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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Ferrari Aiming For A Double Podium Finish During The Race

Ferrari are aiming for a double podium finish during tomorrow’s Chinese Grand Prix, after a competitive qualifying performance which will see Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa start tomorrow’s race from 3rd and 5th respectively. Both drivers have been quick this weekend, and therefore will be aiming for a decent result during the 56-lap race.

After several highly uncompetitive seasons in Formula 1, Brazilian driver Felipe Massa has finally returned to his competitive ways this year. Last season rumors began to surface of Felipe Massa leaving the Ferrari outfit for 2013, however the Scuderia elected to retain the 31-year-old alongside Fernando Alonso. So far that decision seems to have paid off, with Felipe Massa scoring points in the first two races, including a front-row start last time out in Malaysia.

This weekend in China Ferrari look exceptionally competitive, in stark contrast to Red Bull who seem to have lost their dominant pace which was on show last time out at Malaysia. Many have predicted Ferrari for victory this weekend, and both Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa are eager deliver the expected results. With the race expected to be based solely around tyre preservation, Ferrari are confident they can finish with both cars on the podium after tomorrow’s race.

“I think the weekend has been very good for us.” Explained Fernando Alonso, “The car felt completely different Friday. This morning we made some changes and the car is responding well and I think we have a good set-up for the race as well, which is more important than qualifying always and I think tomorrow if everything goes well we should be able to fight for the podium, hopefully with both cars, so this is good news so far for the team.”

Many of the teams and drivers up and down the order are wary of the Pirelli tyres during the race, with degradation levels once again worryingly high for some teams in particular. However, Ferrari are confident ahead of the race after not suffering from any issues with the Pirelli tyres so far this weekend. Despite qualifying on pole, Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes could well be struck with severe degradation which could in turn benefit Ferrari.

“We have no big issues with any of the tyres to be honest.” Continued Fernando Alonso, “Obviously the soft, they degrade much more and they will last not too long but in the long runs we did nothing that was surprising us, let’s say. Hopefully we can have a good race, a clean race and be on the podium at the end of 56 laps.”

So far this season Fernando Alonso has been matched by Felipe Massa at Ferrari, with the Brazilian driver out-shining his team-mate at the Malaysian Grand Prix in particular. However, Fernando Alonso will undoubtedly be striving to remind the paddock who is number one at the Scuderia during the race, which could well see the Prancing Horse rise above the Red Bull.

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Simona de Silvestro Relieved With Strong Opening Race Weekend

Swiss IZOD IndyCar Series driver Simona de Silvestro has expressed relief after a strong start to her 2013 campaign, which saw the 24-year-old qualify an impressive 3rd and eventually finish 6th. For 2013, de Silvestro has switched from HVM Racing to KV Racing Technology to partner 2004 Champion Tony Kanaan.

After a highly uncompetitive year last season for Simona de Silvestro, which included a personal best of 13th at Detroit and nine retirements, the Swiss driver was in desperate need of a competitive start to her 2013 campaign with a team capable of victories in the Series. Competing alongside former Champion Tony Kanaan, Simona de Silvestro failed to disappoint with a result she has heralded as a relief after initial pre-season doubts.

“I think I had a little bit of doubts during the off-season if I was able to run up front after the season I had last year.” Explained Simona de Silvestro, after finishing 6th at St. Petersburg. “It was just a big relief that we started off the weekend really strong, qualified up front and pretty much raced up front the whole race. So it was really good. I think it was a big confidence boost for me and the team. I think now we can clean up a few things to be even better.”

Last season Simona de Silvestro competed in a one-car outfit at the Lotus-powered HVM Racing team, however for 2013 she will be working alongside a team-mate for the first time in her IZOD IndyCar Series career. Although Tony Kanaan is a hugely successful driver in the Series, with 14 victories in 166 starts, the two are working extremely well together and expect a strong season at the Chevrolet-powered outfit.

“We do actually.” Confirmed Simona de Silvestro, when asked about how well she works with Tony Kanaan. “I actually enjoy working with T.K. He has a lot of experience. I feel like we have a good friendly competition going on in the team. I think we really push each other every session. I think the team gets better that way. I think that’s going to make us pretty strong the whole season.”

Last year Tony Kanaan was partnered alongside good friend and fellow countryman Rubens Barrichello, along with Venezuelan driver E.J. Viso. However, the trio failed to deliver the expected successes with neither driver stepping onto the top step of the podium throughout the year. Already both Kanaan and de Silvestro have shown that they are capable of fighting towards the front of the order this season, with a victory or two highly possible.

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Kimi Raikkonen Unconcerned With Testing Issues Ahead Of Australia

Kimi Raikkonen is unconcerned with the issues met during testing by Lotus, as the Finn prepares for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix around Melbourne’s Albert Park street circuit. During the final winter test around Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya, Lotus completed the least amount of mileage behind Williams.

However, Kimi Raikkonen is remaining optimistic with his Championship chances ahead of the new season, with Lotus still regarded by many within the paddock as the dark horse once again this season. Last year many predicted a Lotus victory throughout the majority of the season, however the Finn could only manage one victory at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix towards the end of the season. Despite this lone victory, the Enstone-based outfit still managed to finish 4th in the Championship.

“We had some problems in testing but we still completed quite a few laps.” Explained Kimi Raikkonen, “Of course, you always want more laps, but it is what it is. We’re all going racing and then we’ll really see where we’re at. I’m not really concerned about reliability or anything like that as it was the same problem which caused us the biggest problems in testing and we’re on top of that now. You can never be 100% certain of course, but if you look at last season we had problems before the start of the year then we were pretty good when we got to the races. Of course we hope that we can perform better than last year, but let’s see how it goes.”

Due largely to Kimi Raikkonen’s sensational competitiveness during last season, which saw him complete all but one racing lap throughout the year, many are predicting the Finn to be a Championship contender alongside the likes of Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso. However, like the majority of the Formula 1 paddock, Kimi Raikkonen is unsure of the true pecking order of the grid and is therefore remaining coy on his Championship chances.

“Hopefully, but it’s so difficult to say from testing.” Continued Kimi Raikkonen, when asked whether he felt better placed to fight for the Championship. “Twenty kilos of fuel can make a big difference to lap time and we don’t know how much fuel people were carrying in Spain. Let’s see what happens in Melbourne. Hopefully we can be fast in the first races and have a good start to the year.”

With the unpredictability and competitiveness of last season expected to continue this year, Kimi Raikkonen and Lotus will be striving to battle for further race victories. The Finn, a former Champion of the sport, is well versed in securing race victories in Formula 1 and is expected to once again shine in 2013.

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Caterham Appoint Hari Roberts As Head Of Aerodynamics

Caterham have confirmed the appointment of Hari Roberts as the Leafield-outfits Head of Aerodynamics, only several days before proceedings get underway for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix. Roberts will work closely with the team’s Technical Director Mark Smith and Performance Director John Iley.

As Caterham prepares to enter their fourth season in Formula 1, the team is continuing to build towards becoming a competitive outfit in the sport. Currently the team have yet to score their first World Championship points of their career, yet have progressed massively since their debut season in 2010. Since then, the team have acquired Renault engines and have moved to their new factory at Leafield.

With HRT now no longer competing in Formula 1, Caterham have only one arch rival on the grid in the form of Marussia. The Leafield-based outfit will be hoping that the appointment of the experienced Hari Roberts will help continue their progression towards the midfield, with his wealth of knowledge in the sport after working with accomplished teams such as Jordan, Renault and Lotus.

“I am excited about the challenge that lies ahead with Caterham F1 Team and I am delighted to have renewed my working partnership with Mark, and started a new partnership with the whole team.” Explained Hari Roberts, “Caterham F1 Team has the potential to grow into a serious force in Formula One and I am looking forward to playing an integral role in helping the team fulfill its potential.”

Mark Smith and Hari Roberts worked alongside each other at both Jordan and Renault, and are understandably thrilled to be reunited at Caterham for the coming season. Mark Smith believes the appointment of Hari Roberts is a clear indication of Caterham’s continued growth as a Formula 1 team, and is confident ahead of the new F1 season.

“I am delighted that Hari has joined our team, particularly as his appointment extends an excellent working relationship that I have had with him over many years with teams including Jordan and Renault F1 Team.” Enthused Mark Smith, “He gives us more senior leadership in a critical area of the team’s development and it is another sign of our shareholders’ ongoing commitment to our team’s growth that we have appointed someone of Hari’s calibre to the role of Head of Aerodynamics. We have also invested in such core areas as our dedicated model shop at Leafield, the ongoing development of our High Performance Cluster (HPC), which powers our CFD and design functions, and our driver in the loop simulator – all of which give us the tools needed to fight with the most famous names in motorsport in years to come.”

Caterham ended their winter testing programme with high spirits after a productive final test around Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya. The team will be aiming to continue their productivity throughout the coming season, as they strive to score their first World Championship points and once again thwart Marussia in the battle for 10th in the Constructors’ Championship.

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Fernando Alonso Urges Ferrari To Improve For 2013

Fernando Alonso has urged Ferrari to make improvements during the winter period, after the Scuderia suffered a tough start to the 2012 season. Despite this uncompetitive start to the season, Fernando Alonso managed to keep Ferrari in contention for the Championship with several mesmerizing drives throughout the year.

However, the Spaniard believes Ferrari will not be as fortunate next season if they once again produce a slightly uncompetitive machine for Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa. Despite the team’s unusually tough start to the season, the team amazingly suffered no mechanical issues all season during the all-important races, something Alonso has praised his team for.

“For future, I think we need to improve the car.” Explained Fernando Alonso, “I think we have the best team in terms of approaching the races, preparing the races. Zero mechanical problems, zero problems for the year. Good pitstops, good starts, good strategy. But we were too slow. We were behind the Red Bulls, behind the McLarens, and now in the last couple of Grands Prix, behind Williams, Force India.

“We were clearly slower than them in pace. So this is something we must improve next year because we cannot fight for a World Championship if we are too slow. We can be a little bit slower but not that much. And this year it was something strange, combinations that allowed us to fight until the end but I’m not sure we’ll be this lucky in the future.”

With Fernando Alonso’s unbelievable consistency throughout the 2012 season, which saw the Spaniard finish all but two races and finish on the podium a staggering thirteen times, a faster car in 2013 could well be all he needs to clinch his long overdue third Drivers’ Championship. However, Alonso will unarguably be joined in the Championship hunt next season by reigning World Champion and the McLaren on Jenson Button, in what will surely be another sensationally exciting season of Formula 1.

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Felipe Massa Emotional After Amazing Home Podium

Felipe Massa struggled to fight back the tears after a superlative 3rd place finish at the season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix, after the local hero initially struggled throughout the early stages of the season. This lack of competitiveness at the start of the season created widespread speculation that Massa would be replaced for 2013.

However, as the season progressed Felipe Massa managed to pick up his performance. After a tough 2011 season, which saw Massa become the first Ferrari driver not to step onto the podium in an entire season since Ivan Capelli back in 1992, the Brazilian driver was in desperate need of success to keep in his career at Maranello alive. As the season progressed and Felipe Massa didn’t, speculation began to gather serious momentum that the Brazilian driver would be replaced for 2013.

These allegations, which grew more wilder each week, linked many different drivers to Felipe Massa’s Ferrari seat, including Paul di Resta, Sergio Perez, Robert Kubica and even McLaren driver Jenson Button. However, after Felipe Massa finished 4th at the British Grand Prix, the 31-year-old’s performance gradually began to improve. At the Japanese Grand Prix, Felipe Massa stormed to his first podium finish since the 2010 Korean Grand Prix with 2nd behind eventual race winner Sebastian Vettel.

Felipe Massa’s podium finish at the Brazilian Grand Prix on Sunday was only the Brazilian driver’s second of the season, in comparison to team-mate Fernando Alonso’s thirteenth. It was also Massa’s first return to the podium at Interlagos since his bittersweet Brazilian Grand Prix victory in 2008, after he lost the Championship battle to Lewis Hamilton. These combined stats made for an emotional appearance from Felipe Massa, who was struggling to fight back the tears on the rostrum.

“I think the second part of the year was the preparation for next year.” Explained Felipe Massa, “It’s such an emotion to race here. I think the race was really fantastic. For sure, it could have been a better position than what I finished but anyway I didn’t know what to say. Just crying and I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know what to feel, it was so amazing.”

Despite the season-long rumors linking many other drivers to Felipe Massa’s seat at Maranello, the Scuderia decided to retain the Brazilian driver for one more season. This will see Fernando Alonso once again parter Felipe Massa in 2013, as the two continue to strive for supremacy. If Felipe Massa can start 2013 as he ended 2012, then a victory could only be just around the corner. This would amazingly be his first victory since the 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix.

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Kimi Raikkonen Aiming To Make Another Step Forward In 2013

Kimi Raikkonen has explained how he is aiming to make further steps forward next season, following on from his announcement earlier this morning confirming his allegiance with Lotus for 2013. After enjoying a highly competitive return to the sport this season with the Enstone-based outfit, Raikkonen will be striving for much of the same in 2013.

From lights-out in Australia right the way through the season, Kimi Raikkonen has shown that he has lost none of his competitiveness during his absence from the sport. By the Bahrain Grand Prix in April, Kimi Raikkonen nearly took victory from Sebastian Vettel, however the Finn had to settle for 2nd with team-mate Romain Grosjean a close 3rd. Raikkonen finished on the podium once again next time out at the Spanish Grand Prix, and has done so consistently at the European, German, Hungarian and Belgian Grands Prix.

Not only has Kimi Raikkonen impressed many by his ability to return almost instantly to the podium, the Finn has also managed to finish every racing lap of the season, taking points at every single race except China at the start of the year. Kimi Raikkonen remains to the only driver with such consistency on the 2012 grid, and has expressed a desire to continue this competitiveness next season with the new E21 machine.

“I think my return to Formula 1 has gone pretty well and the team has done a very good job all year so far.” Explained Kimi Raikkonen, “To be honest, I didn’t expect to be fighting for the Drivers’ Championship this season when you look at where the team was in 2011, so it has been great to be on the podium so many times and to score points on a regular basis. I feel very comfortable with Lotus F1 Team and we share the same philosophy of racing. Continuing with the team was an obvious choice for me and I’m looking forward to making another step forward together next year.”

Kimi Raikkonen’s incredible 2012 season has not gone unnoticed throughout the Lotus outfit, with Lotus team principal Eric Boullier believing it was simply a natural conclusion to have the Finn re-sign with the Enstone-based outfit. Despite the team not winning a race so far this season, they have unquestionably been one of the most impressive outfits throughout the highly competitive grid.

“Kimi has made an exceptional comeback to Formula 1.” Said Eric Boullier, “From the first time he sat in the car this year it was clear he had lost none of his pace or technical feedback and we have been rewarded by a focused and motivated driver all season. For Lotus F1 Team to be fighting for such strong Championship positions this year is in no small part attributed to Kimi’s talent and experience of racing. It was a natural conclusion for us to confirm that we will be harnessing his abilities for next season.”

Kimi Raikkonen will most likely be partnered with Romain Grosjean for next season, which would see the Lotus line-up remain unchanged for 2013 despite the Frenchman’s incident-filled season. It’s no question that both Raikkonen and Grosjean have the ability to be victorious, and if the next year’s Lotus E21 is as competitive as this year’s E20, victories could come in abundance for the Enstone-based outfit.

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Nico Rosberg Confident Korea Will Suit Mercedes

Nico Rosberg is confident that the Korea International Circuit will suit Mercedes, after several tough results at recent races. The German retired on the opening lap last weekend at Suzuka, and could only manage 5th and 7th at the Singapore and Italian Grands Prix respectively.

Since winning the Chinese Grand Prix back in April and finishing 2nd at the Monaco Grand Prix in May, Nico Rosberg has endured a frustrating season struggling to finish within the points on a regular basis. After a competitive streak from China to Europe, Rosberg has since struggled to both qualify and finish a race in a competitive position. However, the 27-year-old German is confident that this weekend could produce some competitive results for both himself and team-mate Michael Schumacher.

“Already in the race in Japan things were looking better.” Explained Nico Rosberg, “Michael put in a consistent pace there. For sure here this track should suit us more. All the conditions, all the circumstances, the long straights and everything. I’m definitely looking forward to it and I’m confident that we can do better again.”

Despite spinning out of the inaugural Korean Grand Prix back in 2010, Nico Rosberg finished within the points last season. Due to the competitiveness of the Mercedes W03, Rosberg will certainly have his ambitions set on a decent qualifying and race result this weekend. Although Mercedes failed to score any points last weekend in Japan, the German marque remain 5th in the Constructors’ Championship with 136 points scored.

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Pedro de la Rosa: “We’ve Taken A Step Forward”

Pedro de la Rosa believes HRT have taken another step forward after a relatively successful Japanese Grand Prix, which saw the Spaniard finish 18th. Team-mate Narain Karthikeyan was unfortunately unable to finish the race, after the team decided to retire the Indian due to safety issues regarding the bottom of the car.

After starting the race from 20th and 24th respectively, both Pedro de la Rosa and Narain Karthikeyan were able to avoid the first lap incidents which forced Championship leader Fernando Alonso to retire. This enabled the duo to rise to 16th and 19th respectively after the opening lap, however a problem for the Spaniard during his first pitstop saw him drop back through the order. However, de la Rosa is still positive with the improvements made by the team, as they continue to progress towards the back of the pack.

“Today’s race was quite good and we could say we’ve taken a step forward, although we still have plenty to do.” Explained Pedro de la Rosa, “The first stint was good but we had a problem in the first pitstop which made me lose quite a lot of time. My times with the hard tyres towards the end were very good and we were right in there. The car was handling well and we got close to Pic and Petrov, which for us, at a track like this, is fantastic.”

Narain Karthikeyan was unable to finish the Japanese Grand Prix, after the team decided to retire his machine after his second pitstop due to an issue with the bottom of the car. This was the Indian driver’s second retirement in succession, after hitting the wall last time out at Singapore. Regardless of this stat, the 35-year-old Indian remains confident both he and HRT can continue improve next time out at the Korean Grand Prix.

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