Dani Clos To Get Fifth Practice Outing At Spa

HRT’s reserve driver, Dani Clos, will get his fifth practice outing with the Spanish outfit when the Formula 1 fraternity reconvenes at the legendary Spa-Francorchamps circuit next weekend, with the Spaniard once again replacing Narain Karthikeyan during the opening practice session.

Dani Clos has fond memories of racing around Spa, as the Spaniard took his first international single-seater victory of his career at the circuit. Clos last raced around Spa last season in the GP2 Series, finishing 6th on both occasions throughout the weekend. This will be the Spaniard’s fourth outing in succession for HRT, after Clos carried out the same practice duties at the German and Hungarian Grands Prix. He is understandably eager to return to the cockpit of the F112, and continue his role within the team alongside team-mates Pedro de la Rosa and Narain Karthikeyan.

“Once again I have a chance to step into the car and work for the team and that fills me with satisfaction.” Explained Dani Clos, “Especially after having run in the events leading up to the summer break, for me it is really important to stay active and be able to continue growing alongside my teammates Pedro and Narain. Spa is a circuit where I have great memories. I won my first international one-seater race there, that’s something you never forget and it makes me have special feelings for this circuit.”

HRT are eager to continue their momentum once the season continues next weekend, with the Spanish outfit deciding to run a medium downforce setup similar to that used at Montreal throughout the weekend. Although Spa plays host to many high speed corners, such as Eau Rouge and the fast-flowing Blanchimont section, both drivers are confident ahead of the weekend.

“We’re going to use the same medium downforce that worked so well in Canada so we hope to perform well despite the large amount of high speed corners.” Said Pedro de la Rosa, “We’ve all returned full of energy from the holidays and I personally arrive in my best physical condition of the season and really looking forward to taking on the second half of the championship”.

HRT have still yet to score their first World Championship points, as they enter the latter stages of their third Formula 1 season. The team have undoubtedly shown potential in the face of adversity this season, and will remain positive that those elusive points can be scored this season.

Picture Copyright © HRT F1 Team

Sauber Duo Rue Missed Opportunities In First Half Of 2012

Sergio Perez and Kamui Kobayashi have enjoyed a highly competitive start to the 2012 season, with Perez already stepping onto the podium twice in Malaysia and Canada and Kobayashi coming ever so close to his first ever podium finish in Germany with 4th. However, the Sauber duo are ruing missed opportunities in what was a highly competitive opening eleven races of the season.

Although Sergio Perez and Kamui Kobayashi currently sit 9th and 10th in the Drivers’ Championship respectively, the duo are realistic in the fact that the 2012 season has not been all glory so far. The Hinwil-based outfit have lately been suffering greatly when it comes to qualifying, with Sergio Perez failing to progress through to the top ten shootout since the Spanish Grand Prix back in May.

This has greatly plagued Sergio Perez, who came agonizingly close to his maiden Grand Prix victory at the Malaysian Grand Prix at the beginning of the season. Since then, the Mexican driver has only been able to finish on the podium one other time, at the Canadian Grand Prix when the likes of Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel began to suffer greatly from tyre wear.

Sergio Perez finished 2nd in Malaysia, only +2.263 seconds off winner Alonso.

“I had some great moments in the first half of the season.” Explained Sergio Perez, “There were the two podiums in Malaysia and Montreal, which, of course, made me very happy. Nevertheless it was also a period with ups and downs because we didn’t make the most of every situation.”

Sergio Perez’s team-mate, Kamui Kobayashi, has yet to finish on the podium in 2012. However, the Japanese driver has shown exceedingly quick pace throughout the first half of the season, and has also stated that missed opportunities has been the only set-back of the season so far.

“Overall we have done a good job and achieved great things.” Said Kamui Kobayashi, “The team built a very good car with an excellent performance. Since the beginning of the season we have been competitive on most tracks, and this means we can be confident for the remainder of the season. The downside so far has been we definitely missed some opportunities for some more great results. Too often we didn’t manage the weekend perfectly. If we can improve there, a lot will be possible.”

It’s visible that Sauber have designed a car which is capable of great things this season, and which is consistently quick on the majority of the circuits on the calendar. Both Sergio Perez and Kamui Kobayashi know how to win races, having done so on numerous occasions in GP2 and GP2 Asia. If Sauber can qualify both cars high on the grid, its highly conceivable that further podiums are there for the taking in this highly competitive and unique 2012 season.

Picture(s) Copyright © Sauber Motorsport AG

Sergio Perez: “I Am Focusing On The Here And Now”

For several months now, Sauber’s Sergio Perez has been linked to a possible move to Ferrari for 2013. With Felipe Massa’s seat at the Italian outfit looking increasingly unsafe after an uncompetitive start to the season in comparison to the Mexican, the rumor of Perez moving to Ferrari is a popular topic within the F1 paddock.

However, Sergio Perez is uninterested with those rumors as the 22-year-old continues to blossom with Sauber. Already in 2012 the young Mexican has stepped onto the podium on two occasions, and is undeniably a star of the future of Formula 1. Like so many drivers his age, Sergio Perez has graduated through the likes of British Formula 3 and the GP2 Series.

“Well, I am focusing on the here and now.” Explained Sergio Perez, “We are in the midfield, we have a competitive car and we can put things together. My guess is that we can be very competitive here if we have a weekend without issues.”

Sauber have enjoyed a relatively competitive 2012 season so far, as the team came agonizingly close to victory at the Malaysian Grand Prix. Sergio Perez once again showed his maturity with a scintillating drive from 15th on the grid to finish 3rd at the Canadian Grand Prix.

Unfortunately for both Sauber and Perez, the Mexican driver failed to finish last time out at Silverstone due to a collision with former GP2 rival Pastor Maldonado. Perez was understandably furious with the outcome of the race, openly voicing his disgust at Maldonado’s driving. However, the Mexican is striving to redeem himself this weekend on a track which he won on in GP2 back in 2010.

As there is no Swiss Grand Prix, this weekend’s German Grand Prix is basically a home race for the Sauber outfit. With this the case, both Sergio Perez and his team-mate Kamui Kobayashi will be out to achieve a competitive result around the 2.842 mile Hockenheimring.

Picture Copyright © Sauber Motorsport AG

McLaren Confident They Have Identified Button’s Woes

McLaren suffered a race of mixed emotions at the Canadian Grand Prix, as Lewis Hamilton stormed to his first Grand Prix victory of the 2012 season whereas Jenson Button limped home in 16th place a whole lap off the pace. As the Woking-based outfit gear up for the European Grand Prix, McLaren are confident they have identified “subtle” differences between Hamilton’s and Button’s set-ups.

Speaking in a Vodafone ‘Phone-In’ earlier in the week, McLaren’s Operations Director Simon Roberts spoke out about how he believes enough work has been carried out back at their Woking factory to identify the minor issues that resulted in the starkly contrasting results last time out. Although both Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button had the same cars and parts, their competitiveness throughout the weekend was lightyears apart.

“There’s been a huge amount of work carried out back at the factory, analyzing the data to check everything was as we thought it was.” Explained Simon Roberts, “We’re pretty sure at the moment that there’s nothing untoward with Jenson’s car and there’s actually nothing fundamentally wrong with the set-up. But, subtly, there are differences with these cars. And I think going into Valencia we are quite optimistic we have identified them. I think we can have a slightly different way of getting Jenson’s car under him for both qualifying and the race.”

When asked whether he could elaborate on the “subtle differences” between the two cars, Simon Roberts continued to explain how there was nothing fundamentally wrong with Button’s set-up.

“I’m not going to go into exactly what they are but they are very subtle.” Continued Simon Roberts, “There was definitely nothing fundamentally wrong with his set-up. But on the day, clearly there was underperformance. We think we’ve stepped nearer to understanding it all. Whether we’ve cracked it, only time will tell. It’s been a painful but interesting learning exercise for us.”

Jenson Button’s competitiveness has visibly decreased since his illustrious win at the season opening Australian Grand Prix back in March, as the 32-year-old Briton currently sits 8th in the Drivers’ Championship with 45 points. If the 2009 World Champion wishes to be a title contender in 2012, he will undeniably need a change of fortune in the next few races.

Picture Copyright © Getty Images

Lewis Hamilton Feeling The Pressure In 2012

Although Lewis Hamilton took victory at the Canadian Grand Prix, which in turn meant the Briton could leave Montreal leading the Drivers’ Championship, the 2008 World Champion has explained how he is feeling enormous amounts of pressure to produce good results this season.

With this unique season ever changing, Lewis Hamilton has stated how consistency is a better aim, rather than individual strong results. The McLaren driver has so far successfully finished every race this season in the points, which is his best start to a Formula 1 season since his debut back in 2007.

“My win in Montreal was obviously an extremely satisfying moment for me – but, actually, it does very little to alter things in the World Championship.” Explained Lewis Hamilton, “We may have won in Canada, but there’s an enormous amount of pressure to keep racking up good results at every Grand Prix. I think that consistency, rather than individual strong results, will be the key to winning this World Championship, so we need to back it up in Valencia with another strong result.”

After seven different winners in the first seven races of the season, many are predicting another different winner this weekend in Valencia. Even former World Champion Lewis Hamilton is struggling to make a firm prediction ahead of this weekends race, however his only aim is to score another strong and consistent result.

“People are always asking me to predict what will happen at the next race and I always tell them it’s really difficult to make an accurate prediction.” Continued Hamilton, “But I’ll be heading to Valencia feeling super-motivated to get another strong result and maintain my momentum before we head into Silverstone and the Santander British Grand Prix.”

Lewis Hamilton has never won at the European Grand Prix, whereas McLaren have never won around the Valencia Street Circuit altogether. Both Lewis Hamilton and his team-mate Jenson Button will be striving to take victory this weekend, however Hamilton seems quite content on consistency this season, and it seems to be paying off!

Mercedes Targeting Zero-Defect Reliability

The 2012 season has so far been a mixture of elation and misery for the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula 1 team, after they stormed to their first victory at the Chinese Grand Prix since 1955, yet they have also been plagued with reliability issues.

Michael Schumacher has been hit the most with these issues, and has retired due to gearbox, fuel pressure and hydraulics related issues throughout 2012. The 7-time World Champion has only managed to score two World Championship points so far, whereas his team-mate Nico Rosberg has finished every race so far, scoring 67 points along the way including his maiden Grand Prix victory. Regardless of the disappointing results, Michael Schumacher has remained confident in his team.

“Our entire focus is now on the race in Valencia, and I am sure that everybody’s motivation is even stronger because the weekend in Canada didn’t go as well as we had hoped.” Explained Michael Schumacher, “Our motto in the last few days has been to roll our sleeves up and focus on the job in hand; everybody in the team has taken that approach to heart, so we can travel to Valencia in an optimistic mood.”

Mercedes’ team principal Ross Brawn is hopeful that his team can bring both cars to the finish, without any reliability issues. The aim within the team is to achieve zero-defect reliability, which would then greatly assist the team in their Championship chances come seasons end.

“The performance of our car and our tyre management were generally good in Canada, however our competitiveness was compromised by reliability problems and mistakes.” Said Ross Brawn, “This is a disappointment that is deeply felt by everyone in our team, and we have been working hard to ensure we understand the reasons and deal with them. Achieving zero-defect reliability is our highest priority. The opportunities available if we can give both drivers a reliable car and a clean weekend are clear.”

Michael Schumacher has yet to step onto the podium since making his return to F1 in 2010, and is under threat of becoming the number two driver to Nico Rosberg. If Schumacher fails to achieve decent results in the next few races, team orders could begin to favor Rosberg as the 26-year-old battles for the Championship.

Picture Copyright © Mercedes AMG Petronas 

HRT Looking To Continue Improving In Valencia

After showing a promising display of improvements at the Canadian Grand Prix, HRT are looking to continue moving forwards at next weekend’s European Grand Prix. The race around the Valencia Street Circuit will be the teams second and final home race of the season, and with the track characteristics similar to Montreal and Monte-Carlo, the team expect the car to do well.

Although HRT showed visible improvements throughout the Canadian Grand Prix weekend, their race was plagued with brake issues which subsequently forced both Narain Karthikeyan and Pedro de la Rosa to retire from the race. Regardless of this minor setback, both drivers and team principal Luis Perez-Sala are confident these issues can be rectified in time for the next Grand Prix.

“At the Valencia Street Circuit we will encounter high air and track temperatures so the brakes will be put through their paces once again, but we’re confident we can make the necessary modifications to overcome the problems we experienced in Canada.” Ensured Pedro de la Rosa. “I think we can do quite well here, although it’s not as favorable to our car as Canada, because there are a lot of braking areas and slow corners which are good for us. We’re looking forward to putting in a good performance in front of our fans and we want to continue with our progress from the last few races, where we’ve been at a good standard, but here we want to confirm this improvement in the race.”

After suffering a disastrously slow start to the 2012 season, HRT have continued to progress at each individual race. With the European Grand Prix their second home race of the season, the Madrid-based outfit is hopeful that the Spanish fans will provide them with that extra push.

“In Canada we were quick and performed well but were unable to finish the race.” Explained Luis Perez-Sala, “In Valencia we want to confirm this progress and achieve a good result, plus doing so in front of the Spanish public is even more special. I think that the characteristics of this circuit adapt well to our car and I hope we have good reliability and finish the race with a positive result.”

This will be the last European Grand Prix held at the Valencia Street Circuit, as the track is set to alternate the hosting of the Spanish Grand Prix with Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya from next season onwards.

Picture Copyright © HRT F1 Team

Peter Sauber: “Further Podiums Certainly Seem A Realistic Prospect”

After making a highly competitive start to the 2012 season, Sauber’s team principal Peter Sauber firmly believes further podiums are a realistic prospect for the Hinwil-based Swiss outfit. Already in 2012 Sauber have surprised many in achieving two podium finishes, the most recent coming at the Canadian Grand Prix.

With the unpredictable nature of the 2012 season already making it exceedingly unique, with seven different winners out of the first seven races, Peter Sauber believes the C31 can be fast on virtually any kind of track.

“If we manage to exploit our full potential as a team, in other words get everything right from Friday morning to Sunday evening, a great deal is possible.” Explained Peter Sauber, “After seven races it is patently clear that the C31 can be fast on virtually any kind of track. Further podium places certainly seem a realistic prospect. The prerequisite of course is that our drivers go into the race from good grid positions.”

Sauber’s most recent podium finish came last time out at the Canadian Grand Prix, where Sergio Perez once again showed his worth to Sauber with a simply splendid drive from 15th on the grid. Peter Sauber agreed that the podium was a nice surprise, in a race which was relatively incident free.

“Of course it was a surprise that Sergio managed to advance from 15th on the grid to a third-placed finish in a perfectly normal race, without rain and without any safety-car periods.” Said Peter Sauber, “But basically we knew the Sauber C31 was far better than the results of the last few GPs might have suggested. Our performance in Barcelona and Monaco fell well short of our capability. We had the potential in both races to be right up in front, but things just didn’t fall into place.”

However, with the unpredictability not to everyones liking, some members of the paddock have expressed dislike at the ‘lottery’ style to the season. Peter Sauber fails to fall into this category, believing the changeable nature of the season is good for the sport.

“As far as I can see it’s just a handful of people in the paddock who can’t get used to not knowing by Friday who’s going to win on Sunday.” Continued Peter Sauber, “I think the fans see it in a completely different light. They’re delighted with the unpredictability, the sheer variety and the unbelievably close competition. I’ve been in Formula One for 20 years now and for me it’s never been better or more exciting. That’s partly down to Pirelli, who are supplying the tyres for this show.”

With Pirelli potentially set to introduce a fifth different compound into the mix next season, it seems the unpredictable nature of the racing is set to continue. Peter Sauber won’t be too bothered about that, as his team edges closer to victory. Both Sergio Perez and Kamui Kobayashi were victorious in GP2, and both are undoubtedly capable of victory in Formula 1.

Picture Copyright © Sauber Motorsport AG 

 

Sebastian Vettel on the Late Show with David Letterman

Michael Schumacher Not Loosing Faith In Mercedes

Michael Schumacher suffered yet another unlucky race at last weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix, where the German retired for a third race in succession due to a hydraulic issue with the DRS. Amazingly the 7-time World Champion has only scored 2 World Championship points, in comparison to his team-mate Nico Rosberg’s 67 points.

However, Michael Schumacher has insisted that his faith in Mercedes has not faltered due to the recent misfortune that has plagued the German. Whereas Schumacher has retired from five of the last seven races, Nico Rosberg has successfully finished every race so far and has even stormed to his maiden Grand Prix victory in China.

“I wanted to emphasize once again that Formula 1 cars are prototype vehicles and hundreds of components are made specially for them.” Explained the 7-time World Champion on his personal website. “For me, it’s completely understandable that things can go wrong from time to time. Of course it was a disappointing outcome in Montreal. But I won’t lose my nerve or my faith in the team. I still believe that we will achieve something special together with Mercedes.”

After the race on Sunday, in which Michael Schumacher retired from with yet another technical issue on the car, the German driver immediately sat down with his engineers to try and resolve these issues in preparation for the next race in Valencia.

“There is no reason to blame anyone – unfortunate circumstances like these are part of motor racing.” Continued Schumacher, “Indeed, I’m certain it’s even tougher for the guys in the team. That’s why I sat down with my race engineers immediately after my retirement, to discuss how we should approach the time before the next race and to make sure we stay in close contact over the coming days.”

Since making his return to the sport, Michael Schumacher has yet to step onto the podium with Mercedes. After enjoying such a dominant career with Benetton and Ferrari, his current career with Mercedes seems to be a far-cry to those dominant years. However, Schumacher remains confident that success can be found this year, and that a victory is still not out of the questions in the races to come.