kovalainen
“We really seem to have discovered the sweet-spot of this year’s car. I’ve had points finished in every race since the Nurburgring, and we’ve got some interesting new upgrades in the system that are planned for the Singapore race. Of course, racing at night is what really makes this event unique, but the lighting system is so fantastic that you tend to forget that you are even racing in the dark! Singapore is the sort of circuit that should suit our package – there are lots of slower corners and we’ll be able to use KERS to our advantage. Overall, the city is also a fantastic backdrop to what has already become one of the best circuits on the Formula 1 calendar.”
Martin Whitmarsh Team principal, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes
“Our pace in recent grands prix increasingly shows that we have developed MP4-24 into a pretty decent all-round competitor and we remain confident for the Singapore Grand Prix. For this race, we are introducing our last major upgrade package of the season before fully devoting our efforts and resources towards next year’s car. Last year’s event was a fantastic success and a testimony to what can be achieved in Formula 1 when you have vision, dedication and foresight. Everybody at Vodafone McLaren Mercedes is looking forward to these final four flyaway races, the climax to a thrilling, eventful and unexpected title battle and our own steadily improving fortunes. Singapore is a fantastic advertisement for Formula 1 – one that vividly reminds you what a fantastic sport we operate in. Let’s hope for some good, close racing.”
Norbert Haug, Vice-president, Mercedes-Benz Motorsport
“Formula 1 will present some challenging weeks. After the end of the European season, four grands prix within six weeks will take place in Singapore, Suzuka, Sao Paulo and Abu Dhabi. As with last year’s inaugural race, Singapore will again be held at night. This street circuit has a total of 23 corners and six of them are slower than 100km/h. Our target is to continue our trend shown over the last five races.”
Singapore Grand Prix - Toyota Preview
Panasonic Toyota Racing travels to south-east Asia and Formula 1's only night race, the Singapore Grand Prix on the Marina Bay Street Circuit. Sessions in Singapore take place at night, with qualifying beginning at 10pm and the race at 8pm local time so over a thousand lighting projectors are used to ensure full visibility. The team got its first experience of a Grand Prix under lights last year, when Timo Glock finished fourth after Jarno Trulli's podium challenge ended with hydraulics trouble. This weekend Jarno and Timo will have an upgraded TF109 at their disposal following the introduction of the team's final new package of the season, which features updates to the front wing and the rear end, including the rear wing. The drivers will put these improvements, as well as the soft and super soft Bridgestone Potenza tyres, to the test when practice begins on Friday. After missing out on the top eight in the Italian Grand Prix, the team is determined to start the final flyaway leg of the season with a return to the points under lights in Singapore this weekend.
Jarno Trulli - Car 9
"Singapore is a unique race for us as the only night race and it is quite an interesting experience. I hope we can be competitive there, especially as we have some improvements to the car. The team has pushed hard all season to introduce new parts and it's great to have upgrades even as the season is coming to a close. It's not possible to predict exactly how we will perform until we have driven the track again but I am optimistic we can be competitive again in Singapore. I was really unlucky last year when a technical problem prevented me finishing on the podium. It was a really tough race on a heavy fuel load, especially in hot conditions and over the bumps, so it was frustrating not to get a result. This year I am determined to make up for that. To be honest I would rather race in daylight because the light levels change around the track but a night race is good for the spectators and there was a nice atmosphere last year so I am looking forward to this weekend."
Timo Glock - Car 10
"I really enjoy racing at night because it is a great show for the fans and last year was just an unbelievable event. You need to get used to driving under lights but for me the visibility was fine, it's just a very strange thing is to be arriving at the track early in the afternoon and leaving again at 4am. I like the Singapore track; it is good fun to be driving past some famous buildings at night and the chicane at turn 10 is a nice challenge because you cannot afford to make any mistake. It's a typical street circuit and last year it was pretty bumpy which made it tough for the drivers, but they have worked on that. I had a great race there a year ago so I hope we can repeat that kind of result. It's hard to know what to expect considering we have some improvements on the car this weekend but I hope we will make a step forward. We are still pushing as hard as ever so I can't wait to get back on track."
Pascal Vasselon - Senior General Manager Chassis
"Singapore last year was a complete success and I was very impressed. The place is fantastic and the new experience of a night race was a great one for everyone involved. It was an unforgettable event. The circuit itself is high downforce and the drivers play a key part because you have a lot of corners, 23, and it is extremely important for a driver to find the right rhythm without touching the barriers. Another factor to consider with Singapore is that it is extremely hard on brakes so we have to be careful in that sense. But the main characteristic we discovered last year was that the track was incredibly bumpy, which made it a priority to set-up the suspension to deal with the bumps. There has been some resurfacing so we will see if that reduces the problem. We will bring some upgrades to our car for this race and in fact Singapore will be the last package of improvements to the TF109. These will be validated on Friday and we expect them to help us make a step forward."
Jarno Trulli - Car 9
"Singapore is a unique race for us as the only night race and it is quite an interesting experience. I hope we can be competitive there, especially as we have some improvements to the car. The team has pushed hard all season to introduce new parts and it's great to have upgrades even as the season is coming to a close. It's not possible to predict exactly how we will perform until we have driven the track again but I am optimistic we can be competitive again in Singapore. I was really unlucky last year when a technical problem prevented me finishing on the podium. It was a really tough race on a heavy fuel load, especially in hot conditions and over the bumps, so it was frustrating not to get a result. This year I am determined to make up for that. To be honest I would rather race in daylight because the light levels change around the track but a night race is good for the spectators and there was a nice atmosphere last year so I am looking forward to this weekend."
Timo Glock - Car 10
"I really enjoy racing at night because it is a great show for the fans and last year was just an unbelievable event. You need to get used to driving under lights but for me the visibility was fine, it's just a very strange thing is to be arriving at the track early in the afternoon and leaving again at 4am. I like the Singapore track; it is good fun to be driving past some famous buildings at night and the chicane at turn 10 is a nice challenge because you cannot afford to make any mistake. It's a typical street circuit and last year it was pretty bumpy which made it tough for the drivers, but they have worked on that. I had a great race there a year ago so I hope we can repeat that kind of result. It's hard to know what to expect considering we have some improvements on the car this weekend but I hope we will make a step forward. We are still pushing as hard as ever so I can't wait to get back on track."
Pascal Vasselon - Senior General Manager Chassis
"Singapore last year was a complete success and I was very impressed. The place is fantastic and the new experience of a night race was a great one for everyone involved. It was an unforgettable event. The circuit itself is high downforce and the drivers play a key part because you have a lot of corners, 23, and it is extremely important for a driver to find the right rhythm without touching the barriers. Another factor to consider with Singapore is that it is extremely hard on brakes so we have to be careful in that sense. But the main characteristic we discovered last year was that the track was incredibly bumpy, which made it a priority to set-up the suspension to deal with the bumps. There has been some resurfacing so we will see if that reduces the problem. We will bring some upgrades to our car for this race and in fact Singapore will be the last package of improvements to the TF109. These will be validated on Friday and we expect them to help us make a step forward."
A Force India lap of Singapore
Corner one is actually a complex together with two and three so it’s very important to get it right. Don’t go too far onto the kerbs on the exit as you get some understeer and can’t go back on the power. The complex carries into turn three so you need to be nice and controlled through the corner and have a good line. It’s a classic normal bend but it’s easy to lock up there with quite high kerbs on the inside. Then into turn five, where there is a lot of space for entry but then it goes a little bit tight and it’s difficult to see the apex.
Then we go into a tunnel section, which is quite nice, but there were lots of bumps last year. Braking for turn seven is one of the highest braking areas, down to second gear. It’s one of the few parts you can try and overtake before going left and right into turn eight and one of the slowest corners of the circuit.
Then there’s another complex out of eight where you accelerate then head straight to the right for a left hand corner, getting a good exit from nine onto the next straight, which finishes with a tricky chicane. The kerbs were very high there last year so it was easy to take too much and launch the car and have no control. We saw a few accidents there as it was very easy to make mistakes and go off in the end.
Turn 12 is just acceleration out over the bridge and last year there weren’t any bumps. Turn 13 is a very slow corner where you have to brake while turning. It’s important not to brake too late and concentrate on the exit for good straight line speed into turn 14. You are braking from sixth gear into this turn, so going at a reasonable speed, and it can be tricky on the exit as the traction is a little bit worse and it can start to oversteer quite a lot.
Then we go into a flat left-hander in turn 15 where you have to brake for turn 16, a fast chicane. As chicanes go, it’s quite nice as you take the kerbs a little bit to have a really good exit into turn 17. Turns 18 through to 21 are very similar, all looking the same with the same rhythm.
The last corner is one of the only high speed sections, fourth or maybe fifth gear with a very early apex that takes you all the way to the start-finish straight. The only difficulty is not to be too early on the power as you can run too far over the kerbs on the outside and then it carries you out on the green and you lose time again.
Then we go into a tunnel section, which is quite nice, but there were lots of bumps last year. Braking for turn seven is one of the highest braking areas, down to second gear. It’s one of the few parts you can try and overtake before going left and right into turn eight and one of the slowest corners of the circuit.
Then there’s another complex out of eight where you accelerate then head straight to the right for a left hand corner, getting a good exit from nine onto the next straight, which finishes with a tricky chicane. The kerbs were very high there last year so it was easy to take too much and launch the car and have no control. We saw a few accidents there as it was very easy to make mistakes and go off in the end.
Turn 12 is just acceleration out over the bridge and last year there weren’t any bumps. Turn 13 is a very slow corner where you have to brake while turning. It’s important not to brake too late and concentrate on the exit for good straight line speed into turn 14. You are braking from sixth gear into this turn, so going at a reasonable speed, and it can be tricky on the exit as the traction is a little bit worse and it can start to oversteer quite a lot.
Then we go into a flat left-hander in turn 15 where you have to brake for turn 16, a fast chicane. As chicanes go, it’s quite nice as you take the kerbs a little bit to have a really good exit into turn 17. Turns 18 through to 21 are very similar, all looking the same with the same rhythm.
The last corner is one of the only high speed sections, fourth or maybe fifth gear with a very early apex that takes you all the way to the start-finish straight. The only difficulty is not to be too early on the power as you can run too far over the kerbs on the outside and then it carries you out on the green and you lose time again.
Ferrari at the Singapore GP
Singapore circuit
Before the event, purists and cynics in the sport of Formula 1 had their doubts about the Singapore Grand Prix, which would celebrate the eight hundredth Formula 1 race to count towards the World Championship by being run at night under floodlights.
In the end, the 2008 inaugural race was a huge success, rewarded with the prize for the best run grand prix of the year. Singapore had staged races on a street circuit back in the Sixties and even held an event called the Malaysian Grand Prix, but nothing on the scale of this new venture with the track running around the Marina Bay area. Visually, the spectacle was stunning and the lighting, backed up with several fail-safe systems, drew praise from the drivers, who said it was so good, they forgot it was night time and that it was even better than racing in natural sunlight.
The track layout was relatively fast and interesting for a street circuit, although there were some teething troubles, which will be addressed prior to this year's race: modifications to the first three corners to improve overtaking chances and changes to Turn 10, where the kerbs caused considerable damage. If there were concerns about racing under artificial light, prior to the event there was also a question mark over how drivers and team personnel would cope with the double difficulty of adapting to the jet-lag and dealing with a working day that would run from early afternoon to the early hours of the morning. In the end, these fears were unfounded, with the majority of people adapting by sticking to European time, by going to bed around four in the morning and getting up at midday.
Hotels had even allocated 'quiet' floors, with staff under instruction not to disturb guests to make up rooms and so forth. When the cars ran on track, the colours and liveries looked much brighter than usual, reminiscent of computer racing games and the backdrop, including a Big Wheel – the largest in Asia - and the road traffic high in the sky on Singapore’s flyover system, made for a visual feast.
While the race itself was exciting, it was not a good one for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, who left Singapore without any points. The arrival of the Safety Car after Nelson Piquet had a big crash turned the event into a lottery, favouring those who had refuelled just prior to the incident and then the men from Maranello made a mistake when both its drivers came in together for a double-stop. Felipe was first in, but was released from the stop while the fuel line was still attached the car. He stopped at the end of pit lane while mechanics rushed to remove it. Meanwhile, Kimi had to wait for this incident to be dealt with before he was refuelled. On top of that, the Brazilian was given a drive-through penalty for a 'dangerous release,' and Kimi crashed out in the closing stages. A race to forget.
Before the event, purists and cynics in the sport of Formula 1 had their doubts about the Singapore Grand Prix, which would celebrate the eight hundredth Formula 1 race to count towards the World Championship by being run at night under floodlights.
In the end, the 2008 inaugural race was a huge success, rewarded with the prize for the best run grand prix of the year. Singapore had staged races on a street circuit back in the Sixties and even held an event called the Malaysian Grand Prix, but nothing on the scale of this new venture with the track running around the Marina Bay area. Visually, the spectacle was stunning and the lighting, backed up with several fail-safe systems, drew praise from the drivers, who said it was so good, they forgot it was night time and that it was even better than racing in natural sunlight.
The track layout was relatively fast and interesting for a street circuit, although there were some teething troubles, which will be addressed prior to this year's race: modifications to the first three corners to improve overtaking chances and changes to Turn 10, where the kerbs caused considerable damage. If there were concerns about racing under artificial light, prior to the event there was also a question mark over how drivers and team personnel would cope with the double difficulty of adapting to the jet-lag and dealing with a working day that would run from early afternoon to the early hours of the morning. In the end, these fears were unfounded, with the majority of people adapting by sticking to European time, by going to bed around four in the morning and getting up at midday.
Hotels had even allocated 'quiet' floors, with staff under instruction not to disturb guests to make up rooms and so forth. When the cars ran on track, the colours and liveries looked much brighter than usual, reminiscent of computer racing games and the backdrop, including a Big Wheel – the largest in Asia - and the road traffic high in the sky on Singapore’s flyover system, made for a visual feast.
While the race itself was exciting, it was not a good one for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, who left Singapore without any points. The arrival of the Safety Car after Nelson Piquet had a big crash turned the event into a lottery, favouring those who had refuelled just prior to the incident and then the men from Maranello made a mistake when both its drivers came in together for a double-stop. Felipe was first in, but was released from the stop while the fuel line was still attached the car. He stopped at the end of pit lane while mechanics rushed to remove it. Meanwhile, Kimi had to wait for this incident to be dealt with before he was refuelled. On top of that, the Brazilian was given a drive-through penalty for a 'dangerous release,' and Kimi crashed out in the closing stages. A race to forget.
Alonso attends Paris hearing
Former world champion Fernando Alonso has turned up for the FIA's World Motor Sport Council hearing into race-fixing allegations that helped him win last year's Singapore Grand Prix.
The Spaniard benefited from Renault team-mate Nelson Piquet crashing out early in the race, to take his and Renault's first victory of the season.
Although early FIA investigations have not unearthed any suggestion that Alonso was aware of the alleged plot to fix the race, the Spaniard was summoned by the governing body to attend the hearing to shed more light on the affair.
Piquet has also arrived for the hearing at the FIA's Place de la Concorde headquarters in Paris.
Also present are Renault F1 president Bernard Rey, and the company's head of public relations Jean-Francois Caubet.
Renault has stated that it will not contest the charges at the hearing, with it likely that the car maker's approach to the case will help it avoid expulsion from the world championship.
However, it may still face disqualification from last year's points standings as well as a hefty fine.
Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone told the gathered media that the FIA should acted in a balanced way.
"I think we need to show balance," said Ecclestone. "What they did was very serious. There can be no excuse, but they have acted quickly to get rid of the culprits, and that must be borne in mind."
The Spaniard benefited from Renault team-mate Nelson Piquet crashing out early in the race, to take his and Renault's first victory of the season.
Although early FIA investigations have not unearthed any suggestion that Alonso was aware of the alleged plot to fix the race, the Spaniard was summoned by the governing body to attend the hearing to shed more light on the affair.
Piquet has also arrived for the hearing at the FIA's Place de la Concorde headquarters in Paris.
Also present are Renault F1 president Bernard Rey, and the company's head of public relations Jean-Francois Caubet.
Renault has stated that it will not contest the charges at the hearing, with it likely that the car maker's approach to the case will help it avoid expulsion from the world championship.
However, it may still face disqualification from last year's points standings as well as a hefty fine.
Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone told the gathered media that the FIA should acted in a balanced way.
"I think we need to show balance," said Ecclestone. "What they did was very serious. There can be no excuse, but they have acted quickly to get rid of the culprits, and that must be borne in mind."
BMW pushed to the brink of engine limit
Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld will have access to just one fresh penalty-free engine apiece over the season’s final four rounds after BMW confirmed that neither of the units that failed in qualifying at Monza can be used again.
The Hinwil-based squad suffered near simultaneous engine failures on its two cars during Q2 at the last race and investigations since last Saturday have traced the problems to a quality issue with the valve gear.
Both drivers have now been pushed precariously close to the eight engine limit, BMW confirming on Friday that both have just one fresh engine and several used ones for Singapore onwards.
Team principal Mario Theissen admits 10-place grid penalties for the use of a ninth new engine have become an even greater possibility.
“The cause of our engine problems in qualifying at Monza was a quality issue with the valve gear, and this means we can’t use either of the engines again,” he said.
“Both drivers ran their engines from Spa in Sunday’s race at Monza, which leaves them with one more new engine each and several used ones for the remainder of the season.
“The key question will now be whether these will be enough.
“If not, we will be forced to use a ninth engine and take a 10-place grid penalty as a result.”
Most teams are nearing the end of the new-for-2009 eight engine limit for each car as the season enters its final flyaway stretch.
Red Bull has been trying to avoid a 10-place engine penalty for championship hopeful Sebastian Vettel by limiting his practice mileage at Spa and Monza after the German suffered two engine failures in Valencia.
No driver has yet used a ninth engine so far in 2009
The Hinwil-based squad suffered near simultaneous engine failures on its two cars during Q2 at the last race and investigations since last Saturday have traced the problems to a quality issue with the valve gear.
Both drivers have now been pushed precariously close to the eight engine limit, BMW confirming on Friday that both have just one fresh engine and several used ones for Singapore onwards.
Team principal Mario Theissen admits 10-place grid penalties for the use of a ninth new engine have become an even greater possibility.
“The cause of our engine problems in qualifying at Monza was a quality issue with the valve gear, and this means we can’t use either of the engines again,” he said.
“Both drivers ran their engines from Spa in Sunday’s race at Monza, which leaves them with one more new engine each and several used ones for the remainder of the season.
“The key question will now be whether these will be enough.
“If not, we will be forced to use a ninth engine and take a 10-place grid penalty as a result.”
Most teams are nearing the end of the new-for-2009 eight engine limit for each car as the season enters its final flyaway stretch.
Red Bull has been trying to avoid a 10-place engine penalty for championship hopeful Sebastian Vettel by limiting his practice mileage at Spa and Monza after the German suffered two engine failures in Valencia.
No driver has yet used a ninth engine so far in 2009
Head: Third cars should be for rookies
Williams director of engineering Patrick Head says his team would support Ferrari's push for three-car teams in Formula 1 - but only if the additional entry was reserved for rookie drivers.
Ferrari has been strongly advocating a move to optional three-car team line-ups in recent weeks, suggesting that it could allow the likes of Michael Schumacher to make occasional appearances to boost public interest in the sport.
The Italian squad currently has an abundance of drivers for 2010, with Schumacher, Giancarlo Fisichella, Marc Gene and Luca Badoer in reserve, Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa both under contract - despite question marks over the former's future and the latter's fitness - and Fernando Alonso still strongly linked to a move from the troubled Renault team.
Head suggested that Ferrari's potential driver dilemma was probably the motivation for its three-car team pleas.
"I know Ferrari are very keen on it, they find themselves with rather a lot of drivers at the moment, so they're pushing for it," said Head.
"We wouldn't be against it as long as the third car had somebody who could be genuinely called a young driver, because Formula 1 needs to bring in new people.
"The point has been raised by Ferrari, and we went back to Ferrari to say that we wouldn't necessarily be against it, but it would need drivers who hadn't been in Formula 1 before.
"If somebody was running Alonso, Kimi Raikkonen and Michael Schumacher - for instance - I'm not sure that would be ideal."
Third cars have previously been permitted in the regulations only if the entry fell to 16 cars or less, but with potentially 14 teams in Formula 1 next year, shrinking grids are unlikely to be a factor.
Head said he would expect midfield teams to be against the top squads running three drivers.
"The difficulty is, for teams who feel that they might be further down the grid, let's say the McLaren, Ferrari, Red Bull and Brawn are the fastest cars, if they suddenly bring in a third car and that car can score points, it shunts all the others further down and makes it less likely that they can score points," he said.
"We would aim not to be in a position where we'd be worried about being pushed back by other people, but we could be if we put up performances like we did in Italy."
But he added that there was no strong financial argument against third cars.
"We've looked at it before, and by the time you've done all your R&D, with no in-season testing, the added cost of entering a third car is not huge," said Head.
"If we had to run a third car, we would do it."
He believes three car teams would allow young drivers to get the experience they are currently denied by the testing ban, and would mean reserves were better prepared if they had to deputise for full-time race drivers.
Although the teams are still permitted a young driver testing session, this is in the winter rather than during the championship.
"If your driver falls off his mountain bike in August, then having run some young lad in December is not going to be terribly helpful," Head said.
Third cars could be a bonus for test drivers like Nico Hulkenberg
Ferrari has been strongly advocating a move to optional three-car team line-ups in recent weeks, suggesting that it could allow the likes of Michael Schumacher to make occasional appearances to boost public interest in the sport.
The Italian squad currently has an abundance of drivers for 2010, with Schumacher, Giancarlo Fisichella, Marc Gene and Luca Badoer in reserve, Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa both under contract - despite question marks over the former's future and the latter's fitness - and Fernando Alonso still strongly linked to a move from the troubled Renault team.
Head suggested that Ferrari's potential driver dilemma was probably the motivation for its three-car team pleas.
"I know Ferrari are very keen on it, they find themselves with rather a lot of drivers at the moment, so they're pushing for it," said Head.
"We wouldn't be against it as long as the third car had somebody who could be genuinely called a young driver, because Formula 1 needs to bring in new people.
"The point has been raised by Ferrari, and we went back to Ferrari to say that we wouldn't necessarily be against it, but it would need drivers who hadn't been in Formula 1 before.
"If somebody was running Alonso, Kimi Raikkonen and Michael Schumacher - for instance - I'm not sure that would be ideal."
Third cars have previously been permitted in the regulations only if the entry fell to 16 cars or less, but with potentially 14 teams in Formula 1 next year, shrinking grids are unlikely to be a factor.
Head said he would expect midfield teams to be against the top squads running three drivers.
"The difficulty is, for teams who feel that they might be further down the grid, let's say the McLaren, Ferrari, Red Bull and Brawn are the fastest cars, if they suddenly bring in a third car and that car can score points, it shunts all the others further down and makes it less likely that they can score points," he said.
"We would aim not to be in a position where we'd be worried about being pushed back by other people, but we could be if we put up performances like we did in Italy."
But he added that there was no strong financial argument against third cars.
"We've looked at it before, and by the time you've done all your R&D, with no in-season testing, the added cost of entering a third car is not huge," said Head.
"If we had to run a third car, we would do it."
He believes three car teams would allow young drivers to get the experience they are currently denied by the testing ban, and would mean reserves were better prepared if they had to deputise for full-time race drivers.
Although the teams are still permitted a young driver testing session, this is in the winter rather than during the championship.
"If your driver falls off his mountain bike in August, then having run some young lad in December is not going to be terribly helpful," Head said.
Third cars could be a bonus for test drivers like Nico Hulkenberg
Wednesday, 16 September 2009
F1 Singapore crash case, Renault parts from Briatore and Symonds
Briatore and Symonds leave Renault
Renault has announced that team boss Flavio Briatore and engineering chief Pat Symonds have parted company with the team and that it will "not dispute" the allegations of race-fixing when it appears before the World Motor Sport Council next week.
The team had been accused of asking driver Nelson Piquet to crash deliberately during last year's Singapore Grand Prix in order to cause a safety car period that would work to his team-mate Fernando Alonso's advantage. The Spaniard went on to win the race.
"The ING Renault F1 Team will not dispute the recent allegations made by the FIA concerning the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix," said a statement from the team.
"It also wishes to state that its managing director, Flavio Briatore and its executive director of engineering, Pat Symonds, have left the team.
"Before attending the hearing before the FIA World Motor Sport Council in Paris on 21 September 2009, the team will not make any further comment."
Shortly before losing his drive with Renault, Piquet approached the FIA with the allegation that Briatore and Symonds had asked him to cause a deliberate accident that would bring out the safety car in Singapore, and that his heavy crash on lap 14 of the race had therefore been pre-planned.
Alonso - who had been a contender for pole until a qualifying fuel pump failure left him only 15th on the grid - had made a very early pitstop just before the caution caused by Piquet's crash and duly vaulted to the front of the field, from where he delivered Renault's first victory of a difficult season.
FIA investigators quizzed Briatore, Symonds and other team members over the incident during the Belgian GP weekend, and subsequently announced that the team would face a World Motor Sport Council hearing in Paris on 21 September.
Evidence, including Piquet's statement, telemetry details and radio transmissions, was leaked to the media during last weekend's Monza event, which also saw Renault announce that it would take legal action against Piquet and his triple world champion father Nelson, accusing both of blackmail.
The saga then took another twist when it emerged that the FIA had offered Symonds immunity at the hearing in exchange for full disclosure of the facts surrounding the Singapore incident.
As the Renault team - rather than Briatore and Symonds themselves - has been charged over the allegations, today's announcement by the team is unlikely to have any bearing on next week's hearing.
Renault has announced that team boss Flavio Briatore and engineering chief Pat Symonds have parted company with the team and that it will "not dispute" the allegations of race-fixing when it appears before the World Motor Sport Council next week.
The team had been accused of asking driver Nelson Piquet to crash deliberately during last year's Singapore Grand Prix in order to cause a safety car period that would work to his team-mate Fernando Alonso's advantage. The Spaniard went on to win the race.
"The ING Renault F1 Team will not dispute the recent allegations made by the FIA concerning the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix," said a statement from the team.
"It also wishes to state that its managing director, Flavio Briatore and its executive director of engineering, Pat Symonds, have left the team.
"Before attending the hearing before the FIA World Motor Sport Council in Paris on 21 September 2009, the team will not make any further comment."
Shortly before losing his drive with Renault, Piquet approached the FIA with the allegation that Briatore and Symonds had asked him to cause a deliberate accident that would bring out the safety car in Singapore, and that his heavy crash on lap 14 of the race had therefore been pre-planned.
Alonso - who had been a contender for pole until a qualifying fuel pump failure left him only 15th on the grid - had made a very early pitstop just before the caution caused by Piquet's crash and duly vaulted to the front of the field, from where he delivered Renault's first victory of a difficult season.
FIA investigators quizzed Briatore, Symonds and other team members over the incident during the Belgian GP weekend, and subsequently announced that the team would face a World Motor Sport Council hearing in Paris on 21 September.
Evidence, including Piquet's statement, telemetry details and radio transmissions, was leaked to the media during last weekend's Monza event, which also saw Renault announce that it would take legal action against Piquet and his triple world champion father Nelson, accusing both of blackmail.
The saga then took another twist when it emerged that the FIA had offered Symonds immunity at the hearing in exchange for full disclosure of the facts surrounding the Singapore incident.
As the Renault team - rather than Briatore and Symonds themselves - has been charged over the allegations, today's announcement by the team is unlikely to have any bearing on next week's hearing.
Ferrari: F1 must halt attendance slide
Luca di Montezemolo believes FOTA's planned seminar at the end of this season must result in changes that make Formula 1 more appealing to spectators.
The Ferrari president and Formula 1 Teams' Association chairman believes the reduced attendances this season highlights the need for more work to be done.
"The reduction of spectators, at Monza [which was reported to have 16 per cent fewer spectators this year than in 2008] too, indicates a need to change - no more boring grands prix and polemics," di Montezemolo said at the Frankfurt Motorshow.
"At the end of the year we'll have a work day with the media, organisers and sponsors in order to make this extraordinary sport more interesting."
He also reiterated his desire for the bigger teams in F1 to be allowed to run three cars.
"The Schumacher effect over ticket sales, when it seemed like he could make a comeback, shows how much top drivers and teams attract," he said. "The future of F1 won't be about small teams who don't raise enthusiasm.
"We need the possibility for top teams to field a third car for famous or young drivers."
Di Montezemolo also called for a rethink of the current testing regulations.
"We must also think of testing. We are the only sport that doesn't train. I see many possible adjustments, with no polemics. I hope everyone agrees with the position of Ferrari, which has been in grand prix racing for ever."
He also says Ferrari is now working towards 2010, despite the team's recent upturn in performance.
"I regret the start of the season – there are many things I could say but I won't. In the second half of the season we are among the teams who scored the most points, and we are third in the constructors despite having just one car in the points for the last four races," he said.
"We'll try to finish welll, even though our limits are clear – we are working towards 2010.
"I am happy to see [Felipe] Massa psychologically ready to drive – I've already bet with him that he'll be quicker."
The Ferrari president and Formula 1 Teams' Association chairman believes the reduced attendances this season highlights the need for more work to be done.
"The reduction of spectators, at Monza [which was reported to have 16 per cent fewer spectators this year than in 2008] too, indicates a need to change - no more boring grands prix and polemics," di Montezemolo said at the Frankfurt Motorshow.
"At the end of the year we'll have a work day with the media, organisers and sponsors in order to make this extraordinary sport more interesting."
He also reiterated his desire for the bigger teams in F1 to be allowed to run three cars.
"The Schumacher effect over ticket sales, when it seemed like he could make a comeback, shows how much top drivers and teams attract," he said. "The future of F1 won't be about small teams who don't raise enthusiasm.
"We need the possibility for top teams to field a third car for famous or young drivers."
Di Montezemolo also called for a rethink of the current testing regulations.
"We must also think of testing. We are the only sport that doesn't train. I see many possible adjustments, with no polemics. I hope everyone agrees with the position of Ferrari, which has been in grand prix racing for ever."
He also says Ferrari is now working towards 2010, despite the team's recent upturn in performance.
"I regret the start of the season – there are many things I could say but I won't. In the second half of the season we are among the teams who scored the most points, and we are third in the constructors despite having just one car in the points for the last four races," he said.
"We'll try to finish welll, even though our limits are clear – we are working towards 2010.
"I am happy to see [Felipe] Massa psychologically ready to drive – I've already bet with him that he'll be quicker."
Tuesday, 15 September 2009
BMW Sauber sold to Swiss-based group
The BMW Sauber team has been saved after its German carmaker owner agreed a deal for the sale of the outfit to a Swiss-based investment group.
BMW announced on Tuesday that Qadbak Investments Ltd, a group which "represents the interests of certain Middle East and European-based families", had agreed to buy the Hinwil-based team and that a deal for the takeover had been signed today.
The German manufacturer has been searching for a new owner for the team it bought from founder in Peter Sauber in 2005 since July having unexpectedly decided to quit Formula 1 at the end of the season owing to a “strategic realignment”.
Announcing the sale in a statement, BMW added that it was confident Qadbak Investments – which recently took over English football league club Notts County – represented a "strong investor" for the team's future.
"The contract was signed today (Tuesday)," BMW said, although it did not reveal the fiancial details of the deal.
“A strong investor has therefore been found for the Hinwil-based team.
“Qadbak´s interest in the team will be represented by Lionel Fischer, a Swiss national.
“BMW wishes Qadbak and the Sauber Team every success for the 2010 season and beyond.”
However the BMW team in its new guise is not yet guaranteed a position on the 2010 grid, the confirmation of the sale coming just hours after the FIA announced the Malaysian-funded Lotus F1 team had beaten it to the vacant 13th slot.
The governing body did, however, put the Hinwil team in a standby ‘14th position’ should any other vacancies arise, while adding that it would speak to the confirmed teams in any case to push for a further squad to be included on next season’s already expanded grid.
BMW Sauber had to reapply for a position on the 2010 grid after its current carmaker owner failed to sign the new Concorde Agreement which would have committed it to the sport for a further three years.
BMW announced on Tuesday that Qadbak Investments Ltd, a group which "represents the interests of certain Middle East and European-based families", had agreed to buy the Hinwil-based team and that a deal for the takeover had been signed today.
The German manufacturer has been searching for a new owner for the team it bought from founder in Peter Sauber in 2005 since July having unexpectedly decided to quit Formula 1 at the end of the season owing to a “strategic realignment”.
Announcing the sale in a statement, BMW added that it was confident Qadbak Investments – which recently took over English football league club Notts County – represented a "strong investor" for the team's future.
"The contract was signed today (Tuesday)," BMW said, although it did not reveal the fiancial details of the deal.
“A strong investor has therefore been found for the Hinwil-based team.
“Qadbak´s interest in the team will be represented by Lionel Fischer, a Swiss national.
“BMW wishes Qadbak and the Sauber Team every success for the 2010 season and beyond.”
However the BMW team in its new guise is not yet guaranteed a position on the 2010 grid, the confirmation of the sale coming just hours after the FIA announced the Malaysian-funded Lotus F1 team had beaten it to the vacant 13th slot.
The governing body did, however, put the Hinwil team in a standby ‘14th position’ should any other vacancies arise, while adding that it would speak to the confirmed teams in any case to push for a further squad to be included on next season’s already expanded grid.
BMW Sauber had to reapply for a position on the 2010 grid after its current carmaker owner failed to sign the new Concorde Agreement which would have committed it to the sport for a further three years.
Williams Italian GP Review
The low drag problem bedevilled the AT&T Williams team again in Monza this weekend. The team anticipated a difficult weekend a fortnight earlier and spent the intervening period since first practice at Spa earlier in the month working on aerodynamic revisions in the wind tunnel and testing the changes at an aero test day before the Monza meeting. However, it proved insufficient to provide the team with enough pace to claim reasonable grid positions, and the race outcome was compromised by Saturday’s qualifying result.
It was hoped that sufficient performance could be found to progress into Q2 on Saturday and in the event both drivers missed the cut narrowly, but without this margin, the only solution was a long fuel one stop strategy, exposing both Kazuki and Nico to the possibility of involvement in a turn one incident off the line.
Although both drivers made strong starts in spite of running at over 700kgs, Nico moving up to P14 and Kazuki P15, contact with both cars saw Nico lose aerodynamic balance as debris became lodged on his car and a tangle with one of the Renaults damaged his front right wheel. For his part, Kazuki suffered damage to his rear wing endplate, and further into the race, was hampered by a fuel pressure problem. However, Nico’s problems were more immediate; he boxed for a suspected puncture on lap 4, but the tyre was found to be at normal operating pressure when checked after the stop and it was surmised that the debris that had become lodged in his car had seen an aero loss that unbalanced the car and felt as if a tyre was losing pressure. His problems were compounded by the damage to the right front wheel which meant the wheel change in the stop was problematic.
Meanwhile, team-mate Kazuki Nakajima, having passed both Toyotas, fought strongly to hold his position despite his fuel pressure problem. He ran his strategy to schedule and was rewarded with a seven place gain on his start position, but even this progression saw him unable to claim his first points of the season. The team is now finalising a car upgrade in time for a return to a circuit configuration that will suit the FW31 for the Singapore Grand Prix in two weeks time.
Q&A With Rod Nelson, Chief Operations Engineer
Q: Monza turned out to be the team's least competitive showing of the year. Why was this?
A: The majority of circuits throughout the season are considered to be high downforce tracks. Spa is a medium downforce track due to its combination of long straights and high speed corners while, with its long straights and mainly low speed corners, Monza is the only low downforce circuit on the calendar. We therefore consider that our resources are better placed concentrating on aero development for the higher downforce tracks. It is also one of the circuits where KERS can give a significant advantage and we do not have our KERS online at present.
Q: Did Nico and Kazuki have similar handling issues at Monza?
A: The two drivers were quite evenly matched throughout the weekend and had similar issues with their car. The low downforce levels that you have to run at Monza presented us with ride and braking problems, but that is normal. Overall, they were both reasonably satisfied with the compromises that we had to make with chassis set-up.
Q: Were there any tyre-related problems during the course of the weekend?
A: As is usually the case at Monza, the tyres have quite a hard time mainly due to the sustained lateral acceleration in Parabolica. Most people tend to go for a one stop race as it’s the fastest strategy which means the tyres run for a longer period than usual and on heavier fuel loads. Having said that, however, we didn't have any major issues with our tyres this weekend.
Q: Kazuki out qualified Nico for the third time this year. Please sum up his performance at Monza.
A: Kazuki went to Monza very well prepared. In fact, he underperformed during his second run in Q1 because of traffic and just missed out on Q2 by six hundredths of a second. He had a reasonable start and managed to get past both Grosjean and Glock on the first lap, followed by Trulli on the second lap. Despite some robust challenges, he held position and did a good job in the race.
Q: Nico made an unscheduled pitstop on lap four of the race. Why was this?
A: One of Kazuki's rear wing endplates was damaged by another car on the first lap of the race and the broken piece was left on the track in Turn 3. Ironically, another driver ahead of Nico drove over the debris a few laps later. It flicked up and became stuck in Nico's front wing and that cost him a lot of downforce. Nico thought the problem was a puncture so he pitted to change tyres.
Q: We go to Singapore next. How do you expect the FW31 to perform there?
A: I am hopeful that we will be back up there again. We’ll have some new aero upgrade parts on the cars and we hope we will be back scoring points on a regular basis for the last four races of the year.
italy, monza.
It was hoped that sufficient performance could be found to progress into Q2 on Saturday and in the event both drivers missed the cut narrowly, but without this margin, the only solution was a long fuel one stop strategy, exposing both Kazuki and Nico to the possibility of involvement in a turn one incident off the line.
Although both drivers made strong starts in spite of running at over 700kgs, Nico moving up to P14 and Kazuki P15, contact with both cars saw Nico lose aerodynamic balance as debris became lodged on his car and a tangle with one of the Renaults damaged his front right wheel. For his part, Kazuki suffered damage to his rear wing endplate, and further into the race, was hampered by a fuel pressure problem. However, Nico’s problems were more immediate; he boxed for a suspected puncture on lap 4, but the tyre was found to be at normal operating pressure when checked after the stop and it was surmised that the debris that had become lodged in his car had seen an aero loss that unbalanced the car and felt as if a tyre was losing pressure. His problems were compounded by the damage to the right front wheel which meant the wheel change in the stop was problematic.
Meanwhile, team-mate Kazuki Nakajima, having passed both Toyotas, fought strongly to hold his position despite his fuel pressure problem. He ran his strategy to schedule and was rewarded with a seven place gain on his start position, but even this progression saw him unable to claim his first points of the season. The team is now finalising a car upgrade in time for a return to a circuit configuration that will suit the FW31 for the Singapore Grand Prix in two weeks time.
Q&A With Rod Nelson, Chief Operations Engineer
Q: Monza turned out to be the team's least competitive showing of the year. Why was this?
A: The majority of circuits throughout the season are considered to be high downforce tracks. Spa is a medium downforce track due to its combination of long straights and high speed corners while, with its long straights and mainly low speed corners, Monza is the only low downforce circuit on the calendar. We therefore consider that our resources are better placed concentrating on aero development for the higher downforce tracks. It is also one of the circuits where KERS can give a significant advantage and we do not have our KERS online at present.
Q: Did Nico and Kazuki have similar handling issues at Monza?
A: The two drivers were quite evenly matched throughout the weekend and had similar issues with their car. The low downforce levels that you have to run at Monza presented us with ride and braking problems, but that is normal. Overall, they were both reasonably satisfied with the compromises that we had to make with chassis set-up.
Q: Were there any tyre-related problems during the course of the weekend?
A: As is usually the case at Monza, the tyres have quite a hard time mainly due to the sustained lateral acceleration in Parabolica. Most people tend to go for a one stop race as it’s the fastest strategy which means the tyres run for a longer period than usual and on heavier fuel loads. Having said that, however, we didn't have any major issues with our tyres this weekend.
Q: Kazuki out qualified Nico for the third time this year. Please sum up his performance at Monza.
A: Kazuki went to Monza very well prepared. In fact, he underperformed during his second run in Q1 because of traffic and just missed out on Q2 by six hundredths of a second. He had a reasonable start and managed to get past both Grosjean and Glock on the first lap, followed by Trulli on the second lap. Despite some robust challenges, he held position and did a good job in the race.
Q: Nico made an unscheduled pitstop on lap four of the race. Why was this?
A: One of Kazuki's rear wing endplates was damaged by another car on the first lap of the race and the broken piece was left on the track in Turn 3. Ironically, another driver ahead of Nico drove over the debris a few laps later. It flicked up and became stuck in Nico's front wing and that cost him a lot of downforce. Nico thought the problem was a puncture so he pitted to change tyres.
Q: We go to Singapore next. How do you expect the FW31 to perform there?
A: I am hopeful that we will be back up there again. We’ll have some new aero upgrade parts on the cars and we hope we will be back scoring points on a regular basis for the last four races of the year.
italy, monza.
Italian GP - Ferrari podium
Monza, 13th September 2009 - Kimi Raikkonen finished the 53 lap Italian Grand Prix, in third place, but his appearance on the podium at the Prancing Horse’s home race was in doubt until the very last lap. His Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella just missed out on a points place crossing the line ninth. The race was dominated by the Brawn team, who finished first and second, Rubens Barrichello, taking his second win of the year, ahead of Jenson Button. With four races remaining, Ferrari is still third in the Constructors’ classification, with 15 points in hand over McLaren.
As usual at Monza, the predominant colour in the grandstands was Ferrari red, the devoted tifosi enthusiastically waving flags, caps and anything else they could find, before the start. Kimi Raikkonen started from the inside of Row 2 and Giancarlo Fisichella was making his Ferrari race debut from Row 7 in fourteenth place. When the lights went out, Kimi immediately attacked pole man Hamilton in the McLaren and got ahead of Sutil’s Force India to be second on the opening lap. Giancarlo also got a good start moving up three places to eleventh. Webber spun and retired in the Red Bull after tangling with Kubica. The order after two laps was Hamilton, Raikkonen, Sutil, Barrichelllo, Button, Liuzzi, Kovalainen, Alonso, Kubica, Vettel in tenth, then Fisichella, Heidfeld, Rosberg, Nakajima, Trulli, Glock, Buemi, Alguersuari, who started from pit lane and Grosjean, 19th and last.
Rosberg went down to last after pitting to repair accident damage on lap 4. Giancarlo lost a place to Heidfeld’s BMW to go twelfth and after six laps, Kimi trailed leader Hamilton by 3.5 and was one second ahead of Sutil. On lap 8, Kubica was shown the black and orange flag, meaning he had to come in and have damage to his car repaired as it was a danger to other cars. By lap 10, Sutil had closed the gap to Kimi to just 0.5 and three laps later it had grown to 0.7 while Giancarlo was back in eleventh, after Kubica pitted. Hamilton was the first to refuel on lap 14, promoting Kimi to the lead, as the McLaren rejoined fifth. Sutil pitted on lap 17 and one lap later, Kimi brought the F60 in. On lap 24, the two Brawns, yet to pit, were leading, Barrichello ahead of Button, while Hamilton was third ahead of Kimi, with Alonso fifth and Sutil sixth. Giancarlo was tenth.
The interest would now centre on the difference between those refuelling once –the Brawns for example and those pitting twice, Kimi and Hamilton, of the leading group. Liuzzi, on his Force India debut, retired with transmission problems. Sixth placed Alonso came in on lap 26 and took on enough fuel to get to the flag, as did Kovalainen next time round. In fourth place, Kimi now trailed Hamilton by 4.7 seconds as the Englishman got ahead in the run of stops. Button refuelled from second place on lap 28 and Barrichello came in one lap later, so that Kimi was now second behind Hamilton, with Sutil 1.4 seconds behind the Ferrari. Yet to stop, Fisichella was now up to seventh, until he made his only pit stop on lap 30, rejoining thirteenth.
The race leader made his final stop on lap 34, rejoining behind the two Brawns, so that Kimi led again, 0.9 ahead of Sutil. The Finn made his final stop on lap 37, at exactly the same time as Sutil. Kimi lost fractions of a second when pulling away, while Sutil knocked over one of his wheel men and lost a mirror. Barrichello and Button therefore occupied the two top slots again, with Kimi fourth, 7.3 behind Hamilton. Kimi had said earlier in the weekend that a podium would be a tough task and it was looking that way as Barrichello and Button were fuelled to the end of the race. Not only was a podium looking unlikely, but with ten laps remaining, the Ferrari man could still not shake off Sutil who was just 0.6 behind. Giancarlo was lying tenth, 6.3 behind Vettel.
It seemed as though the race order would now remain unchanged, however on the very last lap, Lewis Hamilton spun and crashed heavily, thus guaranteeing Kimi a trip to the podium in third place. Giancarlo therefore came very close to a points finish, classified ninth as he crossed the line, as the race ended behind the Safety Car. Also in the points were fourth placed Sutil, then Alonso, Kovalainen, Heidfeld and Vettel.
As usual at Monza, the predominant colour in the grandstands was Ferrari red, the devoted tifosi enthusiastically waving flags, caps and anything else they could find, before the start. Kimi Raikkonen started from the inside of Row 2 and Giancarlo Fisichella was making his Ferrari race debut from Row 7 in fourteenth place. When the lights went out, Kimi immediately attacked pole man Hamilton in the McLaren and got ahead of Sutil’s Force India to be second on the opening lap. Giancarlo also got a good start moving up three places to eleventh. Webber spun and retired in the Red Bull after tangling with Kubica. The order after two laps was Hamilton, Raikkonen, Sutil, Barrichelllo, Button, Liuzzi, Kovalainen, Alonso, Kubica, Vettel in tenth, then Fisichella, Heidfeld, Rosberg, Nakajima, Trulli, Glock, Buemi, Alguersuari, who started from pit lane and Grosjean, 19th and last.
Rosberg went down to last after pitting to repair accident damage on lap 4. Giancarlo lost a place to Heidfeld’s BMW to go twelfth and after six laps, Kimi trailed leader Hamilton by 3.5 and was one second ahead of Sutil. On lap 8, Kubica was shown the black and orange flag, meaning he had to come in and have damage to his car repaired as it was a danger to other cars. By lap 10, Sutil had closed the gap to Kimi to just 0.5 and three laps later it had grown to 0.7 while Giancarlo was back in eleventh, after Kubica pitted. Hamilton was the first to refuel on lap 14, promoting Kimi to the lead, as the McLaren rejoined fifth. Sutil pitted on lap 17 and one lap later, Kimi brought the F60 in. On lap 24, the two Brawns, yet to pit, were leading, Barrichello ahead of Button, while Hamilton was third ahead of Kimi, with Alonso fifth and Sutil sixth. Giancarlo was tenth.
The interest would now centre on the difference between those refuelling once –the Brawns for example and those pitting twice, Kimi and Hamilton, of the leading group. Liuzzi, on his Force India debut, retired with transmission problems. Sixth placed Alonso came in on lap 26 and took on enough fuel to get to the flag, as did Kovalainen next time round. In fourth place, Kimi now trailed Hamilton by 4.7 seconds as the Englishman got ahead in the run of stops. Button refuelled from second place on lap 28 and Barrichello came in one lap later, so that Kimi was now second behind Hamilton, with Sutil 1.4 seconds behind the Ferrari. Yet to stop, Fisichella was now up to seventh, until he made his only pit stop on lap 30, rejoining thirteenth.
The race leader made his final stop on lap 34, rejoining behind the two Brawns, so that Kimi led again, 0.9 ahead of Sutil. The Finn made his final stop on lap 37, at exactly the same time as Sutil. Kimi lost fractions of a second when pulling away, while Sutil knocked over one of his wheel men and lost a mirror. Barrichello and Button therefore occupied the two top slots again, with Kimi fourth, 7.3 behind Hamilton. Kimi had said earlier in the weekend that a podium would be a tough task and it was looking that way as Barrichello and Button were fuelled to the end of the race. Not only was a podium looking unlikely, but with ten laps remaining, the Ferrari man could still not shake off Sutil who was just 0.6 behind. Giancarlo was lying tenth, 6.3 behind Vettel.
It seemed as though the race order would now remain unchanged, however on the very last lap, Lewis Hamilton spun and crashed heavily, thus guaranteeing Kimi a trip to the podium in third place. Giancarlo therefore came very close to a points finish, classified ninth as he crossed the line, as the race ended behind the Safety Car. Also in the points were fourth placed Sutil, then Alonso, Kovalainen, Heidfeld and Vettel.
Lotus granted 13th entry for 2010
The Lotus F1 team has been awarded the 13th entry in the 2010 Formula 1 championship, the governing body announced on Tuesday.
The FIA said it had also received an "impressive" application from the BMW Sauber team, but given the uncertainty about the ownership of the Hinwil squad the governing body decided to give the entry to Lotus.
BMW was, however, given the "14th place" in case any vacancy arises on the 2010 grid.
The governing body added the it will look into expanding the grid to 14 teams, "consulting urgently with the existing teams regarding the introduction of an appropriate rule change to expand the grid to 28 cars in time for the first Grand Prix in 2010."
As revealed by AUTOSPORT earlier this month, the Lotus entry will be backed a company called 1Malaysia F1 Team Sdn Bhd, with Tony Fernandes as team principal. Fernandes is the founder and CEO of the Malaysian-based Tune Group, owner of the Air Asia airline.
The FIA said Mike Gascoyne will be the team's technical director and that Lotus will use Cosworth engines.
The company is a partnership between the Malaysian government and a consortium of Malaysian entrepreneurs. The Lotus name will return to Formula 1 as a constructor for the first time since 1994.
Lotus will be initially based at the RTN facility in Norfolk, UK, some 10 miles from the Lotus Cars factory. The 50,000 square foot facility was originally built by Toyota for its initial Formula 1 programme and then used by Bentley for its Le Mans programme.
The team's future design, R&D, manufacturing and technical centre will be built at Malaysia's Sepang International Circuit.
The FIA said it had also received an "impressive" application from the BMW Sauber team, but given the uncertainty about the ownership of the Hinwil squad the governing body decided to give the entry to Lotus.
BMW was, however, given the "14th place" in case any vacancy arises on the 2010 grid.
The governing body added the it will look into expanding the grid to 14 teams, "consulting urgently with the existing teams regarding the introduction of an appropriate rule change to expand the grid to 28 cars in time for the first Grand Prix in 2010."
As revealed by AUTOSPORT earlier this month, the Lotus entry will be backed a company called 1Malaysia F1 Team Sdn Bhd, with Tony Fernandes as team principal. Fernandes is the founder and CEO of the Malaysian-based Tune Group, owner of the Air Asia airline.
The FIA said Mike Gascoyne will be the team's technical director and that Lotus will use Cosworth engines.
The company is a partnership between the Malaysian government and a consortium of Malaysian entrepreneurs. The Lotus name will return to Formula 1 as a constructor for the first time since 1994.
Lotus will be initially based at the RTN facility in Norfolk, UK, some 10 miles from the Lotus Cars factory. The 50,000 square foot facility was originally built by Toyota for its initial Formula 1 programme and then used by Bentley for its Le Mans programme.
The team's future design, R&D, manufacturing and technical centre will be built at Malaysia's Sepang International Circuit.
Monday, 14 September 2009
Q and A with Vitantonio Liuzzi
Q. Did you think that it was possible the weekend could have gone this well - you could have finished on the podium?
Vitantonio Liuzzi: I thought we would have a pretty good weekend because I like this circuit and the car is going well – the effort from the team has really paid off. But I didn't expect to fight like that for such a good position in the race because we lost a bit of time against the Brawns with tyre graining while I was on soft tyres and we got it back in the second stint.
I was pretty optimistic that we could have finished fifth or even better. We don't want to dream too much, but the speed of the car was there and the second stint would have been OK. I didn't expect everything that happened but I was optimistic.
Q. How important was it for you to come back in and remind everyone of how good you are?
VL: Sometimes, it's not that people want to forget, but when you have a car that is as competitive as this is a good chance that I am there and I never give up. My target is to win races and I want to do that with Force India. They have put in a lot of effort and for the future we have a good chance.
Q. How happy were you with the move on Kovalainen at the Parabolica on lap one?
VL: It was one of the good memories of the race. I'm a fighter and I never give up as happened with Fernando Alonso in the first corner. I knew he had a bit more fuel than me and I gave 100% to overtake him as soon as I could. I had the chance there and I did it.
Q. How disappointing is it to have been denied a good finish by the driveshaft failure?
VL: I'm disappointed because we lost the possibility of points. And then we would have been better in the team championship. The team hasn't had luck in other races and now it's time to capitalise on what we have. I'm hungry for points, and we will never give up.
Q. How do you judge your weekend?
VL: Quite positive, I have to say. Friday we were in good shape, Saturday we had a good qualifying, today we would have finished at least fifth because we had good pace. For a return it was not bad. The team has been great and supported me a lot and Force India has shown that it was not just a one-off in Spa with Adrian Sutil's result. We are in a good position for the future.
Q. Was it difficult to jump back in without any testing?
VL: It was not easy. It's a big handicap for a driver jumping back into the car and wanting to show their potential. There is still a lot more to come for me and I still have to get back all of the speed that I had before, but we are in a good position. The important thing is that the car keeps developing and I get back to where I was so we can do as well as possible.
Vitantonio Liuzzi: I thought we would have a pretty good weekend because I like this circuit and the car is going well – the effort from the team has really paid off. But I didn't expect to fight like that for such a good position in the race because we lost a bit of time against the Brawns with tyre graining while I was on soft tyres and we got it back in the second stint.
I was pretty optimistic that we could have finished fifth or even better. We don't want to dream too much, but the speed of the car was there and the second stint would have been OK. I didn't expect everything that happened but I was optimistic.
Q. How important was it for you to come back in and remind everyone of how good you are?
VL: Sometimes, it's not that people want to forget, but when you have a car that is as competitive as this is a good chance that I am there and I never give up. My target is to win races and I want to do that with Force India. They have put in a lot of effort and for the future we have a good chance.
Q. How happy were you with the move on Kovalainen at the Parabolica on lap one?
VL: It was one of the good memories of the race. I'm a fighter and I never give up as happened with Fernando Alonso in the first corner. I knew he had a bit more fuel than me and I gave 100% to overtake him as soon as I could. I had the chance there and I did it.
Q. How disappointing is it to have been denied a good finish by the driveshaft failure?
VL: I'm disappointed because we lost the possibility of points. And then we would have been better in the team championship. The team hasn't had luck in other races and now it's time to capitalise on what we have. I'm hungry for points, and we will never give up.
Q. How do you judge your weekend?
VL: Quite positive, I have to say. Friday we were in good shape, Saturday we had a good qualifying, today we would have finished at least fifth because we had good pace. For a return it was not bad. The team has been great and supported me a lot and Force India has shown that it was not just a one-off in Spa with Adrian Sutil's result. We are in a good position for the future.
Q. Was it difficult to jump back in without any testing?
VL: It was not easy. It's a big handicap for a driver jumping back into the car and wanting to show their potential. There is still a lot more to come for me and I still have to get back all of the speed that I had before, but we are in a good position. The important thing is that the car keeps developing and I get back to where I was so we can do as well as possible.
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