Jenson Button: “It Was One Of The Toughest Races I’ve Had”

Jenson Button has explained how the Brazilian Grand Prix was one of the toughest races he has competed in, after light rain began to fall upon the Interlagos circuit prior to the race. The rain then initially stopped, before returning much heavier in the latter stages of the race, a race which Jenson Button masterfully won for McLaren.

After starting the race in 2nd position alongside outbound team-mate Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button jostled for the lead in the early stages. Upon taking the lead, the majority of the field elected to pit for intermediate tyres, however Jenson Button and 2nd placed driver Nico Hulkenberg remained out on track on dry tyres. The Force India driver then caught and overtook Jenson Button for the lead, however the duo’s advantage for staying out on track was thwarted as the safety car was deployed.

Once the race was resumed, Lewis Hamilton began to claw his way back through the field, initially overtaking Jenson Button for 2nd and then Nico Hulkenberg for the lead after the German spun. However, the race was still not over for Button, after Hulkenberg tried to retake the lead and took out Lewis Hamilton. The German was then struck with a drive-thru penalty, gifting Jenson Button the race lead and eventually his 15th career victory in the sport.

“It was one of the toughest races I’ve had.” Explained Jenson Button after the race, “It was very tricky. It was on that point many times when you think Inters is the right tyre. I kept asking the team “what’s going to happen with the weather: it’s supposed to be light showers?” Well OK, we’ll see how we go but it was so, so difficult. You’re locking up tyres here and there but you’ve just got to push to the limit.”

Despite the treacherous track conditions, Jenson Button kept control of his Mercedes-powered McLaren in superlative style, which enabled him to take yet another victory in changeable conditions reminiscent of Hungary 2006 and Australia 2010. The 32-year-old started the season in winning fashion in Australia, and has now ended the season likewise. With Lewis Hamilton departing from the outfit to Mercedes, Jenson Button will hope this victory is the first of many in his time as McLaren’s “senior” driver.

“But it was a really good race.” Continued Jenson Button, “Obviously things were made more difficult with the first safety car. Lost 40 seconds, the race was between me and Nico [Hulkenberg] then. It was made a lot more difficult. And then when the safety car came in I grained the front-right tyre. I really struggled but when that went away it was good. We started the year so strong and we’ve ended it so strong. Just a few areas that we need to improve in the middle of the season.”

Jenson Button will be hoping he can battle for Championship supremacy in 2013, as McLaren welcomes the arrival of former Sauber driver Sergio Perez to the team. This decision by McLaren has raised many eyebrows within the paddock, however the duo will be looking to immediately silence their critics in 2013, with another victory at Melbourne’s Albert Park circuit.

Picture Copyright © McLaren F1 Team

Lewis Hamilton Believes The Weather Will Make The Race A Lottery

Lewis Hamilton believes the inclement weather forecast for tomorrow’s Brazilian Grand Prix will make the race a lottery, with the expected treacherous track conditions set to level the playing field. This was the case during the last race that was heavily affected by rain in Malaysia, where Sergio Perez almost clinched victory for Sauber.

Despite a front-row lock-out by McLaren, Lewis Hamilton strongly believes the weather could have a big say in who eventually takes the checkered flag for victory. Although the forecast rain could make the race much more difficult for McLaren to win, Lewis Hamilton is not bothered by the rain which is expected on race day. The Briton has taken numerous victories in the wet, most notably at the 2007 Japanese and 2008 British Grands Prix.

“Well, I think the weather is going to be tricky tomorrow so it’s definitely going to make it more of a lottery.” Explained Lewis Hamilton, after securing McLaren’s 155th pole position. “But I think, as Jenson [Button] said, we’ve put ourselves in a really good position and we are just going to do the best job we can from there and work together as a team, the best we have been for quite some time, so we will make sure we will do absolutely everything to get the top result.”

Many teams up and down the grid, such as Mercedes, have opted for a wet set-up for the race, hence their slightly uncompetitive qualifying performance. McLaren on the other hand set their car up to attack during qualifying, instead of focusing too much on the weather forecast for the race. However, Lewis Hamilton explained that a wet set-up is no longer vastly different to a dry set-up, and that he does not mind if it rains during the race.

“Generally nowadays you don’t even really have much of a wet set-up.” Continued Lewis Hamilton, “It’s not like in karting when you soften everything off. The set-up in the dry and the wet is very, very similar – apart from ride heights maybe. We’ve just set the car to attack the qualifying and we don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow. We [will] just have to wait and see, make sure we get our tyre pressures right, make sure we get the tyre temperatures right and the brake temperatures and try to steer clear of any big puddles. I don’t mind. I love driving in the rain.”

Lewis Hamilton’s confidence in the rain could prove to be a race winning factor come race day, however the nature of the Interlagos circuit could see the race run in dry conditions. With the weather at Interlagos almost as unpredictable as Spa-Francorchamps, tomorrows’s 71-lap Brazilian Grand Prix could see the drivers use all three types of tyre [dry, intermediate and full wet] as they battle the elements around the Interlagos circuit.

Picture Copyright © McLaren F1 Team

Kevin Ceccon Fastest Again On Day 2 Of GP3 Jerez Winter Test

Kevin Ceccon once again ended the day fastest overall at the Jerez circuit, as the the second and final day of the first GP3 winter test came to a wet conclusion. With rain plaguing proceedings during the afternoon yesterday, the rain continued to hamper the session throughout day two.

The second day of the test featured several driver changes, with Vittorio Ghirelli replacing Jack Harvey at Lotus, with the Briton instead joining the Carlin outfit for the final days running. The session began in highly treacherous weather conditions, with the field completing their installation laps around the Jerez circuit with wet tyres fitted to their GP3/10 cars.

The morning session was momentarily red flagged throughout the early stages, as Jack Harvey’s Carlin leaked oil over the track. This forced the marshals to throw the red flag, as they cleared the track. Once the session was resumed, Alex Fontana set the early pace for Jenzer Motorsport as the track began to gradually dry out, allowing the drivers to switch to slick tyres and the times to tumble.

Emanuele Zonzini was fastest in the wet morning session.

Kevin Ceccon then quickly asserted his authority over proceedings, continuing his dominance after a very productive opening day for MW Arden. However, the Italian’s reign was short-lived as GP3 rookie Emanuele Zonzini stormed to the top of the timing sheets for Trident Racing. As the morning session drew to a close, heavy rain once again began to fall, allowing Zonzini to remain fastest ahead of Kevin Ceccon and Nick Cassidy for Status Grand Prix.

After the lunch break, the sun briefly appeared therefore allowing the teams to complete valuable dry running around the Spanish circuit. The Carlin pair of Josh Webster and Jack Harvey set the initial pace, before rookie Melville McKee shot to the top for MW Arden. Giovanni Venturini then momentarily went fastest, before Kevin Ceccon once again rose to the top for MW Arden just after the midway point of the afternoon session.

With only a hour left in the session, the rain once again began to fall upon the Jerez circuit, which saw Tio Ellinas and Emanuele Zonzini both spin. The heavy rain once again prevented anyone from improving on their times, which in turn saw Kevin Ceccon end the afternoon session fastest overall with a time set during the only dry period of the day.

The GP3 Series will return for one further winter post-season test in several weeks time at Estoril in Portugal, on November 6th/7th. These two days of testing will see the GP3/10 chassis in action for the final time, before the all-new GP3/13 chassis becomes the standard machine in the Series from 2013 onwards.

Picture(s) Copyright © Alastair Staley/GP3 Series Media Service

2012 Formula 1 SingTel Singapore Grand Prix Preview

After the Italian Grand Prix brought the 2012 European season to a fine conclusion, Formula 1 now heads back to the far east for a string of Asian races beginning with the superlative night-race around the streets of Singapore. Held on the tricky Marina Bay street circuit, the Singapore Grand Prix has quickly become one of the jewels of F1.

First held in 2008, the Singapore Grand Prix became the first night-race in the history of Formula 1, and remains the only true night-race on the calendar. Due to the tight and twisty confines of the Marina Bay street circuit, which features notable locations such as the Anderson Bridge, Raffles Avenue and the Esplanade, the Singapore Grand Prix has become renowned for high amounts of safety car periods throughout the 61-lap race. The safety car has made at least one appearance each year since the inaugural event in 2008, and is likely to reappear once again this weekend as racing recommences.

After a tremendously exhilarating Italian Grand Prix last time out around the legendary and historic Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, the World Championship has remained wide open as the season enters its closing stages. Although both Championship contenders Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso were able to finish on the podium, reigning Champions Red Bull failed to finish the race after a disastrous 53 laps. Once again Kimi Raikkonen enjoyed a competitive race finishing 5th for Lotus, closing the gap to Lewis Hamilton in 2nd down to only one point.

Fernando Alonso won the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix under controversial circumstances.

Current Championship leader Fernando Alonso holds the record for the most amount of victories at the Singapore Grand Prix, with two since the inaugural race weekend several years ago [’08 and ‘10]. However, the Spaniard’s first win back in 2008 for Renault was done so in highly controversial circumstances, with team-mate Nelson Piquet jr. following team orders and deliberately crashing to allow Alonso to benefit from the ensuing safety car period. Although Fernando Alonso has won the race twice, no one team has taken victory around the Marina Bay street circuit twice, with Renault [’08], McLaren [’09], Ferrari [’10] and Red Bull [’11] all taking only the one victory so far.

As ever, there is a threat of rain looming ominously over the track throughout the weekend. Some weather forecasters have predicted no rain all weekend, whereas others have predicted that rain could well intervene throughout proceedings. Rain has yet to be a major factor during a Singapore Grand Prix, and would create a whole new experience for drivers racing in inclement conditions under the glaring street lights which line the circuit.

The drivers steward for the Singapore Grand Prix will be former-F1 driver Allan McNish, who will be reprising the role previously held by Emanuele Pirro at the Italian Grand Prix. Allan McNish’s motor sport career began in open-wheel racing, eventually making it to Formula 1 with Toyota in 2002. After that, the Scot entered sportscar racing and has since enjoyed a highly competitive career taking numerous endurance victories at Le Mans and Sebring.

Allan McNish will be the drivers steward this weekend at Singapore.

This weekend’s DRS zone remains unchanged from last season, and will offer drivers a tremendous overtaking opportunity into turn 7. The detection zone for the device will be situated at turn 4, with the activation zone just after turn 5 to allow the drivers to utilize the overtaking assist through the straight which leads to the tight left-hander at turn 7.

Singapore is unarguably one of the best nations to host a night-race, with the 61-lap race always a marvelous spectacle under the floodlights. Due to the tight and twisty nature of the Marina Bay street circuit, the Singapore Grand Prix has always been one of the toughest on the calendar. With four different teams having won each race since the inaugural race in 2008, could a fifth team continue the competitiveness of the Marina Bay street circuit this weekend? With Mercedes set to continue experimenting with the Coanda-effect exhaust layout, and Lotus set to introduce a new rear-wing this weekend, a surprise winner is most certainly on the cards at one of the most awe-inspiring races on the calendar.

Picture(s) Copyright © Pirelli & Getty Images

Lotus Not To Run Double-DRS At Monza

Lotus have confirmed that they will not be running their rendition of the Double-DRS device at this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix at Monza, after bad weather during practice last weekend in Belgium prevented the team from fully testing the new device. However, the device could make a return to their cars at the Singapore Grand Prix later in the month.

The device, which is rumored to give their cars a speed boost even when the DRS flap is closed, had been tested by Kimi Raikkonen at the German and Hungarian Grands Prix practice sessions, with the team hoping to race it at Spa-Francorchamps and Monza. However, the inclement weather on the Friday of the Belgian Grand Prix prevented the team from using the device, with the treacherous conditions preventing any team from completing any useful running.

With the high speed nature of the Monza circuit, which features a highly revamped aero setup for all of the involved teams, the Enstone-based outfit have confirmed that it is highly unlikely they will run the device this weekend. Mercedes, who pioneered the original Double-DRS device as the beginning of the season, have also been rumored in testing their own rendition of the Lotus design. However, it is believed that the device will not be fitted to the Silver Arrows at Monza, with the device not yet fully tested.

Lotus have hinted that the device could reappear on their cars at the Singapore Grand Prix in several weeks time, the race which will see Romain Grosjean return after serving his one race ban issued to him last weekend in Belgium. It is believed the Lotus reserve driver of Jerome D’Ambrosio will stand in for Grosjean at Monza.

Picture Copyright © Getty Images

Nico Rosberg Set To Drop Five Grid Positions For A Gearbox Change

Nico Rosberg has become the latest driver to incur a 5-place grid penalty for Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix, after suffering a gearbox issue during the third and final practice session earlier this morning. Rosberg eventually ended the third session 24th and last, with only a 01:58.113 set by the German.

After heavy rain plagued proceedings yesterday, many teams and drivers were itching to take to the Spa-Francorchamps circuit for the third practice session with an aim of making up for lost time in preparation for qualifying. With Nico Rosberg unable to complete a whole dry session for Mercedes, the German could well be at a disadvantage in comparison to his competitors once qualifying gets underway this afternoon.

Nico Rosberg currently sits 6th in the Drivers’ Championship, with 77 points scored which has included one victory so far this season. With the high speed nature of the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, Mercedes were confident of a competitive result this weekend. A decent result is still possible during tomorrow’s race, however it is undeniable that Mercedes and Nico Rosberg will suffer a uphill struggle throughout the all-important qualifying session.

Picture Copyright © Mercedes AMG Petronas

Fernando Alonso Fastest In Final Practice At Spa

Championship leader, Fernando Alonso, has ended the final practice session at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit fastest for Ferrari, as the teams and drivers now look ahead to this afternoon’s all-important qualifying hour. The Ferrari driver was followed by Kimi Raikkonen, with Sergio Perez a close 3rd for Sauber.

Unlike yesterday’s torrid weather conditions, this morning’s final practice session as run in glorious sunshine. With the teams and drivers unable to complete much running during yesterday’s two practice sessions, it was expected to be an immensely frenetic final hour of practice as the drivers prepared for the remainder of the Belgian Grand Prix weekend.

Kamui Kobayashi led a long queue of awaiting drivers out onto the track once the session got underway, with some drivers even opting to continue for a flying lap straight away instead of just completing the usual one single installation lap. Jean-Eric Vergne set the initial pace for Toro Rosso, however Bruno Senna was quick to jump to the top shortly after with  a 01:57.562. It wasn’t long before the front runners quickly rose to the top, with Mark Webber setting a 01:56.957 to go fastest. The Australian driver will drop five places on the grid after qualifying, after requiring a gearbox change on his Red Bull.

Bruno Senna then returned to the top of the timing sheets, with the Williams driver keen to make up for lost time after only completing three laps in the treacherous conditions yesterday. Nico Rosberg’s preparations for qualifying were dealt a big blow as the session progressed, as the Mercedes driver was seen peeling off the track with what looked like a mechanical issue on his car. Whilst Rosberg’s car was pushed to safety by the marshals, Bruno Senna continued to set fast laps, with a 01:51.741 atop the timing sheets.

Fernando Alonso brought an end to the Brazilian’s reign, as the Championship leader set a 01:50.936 to go fastest. With many drivers striving to find the ideal setup ahead of qualifying, drivers including Kimi Raikkonen and Jenson Button were heard complaining of their setup, with Raikkonen requesting his Lotus mechanics change the car.

As the session entered it’s closing stages, the times quickly began to tumble as the likes of Sergio Perez, Romain Grosjean and Mark Webber all momentarily shared the top spot. However, it was the dominant Ferrari of Fernando Alonso who ended the session fastest overall, with a 01:48.542 enough to keep the Spaniard at the top throughout the closing minutes. Kimi Raikkonen was only a tenth off the Ferrari driver, with the Finn predicted by many for victory for this weekend’s 44-lap race.

With all three practice sessions now over, the teams and drivers will be desperately crunching the numbers ahead of this afternoon’s qualifying session. With the likes of Marussia running extensive updates, it looks set to be a highly competitive qualifying session throughout the entire 24-car field.

Pos  Driver              Car                   Time       Gap       Laps
 1.  Fernando Alonso     Ferrari               1m48.542s            18
 2.  Kimi Raikkonen      Lotus-Renault         1m48.683s  + 0.141s  21
 3.  Sergio Perez        Sauber-Ferrari        1m48.850s  + 0.308s  23
 4.  Kamui Kobayashi     Sauber-Ferrari        1m48.863s  + 0.321s  20
 5.  Jenson Button       McLaren-Mercedes      1m49.091s  + 0.549s  18
 6.  Felipe Massa        Ferrari               1m49.092s  + 0.550s  16
 7.  Mark Webber         Red Bull-Renault      1m49.164s  + 0.622s  21
 8.  Romain Grosjean     Lotus-Renault         1m49.266s  + 0.724s  23
 9.  Sebastian Vettel    Red Bull-Renault      1m49.292s  + 0.750s  23
10.  Paul di Resta       Force India-Mercedes  1m49.382s  + 0.840s  22
11.  Pastor Maldonado    Williams-Renault      1m49.561s  + 1.019s  23
12.  Lewis Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes      1m49.615s  + 1.073s  19
13.  Michael Schumacher  Mercedes              1m49.621s  + 1.079s  26
14.  Nico Hulkenberg     Force India-Mercedes  1m49.674s  + 1.132s  23
15.  Jean-Eric Vergne    Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m49.710s  + 1.168s  21
16.  Daniel Ricciardo    Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m49.776s  + 1.234s  22
17.  Bruno Senna         Williams-Renault      1m50.027s  + 1.485s  20
18.  Heikki Kovalainen   Caterham-Renault      1m52.339s  + 3.797s  21
19.  Charles Pic         Marussia-Cosworth     1m52.566s  + 4.024s  20
20.  Timo Glock          Marussia-Cosworth     1m52.630s  + 4.088s  18
21.  Vitaly Petrov       Caterham-Renault      1m52.809s  + 4.267s  22
22.  Pedro de la Rosa    HRT-Cosworth          1m53.383s  + 4.841s  22
23.  Narain Karthikeyan  HRT-Cosworth          1m53.562s  + 5.020s  23
24.  Nico Rosberg        Mercedes              1m58.113s  + 9.571s  5

Picture Copyright © Getty Images

Narain Karthikeyan Looking Forward To “Intense” Third Practice

Narain Karthikeyan failed to complete a lap of the Spa-Francorchamps circuit today in either of the two practice sessions, with the heavy rain and perilous conditions denying the Indian driver the opportunity to take to the track in second practice. With Dani Clos in the car in the morning period, Karthikeyan will have to wait until third practice tomorrow morning to take to the track for the first time.

Both Dani Clos and Pedro de la Rosa could only manage 24 laps combined during the opening practice session earlier this morning, with the team then deciding against running at all during the second practice session as the rain intensified and the track conditions became steadily worse. With the weather forecast to be dry tomorrow, this means the third and final practice ahead of qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix in the morning will be extremely busy, as the teams and drivers strive to complete valuable dry weather running.

“Today I was unable to do any laps as the conditions were terrible, but you can’t fight against these things so the best thing is to focus on tomorrow.” Explained Narain Karthikeyan, who was unable to take to the track all day. “No rain is anticipated so we will work on making up for lost time from the very start and to get some feel for the car. It will be an intense session but I’m really looking forward to going out on track”.

Tomorrow will be Narain Karthikeyan’s first time around the legendary Spa-Francorchamps circuit since his debut season with Jordan back in 2005, a race in which the Indian driver finished 11th. Unlike other competitors this weekend, Pedro de la Rosa confirmed at the start of the weekend that HRT will not be introducing any new upgrades until the Singapore Grand Prix in several weeks time.

Picture Copyright © HRT F1 Team

Kovalainen Amazed With The Heavy Rain Throughout Practice

Heikki Kovalainen has expressed mild surprise at the heavy rain which plagued proceedings earlier today, as the Formula 1 drivers returned to the track after the lengthy summer recess. The rain fell relentlessly throughout the majority of the day, becoming increasingly heavy throughout the second practice session in the afternoon.

With the weather forecast to improve for the remainder of the weekend, many drivers saw no sense in taking to the track in increasingly treacherous conditions. This therefore saw many teams run a limited amount of laps throughout the day, particularly during the second practice session where only 18 of the 24 drivers were officially classified, and French rookie Charles Pic amazingly topped the timing sheets.

“It’s obviously good to be back to racing but a shame it had to start with weather like this.” Explained Heikki Kovalainen, who only completed 11 laps all day. “Spa’s notorious for its weather but I can’t remember seeing it rain this hard for a long time so after today there’s really not a lot to say after most of Friday was washed out. It looks like tomorrow should be dry so I think we’ll be able to get more laps done in FP3 but with the weather in Spa you can never tell.”

Due to the lack of running during the two Friday practice sessions, the third practice session tomorrow morning will most certainly be a frenetic one hour of track action, as the drivers make up for the loss of running thanks to the inclement weather conditions earlier today. However, Spa-Francorchamps has become exceedingly notorious due to it’s ever-changing weather system, and although the forecast is for a dry remainder of the weekend, the rain is never too far away when Formula 1 visits the legendary Belgian circuit.

Picture Copyright © Caterham F1 Team

Rio Haryanto Clinches Maiden GP2 Pole At Waterlogged Spa

Indonesian sensation Rio Haryanto has stormed to his maiden GP2 pole for Saturday’s feature race, after once again showing his superlative wet weather skills around the legendary Spa-Francorchamps circuit. The Carlin driver will line-up alongside James Calado on the grid, with the second row consisting of Esteban Gutierrez and Marcus Ericsson.

The vital qualifying session was initially delayed by several minutes due to the adverse weather conditions, with the rain having lashed down upon the circuit on and off for the majority of the day. However, once the session finally got underway it was Rio Haryanto who led out the traditional long queue of awaiting drivers. The conditions had minimally improved since the morning’s practice session, however the track was still perilous in places.

Johnny Cecotto jr., who endured a heavy incident during practice, set the first timed lap of the session with a 02:23.602. This was almost immediately better by the Carlin of Rio Haryanto, who set a 02:22.377. However, with the rain subsiding slightly, the times quickly began to tumble in traditional GP2 qualifying fashion.

The Caterham of Giedo van der Garde and the Lotus of James Calado shared the top spot as the session progressed, before Haryanto once again asserted his authority over the damp proceedings. Once the drivers had pitted for fresher wet weather tyres, quick times began to emerge once again throughout the pack, as James Calado and then Marcus Ericsson shot to the top spot on the timing sheets.

However, pole position for the feature race was destined for only one man throughout the wet qualifying session. Rio Haryanto stormed to the top with only minutes remaining in the session with a 02:17.535, as the Indonesian driver showed further examples of his apt skill in adverse weather conditions. One of his most memorable victories during his GP3 career came at the Nurburgring in similar conditions, however the Indonesian driver was then tip-toeing around the track on slick tyres.

Hopefully wet weather tyres won’t be necessary for tomorrow afternoon’s feature race, as Rio Haryanto searches for his maiden GP2 race victory. His personal best finish so far this season was 5th at the European Grand Prix feature race, a result he’ll be striving to emulate once the five red lights go out tomorrow.

Picture Copyright © Alastair Staley/GP2 Series Media Service