Formula 1

No oasis for Ferrari in the desert

Sunday, 20 May 2012 10:48

The first four races of the season have come in a whirlwind like the one that can blow sand across Bahrain’s Sakhir circuit and today in the desert there was no oasis with a tree to shade the shortcomings of the F2012, nor a well from which to draw up buckets of performance. Fernando Alonso had expected to be somewhere between seventh and twelfth, so ninth is pretty much right in the middle.
It’s probable that both the Spaniard and Felipe Massa, who was fourteenth fastest this afternoon, could have got a better grid position, but mindful that points are only dished out on Sunday, the team picked different qualifying strategies for the two drivers, although both of them aimed at saving new tyres for tomorrow’s 57 lap Bahrain Grand Prix. We will have to wait and see if it pays off, but given the potential of the current car package, taking a gamble is the best and bravest move for the Scuderia Ferrari duo at the moment.
For the first time this season, reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel was the best of the bunch, securing pole position. The Red Bull driver shares the front row with McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton, while the second row sees their respective team-mates lined up behind with Mark Webber third and Jenson Button fourth. Nico Rosberg secured fifth place for Mercedes and alongside him is Daniel Ricciardo in the Toro Rosso, the best placed of three Ferrari-engined cars in the top ten. Fernando Alonso will share the fifth row with the Force India of Paul di Resta, while Felipe Massa is on the outside of the Scotsman’s team-mate, Nico Hulkenberg.
Tyre management holds the key to tomorrow’s race, but so does reliability in the extreme heat, which will make life tough for everyone. This season’s four races so far have been hard to predict, but points for both cars has to be the Scuderia’s target.

Add new comment

Bahrain GP Qualifying-Ferrari

Sunday, 20 May 2012 10:48

Another ninth place for Alonso as race takes priority over grid position
Massa fourteenth and out in Q2
One car on the fifth row and the other on the seventh: that is where the two Ferrari F2012s will line up on the starting grid for the Bahrain Grand Prix, which takes place tomorrow afternoon at 15h00 local time. Fernando Alonso posted the ninth fastest time in Q3 after having been fifteenth in Q1 and fifth in Q2. The Spaniard used three sets of Pirelli Soft tyres during the session. Felipe Massa got into Q2 with the seventh fastest time and ended up fourteenth. The Brazilian used two sets of Soft and one of Medium.
Stefano Domenicali: “In all honesty, this result matches our expectations going into the session. Certainly we can’t be happy about these positions, quite the contrary in fact: we are the first to be disappointed, but our potential today is what it is and now we must try and get the most out of it. Looking to a race in which tyre degradation will be a decisive factor, we came up with a programme aimed at saving as many new sets as possible, trying at the same time to get as far forward on the grid as we could. If and how well this choice will pay off, is something we will only find out tomorrow afternoon. The aim for this Grand Prix is damage limitation, which means bringing both cars home in the points. I expect it will be a very hard race, for the cars, the drivers and the teams: whoever manages to avoid making any mistakes will already have a fair chance of getting a good result.”
Fernando Alonso: “Today, we were worth a place somewhere between eighth and twelfth, so ninth on the grid fits in with our current level. Honestly, given the characteristics of this track, which are definitely not suited to our current car, so far the weekend has not in fact gone that badly. To be in with a chance of making it to Q3, we had to use all three sets of Soft tyres available, so we didn’t have any left for the final part of the session. Doing a time on used tyres would have made no sense and would have forced us to start with a set of tyres that already had a few laps on them. Now we are free to choose either the Medium or the Soft for the start of a race that looks like being very hard, especially on tyres. To date, we have always gone a bit better on Sunday than Saturday: let’s hope it’s the same situation in Bahrain. Tomorrow, we must try and manage the tyres as well as possible, making the most of having three sets of new Mediums. The start will also be important, because it would be useful to make up some places right away, given that, for us, overtaking is certainly not straightforward. The aim? To finish in the points, around sixth or seventh place. I know, it’s not brilliant, but that’s what we can do with the car we have today.”
Felipe Massa: “Not exactly a brilliant position, but at least I have a new set of Softs for the race. It’s true that the track was improving with every passing minute, but I can’t say if using two sets of Softs in Q2 would have seen me get through into Q3. It would have been very difficult and we had decided to sacrifice something today in favour of tomorrow’s race, given that here it is very important to be able to use new tyres. That can make the difference when the track and the weather make for a high degradation level. We will try and get a good start and to use our strategy to make up positions. We know from our recent experience in Shanghai that, for us, overtaking is more complicated than for others. Here we suffer especially with a lack of traction coming out of the slower corners and that’s why I expect we will be fighting on the defensive in the race.”
Pat Fry: “Aware of our potential and the fact that tyre degradation can be expected to be very high over a long run, based on what we saw in yesterday’s free practice, we ran this qualifying session in different ways for each driver, thinking more about the race than the result at the end of this afternoon. For Fernando, our priority was to save sets of new Medium tyres, sending him straight out on track on the Soft in Q1. It was a bit risky, but it worked. Fernando managed to get through to Q3, but had to also use the last set of Softs available, because the track was improving significantly with each passing minute. In the final part of the session, we chose not to do a timed lap, hoping to induce any of our rivals who might have been following the same strategy to do a time, which would at least have obliged them to then start the race with a set of used tyres. With Felipe on the other hand, we went for a more conventional strategy, while still letting him save a set of new Softs for tomorrow, when tyre management will be important. If one can manage to do as many laps as possible with a clear track ahead, it could allow you to make up some places: let’s hope we can get both drivers in the top ten.”

Add new comment

Bahrain GP Qualifying-Force India

Sunday, 20 May 2012 10:48

Sahara Force India delivered a strong showing in today’s qualifying session with Paul Di Resta qualifying in tenth place for tomorrow’s Bahrain Grand Prix. Teammate Nico Hulkenberg will line up in P13.
P10      Paul Di Resta (VJM05/02)
Q1:       1:34.624
Q2:       1:33.510
Q3:       No time set
Paul: “I’m very happy with our qualifying performance today. With our reduced programme yesterday it wasn’t easy getting all the work done, but the team did a good job to get the car dialled into the track before qualifying. I had a great lap in Q2, just three tenths away from the quickest time, but in Q3 we all took the decision from a strategic point of view to save tyres. I think this will put us in the best shape for tomorrow and I hope we can deliver a strong race.”
P13      Nico Hulkenberg (VJM05/03)
Q1:       1:34.601
Q2:       1:33.807
Nico: “It has been a very busy day for us, but we learned a lot this morning and improved the car all the way through to qualifying where we showed some good speed. My Q2 lap was looking very strong until the final sector where I got some oversteer and ran wide, which cost me a few tenths. Otherwise I think we could have had both cars in the top ten. But I’m still pretty pleased and I feel that we can fight for points tomorrow.”
Robert Fernley, Deputy Team Principal “I think the whole team has delivered an impressive performance today, which leaves us in a competitive position heading into the race. We worked hard at improving the car between final practice and qualifying, and I think the track conditions came to us as well. Paul’s pace in Q2 shows the potential we have in the car and allowed him to reach Q3 for the first time this year, which was a tremendous effort. Nico was close to joining him too, but a small mistake cost him some time in the final part of the lap. We are now looking forward to the race and building on today’s showing to help put on a great spectacle for Bahrain.”

Add new comment

Bahrain GP Qualifying-Red Bull

Sunday, 20 May 2012 10:48

Car 1 SEBASTIAN VETTEL, Position: POLE POSITION, (3rd Practice – P2, 1:33.401)
“It feels great and I completely owe this one to the team. It wasn’t an easy start to the season for us and there was a lot of expectation, but I think more than anything it was about what we expected from ourselves and we didn’t match it. We’ve been working extremely hard on the car, trimming here and there and finding the right way to go forward. The boys haven’t had much sleep the last few races – it was a tough race last weekend in China and now here, so it’s good to put the car on pole for them. The car felt better all weekend, it wasn’t the smoothest qualifying session, I nearly went out in Q1, but it’s good to get the pole.”
Car 2 MARK WEBBER, Position: 3rd, (3rd Practice – P3, 1:33.663)
“The car has been working better here. The first part of qualifying wasn’t easy and we both had to go again in Q1. It was a pretty decent session for me and my best qualifying performance at this circuit. Seb did a good lap for pole and we’re satisfied to both be at the front. The team has worked very hard and been very focused. We haven’t been too strong on Saturdays until now, but we have on Sunday. We can have a good race from there tomorrow; tyre strategy will be very, very important – a lot of drivers, including us, have used a lot of tyres already in qualifying.”
CHRISTIAN HORNER: “A great team performance today and pretty unexpected to get pole and third on the grid here. It’s testimony to all the hard work that’s going on here trackside and back in the factory to deliver that kind of performance during what was a really exciting and tight qualifying session. Sebastian was nearly knocked out in Q1 and Q2 and then put it on pole in Q3, which shows how tight it was and Mark was there all the way through. Hopefully we can have a strong race tomorrow.”
(Renault) CYRIL DUMONT: “It’s a good feeling to be at the top of the game after a few races where we were struggled a bit more, especially with our qualifying pace. The team is pushing hard to recover and understand the tyres more and it’s starting to pay off. I’m happy for the team and everyone who is working so hard. To start first and third is the best position for tomorrow on the clean side of the track, so I hope that we will have the usual, good race pace to convert our qualifying from today.”
PEOPLE TALK: A Formula One team is all about the people, but away from the racing what makes our team members tick? This race, we speak to Support Team Manager Tony Burrows…
What exactly does the Support Team do?
The primary function is to support to the race team. Sometimes that means replacing someone for a race, but mainly we look after the testing of the RB8, including aero testing, track testing and the rig tests. We also take care of the showcar programme.
What preparations are you making for the Mugello test before the Spanish GP?
We’re trying to get as prepared as we can, getting composite parts ready and the car built. Many parts are in Bahrain, but we can get on with the development parts, get them built, assembled and on the car.
When you get away from the track at a test, how do you relax?
If you’re lucky you’re getting into bed on the same day that you got up! If you do get a chance to get away though, then relaxing is the same for everyone: sit down, have a glass of wine and try to talk about anything except motor racing.
What one thing, apart from what do, are you really good at?
I don’t know! I’m not into sports really or anything like that. I tend to read a lot – history books. I’m fascinated by the past. I think I’ve got about 1000 books on my iPad. The last one I read was about Britain’s influence on the American Civil War. That’ll probably bore the hell out of people won’t it? Tell them I’m a brilliant basketball player instead – world class!
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?
Write things down. You’re taking in so much information all the time that you will forget important elements. So scribble it down. It’s saved my life many times and will do again.
If you couldn’t do this job what would you do?
I think something in the building trade. I’ve done quite a lot of renovating over the years. I bought a 200-year-old cottage some time ago. It took me seven years to do it up but I did everything in it – the wiring, plumbing, new windows, new roof, everything. I really enjoyed doing that.

Add new comment

Bahrain GP Qualifying-Mercedes

Sunday, 20 May 2012 10:48

“Our intention is to go for the win”
LEWIS HAMILTON
MP4-27A-03
P3
4th                        1m33.782s (+0.528s) 16 laps
Qualifying
Q1 16th                   1m34.813s (on Primes)
Q2 1st                       1m33.209s (on Options)
Q3 2nd overall         1m32.520s (on Options)
“I’m very happy with how qualifying went and the job the team has done so far this weekend. I’ve put the car on the front row at every race this year, and I feel this was one of my best qualifying performances so far. Both my laps in Q3 were very good and I feel I got everything out of the car.
“Fingers crossed for tomorrow: both Red Bull drivers will be very hard to beat in the race, but we’re less than a tenth behind on race pace. The start could be key – we’ve had good launches all season so I expect us to be able to challenge Seb [Vettel] down to Turn One.
“This season is shaping up to be very interesting: it’s anyone’s for the taking, at the moment”
JENSON BUTTON
MP4-27A-04
P3
6th                           1m33.899s (+0.645s) 14 laps
Qualifying
Q1 15th                    1m34.792s (on Primes)
Q2 6th                      1m33.416s (on Options)
Q3 4th overall           1m32.711s (on Options)
“Fourth position wasn’t quite what I’d been hoping for, but it’s not too bad. It’s always a horrible feeling on your final Q3 lap when the balance isn’t quite where you want it. I couldn’t get the best from the car so I pitted early to save the tyres. Besides, fourth isn’t too bad anyway.
“The car is definitely a lot better than it was yesterday – we made some improvements overnight. We’d expected the Red Bulls to be very quick in qualifying, so to be close to them is a positive. A nice surprise is that we’re ahead of Nico [Rosberg] who was on pole just a week ago.
“A good launch tomorrow will be very important – both Lewis and I will be starting on the dirty side of the grid, which makes things more difficult, so we’ll need to get it right. Tyre management will be crucial too.
“I’m looking forward to the challenge.”
MARTIN WHITMARSH Team principal, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes
“As we’ve already got used to seeing this season, it was very tight at the top today.
“Even the early stages of qualifying – Q1 and Q2 – are nowadays extremely hard to get through. Michael [Schumacher] and Kimi [Raikkonen] can confirm that.
“As for our boys, well, Lewis drove an excellent lap, and missed out on pole position by just a tenth of a second. Jenson, too, was his usual rapid and reliable self, ending up in fourth place, directly behind Lewis on tomorrow’s grid.
“The race will inevitably be a physically challenging one for all the drivers, as is always the case in hot climates such as Bahrain’s, but we’ve got two tough racers in Lewis and Jenson and our intention is to go for the win.”