Tag: Lotus

Raikkonen excluded from qualifying – will start at the back of the grid

Kimi Raikkonen has been excluded from the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix qualifying following a floor deflection test failure. He will now start the race from the back of the grid.

The stewards summoned the Lotus team earlier after considering telemetry data and video footage, so that the team could argue their case following the floor deflection test which was performed on his Lotus E21 as well as Hulkenberg’s Sauber.

The left hand side of the floor of Raikkonen’s Lotus was found to deflect more than the permitted 5mm vertically when the testing load was applied to it.

Lotus investigated and found that the issue was caused by the broken floor which had broken due to kerb damage but the stewards have not accepted their explanation.

The statement issued by the FIA said: “The stewards heard the explanation of the team that the relevant part broke upon contact with a kerb.

“However, the stewards did not accept that the incident referred to constituted an accident, or excused failing the relevant test.”

So it would seem that since the stewards have previously accepted the same explanation for Grosjean in Hungary, they are not willing to let it go a second time. Perhaps Lotus should have taken steps to ensure that the same thing did not happen again.

Raikkonen will now start from the back of the grid.

November 2, 2013
Raikkonen’s car fails floor test after qualifying

Kimi Raikkonen could lose his fifth place position on the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix grid after his car failed the floor deflection test during a technical inspection following the qualifying session.

According to a statement from the stewards, “car number seven [Raikkonen] did not comply with Article 3.17.5 of the 2013 FIA Formula One Technical Regulations as the front floor deflected more than 5mm vertically when the load was applied vertically to it at the point which lies 100mm of car centre line on the [left-hand side].”

Lotus team members have been summoned to the stewards to argue their case. If there was a broken part, or the floor had been damaged during qualifying, he could escape penalty.

Raikkonen’s team mate, Romain Grosjean, escaped a penalty at the Hungarian Grand Prix after his car failed the same test. At the time, the stewards ruled that his floor had been damaged and so no penalty was given.

Stewards today said that Raikkonen and Hulkenberg’s cars had been tested, but the Sauber had complied and the Iceman’s car failed the test.

If penalised, it is likely that Raikkonen will be excluded from qualifying and will start from the back of the grid.

Follow @F1_Madness on Twitter for the latest news and updates on the situation as well as all other F1 news and live commentary on race weekends.

November 2, 2013
Wonderful Webber on Pole in Abu Dhabi

Red Bull’s Mark Webber put in a scintillating flying lap in Q3 to take pole position for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

With both the Red Bulls on the back foot through Q1 and Q2, they seemed to have found some extra pace in Q3 to lock out the front row with Mark Webber in P1 with a 1:39.957 and Sebastian Vettel in P2 with a 1:40.075. Vettel who wasn’t very far behind is team mate made a mistake at the exit of T1 on his flying lap by running wide onto the astro-turf and lost a bit of time there.

The Mercedes pair of Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton locked out the second row of the grid in P3 (1:40.419) and P4 (1:40.501) respectively. Both Rosberg and Hamilton were in the top two in Q1 and Q2 and were faster than both the Red Bulls. But they were no match for the Red Bulls who seemed to have found a bit of extra pace in Q3. Hamilton’s final Q3 run did not end the way he wanted it as he had an over steer moment coming out of the T13 chicane. He ran wide over the kerbs and spun. “Something gave way on the right side of the car. I got out of the chicane and something snapped on the car” said Hamilton.

Lotus’ Kimi Raikkonen will line up 5th on the grid alongside Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg who had another strong qualifying session in 6th. The other Lotus of Romain Grosjean will start in P7 with Ferrari’s Felipe Massa in P8. McLaren’s Sergio Perez (P9) and and Toro Rosso’s Daniel Ricciardo (P10) round up the top 10.

It was another bad qualifying for Fernando Alonso who could only manage P11. It is the first time in the 2013 season where Alonso did not go through to Q3. “A difficult weekend for us. We are not competitive. My laps were not clean. We will see what we can do with a fresh set of tyres in the race” said Alonso. McLaren’s Jenson Button was the other big name that did not appear in Q3. Button, whos qualified in P13, was left feeling rather frustrated with his performance saying that everything for them today was a challenge. “We were maxed out on front wing from the word go. There’s nothing much we could do” said Button after being knocked out at the end of Q2.

Below is the full timing sheet from the 2013 Fomrula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

November 2, 2013
F1 2013: Practice 3 Report – Abu Dhabi GP

Sebastian Vettel headed the timing sheets of the third free practice session ahead of the Abu Dhabi grand prix.

The newly crowned four time world champion was followed by teammate Mark Webber as Red Bull again locked out the top two positions in the standings. The session got underway with a track temperature of 47 degrees Celcius; three degrees warmer than Friday’s first free practice session.

Several drivers including Lotus’ Romain Grosjean and Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso endured several off track excursions during the session but sustained no damage. Marussia’s Jules Bianchi was as fortunate as contact with the barrier brought a slightly premature end to his session. However, the Ferrari of Alonso looked a handful as the Spaniard was shown sawing away at the wheel of the car as the coaxed it through the corners around Yas Marina circuit.

Pastor Maldonado and Valterri Bottas ran the Williams with a revised exhaust system and both driver’s provided encouraging feedback. The system is a reversion to an ‘old-style’ system which sees the exhaust exit to top of the body work.

The qualifying simulation, run on the yellow walled soft tyres, revealed an average gain of 1,7 seconds but several drivers were able to gain more than two seconds during their run. Nevertheless, we are of course unaware of the different fuel levels that are being run by teams in practice sessions.

The Mercedes pairing of Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton appeared as the best of the rest behind the Red Bulls. Interestingly, Mark Webber set the quickest first and second sector while Vettel came out tops in the final sector of the lap. Abu Dhabi has never been a happy hunting ground for the Aussie but Webber may yet prove Vettel’s stiffest competition in qualifying later on this afternoon.

November 2, 2013
Raikkonen Nearly Boycotts Abu Dhabi GP

Kimi Raikkonen has confirmed that he had to be convinced to attend the final three races of the season including this weekend’s Abu Dhabi grand prix.

The Finn was nowhere in sight of the Yas Marina paddock by Thursday raising speculation about the reason for the 2007 champion’s absence. Although many believed that Raikkonen’s non-appearance was a result of the tension caused by a coarse radio message from trackside operations director Alan Permane during the Indian GP. While what transpired in India played some part it wasn’t the only reason Raikkonen was contemplating not driving at all.

“It’s a small part of it,” Raikkonen told Sky Sport. “Those things shouldn’t happen but unfortunately it happened and that’s not really the issue. It’s the other stuff and obviously all the things come together in the end.

“It’s easy to say that’s the reason why I didn’t almost come, it’s not that simple. Sometimes it’s not very nice when you hear that you don’t have the interests of the team [first] and then you’ve been paid zero euros the whole year.”

It isn’t often that Raikkonen is bothered by anything and it’s an even more rare occurrence for him to talk about behind-the-scenes issues; it says a lot that the 2007 champion has spoken out in the manner that he has.

Since the Indian GP the Lotus PR machine has been working overtime to calm the waters. An interview with team owner Gerard Lopez was posted on Lotus’ official webpage chock full of praise for Raikkonen; quite a turnaround from Singapore where Lopez branded the driver as “ungrateful.”

Raikkonen has further confirmed that he is willing to skip the races in Texas and Brazil if the issues are not resolved.

It is quite difficult to fathom why Lotus’ demeanour towards Raikkonen has taken such a dramatic turn. Surely some gratitude should be shown towards the driver that is consistently delivering points and doing so despite not earning a red cent from them.

November 1, 2013
Vettel On Top in FP2 in Abu Dhabi

Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel topped the time sheets at the end of the second free practice session at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi.

The young German set the pace this evening in Abu Dhabi with a 1:41.335 with his team mate Mark Webber P2 with a 1:41.490, 0.155s slower than Vettel. What was also encouraging for Red Bull was the very good long run pace they had on the primes and on the soft option tyre.

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton finished the session in P3 with a 1:41.690, 0.355s off the pace of Vettel. Lotus’ Kimi Raikkonen finished P4 with a 1:41.728 and Nico Rosberg ended his session in P5 with a 1:41.758. Raikkonen was very strong on his long run pace this session, his team mate Romain Grosjean who finished FP1 in P1 finished FP2 in P12.

McLaren’s Sergio Perez received some very encouraging news towards the end of the session from his race engineer Andy Latham telling him that they were very similar on pace to Mercedes and they were quicker than Ferrari. Checo ended the session in P6. Jenson Button trailed a very different setup by running a very shallow rear wing. The proof of which reflected in the speed traps where he was quickest.

Ferrari seemed to be struggling for pace in the session. Fernando Alonso ended the session in P8 and his team mate Felipe Massa finished in P10. They’re long run pace seemed to be there about, but nothing close to Lotus or Mercedes. It looks like its going to be a difficult weekend for them.

The full time sheet for the session is included below:

November 1, 2013
Lotus F1 Team Preview Quotes – Abu Dhabi GP

Kimi Raikkonen, Lotus
2012 Qualifying – 5th, 2012 Race – 1st
“It’s a great place to go. The circuit is connected to big entertainment centre and you’ve got all the boats moored next to the circuit. There are often a lot of passionate fans watching the race and for me the hotel is walking distance from the track which I like. It’s also good to race at a circuit where you have had a strong result before. I had a good result there last year, but I had a very boring race there the first time I visited in 2009. I’d prefer to have another good result, but you don’t know how strong you’ll be until you get to the circuit. The facilities are second to none. The track layout makes it really challenging for overtaking as there are not too many places to pass. You really have to qualify well to be at the front and get a strong result from there. There are many corners, you need good overall downforce and grip, plus the car has to ride the kerbs very well too. It’s a track where you really hope to get everything nicely together during the whole weekend. When you succeed with that, it’s a good place to race. I have had one very boring race being stuck in the middle group and then one great race fighting for the victory at the top. I know which I prefer. The evening race time means I can get up later! Having a mixture of day and night makes a different challenge from circuits that we see anywhere else. We start with the sun and finish with the lights. It’s different, interesting and spectacular for the fans to watch too.”

Romain Grosjean, Lotus
2012 Qualifying – 10th, 2012 Race – DNF
“Yas Marina is an amazing facility and it looks so impressive. It’s not used as much as some circuits over the course of the year so we know we’re going to get lower grip at the start of the weekend. For me, the layout is not my favourite – there are too many second gear corners for my liking – but not every circuit can be your favourite and the E21 certainly seems to be liking every track at the moment! My history in Abu Dhabi isn’t bad. Last year wasn’t the best weekend for me, as I qualified tenth and did not finish the race. It was however a great race for the team, so we know what is possible. I’ve been on pole position in the GP2 Asia Series and finished second in that race, then won a GT1 racing World Championship round there. My comeback to Formula One was also during an Abu Dhabi Grand Prix practice session in 2011, so I’ve got some good memories of the place. It would be nice to have some more…”

Eric Boullier, Lotus team principal
“Another win in Abu Dhabi would be fantastic and if Kimi could do the same again it would be a superb result. In a year we’ve made good progress. Our understanding of this year’s car and our design development processes are coming on well. We brought out the long wheelbase version of the E21 to prove a new method of assessing and evaluating our design development path, and this has proved to be a success. This is very good news for the future; especially as we look ahead to such significant changes in 2014. We head to this year’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix with a strong car and we’re in a position where both our drivers are performing very well at the moment, so anything could be possible.”

Alan Permane, Lotus trackside operations director
“Kimi put in a fantastic drive (in Abu Dhabi last year) and was able to capitalise on Lewis Hamilton’s retirement. Similarly to our current E21 chassis, last year’s E20 managed its tyres extremely well and it happened to do so particularly well around the Yas Marina Circuit. With that in mind – added to the fact that Pirelli have been a step more aggressive in terms of tyre allocation this season – there’s no reason to suspect we can’t have a very strong weekend again here. You need a car which is capable of doing two things that aren’t complimentary of each other. You want a setup which is fast down the straights and supple over the kerbs, but also gives responsive change of direction for the chicanes and good grip through the slower second gear corners towards the end of the lap. It’s a fine balance to find between making time down the straights or through the twisty bits. Of course, this compromise must also factor in the tyres as running less downforce can be kinder on the life of the rubber in some circumstances, but at the same time a higher downforce setting will help avoid the fronts sliding on corner entry and the rears spinning up on exit. Having the medium and soft compound once again – as per last time out in India – will be a challenge I’m sure. Making the soft tyre last in the heat of Abu Dhabi will undoubtedly be tough. We need to keep one eye on track temperatures as they will start to drop away as darkness falls, but the drop-off is not particularly significant. We usually see ambient temperatures of around thirty degrees and this doesn’t change dramatically even in the evenings so it won’t be a problem; particularly with the tyre allocation here.”

October 31, 2013
F1 2013: Race Preview – Amazing Abu Dhabi

Less than twelve months ago Sebastian Vettel stood on the cusp of becoming a three-time world champion ahead of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. One year later Vettel returns as a four-time champion and no less hungry for victory that the first time he rolled out onto a Formula 1 starting grid.

The only twilight race on the F1 calendar is unquestionably one of the most stunning venues of the season. Set against the fabulous backdrop of the setting Arabian sun the cars hardly look more spectacular at any other stage of the season. Even though the Yas Marina circuit still feels like a fairly recent addition to the calendar, the 2013 grand prix will be the fifth visit to the east coast of Abu Dhabi.

Similar to the Indian GP, Pirelli will provide the medium and soft compound tyres to the teams. The Budhh International circuit rendered the yellow walled soft tyre extremely fragile but in Abu Dhabi is expected to have a significantly longer lifespan. “The way that the track temperature falls in Abu Dhabi obviously has an effect on both wear and degradation, meaning that teams are able to do longer runs even on the softer compound later in the race,” said Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery.

It is an important time of the season for those drivers who still need to secure a 2014 seat. Despite being linked to several front-running teams it seems as if Nico Hulkenberg will not be jumping into a leading car, at least not in 2014. The immensely talented Hulkenberg has been linked with a move to Lotus with the German having supposedly signed a provisional agreement during the Japanese GP weekend. However, recent rumbling suggest that this agreement has been scrapped because the team cannot afford Hulkenberg. Instead Pastor Maldonado, and his PDVSA sponsor, look set to snatch the Lotus seat.

Nevertheless, Hulkenberg will be focusing on the task at hand this weekend and getting the best possible position by the end of the fifty-five lap race. The Yas Marina circuit should play to the strengths of the Sauber.

The first sector is relatively short and punctuated with several medium speed corners and bolstered with turns two and three acting as the two high-speed corners in the sector. The middle sector mainly distinguished by long straights with low-speed corners in the mix to provide some challenge to the drivers. The final sector of the 5.554km long lap is an unyielding series slow to medium speed corners which require the utmost precision. “The track is pretty tricky and technical, especially the last sector which has a lot of twisty, 90-degree corners. It’s easy to get it wrong and overdo it in qualifying,” said Nico Hulkenberg.

Red Bull has already sewn up both driver’s and constructor’s titles for 2013 but the battle for second and third place rages on. Whilst second place in the constructor’s standings for Ferrari holds an important psychological connotation, Lotus’ quest for the top three is purely financially motivated. Reports about financial trouble have hounded the Enstone based team throughout the season and the supposedly ‘done deal’ with Quantam (formerly Infinity) has allegedly hit a snag in recent times.

While several important stories develop behind the scenes it is on the track where the attention will be focused this weekend. Fernando Alonso is due a better result than he has been able to achieve in the last few races. It will be a difficult task however since the Ferrari doesn’t have a great record around Abu Dhabi. In addition, Alonso has appeared to be slightly dejected at the last few race meetings but Ferrari has dismissed talks about tension between the team and the Spaniard.

A team that cannot talk away the tension amidst their ranks is Lotus. Alan Permane’s now infamous race message to Kimi Raikkonen has been well publicised and met with a vast amount of criticism. Lotus team principal Eric Boullier has released a subsequent statement apologising for the message and the team will undoubtedly want to focus on fighting for a better position in the constructor’s championship.

There is nothing to suggest that Sebastian Vettel won’t be the odds on favourite to yet again occupy the top step of the podium. But just maybe the stars are aligning for someone else. However the cards fall for the Abu Dhabi GP, a cracking race is surely in prospect.

October 30, 2013
Video: Kimi Raikkonen confronts Alan Permane after Indian Grand Prix

Fan video captures Kimi Raikkonen confronting Alan Permane after the Indian Grand Prix. This after Permane came over the team radio and told Raikkonen to “get out of the f*cking way!” in a bid to get the Iceman to let team mate Grosjean pass him in the final stages of the race. Click here for that full radio message, including Raikkonen’s response. Team boss Eric Boullier has since apologised for the radio message on behalf of Lotus and Alan Permane.

October 29, 2013
Lotus apologises for Raikkonen radio message

Lotus team principal Eric Boullier has apologised for the radio messages exchanged between the team and Kimi Raikkonen during the Indian Grand Prix.

Raikkonen was struggling on worn tyres when team mate Romain Grosjean came up behind him and after putting up a fight for the position was told to “get out of the f***ing way” by Lotus’ Alan Permane. Raikkonen responded, telling the team not to shout at him and said he would give Grosjean the position – just not in a fast corner, or something along those lines.

Click here to hear the full message, including Raikkonen’s response.

Grosjean eventually finished the race on the podium in third place, while Raikkonen came home seventh after being forced to pit for fresh tyres.

Boullier explained, “Romain was 2 seconds per lap faster than Kimi at that time, so it was not even a team order.”

“By asking Kimi to let Romain pass, we just made the obvious choice, as Massa could have stolen our podium. With hindsight, this radio message could have been sent in a less emotional way. There was a lot of tension, a lot of potential technical problems, and some of the words that flew around were simply not appropriate.”

“I know that quite a few people were surprised and I can only apologise for that on behalf of the team. It won’t happen again.”

Boullier continued to say that Lotus did not perform perfectly but that both Raikkonen and Grosjean performed brilliantly. “We scored well, but it wasn’t a perfect performance as we messed up Romain’s qualifying and Kimi had a brake problem in the race,” he said. “These are two areas we need to address, but on race day everyone performed brilliantly. Romain had a very strong drive and managed to conserve his tyre performance right to the end.”

“He was fast despite having to nurse his engine, and being on the podium was a good reward for the whole team. Obviously it was disappointing that the tyres couldn’t last long enough for Kimi, as being third and fourth would have been an amazing result for the team and very useful in the Constructors’ Championship, but he managed his car’s brakes well to take a solid points finish.”

The apology was also posted on Lotus’ Facebook Page. Earlier in the day an image of a polar bear covering its eyes was also posted giving some indication that they know they’ve messed up. They most certainly lost a lot of respect from fans who took to their popular social media accounts on both Facebook and Twitter to blast the team and Permane for the way they spoke to Raikkonen. The Lotus PR team have their hands full with some very unhappy fans and a lot of the good PR work on social platforms which has seen Lotus’ Twitter account be crowned as the best F1 account a number of months in a row, seems to have been undone by Permane’s seemingly bitter behaviour toward Raikkonen.

Boullier is set to have a meeting with the drivers before the race in Abu Dhabi to ensure that this type of incident will not recur.

October 28, 2013