Live F1

Archive for April, 2009

After four flyaway races the 2009 Formula 1 season moves to Europe, beginning with the Spanish GP on May 10^th. You can watch all of the action from the Circuit de Catalunya at www.livef1.net, with live online F1 streaming of the Spanish F1 Telefonica Grand Prix.

Brawn GP’s Jenson Button heads to Spain with a healthy points lead in the chase for the F1 World Championship. He has won three of the opening four races. Subscribe to www.livef1.net and follow the Spanish GP online to see if Button can add to his tally of victories.

Button won last time out in Bahrain, but Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel was again a threat. The young German won the Chinese GP and finished second in Bahrain. Jarno Trulli was third for Toyota, as the Japanese firm continues to chase its first victory in F1. Watch the Spanish GP live online here to see if Toyota can finally succeed.

Lewis Hamilton was fourth in Bahrain, but his McLaren team will have to face an FIA hearing before the Spanish GP to answer accusations of lying to stewards at the Australian GP. Ferrari finally scored points in Bahrain, with Kimi Raikkonen taking sixth place. The Spanish GP has been a good race for Ferrari in the past. Watch F1 Spanish Grand Prix live online at www.livef1.net to see if the famous Italian team can win the race for the ninth time.

Nelson Piquet and Sebastien Bourdais are two drivers who will be hoping for better luck in the Spanish GP. Both have been comprehensively outperformed by their respective team-mates so far during the 2009 F1 season. Follow the Spanish GP live online here to see if they can improve their performance in a bid to retain their seats in F1.

The Circuit de Catalunya has been part of the F1 calendar since 1991. The 2009 Spanish GP will take place over 66 laps of the 4.655 km (2.892 miles) circuit, making a total race distance of 307.104 km (190.825 miles). Watch the Spanish GP live online at www.livef1.net to see if anyone can get near 2008 winner Raikkonen’s lap record of 1 minute, 21.670 seconds.

In the past the Spanish GP has provided little in the way of overtaking, but the 2009 F1 regulations could change that. The new aerodynamic rules mean that cars can follow each other more closely. The best opportunities for passing at the Circuit de Catalunya are at the first corner, named Elf, and turn 10, the La Caixa hairpin.

Last year’s Spanish GP saw a Ferrari 1-2, with Raikkonen winning from his team-mate Massa. On current form it is unlikely that the team will be able to produce a repeat performance, but you can follow F1 live online here to see if either Raikkonen or Massa can create an upset. The battle for victory will most likely be between Brawn GP, Red Bull and Toyota.

The www.livef1.net site will have all the action from the Spanish GP. Subscribe now to Watch Spanish Grand Prix Live Online, in addition to coverage of other major racing series including MotoGP and NASCAR.

STAR OF THE RACE
Jenson Button showed that he has the metal to be a World Champion with his third win in four races. Driving a very careful race, the Brit brought his Brawn GP car home in such extreme conditions that his engineers were telling him to cool it as early as Lap 7 – and that was running in free air.

He made a great start, tucking up his championship rival Sebastian Vettel and condemning him to a first stint behind Lewis Hamilton. He dispatched Hamilton with a supreme bit of overtaking (more of that below) and then drove within the parameters laid down by Ross Brawn.

He was never really under pressure thanks to Vettel being delayed by Trulli and then Trulli being delayed by Vettel, but if Trulli couldn’t get past the Red Bull then he wouldn’t have got anywhere with the Brawn.

That ‘Milepost’ just gets quicker and quicker.

Overtaking Move of the Race
Lap 2: Jenson Button on Lewis Hamilton for P3.
Button knew that he needed to get past Lewis Hamilton in a hurry, and he also knew that it was going to be difficult getting past a McLaren equipped with KERS. Yet such is the Brawn’s agility in the braking zone that Button was able to dive inside into Turn 1 and get his car stopped. It looked a very neat move on a driver who hates being overtaken.

Alonso made a brave move on Trulli round the outside on Lap 14, but as we know, Trulli’s a pussy when it comes to strong arm stuff.

WINNERS

Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, 2nd
‘Katie’s Dirty Sister’ took Seb to P2 and installed him as Jenson Button’s clear title contender. We ought to point out that Sebastian likes to give his cars names and for this race we got….Katie’s Dirty Sister. It would have been interesting to see what might have happened if the Dirty Sister hadn’t been held up behind The Anthony Hamilton Pension Scheme and the World’s Fastest Winemaker, but probably not that interesting as there was little on-track overtaking after half distance. Raikkonen steaming past Glock being the one glorious exception.

Jarno Trulli, Toyota, 3rd
Trulli proved that he is both faster than Glock, and that the Toyota is a knackering beast to drive. The difference between Lewis Hamilton and Trulli after the race was amazing. Lewis sauntered over to reporters with his drinks bottle (you notice how he can’t answers questions without it) looking like he’d finished a 10-lap charity karting sprint. Trulli looked like he’d been jammed into a microwave-grill unit for two hours on 215C.

Though he said he was disappointed that Toyota didn’t win their first GP, we could have told him that wasn’t going to happen from the moment they published the qualifying weights.

Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, 4th
Lewis came within a gnat’s of a podium when he grabbed P2 momentarily on Lap 1. Had he been able to delay Trulli long enough, then that would have been the Toyota strategy out of the window. It wasn’t to be and this time he really did settle for 4th place behind Jarno. As long as he can keep scoring points he stands a chance of a late-season recovery.

Rubens Barrichello, BrawnGP, 5th
Rubens suffered a bout of old-gitism in the middle of the race when he got stuck behind Nelson Piquet Junior. As they were racing for position it seemed hard to know who he was appealing to by constantly taking his hand off the wheel. They weren’t going to blue flag Junior and I can’t imagine anyone in Flavio Briatore’s Renault team asking Nelson to move over because the Brawn GP was on a different strategy. Not even for The Nearly-Retired-one.

A three-stop strategy wasn’t the way to go, but he made the best of a bad job by squeaking in front of Raikkonen in the final pit-stop.

Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 6th
Though commentators were keen to say that Raikkonen had saved the Scuderia from their worst season start ever, it’s hard to see why. In 1980 Jodi Scheckter scored a 5th place at Long Beach in the fourth race; in 1981 Didier Pironi scored a 5th place at Imola in the fourth race. In what way are those 5th place finishes better than a 6th?

It hardly matters, the fact is that Raikkonen looked good for his result and didn’t inherit any places. Had Barrichello stumbled in the tiniest way possible on his final pit-stop it would have been a 5th place. What’s more he had the wrong tyres (Grommit) to go mixing it up with Timo Glock on Lap 44, but he still got in front of the Toyota.

What he needs to do is bring a recognisable father figure to the races so that the TV crews can focus on Raikkonen Senior and not Luiz Massa when something happens to him on track.

Fernando Alonso, Renault, 8th
Alonso had a pretty scary start where he stuck two wheels onto the grass to avoid Nico Rosberg running down to Turn 1 and almost lumped his car into the back of Felipe Massa. He pulled a fantastic move to get by Jarno Trulli, but otherwise it was a fairly low-key race. He was only 13 seconds in front of Junior by the line.

Nelson Piquet Junior, Renault, 10th
Junior bought some time at Renault. He was in sight of his team-mate at the finish line and did nothing stupid on track. He also renewed his friendship with Rubens Barrichello, so all in all, a good afternoon’s work.

LOSERS

Felipe Massa, Ferrari, 14th
This was more like a 57-lap race simulation than an attempt at points after a first corner sandwich that broke his front wing and an issue with his KERS device. You can’t imagine the ongoing KERS saga is going to be fixed any time soon, especially when they’re so busy redesigning the diffuser and the floor.

What Felipe needs most, though, is for Kimi Raikkonen to do well. Because if the Finn chucks in the towel at the end of 2009, then he’s going to be sitting alongside Fernando Alonso in 2010 when Ferrari will have a Championship Contender again.

And Fernando likes a lot of attention.

Mark Webber, Red Bull, 11th
Despite working his way up to 11th place early in the race, Webber struggled to make up further places. He was desperately unlucky to be stranded at the back of the grid, but it might be God’s way of saying – get your killer Qualy 1 lap in early.

Robert Kubica, BMW, 18th
Kubica’s driving style is getting him into incidents with a lot of cars. In the three races I’ve seen him this year he’s had contact of some kind with another car. When he overtakes anyone, the carbon fibre vultures gather. As a ratio of overtaking moves made to cars hit, he and Rubens Barrichello must have the highest strike rate in F1. Or just the highest strike rate full stop. Button and Raikkonen are the other end of the scale.

F1 As A Spectator Sport…?
The Crown Prince of Bahrain admitted on camera that his country’s race isn’t a sporting event. No, it’s a branding exercise. The state of Bahrain uses the Grand Prix to promote the country in the world as a brand.

There is no groundswell of popular support for F1 in Bahrain. On Saturday for Qualifying the grandstands had less people than an English Football League Two bottom of the table clash. In Japan or Spain or the UK the grandstand on the start-finish straight would have been almost full for Qualifying.

During the race the main grandstand was half full. It was embarrassing. What’s more the landscape the race passes through is a sandy quarry. State of the art? No, state of my ****. And it’s the same story in China and in Malaysia where free tickets help boost the numbers.

What Bernie Ecclestone has to understand is the overwhelming majority of F1 fans don’t care that the media centre is able to hold 500 accredited journalists, or that the grandstand looks like two wings of a Stormy Petrel (especially when it’s equipped to seat 10,000 and 17 turn up). What they want is a circuit where they can instantly distinguish where the cars are, that facilitates overtaking and produces a good race.

As long as Silverstone or Donington or Montreal or even an improved Imola can do that, they should be on the calendar.

BBC Coverage
More underwhelming coverage from the BBC who seem incapable of running Grand Prix highlights after the race. When they broadcast a football match, they immediately go back to the pundits in the studio to review the highlights and the controversial incidents.

There’s none of this second class treatment; “if you’d like to hear what Alan Hansen thinks about the sending off decision, or see the two goals, or see if Torres was offside, press the red button.” No, give it to us straight.

We had a few more Leggardisms to enjoy: “What magic is Ross Brawn weaving on the pitwall…?” I don’t know, let’s see, has he got his cape on again…?

Plus the hilarious moment when the timing screens reshuffled as they do at the end of each session in Qualifying and Jonathan announced that Button and Barrichello were 14th and 15th in Q1. Martin Brundle’s reply was witheringly brief.

Oh, and we missed Mike Gascoyne.

Credit: Planet F1

The fourth round of the 2009 F1 World Championship, the Gulf Air Bahrain GP, takes place on April 26th at the Bahrain International Circuit in the Sakhir region. Follow all the action at www.livef1.net, with Bahrain Grand Prix Live online F1 coverage and special features.

Last time out in China saw Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel score the team’s maiden F1 victory in wet conditions. Vettel had already scored the maiden F1 win for Red Bull’s sister team Toro Rosso at Monza last year.

The 2009 F1 season is developing into a classic season, and all of the action can be followed at www.livef1.net, where all of the remaining races will be streamed live, providing comprehensive live online F1 coverage.

While Vettel scored his second F1 victory in China his experienced Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber had to settle for second place. Watch F1 Bahrain GP  live online streaming here to see if the popular Australian can win the first race of his F1 career.

Despite Red Bull’s success it is Brawn GP driver Jenson Button who still leads the F1 World Championship standings. The Briton finished fourth in China, behind his team-mate Rubens Barrichello.  Then came the McLaren pair, with Lewis Hamilton fifth and Heikki Kovalainen sixth. Timo Glock finished seventh in a Toyota, with the final World Championship point going to Toro Rosso’s rookie sensation Sebastien Buemi. Follow Buemi’s progress at www.livef1.net to see if he can maintain his excellent to start to the season.

Ferrari had another, literally, pointless weekend in China. You can follow the fortunes of the most famous team in racing here with live online F1 streaming of the 2009 Formula 1 World Championship.

Renault’s Fernando Alonso finished just outside the points in Shanghai, but his team-mate Nelson Piquet had a torrid time. BMW Sauber had an eventful but unproductive weekend, while Williams failed to recreate their early season pace. Watch live online F1 coverage here to see if Force India can finally score a World Championship point, after Adrian Sutil came agonisingly close to doing so in China.

The Bahrain GP is a relatively new addition to the F1 calendar. Only two teams, Ferrari and Renault, have ever won the event. Michael Schumacher won the inaugural Grand Prix in Sakhir in 2004, before Alonso went on to win for the next two years, en route to double World Championship success with Renault. For the last two years the Bahrain GP has been won by Ferrari’s Felipe Massa. Watch F1 live online at www.livef1.net to see if a new team can join the list of Bahrain GP winners.

The Bahrain International Circuit features vast run-off areas and a variety of challenging corners. Turns one, four and 12 offer particularly good overtaking opportunities. Set in the desert the circuit often has sand blown across it, resulting in an additional challenge for the F1 drivers as they battle low grip levels.

Subscribe to www.livef1.net to see who will emerge victorious in the next round of an enthralling title battle. In addition to live online F1 coverage subscribers can also follow other major racing series, including NASCAR and MotoGP.

This year’s Chinese Grand Prix will be third race of the 2009 championship, a change from recent years when it has featured towards the end of the season. However the addition of Abu Dhabi as the season finale means that Shanghai has been moved to April to help ensure a balance of ‘flyaways’ and China will now form a double header race with Bahrain.

Following a strong double finish in Australia and improved pace in Malaysia, the Force India Formula One Team will go to the Chinese race with the aim of translating its early-season promise into results.

Q: Did the first two races of the 2009 season pan out as you expected?
Vijay Mallya, Force India-Mercedes (Team Principal): Before the start of the season, we said that the first four flyaway races would be somewhat of an extended test session for the team due to the lack of test mileage over the winter. However when we got to Australia and Adrian and Giancarlo were able to convincingly stay with the pack and so nearly got into the points, we were forced to re-evaluate our expectations. We know we still have some work to do, but I think we can be very encouraged by the speed, reliability and performance of the team.

Q: The team made a lot of changes over the winter both technically and on an operations level. How do you now review them now, two races into the year?
VM: 2008 was very much a learning year for the team and, on the basis of these lessons, I made some changes over the winter. I am pleased to see the switch to a McLaren-Mercedes drivetrain has been very reliable and the drivers say the mechanical balance and grip has to date been very good. Nobody would count us out for points so I think this says we have made a good decision. Secondly, we made some changes on the management front. The team is now a much more cohesive outfit – it’s all pulling in the same direction and this is entirely positive. So yes, I feel our decisions have been vindicated by the improvements this year.

Q: Have you been surprised by the field this year?
VM: After winter testing, everyone expected the Brawn GP cars to be very quick and this has proved to be the case. Although the team started its 2009 preparations very early on last year and has significant resources, it is now effectively an independent team and I am very pleased that the team can operate at such a high level. It certainly gives us all some lessons. What we have seen further down however is that the field is still very close and we cannot predict the outcome. Under these circumstances I think we have reasons to be very positive about our own situation.

Q: What have you learned about how competitive the car is this year from these two races?
Adrian Sutil: We are closer this year and in general the VJM02 is an improvement from last season’s car. The balance and mechanical grip is good and it is very fast in a straight line, but at the moment we don’t have enough downforce. We do have a much clearer direction though this year – last year we were struggling everywhere, but this year it’s just downforce. We need more grip in the corners. I know we have some developments in the pipeline so at this point in the season I am hopeful. The car has potential, definitely.

Q: Are you enjoying driving the 2009-style cars?
AS: I think we didn’t really lose performance as everyone expected. The cars are quicker than last year, so with less downforce and slick tyres, you don’t really feel any difference in speed. It’s a bit different driving them, but I really like it. It’s very good for F1 to be back on slick tyres.

Q: What will your aims be for Shanghai?
AS: The aims, as for the previous races, is to be reliable and get to the finish. This year I’ve got a 100% finish record so far, and I want to keep this up. We’ve seen that some of the other teams are having problems with KERS and the order is not so fixed at the moment so if you get to the finish there’s a good chance you could do well. I think this should be our goal for now – but when we get back to Europe I want to be racing on merit, not just waiting for something to happen to another driver.

Q: What have been your thoughts on the opening two races of the 2009 season?
Giancarlo Fisichella: We are definitely closer than we were last year. For sure qualifying is still a bit of a problem for us, but in Australia we were only a couple of tenths from the World Champion so we can’t be too disappointed. In the race it’s not looking too bad. The balance is good and I have had some nice fights with other cars. Unfortunately in Malaysia we made the wrong call with the tyres so we couldn’t show our real performance there, but in Australia it was not too bad. We are racing and that’s a step forward. We need more downforce now, but we have a clear direction to improve and I think this is really positive.

Q: Is the field more competitive this year?
GF: I think it is even tighter than it was last year and a lot more unpredictable too. Some teams you would expect to be up there at the front are midfield, and we’ve seen that if you get the strategy right or wrong it can make a really big difference. You just can’t afford to slip up, even more so than last year.

Q: Looking forward to Shanghai, what are your goals?
GF: The main goal this weekend is to have a clean event without any mistakes, qualify well and to finish the race. I think it’s too early to start hoping for points yet, but we need to keep the momentum going and get as much information as possible so when we introduce new parts we can really see an improvement.

Source: Force India F1

Just six months after Formula One’s last visit to China, the sport’s calendar returns to Shanghai this week for Round Three of the 2009 FIA Formula One World Championship. Earlier in the season than its traditional autumn date, this year’s Chinese Grand Prix will take place on Sunday 19 April at the Shanghai International Circuit, located 40kms from the city.

The spectacular venue which hosts the 5.451km (3.387 mile) race track was designed by renowned Formula One architect Hermann Tilke and hosted its first Grand Prix in September 2004. The inaugural race was dominated by Brawn GP’s current drivers Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button who finished first and second respectively.

The circuit layout follows the shape of the Chinese character ’shang’ and is technically challenging with a combination of straights, including the long 1.1km back straight, and a range of differing speed corners from the long and tightening turns one to three to the fast left-right chicane at turns seven and eight. The layout of the circuit offers excellent overtaking opportunities which combined with unpredictable weather frequently creates an exciting race.

Q: Following such an exciting start to the season, what has been the focus for the team during the short break?
Ross Brawn, Brawn-Mercedes (Team Principal): It has been an incredible five weeks for the Brawn GP team which began with the first running of our new car at Silverstone on 6 March and concluded with the two successive victories in Australia and Malaysia. Without doubt it has been an intense and hard-working period for everyone involved with the team and they deserve all credit for their commitment. The short break between the two sets of back-to-back flyaway races has been a welcome opportunity for the team to regroup at the factory in Brackley, to assess our performance and to plan ahead for the forthcoming races. Whilst there have been no developments to the car, we have taken the opportunity to address a few small issues which arose over the first two races and we are in good shape for the next race in China. We are expecting temperatures will be cooler and less humid this year with the race taking place six months earlier. Therefore as was the case in Malaysia, we will need to be prepared for the unexpected as rain has played its part in recent races at the Shanghai International Circuit.

Q: What are your thoughts ahead of the third race of the season in China?
Jenson Button: After the excitement of the first two races, it has been great to have the chance to relax and reflect for a few days since the dramatic race in Malaysia. I am understandably delighted with how our season has begun however we are only two races in and everyone at the team is aware that our competitors will not stand still. We fully expect a tough fight from here if we want to continue our early successes. Looking ahead to next weekend, the Shanghai International Circuit is an enjoyable one for the drivers and a good technical challenge to find the right set-up. I particularly enjoy the high-speed sections and the overtaking opportunities going into the tight right-hander at turn five and at the end of the back straight.

Q: How do you expect the BGP 001 to perform around the Shanghai International Circuit?
Rubens Barrichello: It seems strange to be returning to China already but I’m looking forward to the weekend as Shanghai is an impressive facility and the circuit provides an interesting challenge for the drivers. The track holds some good memories for me as I won the first race here in 2004. With the car that we have this year, it is so exciting to be able to return with the opportunity to compete at the front again. The BGP 001 has gone well at the two very different race tracks in Australia and Malaysia so it will be interesting to see how the car performs in Shanghai which is quite a unique circuit. You need to have a very good aerodynamic balance combined with a stable car and good straightline speed to take advantage of the long straights.

Source: Brawn GP

Q: Fernando, a pretty eventful Malaysian Grand Prix for you. Tell us about your race…
Fernando Alonso: I made an amazing start and was up to third from ninth after the first couple of corners, which showed the clear benefit of our KERS system. However, I was heavy with fuel and it was difficult to defend my position from the cars behind me. Then it started to rain and I went off the circuit before I could change to wet tyres. After that it was all about being on the right tyres at the right time, but it wasn’t easy predicting how heavy the rain would be. It was definitely the right decision to stop the race as it would have been dangerous to try and continue in those conditions.

Q: You’ve said the team needs to improve the car. Are you confident the team can do that?
FA: Absolutely. I believe in this team and we saw last year that they know how to fight back and find performance from the car. It’s still very early days and everyone in the team is working hard to develop the R29 so that we can be more competitive in the next few races. I was disappointed not to score points in Malaysia as my aim is to score points at every race this season. Obviously it’s difficult to change the car until we get back to Europe, but we have learnt a lot from the first two races and we certainly made progress in Malaysia. We need to take another step forward in Shanghai and hopefully score points.

Q: Are you looking forward to racing in Shanghai and what are your thoughts on the track?
FA: It’s definitely a circuit that I enjoy and it’s quite similar to Sepang with some quick corners, long straights and low-speed sections. You therefore have to find a compromise with the set-up to make sure you have enough downforce for the high-speed sections, but also good straight-line speed. I won the race there in 2005 when Renault also won the constructors’ championship so it’s a track with good memories for the team. I also enjoy being in China and the fans are really enthusiastic about Formula 1.

Q: Nelson, it was a chaotic race in Malaysia – sum up your race for us?
Nelson Piquet: I had a good start and made up four positions, so things were looking quite good during the first stint, especially as I had a lot of fuel in the car. The car had a good balance in the dry, but then it rained and we had to pit early. The wet conditions were really bad and it was almost impossible to drive the car because of the poor visibility and aquaplaning. It was difficult to call the right strategy and the team did a good job, but races like that are always a lottery. It’s a shame we couldn’t restart the race, but the conditions were the worst I can remember at a Grand Prix.

Q: After two races what is the mood like in the team?
NP: The team is very motivated and determined to do a good job in China. We improved the car between Australia and Malaysia and we need to continue in this direction to try and get more from our package in China. I know the guys back at the factory are working really hard to prepare upgrades for later in the year and I’m sure we will continue to get stronger and stronger throughout the season.

Q: You finished in the points in China last year as a rookie – what are your targets for this year’s race?
NP: After two races we’ve seen how close all the teams are, but I will still aim for the points this weekend. I need to make sure I improve my performance in qualifying so that I can reach Q2 or Q3 and have a good strategy for the race. We also need to see how the different tyres perform because Shanghai is quite a tough circuit for the tyres and we will need to do a lot of evaluation on Friday to make sure we are well prepared for the race.

Q: Bob, what was your verdict on the team’s weekend in Malaysia?
Bob Bell, Renault (Technical Director): It was clearly below par. We weren’t running any new parts so it was basically the same car we had run in Melbourne and we saw a similar level of competitiveness. However, during winter testing we have seen a higher level of performance from the car and so we know there is more to come. It’s just at the moment we’re not extracting that performance from the car. I suspect there is something quite subtle and sensitive that we need to put right, but it’s a case of understanding what that is and resolving the issue. There are definitely some changes we will make to the car for China to try and restore our performance to where we want to be, but it won’t take us to the front of the field just yet.

Q: Are you satisfied with the performance benefits of running KERS and will the team use it in China?
BB: We haven’t changed our fundamental view that our default position should be to run with KERS as opposed to without it. There are certainly circuits where running KERS is a distinct advantage and Malaysia was probably the first of those, although as the year unfolds there will be circuits where it may be debatable whether running KERS is an advantage or not. So we need to evaluate its merits on a race-by-race basis, but China is definitely a track where we should see a benefit. Overall the system is working well and it gives us the advantages we hoped for, such as making overtaking or defending a position easier, as well as clear benefits at the start of the race.

Q: Tell us about the Shanghai International Circuit and the challenges it presents?
BB: It’s a modern circuit that’s quite smooth with a mix of high and low-speed sections: long straights, tight chicanes and fast, sweeping corners. Any circuit like that presents a challenge for the engineers to find a set-up that works well across a wide range of corners and speeds. It’s not a particularly demanding circuit on the brakes, but it can be quite hard on the tyres, especially the first corner with its constantly tightening radius. In terms of aero levels, we will run a fairly standard package, but the priority is to find a good balance between a low and high-speed set-up.

Q: What is the team’s mindset after two races?
BB: The whole team is extremely motivated and working very hard to improve the car. We have some interesting projects going on back at the factory that will add performance to the car, both in the aero and mechanical domains. Everybody is very positive and up for the fight.

Source: Renault F1

Panasonic Toyota Racing continues the 2009 Formula 1 season with another trip eastwards, this time to Shanghai for the Chinese Grand Prix, which comes much earlier in the season than its usual autumn spot. Timo Glock and Jarno Trulli finished third and fourth respectively in the Malaysian Grand Prix last time out, reversing the result in Australia and taking the team’s Formula 1 podium tally to 10. After the race the team briefly returned home to its technical centre in Cologne, Germany before making the trip to China, although the cars and equipment went directly from Sepang to Shanghai. Last year Timo Glock finished seventh in China to score more points in his debut season while Jarno Trulli was eliminated in an early accident. Toyota has finished on the podium before in China, in 2005 with Ralf Schumacher, and that will be the target again this weekend.

Jarno Trulli:
“I am really optimistic about the Chinese Grand Prix because we have started the season very strongly. It shows how much progress we have made since last season that in Malaysia I was a little disappointed with fourth because I wanted to finish on the podium and fight for the win. Last year in Malaysia I finished fourth and that was more than we expected. We are second in the Constructors’ Championship so it’s clear we are one of the top teams and both Timo and I have consistently been fighting at the front which is great. So the goal for me in China is to fight for the podium again and I think we have a really good chance. China is one of those circuits where I have never had much luck and it was the same last year when I was hit from behind at the first corner, so I’m determined to have a better weekend this time.”

Timo Glock:
“Malaysia was a crazy race but it was a great result for the team and it gives us a lot of confidence for the Chinese Grand Prix. We were really competitive in all conditions which is a good sign because it confirms we were right to be optimistic before the season started. We have had both cars finish in the top four in both races so far this season so we are definitely aiming to challenge for the podium again, but of course it’s pretty close so we will have to do another good weekend. It seems strange to be going to China in April because it has always been later in the season; the weather looks like it could be a bit cooler than usual. I quite enjoy racing at Shanghai because it’s an interesting track. Last year I went well there and scored points, but I’m hoping to get more than seventh place this weekend, that’s for sure.”

Pascal Vasselon, Toyota (Senior General Manager Chassis):
“Shanghai is a track which offers a very wide range of cornering speeds so you cannot optimise the car just for high-speed or low-speed corners; you have to find a good balance. The unique aspect to the Shanghai track is its very long corners; turn one and turn 13. It is extremely important to get the balance of the car right in turn 13 because it comes out on to the main straight and you want to exit at the highest possible speed. These two corners and the specific lay-out in general are also demanding on tyres so overall Shanghai is quite severe in terms of tyre wear. If you have a compound which is too soft it is likely to have graining issue. So it will be interesting to see how the super soft and medium compound tyres behave this weekend.”

Source: Toyota F1

The highly technical and challenging Shanghai International Circuit hosts the third round of the FIA Formula One World Championship where Bridgestone tyres will once more be seen in action after just a week’s break from the last race.

Changes to the calendar mean that the Sinopec Chinese Grand Prix takes place just six months after the last event here. That race was won by Vodafone McLaren Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton using a hard-hard-medium tyre strategy.

This season the move to slick tyres means new tyre allocations for races, so China will see the medium and super soft tyres allocated – the same tyres as used in the Australian Grand Prix – giving the teams and drivers a tough challenge for tyre management.

Shanghai has two long straights and sixteen corners of varying types over its 5.45 km. Heavy braking, extreme lateral loads and high demands on traction are just some of the factors that Bridgestone’s medium and super soft compound Potenza tyres will encounter.

Turns 2 and 7 are likely to induce tyre graining, whilst the high lateral G-force generated through the sequence of turns 7-8 will place strong demands on the tyres’ construction and heat durability. A two stop pit strategy has been the favoured option in the past, as running with a heavy car as required for a one-stop strategy is likely to be very detrimental to lap times and cause heavier wear to the tyres. There is an element of gradient changes over the course of a lap as well as an element of banking in turn 13.

Q: What are the challenges of Shanghai?
Hirohide Hamashima, Bridgestone (Director of Motorsport Tyre Development): Shanghai International Circuit is severe on tyres. There are very high lateral forces and we expect to see graining on the front left tyres, especially caused by the increasing radius turn two and the banked turn thirteen. We could also see graining on the rear tyres here too. The circuit layout means that a medium downforce set-up will be used, as there are two long straights, but a large percentage of the track is also very twisty and technical. For the teams and drivers, finding the correct set-up to make the best use of their tyres will be a big challenge.

Q: We will see the super soft compound in use again, how difficult will tyre management be?
HH: In Australia there was a particular challenge of graining on the super soft tyre, however this graining varied across the teams between the front and the rear, which means that the correct compromise set- up for these new cars is still being found. For this reason we would expect less graining in China as the teams now have better understanding of their cars than at the first race. Also, Shanghai is a permanent race track so the track surface should be better.

Source: Bridgestone Motorsport

Lewis Hamilton:
“I really enjoy racing in Shanghai – the track is a good blend of fast and slow stuff and it throws up a few nice challenges for the drivers. Finding the right set-up is important, you need speed and balance through the high-speed corners but decent mechanical grip for the hairpins. We got it spot-on last year, and while I don’t expect us to enjoy that sort of performance advantage this season, I think we’re all looking forward to a good showing. Hopefully, some of the upgrades we’ve added to MP4-24 for this race will have a benefit: it would be very encouraging if we could qualify a little further up the grid and be regularly challenging for points.”

Heikki Kovalainen:
“The best corners on the Shanghai International Circuit are Turns Six and Seven – the fast, sweeping left- and right-handers. The left is almost flat in sixth before you shift down a gear and change direction at very high speed. It’s difficult to find the ideal set-up because of the variety of different corners: there’s some heavy braking, fast esses and high-speed changes of direction, which require a good aero package, and some slower corners where mechanical grip is important. It’s all about compromise – it’s a real challenge for the drivers and the engineers. But at least you can overtake – mainly into Turns Four, 10 and 13 – so I hope we’ll see some great racing this weekend.”

Martin Whitmarsh, McLaren-Mercedes (Team Principal):
“We have reasons to be both disappointed and optimistic about our performance in the opening races of the 2009 season: disappointed because we do not yet possess the necessary technical package to enable us to fight with the leaders, but optimistic that our rate of progress is sufficiently rapid that we should be able to fight for points finishes on a regular basis. This weekend’s race will see a number of new components introduced to MP4-24, and while we do not expect them to radically transform the car’s potential, they should move us a little closer to the front than we saw in the opening two races.”

Norbert Haug, McLaren-Mercedes (Mercedes-Benz Motorsport Vice President):
“Last year, Lewis drove an excellent race on this challenging circuit and won. For this year’s Chinese Grand Prix, it has to be our target to start further up the grid than was the case in the first two grands prix. Those two races showed that points-finishes or even podiums were possible, even when the basic speed was not good enough. The team has developed further technical and aerodynamic improvements which should enable us to make another small step forward.”

Source: McLaren F1

Following the spectacular PETRONAS Malaysian Grand Prix that saw Nick Heidfeld take second for the BMW Sauber F1 Team, the Chinese Grand Prix is now next on the weekend of 17th to 19th April. Previously always held in the autumn, the GP will this time take place in spring.

Robert Kubica:
“It’s the first time we’re going to Shanghai at this time of year, when there is a high chance of rain. That can have a major impact on the whole weekend, of course. The circuit is very challenging with long straights and hard braking. Plus there are several high-speed corners, for example the slightly banked right-hander you take at almost full throttle and that leads onto the back straight. It’s one of the longest straights on the whole race calendar. And, of course, the combination of turn one and two with the blind apex and the long braking is a real challenge. So far Shanghai hasn’t brought me any luck, but I’m hoping that will change this time round.”

Nick Heidfeld:
“This year’s race is scheduled much earlier than before, so we can probably expect considerably lower temperatures. That will make a difference to the tyres in particular, but it will also bring with it a different atmosphere. We’ve seen some good races in Shanghai, and I hope that will be the case in 2009 as well. The first corner is the highlight of the circuit. You go into it at high speed, and to begin with you stay on the throttle, but then it keeps tightening up and you have to drop down to second gear.

“The city of Shanghai is just as exciting. We’ve been racing there since 2004 and you can really observe how the city is changing from year to year. On the one hand there are extremely poor districts, while on the other you get smart restaurants along the Bund with a great view of the Pearl Tower and the Shanghai skyline. The traffic is unpleasant, and we’re not allowed to drive ourselves here. Last year my driver had an accident on the motorway on Saturday night. You quite often get cars unexpectedly stranded on the road, and obviously it was too late for him to brake. Fortunately it wasn’t serious, but traffic conditions in Shanghai are really terrible.”

Mario Theissen, BMW Sauber-BMW (Team Principal):
“After a short Easter break, we look forward to the second back-to-back of the season. Shanghai is a booming city of millions, and the sheer scale of the race track and its facilities are unsurpassed. From the point of view of BMW as a car manufacturer and all our partners, the Chinese GP is of significant commercial interest. This region has enormous growth potential.

“China is our biggest market in Asia and the fifth largest worldwide. Since 2004 BMW has also run a production plant in China, where BMW 3 Series and BMW 5 Series models are manufactured as part of a joint venture. Unlike last year, this year’s race takes place early on in the season. In Shanghai we hope to continue on from our successful result in Kuala Lumpur.”

Willy Rampf, BMW Sauber-BMW (Head of Engineering):
“The Shanghai circuit has several fast corners that demand a great deal of downforce and high vehicle stability. Due to the restrictions on aerodynamics introduced this season, we will probably be running with maximum downforce. But there are also long straights where maximum speed is of the essence. Because the track is very wide and the run-off areas are mostly tarred, a bit of a slide doesn’t necessarily mean you’re out of the race. That’s an incentive for the drivers to overtake, so we can look forward to quite a spectacular race. Good car balance is important, particularly in the first turn combination. The drivers go into it at very high speed and brake deep into the corner. This section is undoubtedly one of the highlights of the season in terms of testing driving skills. All in all, Shanghai is a very challenging circuit.”

Source: BMW Sauber F1