Tag: sauber

  • F1 2013 Mid Season Review

    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.

    Sebastian Vettel 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

    Lewis Hamilton wins the Hungarian GP in his first win for MercedesWith 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

    Fernando Alonso and Felipe MassaA 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

    Kimi Raikkonen, Lotus, at Hungarian GPThe 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.

    sutil-clubforce-ydtAdrian 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.

    jenson button, McLaren mercedes, 2013, MalaysiaTheir 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

    ricciardo-ydt-redbullToro 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

    Nico Hulkenberg and Esteban Gutierrez - Spanish Grand Prix Preview QuotesSauber 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

    maldonado-hungary-williams-twitterAt 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)

    Max Chilton, Marussia F1 TeamMarussia 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

    vandergarde-ydt-mycaterhamCaterham’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

     

  • 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.

    hunquali

  • Hungaroring Preview Quotes – Sauber F1 Team

    Hungaroring Preview Quotes – Sauber F1 Team

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

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

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

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

    Photo: Sauber F1 Team

  • 2013 Formula 1 Mid Season F1 Technical Round Up – Part 3

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

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

    Sauber F1 Team

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

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

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

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

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

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

     

    Williams

    Williams_FrontWing

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

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

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

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

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

    Toro Rosso

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

    Toro Rosso, F1 Qualifying, Spain 2013

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

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

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

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

     

    Caterham

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

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

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

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

     

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

     

     

  • 2013 Formula 1 Mid Season F1 Technical Round Up – Part 2

    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.

    McLaren_MP4-28_VortexGenAround 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.

    LotusE21FrontWingLotus 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.

    LotusE21DRDThe 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’ ForceIndia_FWing_GuideStrakesChampionship.

    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.

  • Video – Cutaway Insights – Episode 10: Correvit Optical Sensor – Sauber F1 Team

    Video – Cutaway Insights – Episode 10: Correvit Optical Sensor – Sauber F1 Team

    In this fascinating episode of the Sauber F1 Team’s Cutaway Insights Series, they look at the Correvit Optical Sensor.

  • Young Drivers Test: Ricciardo Stays Top of the Timesheets

    Young Drivers Test: Ricciardo Stays Top of the Timesheets

    Daniel Ricciardo remained on top of the time sheets at the end of day 2 of the Young Drivers Test in Silvertone.

    Ricciardo’s time of 1:32.972 in the Toro Rosso was the fastest of the day. Testing for Red Bull in the afternoon session he managed a 1:33.187 with the RB9, just two tenths slower than the time set in his Toro Rosso, showing us that a driver cannot just jump into a good car and set fastest laps. According to AutoSport, he ran off the track at Luffield, briefly stopping the session.

    Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg finished tenth for the day with a time of 1:34.224, who carried out tyre evaluations for most of the day.

    The full classification for the day is included below:

     

    YDT_ThursFullDay

     

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

    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.

    1. 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.
    2. The current race drivers may complete one full day of work on the emergency tyre testing program.
    3. 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

  • Sauber will run Hulkenberg at the Young Driver Test

    Sauber will run Hulkenberg at the Young Driver Test

    The FIA’s decision to allow race drivers to take part in the upcoming Young Driver Test in order to test the new Pirelli tyres has seen quite a few teams opting to make use of the opportunity to run their regular drivers.

    Sauber have announced the they will run Nico Hulkenberg along with reserve driver Robert Frinjs and Japanese driver Kimiya Sato at the 17-19 July test.

    Hulkenberg will be testing on the Thursday afternoon with Frinjs getting track action in the morning as well as on Wednesday. Kimiya Sato will take the C32 around Silverstone on the Friday.

    Sauber have also confirmed that they will be bringing a new upgrade package to the Young Driver Test.

     

  • 2013 Santander German Grand Prix – Team and Driver Quotes

    2013 Santander German Grand Prix – Team and Driver Quotes

    Red Bull-Renault

    Sebastian Vettel (1st): “It was a tough race; it was one of the toughest for a long time. I’m happy the race wasn’t two or three laps longer, as Kimi was a bit quicker towards the end. I’m very happy that it worked out and it’s very special. The team worked really hard to give me the chance to win this weekend and we got it. First of all you have to remember that it’s a privilege to have the opportunity to race in your home country; we have around 20 races, but there are obviously more than 20 countries, so it’s special to race at home and get so much support. I had a good start and then just focused on every single lap during the race. You don’t really think about where you are while you are racing, you can’t allow your mind to drift, but when the flag came out and the race was over I really let myself enjoy the parade lap and saw a lot of people in the grandstands cheering and waving flags. These pictures will remain in my head for a long, long time.”

    Mark Webber (7th): “I knew we had lost the tyre in the pit stop of course, but not that someone got hit by it. That’s bad and I hope he is okay, that’s the main thing. Today was a bit of a nightmare and you want to wake up tomorrow and have another go at it. We had an excellent start and were in a great position leading up to the first stop with Seb, but we lost all of that. We lost a lot of points today and a chance to challenge for the win, but there’s no rewind button now.”

    Christian Horner, Sporting Director: “The most important thing today is that the cameraman who got struck by the tyre does not appear to have suffered any life threatening injuries. It’s a timely reminder that working in the pit lane is dangerous. Everyone reacted incredibly quickly and the most important thing is to hear that he seems to be fundamentally okay. Looking to the race, for any driver to win their home grand prix is something tremendously special and after the disappointment of missing out on the victory a week ago in Silverstone, Sebastian drove faultlessly today and can be very proud of what he’s achieved in his home grand prix in front of the home fans. It’s a huge result for him and very positive for the Championship. For Mark, it was a strong recovery drive; he got back on to the lead lap through the pace car and then fought his way back into the points. It’s a great shame that we couldn’t have both cars right up there today, but all credit to Mark for his very determined drive. We need to understand what went wrong in that first pit stop for Mark, but as I said, our main concern today is knowing that the cameraman is okay.”

    Thierry Salvi, Renault: “We fought hard for that today. Kimi and Romain really pushed us hard, but Sebastian did a great job to win at home for the first time. Mark also drove a storming race, coming from a lap down to a points-scoring position. For Renault it is very positive to see three Renault-powered drivers racing for the win and ultimately to have a clean sweep of the podium. Although it certainly makes us nervous behind the screens!”

    Ferrari

    Fernando Alonso (4th): “This was a difficult race, we weren’t very quick and at some moments we were not competitive enough. In the first stint, we paid the price for being on used tyres, because by lap twelve they were already finished, which cost us some of the advantage we hoped to gain from our strategic choice. Even if we were hoping to finish on the podium, finishing less than eight seconds off Vettel after starting eighth is an encouraging result. The team is doing its utmost to make the car more competitive and after tackling a few races without being too sure about our updates, today we can claim to have cleared up many of our doubts and to have understood which are the areas we must concentrate on to move the development forward. When we arrived here on Thursday, the Silverstone test did not seem that important, because the race drivers were only meant to be testing the tyres, but having heard what the FIA had to say, it’s been confirmed that we can test updates and this makes it a much more sensible proposition. If I get the call from the team, I’m ready to go.”

    MassaOutFelipe Massa (DNF, Spin): “I am very disappointed with what happened, especially after the rest of the weekend had gone well. At the start of lap four, when I was on the straight, at the moment when I braked, the rear wheels locked up and I couldn’t stop the car from spinning. When the car came to a stop, it was stuck in fifth gear and I couldn’t stop the engine from stalling. It’s very odd that it got stuck like that, even if so far, the team has not seen anything unusual. The Mediums did not have the pace we expected after Friday’s free practice, but maybe other factors, such as the higher temperatures, came into play and made the difference. Now I want to focus on the next race when I plan to do my utmost to turn things around.”

    Stefano Domenicali, Team Principal: “Given the current state of play, I think today’s result is the most we could have achieved and I don’t think the strategy had much of an influence on the outcome of the race. Wanting to see the glass as half full, the points we have picked up at this point in the season are very important. The variable temperatures we saw today produced different performance levels. This turnaround confirms yet again how difficult it is for everyone to interpret as well as possible the true competitiveness of the car-tyre package at every track. Looking ahead, now it is vital that we optimise the performance of our car, just as our rivals have managed to do, because we want to get back to fighting for the top places as soon as possible. In Hungary we will have different tyres and it will be important to understand their behaviour right from the test at Silverstone, in two weeks time. At the same time, we will try to change pace on our development work, an area where we need to push hard.”

    Pat Fry: “Today’s temperatures and track conditions, different to those we saw over the past days, had a strong influence on the performance of the various teams. In our case, I don’t think the final result would have been different if we had opted for the opposite strategy, because, starting from fifth or sixth on the Softs, our position in the end would have been the same. Our pace on the soft compound was better than expected, when one considers that it’s particularly sensitive to the higher temperatures, while the degradation of the Mediums was higher than expected and caused us a few more problems in balancing the car and that spoilt our first stint. I am sorry for Felipe, who had made another great start, but unfortunately he locked up the rear wheels under braking and spun, possibly because of the lack of grip. Fernando managed to get the most out of the car, always trying to attack when possible. It was a shame to miss out on the podium in the end, especially as the speed of the Red Bulls and Lotuses was not that much higher than ours. Now there are two weeks before the next round in Hungary, during which we will be pushing as hard as possible to close the performance gap which separates us from the leaders.”

    McLaren-Mercedes

    Jenson Button (6th): “There are a lot of positives to take away from this weekend; our pace was reasonably good; it’s nice to be Jenson Button and Sergio Perezracing cars closer to the front, such as the Mercedes; our laptimes compared to the four cars at the front weren’t too bad either; and today’s points are badly needed right now. Unfortunately, the two Caterhams fighting in front of me in the closing laps probably cost me fifth place. When you’re fighting for position, you expect the backmarkers to move over, even if they’re fighting for position themselves. It’s a shame – those points could be so important for us later in the season. The Safety Car also didn’t help our strategy – but we were a lot stronger this weekend than we’ve been for the past few races. We can be positive – as a team, we didn’t put a foot wrong all weekend, and we got the best out of what we have. Overall, it’s a positive day for the team – now we just need to find some more pace in the car.”

    Sergio Perez (8th): “My car performed a lot better today than it did yesterday. We had better pace and degradation than we’d expected: we managed a very long final stint, and I think we maximised everything today. We should be happy. After the Safety Car, it was like the start of a second race. I just focused on preserving the tyres over that long stint – the car and tyres performed very strongly, but we just lost out on the final corner. It was always going to be difficult to hold Mark [Webber] back. This is a good step on from Silverstone – it’s been a very promising weekend, and I hope we can take another step forward for Hungary.”

    Martin Whitmarsh, Team Principal: “Both drivers did a fantastic job this afternoon – they managed the limits of the tyre, pushed aggressively when it was needed and were always able to maximise the pace of the car. It’s just a pity that they each lost position on the final lap. That was a little bit frustrating: we had terrible traffic at the end, so Jenson lost a couple of seconds at a critical point in the race. That enabled Lewis [Hamilton] to close him down quicker than normal and take a position that we felt we could have kept. The whole team did an extremely good job today: our strategy was perfectly managed, our pitstops were faultless, and the engineers maximised the pace of the car. We raced well, but we’re still not where we want to be, although there are positives to take away from today. We’ll be putting out heads down during the three-week break before Hungary and will be aiming to capitalise on the momentum we’ve gathered this weekend.”

    Lotus-Renault

    Kimi Raikkonen (2nd): “We had a pretty good last stint of the race, but the cars are close on performance so it’s difficult to overtake. Maybe some more laps would have helped us, but the race is only 60 laps so you have to do your best with that. After my first stop I was stuck behind a Mercedes for a while, but once I was past the car was pretty good. After the safety car three of us were able to pull away, but we were too close on speed to change the order. It was a good day for the team. Of course, we wanted to win; we couldn’t, but we did score the most points here. The warmer temperatures definitely helped us, so let’s hope for some more hot weather in Budapest.”

    Romain Grosjean (3rd): “After some difficult races, everything went right today and it was pretty special when I was leading the race and returning to the podium is naturally a good thing. My car felt great on the first stint with the soft tyres and it’s clear that the summer weather really suits us. Hopefully we’ll have a long summer now in Europe! Letting Kimi past at the end of the race was the sensible thing to do as we were on different strategies and he had more of a chance of going for the win than I did at that point. We didn’t know which tyre would be the best at the end of the race, so we didn’t put all our eggs in one basket.”

    GrosjeanParcFerme

    Eric Boullier, Team Principal: “That was a very good race from the team which validates all the hard work which has been going on back at Enstone, so we thank everyone at the factory for their efforts. After three difficult weekends, being on the podium was exactly what we needed. We need to continue like this to make up for lost ground in both championships. The E21 worked very well today and both Kimi and Romain drove superbly. We had a good strategy from the pit wall, some fantastic pit stops, and were it not for losing some time behind both Mercedes, it’s possible that we could have won today. I think we’ll have to ask Pirelli to keep this weekend’s specification of tyres for the rest of the season.”

    Alan Permane, Chief Race Engineer: “We’re very happy to be back on the podium again after a short spell of bleak races. Both cars ran faultlessly from start to finish and it did look like we could be able to take the fight to Sebastian [Vettel] but ultimately we didn’t quite manage it. Kimi was held up by Lewis [Hamilton] after his first pit stop but came back fighting at the end of the race. Romain did a fantastic job managing his first set of tyres which enabled him to make some great gains. We did consider running Kimi on a two-stop strategy but we could see the tyre performance dropping. We expected slightly more performance from his final set of soft tyres, but he was right with Seb at the end.”

    Riccardo Penteado, Engine Support Leader: “A great race from both drivers, with incredible pace. It was a shame that the traffic pushed us back from the outright win but a double podium is still a great result, and more than we expected going into the weekend. Engine-wise, it’s been a good Grand Prix, although temperatures were hotter than expected. The result shows the engine-chassis package is back to its best and we’ll look to keep this going to the next race.”

    Mercedes GP

    Lewis Hamilton (5th): “That was really a tough race out there for us today. I didn’t have a great start and the Red Bulls were much quicker off the line, dropping me back to third. We really struggled with the second set of tyres which then compromised the rest of my race. It’s a real shame as the team are working so hard and doing such a good job. We’ve clearly got a good car but for some reason, it doesn’t work in these hot conditions. We’ll keep working on it and the positive from today is that we were able to recover to fifth place with a good strategy and great pit stops, and we’re still second in the Constructors’ table. Hopefully we’ll have a better chance at the next race but, for now, there’s a lot of hard work ahead of us.”Hamilton-Rosberg

    Nico Rosberg (9th): “The car didn’t feel so nice to drive today. We struggled a lot with the rear tyres and that’s why we weren’t able to match the pace of the guys in the front. Even so, I had a bit of fun when I changed to the option tyres and could really push to at least score a few points. But we need to understand the new tyres a bit more because it seems that the new construction has shuffled things around, especially in these hot conditions. We have to do a lot of work in the next weeks to make sure we arrive in Hungary in good shape.”

    Ross Brawn, Team Principal: “Our first thoughts today go to the cameraman who was struck by an errant wheel in the pit lane. Happily, he does not appear to have suffered serious injuries but it was once again a reminder of the dangers of our sport and underlines the need for constant vigilance in terms of safety. Today was a race of two halves for us. In the first part, we were once again overstressing the tyres – particularly on the prime compound – and our performance fell away as a result. However, as the temperatures cooled off a little and things settled down, both drivers had respectable pace and were able to fight their way back through the field. Lewis and Nico kept pushing until the final lap and were rewarded for their commitment and determination. At one point it didn’t look like we would come away with much at all from this afternoon, so there has to be a certain satisfaction in saving 12 points today. We have said all along that there is still a question mark over our performance in hotter conditions, and today’s race showed that we still have work to do. We have made big steps forward since Bahrain and Barcelona, where we particularly suffered with hotter track temperatures, and our performance was much improved compared to those races. But we have not yet done enough to convert our Saturday pace into race-winning speed in all conditions on Sunday. The three-week break until Hungary will give us an opportunity to think about how we can make further progress on our tyre management as well as continuing to develop the core performance of the car.”

    Toto Wolff, Mercedes Motorsport Director: “We had a real character-building afternoon here at the Nurburgring. Neither of the drivers could find any grip on the prime tyre in the first part of the race and it mirrored similar experiences we have had so far this season. We managed to recover in the second half, though, and our result was pretty respectable in the end given how things looked after the first 30 laps. Well done to both drivers for squeezing the maximum out of the car today. After such a successful weekend in Silverstone, it feels a little bit like a night and day difference for us. We need to get our heads down at the factory, properly analyse our performance and keep working hard because we know that we will see similar temperatures in Hungary to what we experienced here.”

    Sauber-Ferrari

    Hulkenberg

    Nico Hulkenberg (10th): “It was an extremely tough race. I was fighting on every lap, but this is what we were able to get out of it. To be honest, I expected we would have better pace today, but we didn’t. The car didn’t feel as good as I expected it would either. I thought, and hoped, we could fight with McLaren, but, unfortunately, they were too fast for us today. It was a race with a lot of overtaking and wheel-to-wheel battles, which are always fun. However, having to fight for positions all the time is never good for the strategy, as it’s tough on the tyres and you loose time. Nevertheless, this weekend was better than the previous ones. We didn’t have an update on the car, we experimented with the set-up, which worked well.”

    Esteban Gutierrez (14th): “From the beginning to the end we were fighting for positions, so it was a very tough race. It was difficult to overtake, because we were lacking speed on the straights. My rhythm was quite reasonable and I tried to do my best. The strategy wasn’t ideal, although everything went to plan, but we pitted just before the safety car, which didn’t make it any easier.”

    Monisha Kaltenborn, Team Principal: “One point is not exactly what we expected after a strong qualifying, but the safety car period didn’t play into our hands. Nevertheless, we move on to the test in Silverstone and to the next Grand Prix with confidence. We were able to improve, particularly in qualifying, and we want to continue to improve. Nico delivered a strong performance. The last stint particularly was absolutely thrilling. Of course, we are not where we want to be, but we made a step in the right direction.”

    Tom McCullough, Head of Track Engineering: “We elected to split the strategies with the tyres at the start. Esteban started on the soft tyres, Nico on the medium. Unfortunately, the timing of the safety car was at the worst moment for us as a team – eight laps into Nico’s second stint on the medium tyres and immediately Esteban had pitted. Therefore, it was going to be difficult to recover and score points from there. Nico did a good job in the last stint to get tenth place, which is good for the morale of the team.”

    Force India-Mercedes

    Paul di Resta (11th): “It’s not been the easiest of weekends for us, but in the final part of the race it looked like we were on course to score some points. In the end we just ran out of tyres during the last couple of laps, but it was always going to be risky with our two-stop strategy, especially as we had to pit under the safety car. There were times in the race when the car was working well, but I really struggled with the first set of mediums and was not happy with the balance. Things improved quite a bit for the final stint, but by then we were out of position. It’s a bit gutting to miss out on points so we need to unleash our potential and get back to our usual form in Hungary.”

    Adrian Sutil (13th): “It turned out to be quite a disappointing race and for whatever reason we’ve just not had the pace this weekend. I struggled a lot with the tyres and had to convert from a two-stop race to a three-stop race, which was not our plan. I also lost some time at my final pit stop and after that the points were just too far away.”Adrian Sutil, Spain 2013, Sahara Force India

    Robert Fernley, Deputy Team Principal: “It’s disappointing to end our run of points finishes, but Paul came very close to picking up the final point today. Ultimately his two-stop strategy wasn’t quite enough to fend off our competitors in the final few laps, but we came close to pulling it off. Adrian’s race was also decided by tyre wear because we had to switch him to a three-stop strategy mid-way through the race. Overall we were missing some performance and didn’t have the pace to make the strategy work. Both Paul and Adrian were unable to pass the Williams of Maldonado after the safety car, which compromised the strategy. With three weeks until the next race and a young driver test before that, we will work hard to ensure we can recapture the form we’ve shown earlier in the season.”

    Williams-Renault

    Pastor Maldonado (15th): “It was a good race for us today as we put everything together and we were on for some points. It’s disappointing to finish where we did today after the problem with the pitstops but we have to look at the positives and move forward from this.”

    Valtteri Bottas (16th): “We didn’t get a good start today as we had a few problems getting away from the line. We also lost some time in both pitstops so we need to work out what happened there. The race pace was better than we had seen previously this Williams600weekend which meant that we could have been challenging for points, but unfortunately it wasn’t to be.”

    Mike Coughlan, Technical Director: “We started the race on medium tyres, and as most of the cars around us started on softs we had the opportunity to run out of sync and make up some positions. We were targeting a two-stop strategy for both drivers which we made work. Pitting before the safety car also worked to our advantage. The drivers drove a clean race and managed the tyres well but we lost a lot of time in our pitstops. We had a problem getting the front-right tyres off both cars and also a problem on the left-rear during Valtteri’s final stop, which resulted in the drivers not being able to finish in the positions they deserved. We are now investigating what happened to make sure we can fix this for the future. Overall, our strategy, the higher track temperatures and our tyre management enabled us to be in a position to compete for the top ten.”

    Laurent Debout, Renault: “We were a lot more competitive in the race than we have been in previous Grands Prix and were fighting for points. It was a shame to lose time in the pitstops, but there are definite positives we can take away; we’ve made a step forward on the race pace, which is what counts.”

    Toro Rosso-Ferrari

    Daniel Ricciardo (12th): “A frustrating and rather dull race for me. After the start, I was able to hold position on the Option, but Ricciardoonce we pitted for the Prime tyre, I really struggled for pace and couldn’t push as hard as I wanted to in order to get more out of the car. I did try to push more, but the car wouldn’t take it and I began to lock the brakes and slide too much, as I didn’t have enough grip. This meant I had to drive more smoothly, but it was very frustrating going round and round, gradually slipping backwards. I can’t explain why for now, so we will need to look at the data to see why we were just too slow for much of the weekend.”

    Jean-Eric Vergne (DNF, Hydraulics): “There’s not much to say today, because after not having a good pace all weekend, today there was no change. I found the car very difficult to drive right from the start, then there was the moment at my pit stop, when I had to brake hard to avoid Di Resta who was released from his pit right in front of me, which cost me more time. On lap 23 the team told me they had spotted a fault with the hydraulics and called me in to retire. It’s extremely disappointing, as this is my second consecutive race retirement. A weekend to forget.”

    Franz Tost, Team Principal: “Naturally, it is disappointing not to score any points this weekend, especially after Daniel had secured a sixth place on the grid. In the current era of Formula 1 where retirements are rare, it is particularly frustrating that we had to call Jean-Eric into the garage with a hydraulic problem. We didn’t have the pace we needed today and Daniel did what he could, fighting with the Saubers and Force Indias, finishing ahead of one of each of them, but we were not quick enough to chase the McLarens, which were very strong today. For these reasons, we just fell out of the points zone. As for our strategy, it was fairly clear that three stops was the way to go for the majority. We knew this weekend would be a bit more difficult for us, as the track would not be best suited to the characteristics of our car. However, we have a few new updates planned for Hungary and before that we have two weeks to try and make further progress with our car.”

    Caterham-Renault

    Charles Pic (17th): “My start was ok – I passed Chilton but I had to brake hard in turn one and pretty soon I had a big vibration from the front right. We were always going to stop pretty early so we didn’t have to change strategy too much, coming in at the end of lap four to go onto the primes. In the second stint the deg level on the tyres was good. We were looking at stopping earlier to cover one of the Marussia pitstops but as the tyres were performing well we could stay out. For once we had some luck with the timing of the safety car and boxed for another set of mediums, coming out behind my teammate in 17th. As we’d changed the plan under the safety car I had to manage that second set of mediums and they were holding up well until I had a slow puncture on lap 35 and had to box unexpectedly. The unplanned stop obviously ruined the strategy which is a real shame as we would have been right up with the pack ahead who were all bunched up because of the safety car. That’s pretty frustrating but there’s not much you can do in those circumstances. Because of the stop I came back out last but passed Chilton and with a few laps to go I passed Giedo whose tyres were gone and from there it was just a question of getting it to the finish.”

    Giedo-van-der-Garde-Caterham-Testing-2013-10_2907096Giedo van der Garde (18th): “I made a great start, passed two cars and then did Vergne on the first lap so by the end of lap one I was up to 17th. The car felt pretty good but we wanted to get the softs out of the way quickly so we stuck to the plan and came in early to go onto the mediums which had held up well on the long runs in practice. The first set of mediums was performing ok but we adapted the plan, pitting on lap 20 for another set of the harder compound. I’d just seen the first blue flags when the safety car came out so I was able to get the lap back and when the race restarted I was in 16th, behind Bottas’ Williams and Gutierrez, and ahead of Charles. From that point it was honestly a bit of a lonely race! I was focused on making sure I could get the car to the finish without any problems, and we didn’t have any more blue flags until towards the end of the race so it was all pretty trouble free. I boxed again on lap 35 and from there it was all about bringing it home. That was a long final stint so the tyres were completely gone towards the end and my pace had dropped a lot, but both Charles and I were clear of our nearest rival so it was a pretty straight run to the flag with him. Despite the final place I think this was another small step for me. My tyre management in the race improved a bit today and I’ve been working on it all weekend. We now have a small break until the next race in Hungary so I have time to head back to the factory, do more work in the sim and come back in Hungary aiming to continue to progress.”

    Marussia-Cosworth

    Max Chilton (19th): “Not an easy race today. We both struggled with our starts and the opening few laps and then I started to close the gap to Charles and Jules; I was happy with the car. Unfortunately for Jules he had an engine problem so I knew that I had to do my best to get some reward for the Team. In the middle stint there was nothing between us and Caterham and then the safety car came out and stirred up everyone’s strategies. We made the right call, but just suffered with rear tyre wear with 10 laps to go. On the whole I was happy with my performance and speed today.”

    Jules Bianchi (DNF, Engine): “Obviously it is very disappointing to end my race so soon, due to an engine problem on lap 22. I BianchiFiregot a very poor start and it was a real battle to recover from that and stay ahead of Pic. I had just completed my second pit stop and got ahead of Van Der Garde when the engine let go, but I think we had the pace to be able to fight to keep both Caterhams behind had I continued. The car felt well-balanced and we were showing the usual more positive race pace. It has been a less than straightforward weekend so perhaps this was just not destined to be our race and we just have to look ahead to the next one in Hungary.”

    John Booth, Team Principal: “An incredibly disappointing result for the Team today but perhaps one which, when digested on Monday morning, will be viewed more favourably. It is clear we had much more potential today and Jules’ unfortunate engine problem meant that we were unable to beat our nearest competitors. We don’t yet know the cause but I am sure working with Cosworth tonight we will be able to make an initial assessment of what went wrong. What was pleasing today was to see Max running very much at the same pace as Jules and the Caterhams throughout the race and he only lost out due to a more oversteered balance today, which meant that his rear tyres suffered later in the stint. We now move on to the Young Driver Test and thereafter the Hungarian Grand Prix in three weeks’ time.”