Tag: Lotus

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
Hungarian Grand Prix Preview Quotes – Lotus F1 Team

Kimi Raikkonen, Romain Grosjean, Eric Boullier and Alan Permane look ahead to the upcoming Hungarian Grand Prix. Here are their preview quotes for the Lotus F1 Team.

Kimi Raikkonen, Lotus
“I have finished second in Hungary too many times, so I know how important it is to lead the race after the first corner. DRS or not, it’s never easy to overtake at the Hungaroring. To get the weekend right, you have to have good sessions in FP1, FP2 and FP3, then a strong qualifying session and finally a perfect start to the race. It is always nice to go to Hungary. The circuit is not the most difficult of them all, but it is a really challenging venue as it’s usually very hot which makes it a demanding race. Of course, the heat has helped us with the car so far this year so that will make things better, but only if it’s a win will you not suffer from the heat. It’s such a slow, twisty circuit, so two things are really important there; good turn-in and good traction. If you have those, you have a strong car for the race. Obviously you need to get to the front in the qualifying, but also avoid the dirty side of the track on the grid. When you look back through the races this season, it seems the dirty side of the track is a real disadvantage in the starts. Many times Hungary has been called ‘the Grand Prix of Finland’. A lot of Finns go to this race every year and it is always nice to see the blue and white flags waving. Hopefully we get the result we are looking for. It would be nice to take the break after this race and recharge the batteries in the middle of the season with a good result on the board, but most importantly, it would be good to have the points.”

Romain Grosjean, Lotus
“I can remember feeling frustrated last year in Budapest as we did have a chance to be fighting for the win before we got held up by a driver who didn’t respect the blue flags, but that’s certainly a better frustration than missing out on the podium or even worse. Taking third in Germany was great so I certainly have a positive feeling heading to Hungary. What’s the key to a good result in Budapest? It’s a tight and twisty track so you need a good qualifying result. We showed last year that being on the front row certainly helps and it would be fantastic to be back there again this year. We’ve also seen that high temperatures work well for us and it’s usually hot in Budapest, so we’ll be hoping for plenty of sun again. It’s a circuit that I quite like and one where I have had good experiences in the past. I scored my first GP2 Series pole position there in 2008, then finished first and third in 2011 which was a pretty good weekend. In 2012 I had my third podium finish of the year and qualified P2 on the grid which was a great way to end the first half of the season. In terms of driving, it’s not the most physically challenging layout in terms of high speed corners, but the heat you experience in the cockpit can be quite intense. It can also be a difficult circuit early in the weekend as the track is not used very much, meaning it’s quite slippery when you first go out.”

Eric Boullier, Lotus Team Principle
“Budapest will be the real test, but we’re confident we have enough data (on the revised Pirelli tyres, from the Silverstone test) to say that there shouldn’t be any nasty surprises. We performed well in Hungary last year and we’re eager to do the same again this season too.”

Alan Permane, Lotus trackside operations director
“We believe the original allocation of medium and hard compounds would have been a very conservative choice for Budapest. Of course, the situation is still somewhat different as – for the first time this season – we’ll see a combination of the 2013 compounds with 2012 construction used in a race scenario. This has brought something of an unknown into the equation with this year’s car, as the tyres are of a slightly different shape and will react differently to camber, toe in/out and so on. We’ve had the opportunity to get a better understanding of how they’ll behave at the Young Driver Test so there are no concerns on that front. On top of that, our knowledge of this construction from the 2012 season carries over quite well to this new configuration; giving us a good baseline in terms of such considerations as ride height, camber and toe sensitivity.

“In terms of upgrades, we had a tightly packed schedule over the three-day test at Silverstone, to the point where even with a few extra days and sets of tyres we would still have had more than enough development work to keep us occupied. This has given us plenty to think about heading to Hungary and indeed the second half of the season.

“In terms of track evolution, this circuit doesn’t get a great deal of use and it can get pretty dry and dusty out there, so it generally improves steadily throughout the weekend; not to Monaco levels, but notable enough to be worth factoring into our preparations for qualifying in particular. We saw Nico Rosberg getting caught out by an evolving track during qualifying at the Nürburgring – a circuit that is far more frequently used – so it’ll keep us on our toes on Saturday afternoon.

“Qualifying is crucial. It’s a track where passing opportunities are few and far between, making overtaking very difficult even with a reasonable pace advantage, so we’ll be doing our utmost to qualify further up the field than we have been. Mercedes have proven themselves to be the class of the field in terms of single lap pace so it will be very difficult to qualify in front of them, but we’ll be looking to at least get very close to them on the grid to give our drivers the best chance possible of overhauling them in the race. We’ve seen in the past that they have struggled with tyre degradation on a Sunday which should work to our advantage – particularly in hot conditions as we often see in Hungary – with the medium / soft compound allocation also potentially giving us a broader scope in terms of strategies.”

July 20, 2013
Kimi Raikkonen no longer taking part in Young Driver Test

Kimi Raikkonen will no longer take part in the Young Driver Test on Friday after the Lotus team decided he would be underutilised under the regulations restricting the race driver’s programmes at Silverstone.

“Once details of what race drivers were allowed to do here became apparent, we would have only been able to conduct a very limited programme with Kimi,” Lotus trackside operations director Alan Permane said. “If we were to run him, it would compromise the other development work we want to do with the car here. By running Nico again we’ll be able to build on the work already carried out and hopefully be in the best position to develop the E21 ahead of Budapest, whilst also conducting the necessary tyre testing for Pirelli.”

Race drivers are allowed to take part in the test this year but only if they stick to a run plan dictated by tyre supplier Pirelli. Development work may only be done by drivers who have less than two grands prix experience so Lotus will put Nicolas Prost back in the car on Friday.

Mark Webber was also pulled from the programme this morning.

Red Bull will still make use of Sebastian Vettel for Friday afternoon though and Ferrari has also opted to keep Felipe Massa for a half day’s testing.

Photo: Lotus F1 Team Twitter

July 17, 2013
Codemasters to Launch F1 2013 game

Codemaster’s has announced that F1 2013 will be released, worldwide, in the next few months.

The software company, who made their first F1 game in 2011, announced a new feature of the game that is sure to please the purists. A new gameplay mode, called F1 Classics, will be featured that allows fans a chance at taking on legendary drivers on some of the most iconic racing tracks throughout the world.

The F1 Classics gameplay mode will be introduced by legendary Murray Walker and will enable gamers to race the classic Williams, Lotus and Ferrari cars of the 80s.Gamers will be able to compete on famous circuits such as Brands Hatch and Jerez against greats of the sports like Mario Andretti, Nigel Mansell, Emerson Fittipaldi and Gerhard Berger. Codemasters have suggested that more legends may be include in the F1 Classics mode but at still to confirm exactly which heroes from the past will make an appearance.

F1 2013 will be available on PC, Xbox 360 and Playstation3.

Codemasters have released these ‘work in progress’ screenshots to whet the appetite.

July 16, 2013

Everything you need to know about the Young Driver’s Test

Formula 1’s annual Young Driver’s Test starts tomorrow on the Silverstone race track.

However, this year’s three day test session has a bit of a twist to it. As a result of the tyre troubles at Silverstone grand prix the test has been transformed into an emergency tyre test for the Italian manufacturer to regain its footing in the sport.

Teams won’t have free reign to do as the please throughout the three days though. Formula 1’s governing body, the FIA, has clearly stipulated what can and cannot be done.

The FIA will send its own observer to the test session to ensure that no current race driver complete any development work for their respective teams.
The current race drivers may complete one full day of work on the emergency tyre testing program.
The ‘young driver’ will be permitted to carry out development work on their team cars.

Mercedes will sit out the three day test session as the Brackley based team serves a ban imposed on them for conducting a tyre test after the Spanish grand prix. Lewis Hamilton has voiced his concern on the dangers of Mercedes not being allowed to test the new tyres before their introduction at the Hungarian grand prix.

“I don’t know if people fully appreciate how big a negative it is for us not to do the test.We are going to go to Hungary when other people have gone and tested (the new tyres with) different ride-heights, different pressures, got their car ready for a long run so they arrive ready.We don’t have any of that information so when we get there we’re going to go into it blind.We shouldn’t be in this position in sport, but that’s the way it is,” said Hamilton.

But it seems the Brit’s fears will be assuaged as Pirelli motorsport director, Paul Hemberey, announced that Mercedes will recieve data on findings about the new tyres.

The Young Driver’s Test was institued with the aim of showcasing up-and-coming talents that could, potentially, be the future of Formula 1.Several current drivers will be present at the test but in amongst will be some eager drivers keen to make their mark.

Team	Wednesday 17th	Thursday 18th	Friday 19th
*Red Bull*	Antonio Felix da Costa Daniel Ricciardo	Antonio Felix da Costa Daniel Ricciardo	Carlos Sainz Jnr Sebastian Vettel
*Ferrari*	Davide Rigon	Davide Rigon	Felipe Massa Davide Rigon
*McLaren*	Kevin Magnussen	Oliver Turvey	Gary Paffett
*Lotus*	Nicolas Prost	Davide Valsecchi	Nicolas Prost
*Mercedes*	Banned
*Sauber*	Robin Frijns	Robin Frijns Nico Hulkenberg	Kimiya Sato
*Force India*	James Calado	Paul di Resta	Adrian Sutil
*Williams*	Daniel Juncadella	Pastor Maldonado	Susie Wolff
*Toro Rosso*	Johnny Cecotto Jnr	Carlos Sainz Jnr	Jean-Eric Vergne Daniil Kvyat
*Caterham*	Alexander Rossi	Will Stevens	Charles Pic Giedo van der Garde
*Marussia*	Tio Ellinas Max Chilton	Rodolfo Gonzalez	Rodolfo Gonzalez Jules Bianchi

July 16, 2013

F1 2013: German GP Review – Vettel breaks his German jinx

The 2013 German grand prix is one that will stay in the memory bank of Sebastian Vettel for quite some time. Bested in Saturday’s qualifying session by Lewis Hamilton the reigning world champion had it all to do in Sunday’s race.

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton finished a tenth clear of Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel to take pole position for the German grand prix.

The biggest casualty of qualifying was teammate and British grand prix race winner, Nico Rosberg. An initial run in the second part of Saturday’s qualifying appeared to be enough for the German to advance to the top ten shoot-out. However, a late flurry of flying laps in the closing stages of the second session of quali pushed Rosberg down to eleventh and out of contention for the front row of the grid. The German commented that the team had “underestimated the pace of the track.”

Ever dependable Jenson Button managed to drag his McLaren into the top ten and continually impressive Daniel Ricciardo and Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg advanced to the final part of qualifying.

But Saturday once again belonged to Lewis Hamilton. The 2008 champion pipped championship leader Sebastian Vettel to pole position but a tenth of a second. Former German grand prix winner Mark Webber will start third and Kimi Raikkonen, in the Lotus, fourth. Romain Grosjean and Daniel Ricciardo will start fifth and sixth ahead of Massa, Alonso and Button.

Acing the start was the easiest part of Vettel’s afternoon as he had to fight both the Lotus’ Romain Grosjean and Kimi Raikkonen. Vettel grabbed the lead of the race straight away and controlled the pace easily ahead of teammate Mark Webber.

The soft compound Pirelli tyres dictated early pitstops for the frontrunners and pushed Lotus’ Romain Grosjean into the lead of the race. Mark Webber’s first pitstop, on lap nine, took a dramatic turn as his right-rear wheel was not attached correctly. It bounced through the pitlane before striking and FOM camera-man, Paul Allen. The cameraman was being held for observation with a concussion, broken ribs and a fractured collar bone. Red Bull have been fined 30 000 Euro for unsafe release of Webber’s car.

A pitstop from Grosjean re-instated Vettel to the race lead but the German looked unlikely to maintain the lead under serious pressure from Grosjean’s Lotus. Nevertheless, the nearly ten second gap to third placed Raikkonen would soon be wiped out.

For what seemed like a fairly innocuous retirement from Marussia’s Jules Bianchi soon took a dangerous turn as Bianchi’s driverless car started to roll down the middle of the circuit. This prompted the deployment of the safety car on lap 24 and spurred a flurry of activity in the pitlane.

By the time the safety car pulled into the pitlane Vettel had both Lotuses breathing down his neck. Romain Grosjean tried his level best to overtake the Red Bull driver but it proved a bridge to far for the Frenchman who subsequently pitted on lap 40 for a fresh set of medium tyres. Vettel followed into the pitlane a lap later and relinquished the lead of the race to Kimi Raikkonen.

The Lotus driver was leading the race by 15 seconds over Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel and felt that the tyres and the car were, possibly, performing well enough to hold on to the lead. However, communication problems between the pitwall and Raikkonen ultimately led to a late pitstop for the Finn.

“I could run longer and we had to think about if we should try to run until the end,” said Raikkonen. “But I had massive problem with the radio. I could hear the team but they couldn’t hear me, apart from at two corners.

Raikkonen last pitstop switched him to the soft compound Pirelli tyres and left him roughly three seconds adrift of the Red Bull. Despite closing down Vettel in the closing stages of the race and getting to within the DRS zone, the Finn was unable to regain the lead of the grand prix. Raikkonen finished one second behind race winner Sebastian Vettel.

Ferrari’s qualifying strategy hadn’t quite gone to plan with Felipe Massa retiring and Fernando Alonso only salvaging fourth. Polesitter Lewis Hamilton’s difficult afternoon was blighted with tyre issues but the Brit fought his way back to finish fifth overall. Jenson Button returned McLaren to the points paying positions with a fine sixth place ahead of a recovering Webber in seventh. Perez, Rosberg and Hulkenberg rounded out the top ten.

The dismal run of form for Williams continued this weekend as the team failed to score even a single point on the weekend they are celebrating 600 grand prix starts.

Just seven days ago Sebastian Vettel walked away from the British grand prix without a single point in the bank. But he’s no three champion by mistake and this is not the impetuous Vettel of 2009. A mature, in control, winning machine is what Vettel has transformed himself into – and that is going to take some stopping in 2013.

As impressive a collection of achievements as Sebastian Vettel has been able to put together winning his home race has always eluded him. But a finely judged drive and resisting big pressure from Raikkonen has earned the championship leader a coveted home race victory.

July 7, 2013
2013 German GP: Raikkonen wonders about final pitstop

Kimi Raikkonen suspects that a late pitstop during the German grand prix may not have been neccesary.

The Lotus driver was leading the race by 15 seconds over Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel and felt that the tyres and the car were, possibly, performing well enough to hold on to the lead. However, communication problems between the pitwall and Raikkonen ultimately led to a late pitstop for the Finn.

“I could run longer and we had to think about if we should try to run until the end,” said Raikkonen. “But I had massive problem with the radio. I could hear the team but they couldn’t hear me, apart from at two corners.

Raikkonen last pitstop switched him to the soft compound Pirelli tyres and left him roughy three seconds adrift of the Red Bull. Despite closing down Vettel in the closing stages of the race and getting to within the DRS zone, the Finn was unable to regain the lead of the grand prix. Raikkonen finished one second behind race winner Sebastian Vettel.

July 7, 2013
Nurburgring German Grand Prix Preview Quotes – Lotus F1 Team

Preview Quotes from the Lotus F1 Team ahead of the German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring.

Kimi Raikkonen, Lotus

“I have always enjoyed driving in Germany, but the problem is that luck has never been on my side there and something has always happened to stop me winning. I’ve got four poles to show my speed on German soil, but six retirements at this race haven’t been what I wanted. Obviously in the past both circuits – the Nurburgring and Hockenheim – have not been very kind to me, but I like them both and I have always been very competitive; in terms of pace if not maybe results. I’ve gone very well at the Nurburgring before, just never won. A couple of times I’ve had to stop while leading the race which always sends you home with a bad feeling. Hopefully I can finally get everything right this time. Last year we made the top three in Hockenheim, so let’s wait and see how it goes at the Nurburgring for the first time with this team. It’s pretty good circuit, but probably not as much fun as the old one. It should suit us, but the fact is you need a really good car to be competitive there. Most of all you need good traction out of the corners and a stable car under braking. We’re pretty reasonable in both these areas. We have had our issues with cooler weather and unfortunately it’s not usually that warm at the Nürburgring, but we’ll just see what we get and get on with it.”

Romain Grosjean, Lotus

“The Nurburgring is quite a nice track with a quite a lot to it. There’s a really interesting mix of corners which means you have plenty to think about over the course of a lap; you’re certainly kept busy! The first section relies on mechanical grip and Turn 1 can be interesting at the start of the race if people go too deep into the corner. It can also be a good overtaking opportunity during the race too. After that there are some higher speed corners down to the hairpin – which is another good place you can overtake – then nice high speed stuff for the rest of the lap. You need a well-balanced car so I think we should go pretty well. This will be my first time racing there in Formula 1, but I’ve raced at the track previously in F3 and the GP2 Series. Last time I raced there – 2011 in the GP2 Series – I scored a podium and a win so my most recent memories of the circuit are certainly good.”

Eric Boullier

“There’s nothing about the Nurburgring to cause us any concern so we should be in the hunt again in Germany. We brought plenty of upgrades to Silverstone and we have a lot of data from the weekend so there should be some more pace to extract there. Another positive for the team to take from Silverstone was that all our race pit stops were completed in 2.5 seconds or under. It’s great to see the hard work in this area making improvements, so a big thanks to the pit stop crew – who practice their stops so many times both at the track and at the factory – as well as the design and manufacturing departments for all the equipment and relevant car parts too.”

Alan Permane, Lotus trackside operations director

“The Nurburgring is a good track and one that the drivers really seem to enjoy as it has a real mix of everything. The opening sector is really quite technical, with good traction and a strong front end needed for some of the longer radius low speed turns. Then of course there’s a couple of swooping, medium speed downhill turns towards the hairpin, followed by the high speed kink which – despite the gradient – is taken flat out in 6th or even 7th gear at around 280kph and really pushes the drivers. Next, you have a couple of medium / high speed corners leading onto the long back straight, followed by a tight chicane and the last corner, where a good front end is again required to counter the understeer inducing nature of the turn. In terms of chassis setup there’s a little bit of everything required; good change of direction for the medium speed corners, decent traction and front end for the tricky first sector and good top end speed for the long straights. Having only just been to Silverstone there won’t be anything major (in terms of upgrades), as the crew will be driving straight down to Germany to rebuild the cars without stopping at the factory. That said, we still have a new wing which we haven’t used yet and we still have to try various permutations of the latest upgrades on both cars. If it’s good weather and everything goes to plan, we could unlock quite a bit of speed this weekend.”

July 4, 2013
F1 2013: British GP Review – Rosberg tops at dramatic Silverstone

Formula 1 in 2013 hasn’t been short of drama but it well and truly ramped up for the eighth round of the season at Britain’s Silverstone grand prix.

It was home-grown hero Lewis Hamilton who thrashed the field to take only his second pole position at the famous circuit. The margin between the 2008 champion and teammate Rosberg was the biggest it had been all season as Mercedes locked out the front row of the grid. Sebastian Vettel was ever present in third ahead of retiring teammate, Mark Webber.

Force India’s Paul Di Resta delivered an excellent lap for fifth but would later be excluded from qualifying for an underweight car. The Lotus of Kimi Raikkonen and Ferrari of Fernando Alonso seemed to struggle in qualifying trim as the duo only managed to start eighth and ninth.

Lewis Hamilton led cleanly away from pole position as Vettel slotted into third ahead of Rosberg. Mark Webber’s race was made a lot tougher after a clash with Romain Grosjean left the Australian with damage to the front-wing. A bit of damage to a front-wing would be the least dramatic issue of the day.

Lewis Hamilton easily in the lead of the race and steadily building a gap over Vettel would become the first driver to suffer a left rear tyre blowout. The Pirelli tyre seemed to completely disintegrate without any indication whatsoever. Somehow Hamilton was able to return his Mercedes to the pits but his chances of victory had been thrown out the window.

It looked like horrible luck for Hamilton until two laps later Felipe Massa’s Ferrari suffered the exact same failure. Jean-Eric Vergne became the third driver to suffer a tyre blow-out on lap 15 as his left rear spectacularly exploded on the Hangar straight.

The Toro Rosso driver’s tyre failure brought out the safety car as debris from the blowout littered the circuit. McLaren’s Sergio Perez would be the final driver to suffer an identical tyre blow-out on lap 46. At this point drivers were being told to avoid the kerbs in case they were the cause for the tyre problems. But Fernando Alonso didn’t share the same opinion after the race. “I have been racing here 12 years & never had this problem (tyre). I think the kerbs were perfectly ok,” said the Ferrari driver.

Racing resumed on lap 22 with no certainty of whose Pirelli could fail next but there was still a race to be had as Vettel led Rosberg over the start/finish line. The Red Bull driver extended his advantage over Rosberg to two seconds but the Mercedes driver was gradually starting chip away at his lead. Rosberg wasn’t required to do much more work in catching Vettel as the reigning world champion’s car grinded to a halt at the pit entry with a gearbox failure.

The stricken Red Bull prompted another safety car and Rosberg, Webber and Alonso dived into the pitlane for a fresh set of medium tyres. The only front-running driver not to take a fresh set of tyres was Kimi Raikkonen. Raikkonen was running second when he asked his team why they had not called him into the pits for fresh tyres. The Lotus pitwall had roughly half a lap behind the safety car to decide on a pitstop but responded to Raikkonen’s question with “I don’t know” and “It’s too late now.” On a day when championship leader Vettel failed to score any points the Lotus pitwall destroyed what could have been a significant gain in the championship stakes. Raikkonen eventually finished fifth, defenceless on hard tyres he had put on twenty laps earlier. It is on moments like this that championships are lost and won.

Mark Webber’s announcement of his retirement at the end of the season sent the rumours of Raikkonen joining the Red Bull team into overdrive. Lotus team principal Eric Boullier has said that they are doing everything they can to keep the Finn in the team. He believes that the ‘atmosphere’ within the team is enough to make Raikkonen stay put – it isn’t. During his two year hiatus from Formula 1 the Iceman let it be known that he is only interested in winning races – not fighting for second. The doubt is whether Lotus can consistently deliver up to that standard. Mistakes such as this will surely make Raikkonen’s decision to stay or leave a lot less difficult. Lotus are a good team but many suggest that the only thing making them great is Kimi Raikkonen. Since his return to Formula 1 he hasn’t put a wheel wrong and he has rekindled a kind of speed and driving class second to none. Give this guy what he needs and he will win you a world championship. Lotus’ mistakes could be more costly than they expect.

Mark Webber, recovered from front-wing damage, charged through the field in the closing laps to within seven tenths of race leader Rosberg. Similarly, Fernando Alonso’s fresh tyres allowed him pass several cars and finish third overall. Fernando Alonso was happy to salvage third place on a weekend where Ferrari look decidedly off the pace but called on his team to ‘raise their game’ in the coming races.

Nico Rosberg inherited the lead of the race but he won the British GP on pure merit. Never putting a wheel wrong he soaked up the late-race pressure from Webber like a pro. Career victory number three was well deserved for the most improved driver of 2013.

The Pirelli tyregate saga took a very dramatic turn during the British GP prompting the teams to angrily demand answers from the Italian tyre supplier. So serious was the tyre situation that race director Charlie Whiting admitted post-race that he was close to putting out the red flag.

Paul Hembery has failed to appear at press conferences at the last two races but at some point Pirelli and their motorsport director will have to face the music. Pirelli have been invited, by FIA President Jean Todt, to attend the Sporting Working Committee meeting at the Nurburgring next week in order to find a solution to the tyre problems.

The teams are now pushing for next month’s young driver’s test to be scrapped in favour of a fully fledged tyre test.

July 1, 2013