Tag: romain grosjean

Belgium GP: Post Qualifying Report – Hamilton times it to a tee

The notorious Spa weather had a definitive say in today’s qualifying sessions as Lewis Hamilton snatched pole position in the dying seconds of the session.

The fickle weather dampened the 7 km long circuit enough to prompt the fitting of intermediate tyres all twenty-two cars. It was the opportunists who would cash into the difficult conditions and on this occasion both Caterham and Marussia happily took the gamble to run the medium compound slick tyres towards the end of the first twenty minute session.

As the circuit dried considerably so the laptimes tumbled. The Williams duo who had found themselves heading the timing sheets ultimately ended up outside the top sixteen. Giedo van der Garde for Caterham and Marussia Chilton and Bianchi all advanced the second part of qualifying thanks to some quick thinking tactics.

The second session was run in completely dry conditions and it was Kimi Raikkonen who a set a low 1 minute 48 to end the session quickest of all. While Jenson Button stuck his McLaren into 5^th place on the sheets teammate Perez failed to advance.

The dry running would be confined to the second part of qualifying as the light rain marked the start of the top ten shootout. As the field rushed out of the pitlane on white-walled medium tyres only Paul di Resta opted to remain in his garage. The Force India emerged shortly afterwards on intermediate tyres. It appeared to be a stroke of tactical genius by the Force India team as the other nine cars on circuit all returned to the pitlane for inters.

Di Resta was left with a clear track and what appeared to be the best track conditions as the rain intensified and circuit became a slippery thrill ride. For the majority of the session it looked as if the Scotsman was on course for his first pole position. Nevertheless, there would be a late twist in the tail. The rain had ceased and conditions had hugely improved towards the end of the ten minutes.

As several drivers snatched the top spot it was Lewis Hamilton who timed it to perfection. The Brit was the last driver to cross the line – therefore setting his lap at the time the circuit was at its best.

Hamilton snatched the pole position by two tenths of a second from championship leader Sebastian Vettel. Mark Webber lines up third ahead of the sister Mercedes of Nico Rosberg in fifth. Paul di Resta ended up with fifth place ahead of Jenson Button, Romain Grosjean and Kimi Raikkonen. Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa rounds out the top ten.

August 24, 2013
Belgian GP preview quotes: Lotus F1 Team

The much anticipated Belgian GP lies ahead and like all the other drivers, Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean are super excited about going to Spa. Here are the Belgian GP preview quotes from the Lotus guys.

Kimi Raikkonen, Lotus
“Usually I’ve achieved a good result at the Belgian GP, but what has happened there before doesn’t help me right now. Of course, it doesn’t cause any harm either and it would be great to win at Spa for a fifth time. Extra points are always good and if you win the race no-one scores more points than you. For me there have only been good memories from Spa and it’s great to go racing there. You can’t get the same kind of a feeling anywhere else. It’s great to race with a modern racing car at a proper circuit which has such a great tradition.

“Spa offers very challenging high-speed corners and you need to get the right set-up for the car. As we’ve seen so many times this year, a good grid position is extremely important. It will be very decisive at Spa too, even though it is maybe easier to overtake there than at some other tracks. It’s crucial to have a good car aerodynamically to tackle the fast corners and it’s a long lap, so to get the right time you really need to maintain the best rhythm. So much depends on the qualifying result, so we need to find a decent set-up on Friday and Saturday and have a solid qualifying session on Saturday afternoon. I don’t know how it will suit our car this year. Last year we were not very strong there. I think we know the reasons and for sure our car is better this year, but is it good enough to be fighting for a win? We will see on Sunday.

“I bet every driver likes Spa. For me it is the greatest racing circuit in the world. It is my favourite place. I have liked the place since my first ever visit there in 2000 with Formula Renault.”

Romain Grosjean, Lotus
“What a track; it’s fantastic! It’s a superb rollercoaster of a circuit, then there’s the added bonus that they speak French meaning it’s almost another home race for me after Monaco and Canada. It’s going to be good. If we have the pace we displayed in Budapest at a more normal circuit with better overtaking opportunities – and a bit wider track too – then I think good things could well be possible.

“It should fit our car pretty well. In fact, the second half of the season looks good overall in terms of how the tracks should suit the E21. Hopefully we’ll have everything we need to win races. I’m looking forward to it as it’s a special track and I also won the GP2 Series title there in 2011, so it’ll be good for me to be back there again.”

Alan Permane, Lotus trackside operations director
“Similar to Canada, Spa is a much lower downforce layout than most venues we visit with significantly lower temperatures; usually between 15 and 20 degrees ambient. We will also be using the hard and medium compound tyres which – combined with the cooler climate – have not been our strength I think it’s fair to say. We have, however, been putting in a lot of time and effort to get the harder tyres working better in lower temperatures, and I’m fairly confident we’ll head into this race remaining equally competitive.

“We haven’t made a final decision yet as to whether the [passive double-DRS] Device will be deployed, but we’ve been conducting a lot of simulation work with the concept to help clarify that decision and there’s a good chance we’ll see it make an appearance.

“The advantage we have with Spa being so close geographically is that we can be working on the cars back at Enstone right up until the Tuesday night before the race, and still have sufficient time to get them to the circuit ready for work on Thursday morning. We’ve got several updates coming up – both mechanical and aerodynamic – so we’re confident of making another step forward.”

Photo: Lotus F1 Team

August 21, 2013
F1 2013 Mid Season Review

Starting with a hazardous Australian Grand Prix with ever changing weather conditions to a controlled race in Hungary we’ve had everything from tyre explosions to loose wheels, pitlane accidents, cars on fire and controversy galore. The 2013 F1 season has been a thrilling, wild ride for teams, drivers and fans alike.

With ten races behind us, it’s time to look at the season so far and how things have been shaping up.

Here is our F1 2013 Mid Season Review ahead of what is set to be an tumultuous second half of the season.

Red Bull Racing – 277 points

Sebastian Vettel – 172 points, Mark Webber – 105 points

Red Bull is still the team to beat and are the only team to really maximise their results every race so far this season. Leading the championship with 60 points over Mercedes in second place, it’s bound to be business as usual for the team following the break. Sebastian Vettel is sitting pretty in the drivers’ championship too – 38 points ahead of his nearest rival, Kimi Raikkonen in second place.

Vettel has raced all out so far this season – even defying team orders to score an extra 6 points – and remains on track for his 4th world championship.

Red Bull have an incredibly quick car – perhaps the quickest on the grid – and have remained incredibly consistent but have suffered like the other teams with tyre degradation issues and saw Vettel retiring from the British Grand Prix with mechanical failures. Vettel however will be very hard to beat going forward and his rivals know it.

Mark Webber, who announced that he will be leaving F1 at the end of the season, has had a more inconsistent – and really unlucky – season. Webber has had no wins yet this season but you can be sure that he’ll be looking to add to his nine career wins before he bows out of F1. His frustration became very clear in Malaysia when Vettel defied team orders to pass Webber for what would have been his only win this season.

Mercedes – 208 points

Lewis Hamilton – 124 points, Nico Rosberg – 84 points

With Niki Lauda and Toto Wolff assuming high profile positions and Lewis Hamilton joining the Brackley based team, all eyes were on Mercedes even before the season got underway.

Nobody expected Hamilton to be challenging for race wins in his first season at Mercedes, but he was on the podium within two races and took his first race win at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Team mate Nico Rosberg has already recorded two race wins so far this season and continues to impress.

Mercedes has made quite a turn-around this season and their prospects are not looking bad at all. With a 69 point deficit to championship leaders Red Bull, it seems unlikely that they will challenge for the championship though.

Ferrari – 194 points

Fernando Alonso – 133 points, Felipe Massa – 61 points

A mid season review of the Ferrari team’s performance so far this year, seems all too familiar. Ferrari started off really well with both drivers having a really good start to their season.

Alonso banked a solid second place at the first race in Australia, and Massa also started off well – regularly out-qualifying his team mate and recording point finishes.

But things have been on a downward spiral after Alonso’s wins in Spain and China. In contrast to the 2012 season when Alonso had a 40 point lead at the summer break, the team has lost their second place in the championship and qualifying seems to be a big problem for the team. Massa was struck by a number of crashes and race retirements pushing him far behind his team mate as far the driver standings go.

They’ve just not kept up with the pace of development at Red Bull. Alonso has slipped back into third place in the championship – but it would be silly to discount the Spaniard just yet – his entire championship lead was wiped clean by Vettel in the second half of the 2012 season so that should be a clear indication of how quickly things can change.

Lotus – 183 points

Kimi Raikkonen – 134 points, Romain Grosjean – 49 points

The Lotus F1 Team started the 2013 season on a high, with a win for Kimi Raikkonen at the Australian Grand Prix. But that early strong form has not led to further victories for Raikkonen or the team, with the Finn collecting five second-place finishes and teammate Romain Grosjean – the former ‘first lap nutcase’ added two third-places to his name.

Lotus have been in the midst of the battle at every race. Their constant evolution and the way the tyres work for them has made this team a contender for the podium every race weekend. But their downfall is Saturday qualifying – the E21 has simply not had the outright pace in qualifying to make Sundays a little easier for the team.

Raikkonen has moved up to second place in the championship, one point ahead of Alonso, but if he hopes to catch Vettel they’re going to need to start winning races and with technical director James Allison leaving for Ferrari, it remains to be seen whether they’ll be able to keep up the development pace that will be required to catch the Red Bull.

Force India – 59 points

Paul di Resta – 36 points, Adrian Sutil – 23 points

For the purposes of a mid season review it can be said that Force India have had a pretty impressive season in general – especially in the earlier part of the calendar. Their car has far outshone the team’s resources and their drivers have both delivered on track, scoring points and making Force India’s mark as the strongest of the mid-field teams.

Adrian Sutil, who recently celebrated his 100th race, has driven really well especially in Monaco when he fearlessly overtook his rivals on the narrow street circuit. But unfortunately, like his team mate Paul Di Resta, the pace has just not lasted and they’ve both been rather lack-lustre of late. The final two races before the mid season break were their worst of the year so far and the tyre change in Budapest seemed to affect them particularly negatively.

Both drivers have worked really hard though and this has culminated in the team now ahead of McLaren in the Constructors’ championship. The Woking-based team is breathing down their necks though and they’ll have to pull up their socks in the remainder of the season if they hope to hold onto 5th place in the championship.

McLaren – 57 points

Jenson Button – 39 points, Sergio Perez – 18 points

The fact that McLaren is being discussed this far down in the mid season review should be a clear indication of the difficult, disappointing season the Woking-based team have had. McLaren are used to being in the heat of the battle for the championship but are currently on 6th in the standings, behind Force India. The dramatic slump in their form will certainly be a surprise to most.

Their drivers both try really hard – sometimes a little too hard as is often the case with Sergio Perez, but their car can’t keep up and they’re left fighting the mid-field.

Jenson Button’s strategy calls have been his only saving grace – in the last four races he was able to challenge for 5th and 6th places but this is obviously not where the team are used to being.

McLaren has said that they are no longer developing their 2013 car and are now working on their 2014 car instead, so don’t expect too much from them in the second half of the season. Jenson Button however has said he is very positive going into the Belgian Grand Prix and has predicted a podium at Spa. Let’s wait and see how that pans out.

Toro Rosso – 24 points

Daniel Ricciardo – 11 points, Jean-Eric Vergne – 13 points

Toro Rosso may not be fighting for titles and race wins but they have shown some significant progress during the season so far.

Daniel Ricciardo, who is still first in line for Mark Webber’s Red Bull seat, has put in some very strong qualifying performances.

Team mate Jean-Eric Vergne has brought home some very impressive race drives. With Vergne out of the running for the Red Bull seat, one can only hope that the Frenchman will still come out fighting for the rest of the season as the battle of the team mates has been the most interesting thing to watch within the Toro Rosso team.

It is unsure how long Toro Rosso will continue development on their current car, given the mammoth task of developing the much-changed 2014 cars that lies ahead.

Sauber – 7 points

Nico Hulkenberg – 7 points, Esteban Gutierrez – 0 points

Sauber has had a really challenging season so far and the mid season review of their performance leaves a disappointed taste in the mouth. Everyone had great hopes for Sauber – their car was the star of the 2013 car launches, but things have just not materialised for the team.

I guess a lot can be blamed on their budget and financial troubles but from the very beginning Sauber were on the back foot with a car that has struggled from the word go, and two brand new drivers in the team.

Nico Hulkenberg has done his best with the car he’s been given and has managed to secure 7 points for the team. His team mate Esteban Gutierrez has not done too badly for a rookie but has failed to bring home any points.

Sauber have closed a deal with Russian investors to help save the team, so let’s hope that pans out well for them or we may never see a C-33.

Williams – 1 point

Pastor Maldonado – 1 point, Valtteri Bottas – 0 points

At the back of the grid it’s been a very disappointing season for the Williams team. After winning a race last year in the FW34 we all expected much more from the FW35 but alas. They only scored their first point for the entire season at the Hungarian Grand Prix in Budapest.

The car lacks downforce and both Pastor Maldonado and team mate Valtteri Bottas have found the car difficult to drive, resulting in the team doing a mid season review of their own and overhauling their technical team. Most notably, technical director Mike Coughlan has left the team and been replaced by former Renault and Marussia man, Pat Symonds. He is bound to make a huge difference to the team but I’m afraid it’s a little too late to expect it to make a difference for the 2013 season though so let’s hope they’re already working on next year’s car.

Marussia – 0 points

Jules Bianchi – 0 points, Max Chilton – 0 points)

Marussia continues their battle for tenth place in the championship with the Caterham team. They started the season very impressively and after the Australian Grand Prix you would have been forgiven for thinking they may even be set to trouble the mid-field teams this season, but instead they’ve pretty much been racing the Caterham team all season.

They have gained a lot since last year though, especially in the form of rookie driver Jules Bianchi who has had some impressive performances.

His fellow rookie team mate Max Chilton has struggled a little to come to grips with driving an F1 car but the Marussia team have been impressed by his consistency and the feedback they get from him.

They’ve been dealt a pretty big blow with Pat Symonds leaving for Williams but for now, they still hold on to tenth place thanks to Bianchi’s 13th place finish in Malaysia.

We’re not expecting much in terms of development from the Marussia team for the rest of the season but for now, it seems they should be able to stay ahead of the green machines for the remainder of the season.

Caterham – 0 points

Charles Pic – 0 points, Giedo van der Garde – 0 points

Caterham’s season has been an uphill battle all the way. The team was targeting the mid-field but have just not managed to make any headway. It was only after Heikki Kovalainen was called in to advise the team that they started making some headway and finally in Bahrain – at the fourth race of the season – they managed to out qualify Marussia.

Slowly but surely their car has been improving and their upgrades have steadily resulted in progress. In Hungary they were able to easily out qualify both Marussia’s.

Both Giedo van der Garde and Charles Pic have put in solid performances, doing they best they can with what they have so they’ll be hoping that they can take back tenth from Marussia before the end of the season.

And that’s a wrap on our mid season review of the 2013 Formula 1 season. The first half of the season has been a thrilling one but has been dominated by tyres. With that behind us, and teams now on revised Pirelli rubber, the second half of the season should see some real battles taking shape. As we head to Spa for the Belgian Grand Prix you can bet that everyone will be bringing their A game.

What are you hoping for in the second half of the season? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Photo credits:

Photo of Bianchi’s car on fire – F1 Madness screen grab

Photo of Vettel gearbox failure – F1 Madness screen grab, Sky Sports HD

Lewis Hamilton after the Hungarian GP – Mercedes F1 Twitter Team

Massa and Alonso – Ferrari F1 Twitter team

Raikkonen – Lotus F1 Team

Adrian Sutil – Force India Twitter team

Jenson Button – Wikimedia Commons

Daniel Ricciardo – Red Bull Twitter Team

Sauber launch – Sauber F1 Team

Pastor Maldonado – Williams F1 Twitter Team

Max Chilton – Marussia F1 Twitter team

Giedo van der Garde – MyCaterham Twitter team

August 19, 2013
F1 2013: Hungarian GP Race Review – Miracle man Hamilton routs the pack

Ten races into the 2013 Formula 1 season Lewis Hamilton has claimed his first win of the year and the first for his Mercedes team at the Hungarian grand prix.

Red Bull and Mercedes found themselves locked in the battle for pole position on Saturday. 2008 world champion Lewis Hamilton snatched pole position from Sebastian Vettel’s grasp by a mere 0.038s. It couldn’t get any closer and it couldn’t have been a more perfect lap for the Brit. Regarded as a qualifying ace, Hamilton has played second fiddle to teammate Rosberg but if the tables were going to turn Hungary is where it would happen. On three occasions Hamilton had won the Hungarian GP. However, all of these victories were behind the wheel of a McLaren. This weekend Hamilton mentioned those who thought he was daft to make the move to Mercedes. He regards his first victory for Mercedes as one the most special of his sparkling career and though he may not say it, he will be enormously satisfied to have proved the non-believers wrong.

While Hamilton had it mostly his own way for all of the seventy laps of the race the battle for the podium positions was anything but straightforward.

Sebastian Vettel barely maintained second place off the starting line before he had to defend against a feisty Romain Grosjean in a somewhat pacier Lotus in the early stages of the race. Despite Grosjean’s best efforts however the notoriously difficult overtaking conditions around the Hungaroring meant he stayed behind the Red Bull driver.

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso made his customary lightening start but could only gain one position to run fourth at the end of the first lap. The afternoon wasn’t one to remember for the Marenello based team as Alonso lacked the pace to fight amongst the frontrunners for the entire race. “We didn’t have the pace. We were too slow with the soft. We were too slow on the medium. We just had no pace,” said a frustrated Alonso.

There is no doubt that as a true championship winning driver Fernando Alonso can be expected to be fighting for this world title until the last possible moment. Questions have always been about how a driver will acclimatise to team, how he will adapt to the DNA of a new car. In Alonso and Ferrari’s situation it’s the opposite. The question is can Ferrari deliver a car that is worthy of Alonso; and if not how much longer can Fernando Alonso be expected to remain loyal to the prancing horse? Ferrari and Fernando Alonso were also fined 15,000 Euro for illegally using DRS three times while not within the prescribed one second range of the car in front.

This particular Sunday was all about Lewis Hamilton. Doubts about how Mercedes would fare of the new Pirelli tyres were on the forefront of most people’s minds. In the post qualifying press conference, despite being on pole position, Lewis Hamilton said that it would take ‘a miracle’ for him to win the Hungarian grand prix. However, as the race progressed it was evident that Hamilton was not going to face the immense level of tyre degradation the team had suffered at previous race weekends. Hamilton was the first of the frontrunners to enter the pitlane as he swopped his softs for the medium compound tyres on lap nine.

As Vettel encountered a slower Jenson Button after his first pit stop Lewis Hamilton edged the gap out to nearly ten seconds over the Red Bull driver. By the halfway mark of the race it was evident, due to Hamilton’s pace that the three time former winner of the Hungarian GP was not going to be caught.

It set up a fight between the two Red Bull’s and the two-stopping Lotus of Kimi Raikkonen. The Finn had pitted thirteen laps earlier than Vettel and should have been a sitting duck for Vettel and his fresh rubber. Raikkonen, not a pushover by any stretch of the imagination, held off the German for second place. Raikkonen completed the longest stint of laps on the medium compound – 33 laps in total.

Mark Webber put in a fighting drive to recover from tenth on the grid to fourth on Sunday. Fernando Alonso held off Romain Grosjean for fifth in a typically determined drive. Grosjean pulled off a tremendous move around the outside of turn four to overtake Felipe Massa but was later struck with a harsh drive-through penalty for leaving the circuit and gaining an advantage. It went from bad to worse for Grosjean as he was hit with a 20 second post race penalty for a causing a collision with Jenson Button. Nevertheless, Grosjean retains his sixth place finish.

Jenson Button and Felipe Massa finished seventh and eighth respectively while the sister McLaren of Sergio Perez was ninth. Nico Rosberg’s late retirement from the race, which appeared to be engine related, gave Pastor Maldonado tenth place overall and Williams their first point of the 2013 season.

Lewis Hamilton ended his victory drought in great style by taking a dominant fourth victory at the Hugaroring. A first win for Mercedes will undoubtedly by cherished but what was more impressive about Hamilton’s drive was the sheer determination and hunger that practically oozed from the former champ. An on song Lewis Hamilton is a formidable opponent and if Hungary is anything to go by he is far from letting go of this championship without a fight.

Photo credits:

Lewis Hamilton – Photo via Mercedes F1 Twitter Team

Grosjean vs Vettel – Screen grab by F1 Madness Team

Alonso – Screen grab by F1 Madness Team

Raikkonen – Lotus F1 Twitter Team

July 28, 2013
Romain Grosjean Handed 20-second Time Penalty

The Hungarian Grand Prix Stewards have handed down a 20 second penalty to Lotus’ Romain Grosjean.

The Frenchman was penalised for his collision with Jenson Button on lap 25. Grosjean, who was trying to pass Button down the inside into the chicane, collided with the Briton before completing the pass. He then had to go straight across the exit road and continued with his race.

The stewards decided that a 20-second time penalty to Grosjean after meeting with both of the drivers after the race.

Even with the 20-second penatly, Grosjean still keeps his P6 finish

July 28, 2013
F1 2013 Hungarian GP – Qualifying Report

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton secured his thirtieth career pole position as he set the fastest time in qualifying for the Hungarian grand prix.

The biggest casualty of the first session of qualifying was Force India’s Paul di Resta. The Scot seemed struggled throughout the first part of qualifying and sounded perplexed on the radio to his team. Some suggest that the new kevlar belted tyre may not be as well suited to the characteristics of the Force India as was the old steel-belt construction. Di Resta will start in 18th position.

The second part of qualifying, always a bit more frantic, saw drivers leaving the pitlane on scrubbed sets of the softer tyres. Mark Webber’s pitwall informed the Australian that he had suffered a kers failure making the Red Bull driver’s afternoon all the more difficult. Nevertheless, Webber was able to advance to the final part of qualifying.

For the majority of the second part of qualifying Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg appeared to be on course for the top ten. However, the track evolution and several drivers opting for a new set of softs saw the Sauber driver relegated to 12th place. McLaren’s Jenson Button missed out on advancing but teammate Sergio Perez, recovering from a crash in the final practice session, managed to scrape through.

Toro Rosso’s Daniel Ricciardo delivered another impressive qualifying performance and will start from 8th on the grid.As Mark Webber departed the scene without taking to the track in the final session of qualifying it was teammate Vettel who carried Red Bull’s hopes. However, by 0.038s Lewis Hamilton snatched pole position from the German. Hamilton has won the Hungarian grand prix on three previous occasions and is the only driver in the last eight years to win the race from pole (2007, 2012).

Lotus’ Romain Grosjean underlined the pace shown in the morning practice session with a third place starting position for tomorrow’s race. Nico Rosberg will start fourth – some four tenths off teammate Hamilton.

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso quietly qualified fifth ahead of Lotus’ Kimi Raikkonen in sixth. Felipe Massa, Daniel Ricciardo, Sergio Perez* and Mark Webber** round out the top ten, respectively.

* Sergio Perez has opted for an alternate strategy by setting his fastest lap on the medium compound tyres.

** Mark Webber did not complete a lap in the final part of qualifying; this allows him his choice of tyre on which to start tomorrow’s race.

July 27, 2013
Grosjean ends Hungarian third practice on top

Romain Grosjean headed the timesheets at the third practice before this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix with a time of 1.20.730.

The session was dominated by long fuel runs with teams trying to understand what they can get out of the medium tyre before tomorrow’s race. Sebastian Vettel completed the most laps for the session working hard on his race pace strategy. The Red Bull team seemed very confident for qualifying and did not spend much time working on the soft tyres at all.

A crash in by Perez in the final minutes of the session meant that drivers could not really post their fastest times and saw Fernando Alonso finishing second with a 1.20.898 followed by Perez, Vettel and Massa.

The high temperatures at the Hungaroring are definitely a major talking point ahead of qualifying and the grand prix as teams will need to understand the temperature limit that the Pirelli tyres can handle.

We’re all set for an exciting qualifying session later this afternoon.

Here is the full timesheet for FP3 in Hungary.

July 27, 2013
F1 2013 Hungarian GP – Free Practice 2 Report

The second free practice session for Sunday’s Hungarian GP was headed by Red Bull duo Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber.

An incident free second free practice session was run in scorching conditions around the Hungaroring this afternoon. The track temperature reached a high of 45 degrees celcius and the Red Bulls’ pace was just as hot.

Where Mercedes is expected to hold the advantage over a single flying lap teammates Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg could not get closer than half a second to Sebastian Vettel’s fastest time of 1:21:264.

The long runs didn’t swing it anyone else’s favour either. Mark Webber looked to be the quicker of the two Red Bull drivers on the medium compound tyres as the Australian set several laps within a tenth of each other. The soft compound tyre looks in the region of a second a lap faster than the white-walled medium tyre but the degradation level revealed a life-span of roughly eigth to ten laps.

Lotus’ Kimi Raikkonen was the only question mark with regards to his one lap pace as the Finn encountered traffic on both attempts of setting a flying lap. However, the Iceman did pop in a time quickest enough for eight after three flying laps while Grosjean set his fastest time on his second flying lap. An indication perhaps that the Lotus is looking after the softer compound a bit better than their competition.

Ferrari looked to be struggling on the softer of the two compounds with a drop off of about two seconds being the result for both Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso.

As the checquered flag fell at the end of the second free practice session it was Red Bull who looked to have the best package both in quali and race trim. It’s up to the rest of the pack to find something overnight.

July 26, 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
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