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Hungarian GP Preview Quotes – Pirelli

Pirelli Preview Quotes for the Hungarian GP.

Pirelli
Paul Hembery, Pirelli motorsport director
“Hungary marks the first event for our latest specification P Zero tyres, which consist of the 2012 construction matched to the 2013 compounds. These tyres were tried out by the teams at Silverstone during the young driver test, who benefitted from the opportunity to adapt the set-up of their cars to best suit the new tyres. Now they get to use them in competition for the first time, and with qualifying particularly important at the Hungaroring, the work done in free practice will be very important. Overtaking at this circuit is never an easy task, so the teams will be looking to use strategy to maximise their opportunities to gain track position. The selection of medium and soft tyres should provide plenty of chances to help them do that, based on the data that all the teams gain with different fuel loads in free practice. Temperatures in Hungary can be very high, and this is the other factor on which the levels of wear and degradation experienced will depend. Traction and braking are two critical aspects of tyre performance in Hungary, with the teams running a set-up designed to emphasise these key areas. With levels of lateral energy relatively low, tyre performance rather than durability will be the limiting factor and this will form the basis of the strategy selected – with the teams aiming to keep the tyres within the peak window of operating performance for as long as possible. The design of our latest tyres should help them to do this.”

Photo: Pirelli Twitter

July 25, 2013
Hungarian F1 Grand Prix Preview Quotes – Caterham

Preview quotes from the Caterham team ahead of the Hungarian F1 Grand Prix this weekend.

Giedo van der Garde, Caterham

“Hungary’s the last race before the summer break, and another chance for us to keep up the momentum we picked back up in Germany. The Hungaroring is a track I’ve always gone well at – I’ve won races and had podiums there in GP2 and World Series and now, in F1, it’s tight, twisty and a relatively short lap so it’s a bit like Monaco without the barriers!

“We obviously had our best quali result of the year so far in Monaco and while I doubt the weather will play its part in Hungary as it did on Saturday in Monaco, the track layout and characteristics are still kind of similar and the length of the lap and the reduced reliance on pure aero performance may help us edge closer to the cars ahead.

“We will continue the aggressive development plan started in Bahrain and have updates again for Hungary and that’ll help us, particularly on Sunday. That’s the goal for this weekend – have a clean Friday to set us up for both quali and the race, and then see if we can use what we’ve learned at the Silverstone test to fight on Sunday afternoon.”

Charles Pic, Caterham

“Straight after the Silverstone test we all go to Hungary for race ten. Like my team mate I’ve always gone well at the Hungaroring and I like the whole place. The city’s beautiful, the track is a good challenge, particularly sector two which you need to get right and find the right rhythm and then you can gain a lot of time, and it’s nearly always hot there so physical fitness also plays its part.

“It’ll be another busy week for the team, coming straight from Silverstone to Hungary, but after that they have a very well deserved rest and a chance to recharge the batteries. For me, I’m at an event with our partner GE on Wednesday, something we’ve done at a few races this year, and then it’s 100 percent on the race weekend. After the test last week we’re as prepared as we can be and if we can pick up where we left off in Germany before we had the puncture, I think we can have a good weekend. I think, from what we learned from Silverstone, the revised tyres should suit us as they behaved consistently over both long and short runs, and the deg levels were more manageable than the compounds we’ve been using so far this season. ”

Photos: Caterham F1 Team Twitter

July 25, 2013
Hungaroring Preview Quotes – Sauber F1 Team

Preview quotes from Sauber ahead of the Hungarian GP this weekend at the Hungaroring.

Nico Hulkenberg, Sauber
“Budapest is a city with a great atmosphere and a lot of beautiful old buildings. The Danube runs right through the city and I like being there. The first time I went to the Hungaroring was in 2009. I won the GP2 race on the Saturday and I have always had good races there in the past. In 2010, during my first Formula One season, I had my best result up to then with sixth place just before the summer break. The circuit is technically challenging and leaves little room for mistakes. The second sector has several combinations that all flow on from each other. If you get off the racing line there, the whole sector is ruined. You have to be spot on. Overtaking is difficult too, even with the DRS. There is one straight, but it’s not that long, which is why qualifying is particularly important.”

Esteban Gutierrez, Sauber
“Moving forward from the Nurburgring, I think Hungary can be a good weekend. The Hungaroring is one of those unique circuits in terms of the track layout, and I have good memories of it. It was the first European track I ever drove on during a test in Formula BMW. The track has several medium speed corners and stability is particularly important there. It’s also very demanding on the tyres, especially in the long corners, and also because temperatures can be quite high, which you have to take into account, especially for the tyre management. The track is very technical and it will be difficult to overtake. My favourite parts are turns one to five, and especially turn four, a fast lefthander, which is blind when you turn into it, so taking the kerb there is very exciting.”

Tom McCullough, Sauber head of track engineering
“The Hungaroring is a real challenge for both drivers and engineers, as it is one of the most technical circuits on the calendar. The layout of the track results in a high percentage of time spent cornering. This means the required level of downforce is similar to Monaco. There are a lot of longer corners that all flow from each other, with most of them being low to medium speed. The qualifying position is particularly important, as overtaking is still difficult even with the use of KERS and DRS. After a productive Silverstone test evaluating our updated package and the latest specification tyres, we feel well prepared for this race. Our aim is to again qualify stronger and convert this into points scoring finishes.”

Photo: Sauber F1 Team

July 25, 2013
Hungarian GP Preview Quotes – Williams F1 Team

Preview Quotes from the Williams F1 Team ahead of the Hungarian GP.

Pastor Maldonado, Williams
“I have driven at the Hungaroring for a few years now and it is a very demanding circuit for drivers as it is often very hot and there are limited overtaking opportunities. There will be new tyres from Pirelli this weekend that combine last year’s construction with this year’s compounds, so understanding how these will perform will be a primary focus for the teams as we prepare for this race. Testing these tyres at Silverstone in the young drivers test has given me an insight into the changes made, but it will only be after practice on Friday that can we sit down and analyse all the data and discuss our strategy for the weekend. Qualifying is so important at this track because of the small number of overtaking opportunities, but I qualified well last year so I know what to expect and can hopefully deliver a strong performance that will give the team a boost as we head into the summer break.”

Valtteri Bottas, Williams
“I have raced at the Hungaroring in Formula Renault and GP3 and drove in FP1 last year and I always found this to be a very demanding track because there are very few places to overtake and the layout has a lot of corners in quick succession which gives you very few opportunities to rest. The track can be a bit dusty at the beginning of the week as it doesn’t get used much during the year, but the grip does increase a lot as the weekend progresses and you notice a big difference between FP1 and FP2. The team were very close to securing a double points finish in Germany and the hard work everyone is putting in is moving us in the right direction. There is normally a big Finnish contingent who fly over to Hungary for this race and I’d like to be able to give them something to cheer about and secure some points for the team.”

Xevi Pujolar, Williams chief race engineer
“The Hungaroring is one of the most challenging circuits of the year with the potential high ambient temperatures also putting extra demand on the drivers. The layout is quite technical; one corner quickly flows into the next and there are not many straights to be able to relax. The circuit layout leads to medium-low average speeds and so we run the maximum downforce configuration. You would think that because the average corner speed is medium-low that the tyres don’t suffer as much, but because of the number of corners, it’s unrelenting and a lot of energy goes through the rubber. Pirelli are introducing new tyres for the race in Hungary, so we will be aiming to fine tune our set-up on Friday to try to get the best out of them this weekend.”

Remi Taffin, Renault Sport F1 head of track operations
“The twisty 4.381-kilometre circuit is often compared to a kart track, with one slow speed corner leading into another in very quick succession. This sinuous nature gives rise to the second lowest average speed over a lap (after Monaco) so power sensitivity and outright engine power is not a major concern. As a result we generally use engines on the third race and work to deliver good low speed torque response and driveability.”

July 24, 2013
Hungaroring Preview Quotes – Mercedes F1 Team

The Mercedes F1 Team Preview Quotes ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix. Thoughts from Nico Rosberg, Lewis Hamilton, Ross Brawn and Toto Wolff.

Nico Rosberg, Mercedes
“The Hungaroring is always a track that I enjoy driving and it has quite a challenging layout for the drivers. With all the twists and turns, it feels very much like Monaco but takes place on a normal circuit. Qualifying will be important this weekend which is good for us but we know that we have to deliver on Sunday as well. The forecast looks hot and it is likely to very demanding on the tyres. Physically it will be a tough race and the lack of straights means that you never get a moment to relax. It would be great for us to come away from Hungary with another strong result to take into the summer break.”

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
“I have always enjoyed the Hungaroring and it’s a track that I have been lucky enough to win at three times so far. I love the layout of the circuit and Budapest is a really cool city which has a great atmosphere over the race weekend. It will be an important weekend for us and we need to get off to a good start on Friday when we have the chance to try the new tyres for the first time. I’ve spent some time at the factory since we returned from Germany and I know that everyone there is working really hard to improve our overall performance and to address the issues that we experienced at the last race. It would be great to reward all of that effort with a strong weekend in Budapest and I’ll certainly be pushing to make that happen.”

Ross Brawn, Mercedes team principal
“The final race before the summer break is always a milestone for the team and an opportunity to review our performance before our staff enjoy a well-deserved break during the summer shutdown. Our team are currently in second place in the Constructors’ Championship with two race wins to date. However the season has not been without its challenges and we have had some very tough races. This happens over the course of a season and you have to take the highs and lows and find your path to making improvements. Both Nico and Lewis have visited the factory in the two weeks since we returned from Germany and everyone has been working very hard to investigate our tyre sensitivities ahead of the elevated temperatures that we will undoubtedly experience this weekend in Budapest. The Hungaroring is a very slow circuit with mainly low and medium-speed corners, which present an interesting technical challenge. Friday will also be our first opportunity to work with the new tyres on our car, so we have a great deal to learn in a short space of time. We want to finish the first half of the season on a high but the challenge facing us is clear.”

Toto Wolff, Mercedes team executive director
Hungary will mark the end of the first half of the season and it has been a generally positive one for our team. We go into the race weekend with two victories and six pole positions under our belt. Those results show how much hard work we have put into our year so far and the successful way the team is coming together. But we are under no illusions for the second half of the year and this weekend in Hungary we have a number of challenges to overcome. First, we will need to do extra homework on Friday to understand how the new tyres work with our car. Then we will have to get to grips with the high temperatures, a demanding circuit and the soft and medium compound Pirelli tyres. During the race at the Nürburgring, we were overheating the tyres and we want to minimise the chance of suffering a repeat problem in Hungary, where the track temperatures will also be high. The team has worked thoroughly since Germany to improve the situation and we will find out how the new tyres will affect that situation, too. Our motivation is high to score a good result that we can take into the summer break but we know there is plenty of good work needed to achieve that.

July 24, 2013
2013 Formula 1 Mid Season F1 Technical Round Up – Part 3

In the final part of this F1 technical round up we take a look at the remainder of the teams on the grid.

Sauber F1 Team

The 2012 Sauber C31 was a very good car. It was very kind to the tyres and it had very good race pace. This season’s C32 is not as quick as the car from the previous season and they have been struggling for pace. They’ve been bringing new developments to each race to try and get the car back on pace. The team are making slow progress and with their recent financial issues all sorted out now, they should be able to continue development on the 2013 car.

Sauber have been regularly changing the nose of the car. At the Spanish Grand Prix they had a front wing with the FOM camera mounted at the tip of the nose, giving it a hammerhead shark-like appearance.

At the next race in Canada there was a bulge (like a pelican beak) on the underside of the nose cone with the FOM cameras moved slightly back. The front wing itself has been pretty much unchanged since Spain with only slight changes made to the front wing cascade.

At the start of the season Sauber had a dipped rear wing. The central portion of the wing was extended a bit further down.

This configuration allowed them to run a little less aggressive angle of attack while still maintaining down force.

At the Spanish Grand Prix, the team brought a more conventional straight wing and have stuck with that configuration since.

Williams

The Williams F1 team have really been struggling with their 2013 car. The car is nowhere near the pace of their 2012 car. They had tremendous qualifying pace last season, yet this season they struggle to make it through to Q2 in some qualifying sessions.

They haven’t been able to stick to one front wing design. At the German Grand Prix they tested two different types of front wing designs. While this is normal for any team, they have not yet been able to find a design that works for them. Each configuration has a different cascade and is often missing the inverted “L” cascade near the center of the wing.

They’ve also changed the nose of car. The front pillars were similar to that of Ferrari’s at the Spanish Grand Prix, where the pillars extend from the tip of the nose to the wing. At the British Grand Prix they introduced a nose with a bit of a bulge on the underside with the pillars joining further back.

Around the side of the car they’ve added four vertical vortex generators to help the airflow to the exhaust.

At the rear of the car they’ve been running their boomerang wing which bends upwards from the main plane.

Toro Rosso

Like Force India, Toro Rosso have had a rather good start to the season. In the last few races they’ve shown that they can be competitive with Daniel Ricciardo finishing in the points.

The big change came to the car at the Spanish Grand Prix where they implemented a cross-under tunnel layout similar to their big brother team, Red Bull. Unlike the Red Bull solution where the cross-tunnel is totally closed off, Toro Rosso’s is only partially closed off.

This does not mean that it’s less effective though. The Red Bull has a Renault engine and the Toro Rosso runs Ferrari engines. They both have very different characteristics when they’re off throttle, on the throttle etc. This is probably why the Toro Rosso solution differs slightly.

They also have their own version of a low down force rear wing which is similar to the wing that Sauber was running at the start of the season. They returned to a straight rear wing set up at the British Grand Prix.

It does look like the team have found a good balance between speed down the straights and speed around the corners. It will be interesting to see how they get on in the remainder of the season.

Caterham

Caterham started the 2013 season with a 2012 spec’d car. At the Spanish Grand Prix the team introduced a whole raft of changes which made it more like a CT-03 v2.0.

They re-profiled the whole nose cone. The new spec used a vanity panel and featured a bulge on the underside. The front wing was also changed with new cascades.

The side pods featured twin element air flow conditioners with the rear element curving over the top of the side pods. Very similar to what Ferrari tested.

The rear wing was improved to make it more efficient and horizontal strakes were added to the endplate to direct airflow.

That rounds up our look at F1 technical upgrades and updates that the teams have made to their cars throughout the season so far. It is going to be very interesting to see who can up their game for the remainder of the season, and which teams will be left behind. We’ll bring you all the F1 technical updates we can throughout the rest of the season. But now, on to Hungary!

July 24, 2013
Hungarian Grand Prix Preview Quotes – Ferrari

Preview Quotes from Felipe Massa on behalf of Ferrari ahead of this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungaroring where he suffered his nasty crash back in 2009.

Felipe Massa, Ferrari

“The Hungarian Grand Prix is a very special event for me, that brings back a lot of memories. Naturally, there are some negative memories from my [2009 Hungaroring] accident, but also positive ones in that I am here today, getting ready for Budapest, healthy and still racing. I love the fans in Hungary, as I actually have a lot more of them since my accident, so it’s somewhere I am always pleased to go back to and of course I hope I can have a good race there this weekend.

“It’s a short track, with a lot of corners one after the other with no long straights. Overtaking is difficult, with changes of direction all the time, which make it a fun track. So it’s an old style race track and Sunday afternoon can be tough, but I like going back to these old fashioned venues.

“For sure people say the characteristics of our car are not best suited to this circuit and that it will be tough for us to fight for the win here, but I am not sure this is an accurate assessment, because there have been other circuits where we expected our car to be very strong and it was not and vice versa. The important thing will be to get a good understanding of exactly how the car is reacting as quickly as possible. The circuit requires as much downforce as possible, because the speed down the straight is not so important here. You need a car that is very stable and that is kind to the tyres to avoid degradation. I think we can be competitive, so I’m hoping our weekend goes in the opposite way to what people are expecting.

“I expect the tyres will be critical again, especially in relation to temperature. They will perform very differently in qualifying and the race and I hope we can make the most of the high temperatures.”

July 24, 2013
2013 Formula 1 Mid Season F1 Technical Round Up – Part 2

In this second part of our F1 technical round up we take a look at McLaren, Lotus and Force India.

McLaren

McLaren have had a very tough start to the season. Their 2013 car is nowhere near their 2012 contender, the MP4-27. With a whole new front suspension setup, McLaren have had their fair share of hardship this season.

At the front of the car, McLaren have kept most of the design of their front wing from the 2012 car. While other teams are are sporting 5 to 7 tiered wings, the front wing on the McLaren has three tiers. This configuration has hardly been touched throughout the season and they’ve been running the same front wing for the past few races.

Around the side of the car, they’ve ditched the horizontal side pod airflow conditioners at the top of the side pods for curved vertical vortex generators from the Spanish Grand Prix with the Red Bull type “D” wing to condition the flow around the side of the car.

Towards the rear of the car, they’ve tightened up the bodywork in the coke bottle region. They’ve added a vertical slot on the rear wing endplate to minimise tyre squirt.

With McLaren now concentrating on next season’s car, it is unlikely that they will make many further updates to the current car. We should see development parts for the 2014 car surface during free practice in the last few races.

Lotus F1 team

Lotus kicked off their 2013 campaign very well with a victory in the F1 season opener in Australia and Kimi Riakkonen has also consistently scored points for the Enstone based team.

Lotus is running a 4 tiered front wing with a split vertical element. The split element helps to direct the airflow whenever the car changes direction. They’ve also added a curved horizontal vane on the front wing endplate to help create a vortex of air around the side of the car.

In a few races this season, they’ve run a bulge on the underside of the nosecone, which helps the airflow along the underside of the car.

Lotus are also running a similar cross-under tunnel to Red Bull, where the air from the outer edge of the side pods is directed to the center of the car to exit at the diffuser.

The one big F1 technical development which Lotus were testing throughout the second half of the 2012 season and again at the British and German Grands Prix is their passive DRS or DRD.

The device works by receiving high speed air from intakes around the air box above the driver’s head. The air then travels down the back of the car and exits from a periscope type outlet just below the rear wing, which then stalls the rear wing at high speed. This reduces the rear wing’s effect and it gives the car a higher speed.

The trick to this device lies in when the wing stalls. You don’t want it to stall half-way through a high speed corner. Nor do you want to it not to stall down a straight where DRS is not active. It’s quite tricky to get it right but it looks as if Lotus have found a way around this problem. They’ve added a bleed pipe that exits just above the monkey seat. The reason that this is legal is that it requires no input from the driver to activate. It uses the speed of the air coming into the airbox to stall the wing.

Force India

Force India have been the strongest of the mid-field teams so far this season. They’re currently even ahead of McLaren in the Constructors’ Championship.

As far as their F1 technical upgrades go, Force India have a 4 tiered front wing with the same vertical guide vanes on the main plane of the wing that we can see on the Red Bull.

These guide vanes work in conjunction with the guide vanes on the back of the wing to guide the air to the edge of the wing for better vortex generation.

On the underside of the nose cone, they have followed the top teams in splitting the turning vanes. The split in the turning vanes helps to keep the airflow under the car a bit more constant when the car changes direction.

And around the back of the car, they too, have a slot in the end plate of the rear wing that helps to minimise the tyre squirt.

And that’s it for part two of our F1 technical Round Up. In part three we’ll look at the Sauber, Toro Rosso, Williams, Caterham and Marussia F1 teams.

July 24, 2013
F1 2013: Hungarian GP Preview – Qualifying king at the Hungaroring

After a three week gap the 2013 Formula 1 season restarts with the Hungarian grand prix.

In its own right the Hungarian GP has written its own part in Formula 1 history. The circuit has rewarded Damon Hill (1993), Fernando Alonso (2003) and very memorably Jenson Button (2006) with their first victories in Formula 1.

The first grand prix held at the Hungaroring was the first to be held behind the Iron Curtain. Formula 1 has been frequenting the Hungarian grand prix since 1986 and the Budapest located circuit is a guaranteed staple of a Formula 1 race calendar until 2016.

As a high downforce circuit the Hungaroring is famous for its tight and twisting nature. The dusty track surface confirms how little action the track sees which makes track evolution at the Hungaroring a crucial aspect for judging a qualifying effort. Throughout the 4.381 km lap the Hungaroring’s old-school layout is packed with fourteen corners.

The Hungaroring is technically demanding, bumpy and narrow, loved by drivers and adored by fans for its traditional atmosphere. The key to a good result here is a good grid slot. Having the fastest car will mean nothing if you’re stuck in the pack. In 1990 Thierry Boutsen in a sluggish Williams held off a much quicker Ayrton Senna to win the race. The chances of overtaking, even with DRS, are slim to none. No one knows the frustration of not being to overtake better than Lotus’ Kimi Raikkonen. The Finn has finished second at the Hungarian GP on four separate occasions.

The new tyres, tested during the three days of the young driver’s test at Silverstone last week, will be used this weekend in Hungary. The test was opened to current race drivers by the FIA to assist Pirelli. Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg pointed out that testing the new tyres wasn’t a “day and night” difference and that running on the new compounds for the first time in Hungary “will be fine too.” The 2013 Pirelli P Zero tyres have been matched with 2012 construction to enhance consistency and improve safety.

Pirelli’s initial conservative choice of the medium and hard compounds would’ve hampered teams such as Lotus and Ferrari who thrive on getting the softer tyre to its working temperature quicker and stretching the life of the tyre. However, coupled with high temperature, forecast at mid-thirties, Pirelli’s reversion to the medium and soft compound will play to the strengths of the two teams.

McLaren have won eleven of the twenty-seven Hungarian grands prix but victory this weekend is unlikely to be a possibility for the Woking based team. Jenson Button believes that the team are moving the right direction. “A win in 2013 is going to be difficult, but I actually think the team is working very well right now: in Germany, our tyre-usage, strategy and management of the race was as good as it’s ever been.”

Sebastian Vettel was the quickest of the drivers at the three day young driver’s test at Silverstone last week. He will no doubt want to continue in the same vein this weekend. Red Bull has never been very prolific at the Hungaroring and of the two it is only Mark Webber who has won here before. Then again, a few weeks ago Vettel hadn’t won the German GP either.

Mercedes have proven their prowess in qualifying which makes the likelihood of the Silver Arrows locking out the front-row of the grid, or getting a car on pole very good. Given the lack of overtaking on the circuit they will have a prime opportunity to control the race and win it. However, the unknown for Mercedes this weekend will be their performance on the new Pirelli tyres.

Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari hasn’t looked anything special in qualifying trim but his lightening starts can potentially transform fifth on the grid to second – a vital part to a successful race. The key to this weekend is having a car that can cope with the twisting demands of the Hungaroring. But even more so, qualifying and making a good start to the race can be the difference between winning or not.

July 24, 2013
Austrian Grand Prix to return to F1 in 2014

It has been announced that the Austrian Grand Prix will return to the Formula One calendar in 2014 after an 11 year absence.

According to a very brief statement by Red Bull, the event will be held at the Red Bull Ring on July 6th.

The statement explained, “Dietrich Mateschitz (Red Bull owner) and Bernie Ecclestone have reached agreement to the effect that Formula 1 will come back to Styria next year”.

The last Austrian Grand Prix was held in 2003 after which it fell off the calendar when redevelopment plans stalled. New owner, Red Bull, spent time considering what to do with the venue but eventually pushed in a massive investment which eventually saw the circuit reopen in 2011 under a new name – the Red Bull Ring. It has since hosted rounds of the DTM championship, as well as the Formula Renault 3.5 Series.

We came very close to seeing and Austrian Grand Prix on this year’s calendar as a replacement for the New Jersey race but a deal could not be agreed on.

The FIA will still need to formally approve the return of the Austrian Grand Prix when it finalises the 2014 calendar at a meeting with its World Motor Sport Council.

Photos: Redbull.com

July 23, 2013