F1 Madness

Tag: spanish grand prix

  • Kimi Raikkonen Q&A

    Kimi Raikkonen Q&A

    Despite being on or near the top of the time sheets all weekend in Barcelona Kimi Raikkonen qualified fourth ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix today. Here’s what he had to say to reporters after qualifying.

    Q: Kimi, you’ll start from P4 tomorrow – one of your best qualifying result so far this season. What do you make of that?
    Kimi Raikkonen:     Well, I have to make a good start and then I take it from there. What else do you expect I do? Mercedes have not been as strong in the races as they have been in qualifying so everything seems possible.

    Q: After the morning session had you hoped for a spot on the first row of the grid?
    Kimi Raikkonen:     It’s been pretty good all weekend long, but unfortunately during qualifying it was a bit more windy than it was in the morning session and that made it a bit more tricky in Sector 3. For sure we didn’t have the speed of Mercedes, but we have seen that before so I am open for anything in the race.

    Q: Did you have had any idea before qualifying where you would fit in?
    Kimi Raikkonen:     After I made it into Q3 it could have been P1 or P10. Everything is pretty tight, so I am satisfied where I am as it was the best qualifying result in quite a while.

    Kimi Raikkonen in Spain 2013Q: A penalty points system for drivers has been spoken about recently. Sebastian Vettel clearly said in the FIA press conference that he is not in favour of it. What is your opinion?
    Kimi Raikkonen:     Why should I make a comment over something that is not finalized yet? Nothing has been decided and I am sure there will be changes made to the proposal. We always had penalties when a driver did something wrong – now they are looking at a new catalogue for handling misbehaviour. The best way to avoid being confronted with any penalties? Do nothing wrong, don’t break the rules – then you’re fine!

    Q: Do you expect Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso will be in close combat tomorrow? Alonso sure wants to put on a show in front of his home crowd…
    Kimi Raikkonen:     How would I know what’s on Alonso’s agenda! Go and ask him.

    Q: Do you think that you can do one stop less than the others or will it be an equal playing field?
    Kimi Raikkonen:     We will sit down and discuss our strategy this evening. And you would have to tie me to a stake to get a word out of me! All I can say is that we will see a very interesting race tomorrow and that is what fans want to see.

  • 2013 Spanish Grand Prix – Massa and Gutierrez Penalised for Impeding

    Ferrari’s Felipe Massa and Sauber’s Esteban Gutierrez have both been handed three place grid penalties for tomorrows Spanish grand Prix. Massa was penalised for impeding Mark Webber during Q2 and Gutierrez for impeding Lotus’ Kimi Raikkonen during Q1.

    Massa who qualified in 6th will now start 9th on the grid and Gutierrez will will drop down to 19th on the grid after qualifying in 16th.

    This moves Lotus’s Romain Grosjean up to start alongside Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari. Mark Webber and Sergio Perez move one place up as a result of Massa’s penalty.

    Gutierrez will start at the back of the field between the Caterham of Giedo van der Garde and the Marussia of Jules Bianchi

  • Video: Spanish Grand Prix Qualifying Top 3

    Video: Spanish Grand Prix Qualifying Top 3

    The post qualifying press conference for the Spanish Grand Prix

  • Mercedes steal pole position in Barcelona F1 Qualifying

    Mercedes steal pole position in Barcelona F1 Qualifying

    Not many would have predicted that Mercedes would steal the pole position today in Barcelona F1 Qualifying, but they did.

    After FP3 this morning, it looked almost certain that either Ferrari or Lotus would lock out the front row but it was the German Mercedes team that took the honours.

    Rosberg delivered two amazing qualifying laps, both good enough to take the pole position. Lewis Hamilton was forced to settle for second place 0.254 seconds adrift of his team mate.

    Sebastian Vettel placed his RB9 in third place for Red Bull Racing, followed by the Lotus of Kimi Raikkonen.

    Fernando Alonso only managed 5th place at his home qualifying with his team mate Felipe Massa behind him in 6th place. Massa however will have to see the stewards later today for impeding Mark Webber during Q2.

    Romain Grosjean put his Lotus in 7th place, ahead of Webber.

    The McLaren team are not having the greatest weekend of all. Perez did however manage a last minute surge to qualify 7th but team mate Jenson Button only managed to qualify 14th.

    Esteban Gutierrez will be seeing the stewards too after impeding Kimi Raikkonen and Button also complained that he was held up “massively” by Maldonado but both the Massa and Gutierrez incidents seemed far more severe in comparison.

    Giedo van der Garde is a very happy man at the back of the grid after qualifying at the front of the bottom four, a triumph for the rookie driver.

    Here are the full time sheets for today’s Barcelona F1 Qualifying session:

    Pos Driver                Team/Car              Time         Gap

     1. Nico Rosberg          Mercedes              1m20.718s

     2. Lewis Hamilton        Mercedes              1m20.972s  + 0.254s

     3. Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault      1m21.054s  + 0.336s

     4. Kimi Raikkonen        Lotus-Renault         1m21.177s  + 0.459s

     5. Fernando Alonso       Ferrari               1m21.218s  + 0.500s

     6. Felipe Massa          Ferrari               1m21.219s  + 0.501s

     7. Romain Grosjean       Lotus-Renault         1m21.308s  + 0.590s

     8. Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault      1m21.570s  + 0.852s

     9. Sergio Perez          McLaren-Mercedes      1m22.069s  + 1.351s

    10. Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes  1m22.233s  + 1.515s

    11. Daniel Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m22.127s  + 1.126s

    12. Jean-Eric Vergne      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m22.166s  + 1.165s

    13. Adrian Sutil          Force India-Mercedes  1m22.346s  + 1.345s

    14. Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes      1m23.166s  + 2.165s

    15. Nico Hulkenberg       Sauber-Ferrari        1m22.389s  + 1.388s

    16. Esteban Gutierrez     Sauber-Ferrari        1m22.793s  + 1.792s

    17. Valtteri Bottas       Williams-Renault      1m23.260s  + 1.532s

    18. Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Renault      1m23.318s  + 1.590s

    19. Giedo van der Garde   Caterham-Renault      1m24.661s  + 2.933s

    20. Jules Bianchi         Marussia-Cosworth     1m24.713s  + 2.985s

    21. Max Chilton           Marussia-Cosworth     1m24.996s  + 3.268s

    22. Charles Pic           Caterham-Renault      1m25.070s  + 3.342s

  • Spanish F1 Grand Prix FP3 Results Timesheet

    Felipe Massa went fastest during the final practice session in Barcelona this morning. He inched just 0.006 seconds ahead of Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen.

    The biggest losers this session were certainly McLaren who seem to really be struggling despite all the upgrades they brought along to Barcelona so it really seems like it’s back to the drawing board for them.

    Here is the full Spanish F1 Grand Prix FP3 Results Timesheet:

    spanish-gp-fp3-results

  • Spanish F1 Grand Prix FP2 Results

    Sebastian Vettel went fastest in FP2 in Barcelona this afternoon ever so slightly ahead of Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber. Here is the timesheet for the Spanish F1 Grand Prix FP2 Results.

    FP2Spain

     

  • Spanish F1 Grand Prix FP1 Results

    Fernando Alonso set the fastest time (1.25.252) for this morning’s free practice session finishing 0.203 seconds ahead of his team mate Felipe Massa in second. Here is the full timing sheet for the Spanish F1 Grand Prix FP1 Results:

    Spanish Grand Prix Free Practice 1 Results

     

     

  • Weather Report for the Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix

    This weekend Formula 1 returns to Europe and as always Barcelona marks the beginning of the European season.

    Showers are predicted for Friday practice but it should clear up and remain partly cloudy for the rest of the weekend.

    SpainWeather

  • Spanish Grand Prix Preview Quotes: Force India

    Force India looks ahead to this weekend’s 2013 Formula One Spanish Grand Prix.

    Force India spanish grand prix preview quotesPaul di Resta

    Q. Paul, you’ve enjoyed your strongest start to a season – what’s your feeling after four races…
    PdR: “We’ve got to feel very happy with how things are going and I want to congratulate everybody in the team. We took a very sensible approach to the winter and focussed on understanding the key areas that drive performance, which seems to have paid off. It’s important to pick up good points early in the season against our competitors and to be ahead of McLaren after four races is a credit to the team and a nice feeling. Of course we want to be on the podium and it was very close in Bahrain, but I’m sure it will come soon enough.”

    Q. Do you feel you have a car that will be competitive on any type of circuit?
    PdR: “The car is performing well, especially in the heat, and we were also strong in the cooler conditions of China – so that’s a good sign. The key is making sure you find the right operating window whatever the conditions because that’s what makes the difference. We need to keep doing what we’re doing, but at the same time we know the return to Europe always sees every team bring more upgrades. Hopefully we can stay fighting with the big teams and keep picking up the points.”

    Q. With two tests already completed in Barcelona do you feel well prepared ahead of this weekend’s race?
    PdR: “I guess we have more data around Barcelona than anywhere else, but at the same time the temperatures will be much higher at this time of year. So I’d expect that to change things quite a lot and impact on the tyres. Also, it’s one of those tracks where you’re constantly chasing the right aero balance to cope with the long, high-speed corners, especially turn three. But when you come to the end of the lap you need the mechanical grip for the hairpins and chicanes.”

    Adrian Sutil

    Q. Adrian, four races in, how do you sum up the start of 2013?
    AS: “The start of the season was good, especially if you consider I had only two or three test days to prepare. Australia was a strong race and the best way to come back to Formula One. Since then I’ve been unlucky with being hit in China and the puncture in Bahrain, and I definitely missed out on a few good points. On the other hand there are lots of positives, especially the performance of the car and the experience of the races. It is still early in the season so there is more to come and the car is really fast. I’m sure we can recover the points we lost in the last few races.”

    Q. How hard is it to accept the disappointment when you’re simply in the wrong place at the wrong time – as was the case in China and Bahrain?
    AS: “These things happen all the time in Formula One – sometimes you benefit from them and sometimes it goes against you instead. They all balance by the end of the year. I try not to spend too much time thinking about the negatives, I try to move on and focus on how to do better. If something happens, I think whether I did anything wrong, learn from it and avoid doing it again.”

    Q. What do you expect from the upcoming race in Barcelona?
    AS: “I know Barcelona really well from all the testing we’ve done there over the years. It is important, after three difficult races without points, to finish the race without any incidents. If I do that, I should have the pace to be among the front-runners. I have to do my job, avoid mistakes and hopefully my luck will change. Wherever we have gone so far, the car has been competitive, so the next few races should see us scoring points and close to the podium.”

  • Spanish Grand Prix Preview Quotes: Williams F1 Team

    Spanish Grand Prix Preview Quotes from the Williams F1 Team – Pastor Maldonado and Valtteri Bottas share their thoughts ahead of the Spanish Formula One Grand Prix.

    Spanish Grand Prix Preview Quotes from the Williams F1 teamsPastor Maldonado: “It will be very special to return to Barcelona after my win there last season. Whilst all the drivers know the track very well and we have some good data from testing here earlier in the year, the track changes quite a lot so you still need to familiarise yourself with the conditions during practice and set up the car accordingly. The choice of tyre compound will also be a big factor on how well the teams handle the track conditions as the track can be quite hard on tyres. We are now entering a very important part of the season because the next couple of races are quite close to the factory, so there will be more opportunities for us to react to our performance on track and make changes to the car.”

    Valtteri Bottas: “Whilst I have never raced at Barcelona in Formula One, I know the track really well as I’ve raced there in Formula Renault and Formula 3 and I’ve done a lot of testing with Williams at the circuit. The win last year in Barcelona was a big motivational boost for everyone and was a good example of what we can achieve when everything comes together. We are working hard to get back to that level and following a good aero test last week at Idiada and a number upgrades coming for this race, hopefully Barcelona can be the start of improved performance for us this year.”

    Mike Coughlan, Technical Director: “The Spanish Grand Prix is always one we look forward to as it is a track we all know well due to the amount of time spent there during winter testing. We also have fond memories of Pastor’s win there last season. A lot of engine and chassis decisions are also based around Barcelona as teams have so much data from there.

    “Track conditions can change a lot during the weekend, making it a challenge to get a good set-up. The track layout, with its high average speed, also makes it quite hard on tyres. Surprisingly it has a similar power sensitivity to Monaco, due to the long corners and demand on handling. As the first race back in Europe, traditionally many teams will bring upgrades to their cars – and we are no different. Following a successful aero test at Idiada last week, we have a number of upgrades which we will be looking to run over the coming races.”