Vettel ends the season in record-breaking fashion with victory at Brazil
Sebastian Vettel has ended the 2013 season in record-breaking fashion for Red Bull, after securing his ninth successive race victory after a highly entertaining 71-lap Brazilian Grand Prix. The German was joined on the podium by team-mate Mark Webber in 2nd, with Fernando Alonso 3rd for Ferrari.
With dark clouds looming ominously overhead, the race began in dry conditions for the first time all weekend. Into Turn 1 Nico Rosberg managed to master an overtaking maneuver on fellow countryman Sebastian Vettel for the lead, as Lewis Hamilton also muscled his way up into 3rd position around Mark Webber. Amazingly the field successfully negotiated the opening lap without major incident, with Jenson Button in particular enjoying a marvelous start for McLaren by rising up from 14th to 11th at the end of the opening lap.
Despite denying Sebastian Vettel the luxury of leading into Turn 1 at the start, Nico Rosberg’s lead was unsurprisingly short-lived as the World Champion instantly retaliated by retaking the lead into Turn 1 on the next lap. Lewis Hamilton also began loosing ground as the opening laps of the race unfolded, with the 2008 World Champion dropping to 4th during the second lap as former McLaren team-mate Fernando Alonso muscled his way back around the Briton. As the field stormed around the majestic uphill final corner of the Subida dos Boxes, Romain Grosjean’s Renault V8 bowed out in explosive fashion as the Frenchman was struck with an engine failure.
This resulted in thick white smoke billowing across the Sao Paulo circuit, as Romain Grosjean pulled over at the side of the track to prematurely bring his 2013 season to a conclusion. Eventually the smoke from Romain Grosjean’s Lotus dispersed, with a safety car deployment deemed unnecessary. As the Frenchman sprinted back to the pits, Mark Webber managed to find a way around Lewis Hamilton for 4th position, with the German marque visibly beginning to struggle with Nico Rosberg also loosing a position to Fernando Alonso in 2nd further up the road.
Whilst Sebastian Vettel once again opened up a considerable gap to the rest of the field in the lead of the race, Mark Webber became the next driver to overtake Nico Rosberg for 3rd as the Mercedes duo continued to struggle for pace in the dry conditions. With the German driver beginning to struggle with tyre degradation as the race wore on, he was instructed via the team radio not to hold up team-mate Lewis Hamilton behind him. This led to an overtaking maneuver by Lewis Hamilton on his team-mate, as Mark Webber made it a Red Bull 1-2 at the front by storming around Fernando Alonso.
By Lap 15 Nico Rosberg had continued to loose ground after initially leading the opening lap, as the German driver soon found himself in the clutches of local hero Felipe Massa. The Ferrari man made light work of the Mercedes driver, as he rose ahead of the German for 5th. Meanwhile the opening round of pit-stops had begun to ensue throughout the midfield, with Valtteri Bottas and Adrian Sutil both pitting together on Lap 17. The Force India mechanics managed to perform a sensational stop for the German, who rejoined the action ahead of Valtteri Bottas and even Jean-Eric Vergne on the run down to Turn 4.
After enjoying a superlative start to the race, Jenson Button had managed to scythe his way up through the order to 6th by Lap 20. The 2009 World Champion soon elected to carry out his first pit-stop a lap later, along with Nico Hulkenberg and Paul di Resta. Further up the field Mark Webber made his first pit-stop for Red Bull, and subsequently endured a frustratingly slow stop after an issue on the left-rear. This saw the Australian driver exit the pit-lane behind Fernando Alonso, as his German team-mate proceeded to carry out his first pit-stop.
Unlike Mark Webber, Sebastian Vettel enjoyed a smooth pit-stop which enabled the German to rejoin the action back in the lead of the race ahead of Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber. Despite enduring a slow pit-stop earlier in the race, Mark Webber soon managed to repeat an overtaking maneuver on Fernando Alonso for 2nd position whilst also producing the fastest lap of the race for good measure. Meanwhile Lewis Hamilton found himself stuck behind the Ferrari of Felipe Massa in the battle for 4th position, with team-mate Nico Rosberg loosing out greatly during the first round of pit-stops and dropping down to a lowly 7th position.
With Lewis Hamilton striving to find a way around Felipe Massa for 4th, the departing Ferrari driver came under investigation from the race stewards for crossing the white line at the entrance to the pit-lane. Eventually the Brazilian driver was struck with a drive-thru penalty for his misdemeanors, gifting Lewis Hamilton 4th position as light rain began to fall intermittently around the Sao Paulo circuit.
After frustratingly being forced to serve his drive-thru penalty, Felipe Massa returned to the pits for his second scheduled pit-stop on Lap 43 along with the McLaren of Jenson Button. Nico Rosberg and Sergio Perez followed the duo into the pits a lap later for their second stops, as Adrian Sutil cheekily un-lapped himself by overtaking Sebastian Vettel. The race leader allowed several other drivers through to un-lap themselves shortly afterwards, raising numerous question marks within the paddock.
The race was momentarily plunged into a state of utter confusion on Lap 46, as Lewis Hamilton failed to notice the Williams of Valtteri Bottas trying to un-lap himself around the outside of Turn 4. This led to a collision between the two, with Valtteri Bottas spinning violently into retirement with left-rear damage whilst Lewis Hamilton was forced to limp back to the pits with a shredded right-rear tyre. With Red Bull understandably expecting the safety car to be deployed, both Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber immediately pitted. This caused outright confusion within the Red Bull garage, with the team instead expecting Mark Webber first.
Eventually both drivers were served and were amazingly able to maintain their track position, despite stacking in the pit-lane. Although Fernando Alonso also pitted during the confusion, the Spaniard was able to close right up to the rear of Mark Webber. However, the experienced Australian driver managed to defend his 2nd position as Sebastian Vettel once again began breaking away at the front. With the race stewards investigating the incident between Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas, the Briton was adjudged to have been at fault and was therefore called into the pits for a drive-thru penalty.
This penalty subsequently saw Lewis Hamilton drop to a lowly 11th, as Mercedes continued to endure a difficult race. Despite the setback of being forced to pit for new tyres and also a drive-thru penalty, Lewis Hamilton soon began clawing his way back through the order as the race entered its closing stages. Meanwhile the race stewards handed Giedo van der Garde a drive-thru penalty for ignoring blue flags, striking a huge blow in Caterham’s aim of rising ahead of Marussia in the Constructors’ Championship.
The battle at the back of the pack was effectively brought to a premature conclusion of Lap 60, when Charles Pic spun on the exit of Turn 5 due to broken rear suspension on his Caterham. The Frenchman pulled to the side of the track after regaining control of his car, leaving only team-mate Giedo van der Garde out on track. As the last few laps ticked away Pastor Maldonado and Jean-Eric Vergne had a minor collision at Turns 1 and 2, with the departing Williams driver leaving the Frenchman no room at the apex of Turn 1. Luckily both drivers managed to continue circulating, with the race stewards electing to further investigate the issue after the race.
Despite the increasing rainfall over the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace, the order at the front remained relatively unchanged as Sebastian Vettel breezed across the line to secure his record-shattering ninth successive victory. The German finished just over ten seconds ahead of his Australian team-mate Mark Webber, with Fernando Alonso an impressive 3rd for Ferrari. Nico Rosberg finished an imperative 5th for Mercedes despite leading the opening lap, allowing the German marque to secure 2nd position the Constructors’ Championship. Lewis Hamilton’s 9th place finish wasn’t enough for him to secure 3rd place in the Drivers’ Championship, as Mark Webber leapfrogged the 2008 World Champion.
Once again the season has been brought to a frenetic conclusion around the legendary Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace, with a mixture of rain and immense track action enthralling many. The end of the Brazilian Grand Prix also marked the end of an era in Formula 1, with the V8 engines bowing out in fine form amid a huge change of technical regulations for next season. Mark Webber also retires from the world of Formula 1 after securing his 42nd career podium finish, and will undoubtedly be missed by many. The Formula 1 fraternity will return once again next March, after what will surely be an intriguing winter break.
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Vettel takes Indian GP victory to clinch fourth successive Drivers’ Crown
Sebastian Vettel has stormed to his sixth successive race victory at the Indian Grand Prix, which in turn has seen the German sensation clinch his fourth successive Drivers’ Championship Crown for Red Bull. Vettel was joined on the podium by Nico Rosberg and Romain Grosjean, as Red Bull also clinched the Constructors’ Championship.
After securing yet another superb pole position during qualifying, Sebastian Vettel glided into the lead of the race at the start, whereas behind him the Mercedes duo of Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton jostled for position. As the field negotiated the tight Turn 1, Mark Webber and Fernando Alonso made light contact which in turn saw the Ferrari driver sustain minor front-wing damage. With the softer tyre compound predicted to only last for several laps at the start, Sebastian Vettel wasted no time in opening up a gap at the front, as down the long straight into Turn 4 the Ferrari of Felipe Massa muscled his way into 2nd position ahead of the Mercedes’ duo.
At the end of the opening lap both Paul di Resta and Jean-Eric Vergne pitted for their respective teams, in a bid to immediately switch from the soft tyre compound to the mediums. A lap later many other drivers did likewise, including race leader Sebastian Vettel and fellow Championship rival Fernando Alonso. Whilst this handed the lead of the race to the Ferrari of Felipe Massa, the Brazilian’s team-mate frustratingly required a front-wing change after his earlier incident, which saw him rejoin the action way down in 20th position. Further down the order saw Giedo van der Garde become the first retirement of the race, after an opening lap collision with the Marussia of Max Chilton which damaged his suspension.
As the opening laps of the race ensued, Felipe Massa led out in front ahead of the Mercedes duo of Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton. Further down the order Fernando Alonso was heard complaining of the handling of his car over the team radio, after a torrid opening few laps to his race. Mark Webber also endured a tough start to the race, however the Australian ace was soon scything his way through the order on the medium tyre compound, eventually rising ahead of Kimi Raikkonen into 4th position by Lap 5. Soon afterwards Sergio Perez managed to also overtake the Finn, who began to struggle on his set of soft tyres.
By Lap 7 more drivers soon began peeling off into the pits for the medium tyre compound, including the likes of Nico Rosberg and Kimi Raikkonen with Felipe Massa, Lewis Hamilton and Pastor Maldonado doing so a lap later. This saw Mark Webber rise up into the lead of the race, after initially dropping down to as low as 7th after the opening lap. By now Sebastian Vettel had silently begun clawing his way up through the order after his earlier pit-stop, and was running a strong 4th by Lap 10. In stark contrast to the Red Bull ace, Fernando Alonso was unable to replicate Sebastian Vettel’s ability to cut through the pack, and was still down in 16th position.
Whilst Sebastian Vettel began setting his sights on future team-mate Daniel Ricciardo in 3rd, Formula 1 rookie Esteban Gutierrez came under investigation for jumping the start. The Mexican driver was soon struck with a drive-thru penalty, after numerous replays confirmed his illegality. Meanwhile Sebastian Vettel made light work of Daniel Ricciardo in the Toro Rosso for 3rd, with the McLaren of Sergio Perez his next target further up on the road. As the German driver produced consecutive fastest laps in his bid to catch his team-mate in the lead, Fernando Alonso was struggling to even make a move stick on Esteban Gutierrez. At Turn 1 it seemed the Spaniard had finally overtaken the Sauber driver, only for him to breeze back around the Ferrari ace down the long straight into Turn 4.
As Sebastian Vettel eased around Sergio Perez for 2nd on Lap 20, Fernando Alonso finally muscled his way around Esteban Gutierrez at Turn 5. The Spaniard finally made the move stick, after some incredibly mature defensive driving from the Mexican rookie. Nico Rosberg pitted several laps later in Mercedes, as Esteban Gutierrez soon came close to incurring yet another penalty as he made more than one change of direction in a bid to keep Romain Grosjean at bay. The race stewards initially placed the duo under investigation, but soon confirmed that no further action would take place.
Mark Webber and Sergio Perez also pitted as the race ensued, allowing Sebastian Vettel to resume his lead at the front. After making his stop, Sergio Perez rejoined the action just behind the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton, whom he soon managed to overtake. Soon both Felipe Massa, Lewis Hamilton, Paul di Resta, Fernando Alonso and Max Chilton all pitted, as the second round of pit-stops entered into full motion. Sebastian Vettel soon pitted as well from the lead of the race, allowing Mark Webber to momentarily resume his lead before also pitting a lap later. This in turn saw Sebastian Vettel retake the lead by a considerable margin over his Australian team-mate.
As the race began to enter it’s closing stages, Charles Pic became the latest retirement after a serious issue materialized on his Caterham. This was the Leafield-based outfit’s first double-DNF of the season, with arch-rivals Marussia remaining ahead of them in the Constructors’ Championship. Several laps later Mark Webber dramatically joined Charles Pic and Giedo van der Garde in retirement, after a familiar alternator issue once again struck his Red Bull machine. Amid a race dominated by tyres and differing race strategies, Adrian Sutil surprised many by making his first and only stop on Lap 41, after running a staggering 45 laps on the medium tyre compound.
Whilst Sebastian Vettel dominated out in front on his way to his sixth successive race victory, rookie Valtteri Bottas was jostling for 11th position with both Daniel Ricciardo and Fernando Alonso. Eventually the Finn was swamped by the charging duo, as he strove to pick up his first points in Formula 1. Kimi Raikkonen soon began struggling significantly on his medium tyres as the race drew to a close, allowing the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg to rise up into 2nd position.
With only several laps remaining, Nico Hulkenberg pitted into retirement for Sauber, bringing an end to a highly competitive streak for the German ace. With Kimi Raikkonen continuing to struggle with his tyres, team-mate Romain Grosjean soon managed to catch the Finn for the final podium position. Despite a minor collision between the duo, Grosjean eventually managed to perfect an overtaking maneuver on his team-mate, with Felipe Massa following the Frenchman through.
As utter freneticism ensued between Lewis Hamilton, Sergio Perez and Kimi Raikkonen during the dying laps of the race, no-one managed to stop the rampaging Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel who crossed the line to take his sixth successive race victory and his fourth successive Drivers’ Crown. The German was followed by fellow countryman Nico Rosberg, with Romain Grosjean an incredible 3rd. Whereas the many drivers either peeled off of the track immediately after crossing the line or slowly trundled back to parc ferme, Sebastian Vettel elected to return to the start/finish line to complete a set of donuts in front of the adoring Indian fans.
With only three races now left in the season, Sebastian Vettel’s Championship battle has now drawn to a sensational conclusion with the German romping to yet more Championship success for Red Bull. Although no-one can now mathematically catch Sebastian Vettel, the battle for 2nd in the Championship will surely enthrall many when the sport reconvenes next weekend at Abu Dhabi.
PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS The Indian Grand Prix Buddh International Circuit, India; 60 laps; 307.249km; Weather: Smoggy. Classified: Pos Driver Team Time 1. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1h31:12.187 2. Rosberg Mercedes + 29.823 3. Grosjean Lotus-Renault + 39.892 4. Massa Ferrari + 41.692 5. Perez McLaren-Mercedes + 43.829 6. Hamilton Mercedes + 52.400 7. Raikkonen Lotus-Renault + 1:07.900 8. Di Resta Force India-Mercedes + 1:12.800 9. Sutil Force India-Mercedes + 1:14.700 10. Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1:16.200 11. Alonso Ferrari + 1:18.200 12. Maldonado Williams-Renault + 1:18.900 13. Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap 14. Button McLaren-Mercedes + 1 lap 15. Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari + 1 lap 16. Bottas Williams-Renault + 1 lap 17. Chilton Marussia-Cosworth + 2 laps 18. Bianchi Marussia-Cosworth + 2 laps 19. Hulkenberg Sauber-Ferrari + 6 laps Fastest lap: Raikkonen, 1:27.679 Not classified/retirements: Driver Team On lap Webber Red Bull-Renault 40 Pic Caterham-Renault 36 van der Garde Caterham-Renault 2
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Caterham Aiming For Competitive Results Around The Streets Of Monaco
Caterham are hoping for competitive results from their two drivers around the twisty confines of the Monte-Carlo street circuit this weekend, where the high rate of attrition could enable the smaller teams to fight for decent results come Sunday. Caterham are currently 11th and last in the Constructors’ Championship, behind rivals Marussia.
After a slightly frustrating start to the season for the Leafield-based outfit, which saw them initially fall behind arch-rivals Marussia, Caterham has recently returned to their former competitiveness in relation to the Anglo-Russian outfit. Despite Jules Bianchi’s stellar start to the season for Marussia, the Banbury-based outfit has recently fallen back behind Caterham in the race for 10th in the Constructors’ Championship. With Caterham currently enjoying a return to their competitiveness, both Charles Pic and Giedo van der Garde are optimistic ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix.
“Monaco is a great race and a track I’ve won on before in Formula Renault 3.5 and in GP2.” Enthused Charles Pic, who will be regarding the Monaco Grand Prix as a home race. “You can hope that it can be a good chance for you to finish in a good position, but with such a tight circuit and so many chances for something to happen it’s something we can’t control so we have to be focused on optimizing the car, extracting 100 per cent for qualifying and then focusing on the race. We’ll have to make sure we go the right way on tyre choice and strategy, and then we’ll see. We’ve definitely been improving over the last couple of races, so the aim is to carry that through to Monaco.”
Giedo van der Garde is also of the opinion that a competitive result is on the cards this weekend in Monaco, where a high attrition rate has always allowed smaller teams to rise through the order with little effort. This weekend will be the Dutchman’s first around the streets of Monte-Carlo in Formula 1 machinery, and he will undoubtedly be calling upon all of his knowledge from the lower categories throughout the weekend.
“Monaco’s also a place where the smaller teams, like us, can do something special.” Explained Giedo van der Garde, “It’s a shorter lap than many of the other tracks we race on, and everyone has to run as much downforce as possible, so outright speed isn’t the key. You need good traction to really attack the exits of the corners, and the package we introduced in Spain had exactly that, so what we want to do is build on the progress we made in Spain, show a bit more of our potential, and with a bit of luck we can come close to the top 10.”
For Caterham to rise ahead of Marussia in the Constructors’ Championship this weekend, the outfit will require a 12th place finish or higher after Jules Bianchi’s 13th place finish at the start of the season at Malaysia for the Banbury-based outfit. Last season Heikki Kovalainen managed to finish a strong 13th around the streets of Monte-Carlo, a result both Charles Pic and Giedo van der Garde will be aiming to emulate this weekend.
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Access All Areas – Caterham F1 Team 2013 [Video]
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Heikki Kovalainen To Make F1 Return With Caterham
It has been officially confirmed by Caterham that 31-year-old Finnish driver Heikki Kovalainen will make his return to Formula 1 this weekend at the Bahrain Grand Prix, when he will partake in the opening practice session of the weekend. The Finn was initially dropped by the outfit after the 2012 season, along with then team-mate Vitaly Petrov.
The decision by Caterham to return Heikki Kovalainen to the outfit comes after a frustrating opening three races to the new season, in which the Leafield-based outfit has been visibly out-performed by Marussia and Jules Bianchi in particular. The Finn’s return to the team will see him provide feedback on the team’s various updates they are introducing to the car for this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix, as well as feedback on the controversial Pirelli tyres which have created many headaches throughout the paddock.
After the Bahrain Grand Prix this weekend, Heikki Kovalainen will return behind the wheel of the CT03 at the Spanish Grand Prix around Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya were he will reprise his Friday practice role within the team. Rumors of such a decision within Caterham emerged during the Chinese Grand Prix weekend, where Caterham were once again out-performed by Marussia. This decision by Caterham will undoubtedly pile increased pressure upon both Charles Pic and Giedo van der Garde, who have failed to greatly impress so far this season.
“It’s obviously great news that I’ll be on track in Bahrain and Spain and I’m really looking forward to getting back to work and helping the team as much as I can.” Enthused Heikki Kovalainen, “I’ll be taking part in the two FP1 sessions in Bahrain and Barcelona to give the team my input on the new parts we’re bringing to those races, and I’ll be working closely with the race drivers and the engineers on track and back at Leafield to help everyone get the most out of the new package. I’m physically ready to get back into the car and I know my experience can help give the team new ideas and options for directions to take on setup and strategy. I’m looking forward to getting back to work!”
Caterham’s team principal, Cyril Abiteboul, has explained that Heikki Kovalainen’s wealth of knowledge within Formula 1 at team’s such as Renault and McLaren was the major factor in his return with the outfit as their development driver. The Finn’s career in the sport began in 2007 with Renault, before a switch to McLaren in 2008 saw him secure his one and only victory in the sport at the Hungarian Grand Prix. After a tough season with McLaren in 2009, the Finn moved to Lotus [now known as Caterham] for the 2010 season. After three seasons with the outfit, he was eventually dropped for the 2013 season as Caterham decided to completely change it’s driving line-up with Charles Pic and Giedo van der Garde.
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Continued Woes Plague Caterham During Qualifying
Caterham were plagued with continued woes during qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix, as the outfit struggled to understand the tricky Pirelli tyres. Despite minor improvements for Charles Pic during practice three, it was back to square one and a difficult car during the all-important qualifying session.
Although Caterham ended last season ahead of Marussia in the Constructors’ Championship, the Leafield-based outfit have endured a frustratingly tough start to the new season. During the first two races at Australia and Malaysia, Marussia visibly out-shone the outfit with Jules Bianchi in particular impressing many during his firs two races in the sport. At each of the opening two races, a Caterham driver has qualified 22nd and last on the grid.
Caterham’s initial plan was to utilize the three practice sessions of the weekend in search of performance gains after their dismal start to the season, however the outfit struggled greatly with Pirelli’s P Zero tyres and failed to find any improvements. Although Charles Pic managed to find a minor improvement in the balance of the car during practice three, the tyre behavior changed once again during qualifying and saw the Frenchman struggle.
“We’ve had quite a few issues all weekend and they’ve hurt our ability to get the most out of the car here, particularly with the tyres.” Explained a disheartened Charles Pic, “We tried a couple of different setup options in FP3 and the car balance felt better this morning than it had yesterday but between FP3 and qualifying the tyre behavior changed again and we really couldn’t get them to work. In qualifying we did both runs on the soft tyres but I had traffic on my first run which meant I didn’t have a clean lap. On the second run I improved my time but I still had oversteer on the exits of most of the corners and more traffic in both sectors one and two which basically ruined that lap.”
Giedo van der Garde will once again start the race from the back of the grid, after also struggling with the tyres throughout the weekend. The Dutchman’s progress was hindered slightly after a mistake through Turn 2, after he pushed too hard into the corner and lost valuable time. Giedo van der Garde is adamant he could have qualified better had the mistake not occurred, in what has been another dreadful weekend for the Leafield-based outfit.
“After two productive sessions yesterday I just couldn’t get the same feeling from the car in FP3 and that carried over into qualifying.” Said Giedo van der Garde, “Like Charles, I’ve had quite a few small problems in each session and together they’ve held us back quite a bit. We’re struggling to understand the tyre behavior here and when the track temps went up today it was like having to start again with our understanding of how to get them working. My final position in quali is obviously disappointing, particularly as I made a mistake in turn two on my second run, pushing too hard into the corner and that cost me about four tenths. Without that I’d have finished a bit higher up the grid.”
Marussia clearly have the upper hand over Caterham this weekend, as the two outfits battle for the coveted 10th place in the Constructors’ Championship. So far Marussia have greatly improved over the winter period, whereas Caterham have taken several steps back. With rumors of Heikki Kovalainen returning in Bahrain to test the team’s updates next weekend, the duo will be eager to prove their worthiness within the outfit.
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Giedo van der Garde To Make Way For Reserve Drivers During Practice
It has been confirmed that Dutch Formula 1 rookie Giedo van der Garde will make way for Caterham’s two reserve drivers in four upcoming practice sessions this season, as Ma Qing Hua and Alexander Rossi aim to gather further valuable mileage in Formula 1 machinery. The first scheduled absence of the Dutchman is for the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Last season Giedo van der Garde took part in numerous Friday practice sessions for the Leafield outfit, each time replacing either Heikki Kovalainen or Vitaly Petrov. This season the 27-year-old Dutchman is set to miss four Friday practice sessions to allow the team’s reserve drivers, Ma Qing Hua and Alexander Rossi, to continue gaining knowledge of Formula 1 machinery. Next time out at the Chinese Grand Prix, Charles Pic is scheduled to miss the opening practice session of the weekend to allow local driver Ma Qing Hua 90 minutes of track action.
The following weekend Giedo van der Garde is expected to miss the opening practice session of the Bahrain Grand Prix, as American sensation Alexander Rossi makes his first official Formula 1 appearance since the Spanish Grand Prix last season. Although Giedo van der Garde would naturally prefer to be on the track during these vital opening 90 minutes of track action during a Grand Prix weekend, it is written within his contract that he must cede his seat to the team’s reserve drivers.
“As it stands I will lose four Friday sessions,” explained Giedo van der Garde to GPUpdate.net. “The first one I won’t be driving is Bahrain. I would have rather be driving these sessions myself and get as much track time as possible, but this is in the contract and I’m sure it will be good experience for these guys. I had that same role with the team last year and because of the work I did then, I earned this race seat.”
Caterham have been out-performed by arch-rivals Marussia during both of the opening two race weekend’s of the new season, with Jules Bianchi in particular thwarting the Leafield-based during his first two races of his career. The outfit understand that scoring points this season is unlikely, and will therefore be striving to beat Marussia to 10th in the Constructors’ Championship for the second year running.
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Qualifying Postponed As Torrential Rain Strikes The Albert Park Street Circuit
Qualifying for tomorrow’s Australian Grand Prix has been postponed until 11am Sunday morning due to torrential rainfall, which frustratingly prevented the qualifying hour to be completed in it’s entirety. Q1 was held in treacherous weather conditions, with Q2 and Q3 set to be completed prior to the 58-lap race.
The start of the opening segment of qualifying was delayed for 30 minutes due to the heavy rain which struck the circuit, as the many marshals around the circuit set to brushing away the standing water. Eventually Lewis Hamilton led out the entire field as Q1 finally got underway, with the whole field understandably electing to run the full wet weather tyre. As the drivers got to grips with the treacherous weather conditions, mayhem ensued out on track as drivers naturally made various errors.
Dutch rookie Giedo van der Garde was the the first driver to make a serious error, as the Caterham driver ran too wide through Turn 5 and lost his front nose. Luckily he was able to continue circulating out on track, and return to the pits for a new nose cone. Nico Rosberg managed to set the initial benchmark for Mercedes, with a 01:48.028 as team-mate Lewis Hamilton almost ruined his session by spinning and lightly tapping the tyre barrier.
Luckily the 2008 World Champion was able to engage the reverse gear and continue on the track, despite minor damage to his rear-wing. Nico Rosberg continued to improve on his pace at the front, as the Ferrari of Felipe Massa slammed into the wall on the exit of Turn 12. Amazingly the Brazilian driver only lost his front wing, and was able to continue without sustaining any serious damage. Local hero Mark Webber also made a mistake through Turns 11 and 12, running wide and across the grass.
Further up the order saw Jean-Eric Vergne and then reigning Champion Sebastian Vettel rise to the top, with the latter setting a 01:46.188. New McLaren driver Sergio Perez suffered a minor spin at Turn 11, as he struggled to get to grips with both the track conditions and his Mercedes-powered machine. Pastor Maldonado also ran wide at Turns 11 and 12, as he pushed to the limit to rise himself out of the bottom six.
Eventually a drier line began to emerge on the circuit, prompting many drivers to switch from the full wet to the intermediate tyres. Jenson Button and Paul di Resta were two of the first drivers to do so, with the former flying to the top for McLaren with a 01:45.192. Fernando Alonso then asserted his authority over proceedings with a 01:43.850, before Nico Rosberg went fastest for Mercedes. The session was brought to an explosive conclusion as both Charles Pic and Esteban Gutierrez spun off at Turns 10 and 12 respectively. This saw Pastor Maldonado, Esteban Gutierrez, Jules Bianchi, Max Chilton, Giedo van der Garde and Charles Pic eliminated from the session.
Proceedings were once again delayed as Esteban Gutierrez’s stricken Sauber was retrieved by the ever-efficient Melbourne marshals, however further heavy rainfall saw yet more delays issued by the race stewards. Eventually the final two segments of qualifying were postponed until 11am the following morning, with the rain only increasing in ferocity around the circuit and the daylight fading fast in the gloomy conditions.
This will present the teams and drivers with an incredibly busy race day, with the race then scheduled to get underway at 5pm local time only hours after the grid has been decided. Nico Rosberg ended the wet Q1 fastest overall, but many will be predicting Red Bull to reign should Sunday’s qualifying session be held in dry weather conditions. However, anything can happen in Formula 1, as today’s qualifying session showed.
Pos Driver Team Time Gap
1. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m43.380s
2. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m43.850s + 0.470s
3. Romain Grosjean Lotus Renault 1m44.284s + 0.904s
4. Sergio Perez McLaren-Mercedes 1m44.300s + 0.920s
5. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m44.472s + 1.092s
6. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m44.635s + 1.255s
7. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m44.657s + 1.277s
8. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m44.688s + 1.308s
9. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m44.871s + 1.491s
10. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m45.456s + 2.076s
11. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 1m45.545s + 2.165s
12. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m45.601s + 2.221s
13. Nico Hulkenberg Sauber-Ferrari 1m45.930s + 2.550s
14. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m46.450s + 3.070s
15. Valtteri Bottas Williams-Renault 1m47.328s + 3.948s
16. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m47.330s + 3.950s
17. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1m47.614s + 4.234s
18. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari 1m47.776s + 4.396s
19. Jules Bianchi Marussia-Cosworth 1m48.147s + 4.767s
20. Max Chilton Marussia-Cosworth 1m48.909s + 5.529s
21. Giedo van der Garde Caterham-Renault 1m49.519s + 6.139s
22. Charles Pic Caterham-Renault 1m50.626s + 7.246s
107% time: 1m45.301s
Picture Copyright © Getty Images
Nico Rosberg Pips Kimi Raikkonen In Opening Day Of Barcelona Test
Nico Rosberg has marginally finished ahead of the Lotus of Kimi Raikkonen during the opening day of the Barcelona test, with the German eventually setting a time +0.007 seconds faster than the Finn. The duo were followed home by the reigning World Champion of Sebastian Vettel.
The opening day of the Barcelona test dawned under clear skies at the Circuit de Catalunya, with local hero Fernando Alonso unsurprisingly becoming the first driver to take to the track for the Scuderia in his first track appearance of the year. The two-time Champion decided to skip the opening Jerez test in favor of continued training whilst Felipe Massa and Pedro de la Rosa drove for Ferrari.
Fernando Alonso was instantly joined out on the track by Nico Rosberg, Esteban Gutierrez, Max Chilton, Daniel Ricciardo, Kimi Raikkonen and Pastor Maldonado in the new Williams FW35 which was unveiled only moments before track action began. In traditional fashion the majority of the field elected to only complete installation laps during the opening few minutes of the day, before Daniel Ricciardo set the first timed lap of the day with a 01:46.712 in the Toro Rosso.
The Australian improved at the top before the Ferrari of Fernando Alonso thwarted the Toro Rosso driver with a 01:37.504. Pastor Maldonado set the first competitive lap time of the day with a 01:29.550, a time which the Venezuelan ace was able to improve upon many times throughout the morning period. Eventually the 27-year-old worked his way down to a 01:26.980, with the new FW35 machine impressing on its opening day.
Pastor Maldonado’s reign at the top was finally brought to an end when the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg set a 01:24.520, with other drivers up and down the pit-lane finally beginning to set competitive looking lap times. The first red flag delay of the day was caused when the Sauber of Esteban Gutierrez stopped on the track at Turn 7, with the team later confirming that the Mexican had run out of fuel due to a planned fuel-run on the car. Once the action was resumed out on track, the McLaren of Sergio Perez rose to the top with a 01:24.362.
Local hero Fernando Alonso soon reasserted his authority over proceedings with a 01:24.162, as the times at the top continued to fall throughout the morning period. Paul di Resta then went momentarily fastest for Force India before reigning World Champion Sebastian Vettel produced a 01:24.039 to go top. Kimi Raikkonen briefly rose to the top for Lotus, before Sebastian Vettel set several considerably fast times at the top which eventually culminated in a 01:23.046 which saw the German end the morning session fastest overall.
A second red flag delay was caused just under an hour into the afternoon period, when the Caterham of Charles Pic stopped at Turn 3 with his Renault-powered machine suffering a mechanical issue. The session was quickly resumed once Pic’s Caterham was cleared, as Sergio Perez, Pastor Maldonado and Sebastian Vettel became the first three drivers to return to the track. Nico Rosberg’s lack of track action was explained by Mercedes as the afternoon progressed, with a gearbox issue plaguing the German’s W03 machine.
The reigning World Champion improved his time at the top as the opening day drew to a close, with a 01:22.965 seeing Sebastian Vettel become the first driver to set a sub-01:22s time. After a slow start to the day, Nico Rosberg shot to the top with only twenty minutes remaining in the day with a 01:22.616. Kimi Raikkonen then went 2nd only +007 seconds behind the German. Eventually the checkered flag flew signaling the end of the day’s action, with Nico Rosberg remaining fastest ahead of the Lotus of Kimi Raikkonen and the Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel.
Tomorrow will see several driver changes ahead of the second day of testing around Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya as Lewis Hamilton, Nico Hulkenberg and Valtteri Bottas make their first appearances of the week. Mercedes will be aiming to continue progressing after a troubled Jerez test, as the season looms ever closer.
Tuesday times: Pos Driver Team Time Laps Tyre* 1. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m22.616s 54 Medium 2. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus 1m22.672s + 0.007s 44 Medium 3. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m22.952s + 0.336s 110 Medium 4. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1m22.965s + 0.349s 66 Medium 5. Pastor Maldonado Williams 1m23.733s + 1.117s 86 Soft 6. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1m23.884s + 1.268s 73 Hard 7. Sergio Perez McLaren 1m24.124s + 1.508s 77 Medium 8. Paul di Resta Force India 1m24.144s + 1.528s 82 Medium 9. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber 1m25.124s + 2.508s 68 Hard 10. Max Chilton Marussia 1m26.747s + 4.131s 65 Soft 11. Charles Pic Caterham 1m27.534s + 4.918s 49 Hard * Compound on which fastest lap was set
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Charles Pic Q&A
Last season saw Charles Pic become Timo Glock’s third team-mate in as many years at Marussia, following on from both Lucas di Grassi and Jerome D’Ambrosio. Just like his predecessors at the outfit, Charles Pic had graduated from the GP2 Series after taking two victories and five podiums throughout the previous season in the category.
Despite four retirements in the first six races at the start of his Formula 1 career, Charles Pic greatly impressed many during his debut year in the sport. Towards the end of the European season, Charles Pic began both out-qualifying and out-racing his vastly more experienced German team-mate. During the final Grand Prix weekend of the season at Brazil, it was confirmed that Charles Pic had signed for Caterham on a multi-year contract.
After many weeks of speculation regarding who would eventually team-mate the 22-year-old, Dutchman and former Caterham reserve driver Giedo van Garde was confirmed prior to the opening test of the season. Mentored by former race winner Olivier Panis, Charles Pic impressed many during his debut season in Formula 1. With only several weeks to go before the season-opening Australian Grand Prix at Melbourne, I caught up with Charles Pic to discuss his second season in Formula 1.
Charles Pic testing at Jerez in the new CT03 machine.
Q: First of all Charles, many thanks for taking the time to answer my questions. You are currently preparing for what will be your second season in Formula 1, and your first with Caterham, how are your preparations going for the start of the new season?
Charles Pic: Preparations are going very well thanks. Before the first test I was able to spend quite a lot of time in the factory in Leafield, meeting everyone, spending some time in the simulator and starting to work with my Race Engineer Tim Wright. The first test was also good. We had a technical issue on my first day in the car, but on day two we ran more than 100 laps and generated a lot of very useful data, so we’re now looking ahead to the next test in Barcelona and picking up where we left off.
Q: Throughout your debut season with Marussia, you out-qualified and out-raced your team-mate Timo Glock on several occasions. How do you feel you performed throughout 2012?
CP: I think I did pretty well, but it was my first year and we were racing a lot of tracks I hadn’t driven before. This year I have that experience, so I think year two will be even better – you never stop learning!
Q: The subject of ‘pay drivers’ has been rather topical in recent weeks throughout the Formula 1 fraternity. What is your opinion on the term, do you think it is good or bad for the image of the sport?
CP: That’s not something I want to get into. There are plenty of other people who can talk about that but for me, I am in the team to do my job and that’s what I want to focus on.
Q: In 2013 Caterham will unquestionably be striving to score their first World Championship points. How confident are you that both yourself and the team will be able to achieve this in the forthcoming season?
CP: It’s too early to tell, and, truthfully, that’s not really the goal. F1 is probably more competitive than it ever has been and our main goal has to be to get as close as we can to the teams ahead – if we reach them then maybe a point will be available, but first we have to catch the cars ahead.
Q: Former Grand Prix winner Olivier Panis was with you throughout the majority of your debut season with Marussia. How much does he assist you throughout a Grand Prix weekend, and will he accompany you at Caterham as well this season?
CP: Olivier has been a great help to me and he’s obviously one of the most experienced people I could work with. Quite a few of the guys at Caterham have worked with him before, when he was driving, so for both him and me there’s a good atmosphere in the team and we’re working with people we know. I’m not sure how many races he’ll be at this year, we’ll see.
Q: And lastly, last season the first three races were completely new circuits for you. How confident are you on returning to the likes of Albert Park, Sepang and the Shanghai International Circuit at the start of the new season?
CP: Confidence is probably not the right word. I’m looking forward to racing again – it’s my job and I love what I do, so I’m excited about going back to work and the fact I know the tracks is a bonus.
Many thanks to Caterham and Charles Pic for the communication and time taken to complete this interview.
Picture(s) Copyright © Caterham F1 Team
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