Yearly Archives: 2012

Lotus F1 Team recently announced that Naoki Tokunaga, Deputy Technical Director, will leave the team at the end of this week to become Renault Sport F1’s Technical Director – New Generation Power Unit. Lotus F1 team claims his input on the design of the E20, including on KERS systems and integration, has been invaluable. The position of the Deputy Technical Director will be vacant for some time, will this make a difference in Kimi and Romains’ performance in the Chinese GP?

Kimi Räikkönen

Despite grid penalties and mixed weather conditions, the Iceman kept his cool in the heat of Malaysia to produce another fine performance. Now, Kimi looks ahead to China confident that the E20 can move further up the grid.

Two races in – how does it feel to be back?
Two races done, eighteen to go. So far it has been more or less alright for me and the racing isn’t any different than before. The E20 certainly feels good. We’re working to get the steering exactly right for me – and we’re almost there. The speed in the car is good – and this applies to qualifying and race pace. It’s been two frustrating races in terms of where we started. We shouldn’t have started so far back in Australia, and the penalty for changing the gearbox before the Malaysian Grand Prix cost us finishing positions too, but that’s motor racing.

The E20 certainly seems to have good pace…
We can say it looks good so far. The car was very good in qualifying at both races. Romain was third in Australia then I was fifth fastest in Malaysia. At Sepang it could have been better. I made a couple of mistakes in the final run in Q3. I lost some time there, so it could have been better than fifth, fourth or even third. I felt the speed was there in the car. Obviously, it was a good car to qualify.

Race pace doesn’t seem bad either; you’re back to setting race fastest laps…
The race was difficult with the conditions and honestly the best approach was to fight to keep the P5 position. When I first went out on the slicks it was so dark that it was difficult to see the dry line on the circuit. Once I could make out the line I drove fast enough to keep the position. I felt that there was more pace possible from the car but I didn’t want to take any risks. To set the race’s fastest lap is nice, but not as good as winning.

How was the feeling with the Pirelli wet tyres?
It was my debut with the latest wet weather tyres. When the lights went out, I had to take it easy, because I simply didn‘t know how they would behave. Obviously we had done only one installation lap with them beforehand, so we didn‘t even know how to adjust the front wing for the wet race. But the start went okay, we actually managed to gain a few places, but then there was an incident with a couple of cars in front of me, so I had to go on the grass again like in Australia to avoid them. I lost some places, but I made it through the first lap, anyway.

What are your thoughts of the Shanghai International Circuit?
It’s just another race track – I don’t have particular favourites or anything like that. It’s quite similar to Albert Park and Sepang in what it requires from the car so that should be good for us. We have some new parts for the E20 so that should also be good. I’m sure all the other teams have new parts for their cars too, so we won’t know where we are until we get there.

You’ve gone pretty well in China before, you must have a good feeling going there?
I won there in 2007 and that was a good feeling as that was the year I won the World Championship. It’s a proper race track and there are good opportunities for overtaking. Our car looks good so let’s see what happens when we get out on track.

Are you happy with the development progress of the E20 and the evolving relationship with the team?
The team is working very hard to keep us going to the right direction. Obviously, we have a good and solid car to work with. It has been quick everywhere so far. The weather and other situations at the two races we’ve had mean we haven’t seen the best of it. I feel comfortable with my relationship with the team. It’s clear they are racers like me and that is the best way to get the maximum from the season.

Romain Grosjean

The season has started with a great deal of promise, but ultimately not the results deserved for Romain. With another new track to learn in China, the Frenchman is looking for a fresh start to kick off his season

After some time to pause and reflect, how do you feel things are going now we’re two races in to the season?
We can certainly say that we have good performance from the car. We’ve got through to Q3 at both races so the car is performing very well. We were able to fight for the front row in qualifying and the pace in the race is very good. In China I hope we can have a more standard race with everything in order with regards to the start, the race – and not a crazy amount of water on track as we did at Sepang – and we can finally achieve the good result which we are capable of.

Two short races – is this now an issue for you?
When you make mistakes you have to admit it and not repeat that mistake. When it’s not your fault – well it’s not your fault. The first two races were tough and we didn’t get a result. On the other hand I know that we can do some great things in the future races. My season starts properly in China.

What do you think of the Shanghai circuit?
It will be my first time driving the circuit. I’ve been watching some on-board videos and it looks pretty nice. I hope it will suit the E20.
We have a new package which will hopefully be beneficial. I’m looking forward to discovering another new circuit. There are plenty of good, interesting corners by the looks of it. If we get a good result I’m sure it will become a track that I love.

How excited are you about a new aerodynamic package coming for the E20?
It’s great to see how much the factory is behind us and working very hard to give us updates. We’ve had a promising start to the season and we all want to get the best in every area, so a new aerodynamic package is quite exciting; I can’t wait to see how it looks and then experience how it feels on track. Then, most importantly, I want to see the lap time gain.

Now you’ve had some decent track time at two Grands Prix, how comfortable are you feeling with the car and how close are you to delivering 100% from the interaction between you and the E20?
The E20 gives me a great feeling. We have seen some interesting things in Malaysia and we are always learning more about how it reacts. We gained a very good impression at Australia and Malaysia. We have a few areas where we know what to do and a few areas where we know what not to do in terms of set-up. I’m sure for Shanghai we will be able to find the best set-up quicker than at the first two races. I think there is still scope for me to feel more comfortable and confident with the E20, but it’s a very nice car to drive and with the new aero package it should be even better; then with all subsequent packages better and better…

How intense did you find the first two races with your return as a Formula 1 race driver and the back-to-back nature of the two Grands Prix?
A race weekend takes a lot of time and a lot of energy. But when you are in the car, the adrenalin takes over and you never feel tired. When you get back home, you normally need a bit of a rest. You relax and it’s then that you feel tired. Over the race weekend there’s so much happening that you don’t have time to feel tired.

Compared to last year, where do you think we are in the relative order?
We’re definitely a step forwards, we just need to be able to show this in a normal race. We’ve seen that we are looking good in qualifying where we’ve been either the second or third fastest team which is very good. There are a few areas we need to improve in the race but we are definitely on course this season.

Here’s Trackside Operations Director Alan Permane’s comments on the various corners of the track.

The circuit layout has two straights and a mix of corners, from tight hairpins to flowing curves and radial turns. The constant changes of direction mean correct engine mapping is extremely important to give the drive out of the corners. Turns 12 and 13, the radial corner that leads onto the longest straight on the circuit, demand particular attention.

TURNS 1 + 2

These can be bumpy which unsettles the car. This makes braking difficult in the entry phase of the first corner. Turn 1 leads straight into turn 2 and can be viewed as a single, increasing radius corner which places a lot of load on the front tyres. Tyre management in this corner helps with the durability of the tyres.

TURNS 3, 6 + 10

There are heavy traction demands out of these corners.

TURN 4

Heavy braking here.

TURNS 7 + 8

Good high speed change of direction required here.

TURN 9
Braking into turn 9 is tricky – transition from high speed corners into heavy braking. Exiting is important as it sets the car up for turn ten on to the following straight.

TURN 13
Turn 13 is banked providing an interesting challenge for the drivers.

TURN 14
One of the most high-speed features of the season, the cars have to slow for turn 14 at the end of the long straight. Although this is one of a few heavy braking areas around the track, these are well spread over a lap so the brakes have sufficient time to cool – it’s not a harsh track on braking.

The Lotus F1 Team also gives some info on what kind of a setup the cars will have for the Shanghai track.

1. REAR WING

Slightly less downforce than in Sepang and Albert Park in deference to the opportunities for overtaking provided by the two straights in Shangai.

2. BRAKES

Shanghai is not a severe circuit for brakes. There are some heavy braking zones of up to 5G of deceleration – turn 1 into 2, turns 6, 11 and 14 but they are well spread over a lap giving time for the discs and pads to cool.

3. SUSPENSION

Kerbs are low meaning that the right height can be lower than would otherwise be necessary. Bumpy braking zone into turn one tests the car’s damping capabilities. The set-up needs to encourage good change of direction from the car at both high speeds (turns 7-8) and low speeds (turns 2-3 and 9-10).

4. TYRES

Pirelli’s P Zero White medium and P Zero Yellow soft tyres will be nominated. The asphalt is not especially aggressive and temperatures are not particularly high, so there will not be a lot of degradation. There are some significant lateral forces on the car in turns 1, 8 and 13.

5. FRONT WING

Front wing gives slightly less load than at the previous two circuits.

6. ENGINE

Shanghai is about in the middle of the table for the stresses it puts on engines. There is one very long straight where the engine is pushed to its most severe usage, but the rest of the circuit features 16 medium to low corners meaning the engine is used at relatively lower revs for the rest of the lap. The straight between turns 13 and 14 gives Shanghai the longest straight on the F1 calendar. Gear ratios are therefore carefully calculated to trade off acceleration and maximum speed taking account of aero set-up, engine power, weather, KERS and DRS usage. Short ratios favour acceleration; a longer top gear ratio permits higher maximum speed.

Round three of the 2012 Formula One World Championship, the UBS Chinese Grand Prix, takes place at the Shanghai International Circuit on Sunday 15 April. The 5.451 km Herman Tilke designed circuit made its debut on the calendar in 2004 and is shaped to represent the Chinese ‘shang’ character.

Highlights

• Since 2004, the eight races have been won by seven different drivers; only Hamilton has won twice (in 2008 & 2011)
• The 1170 m back straight is among the season’s longest, with the cars at wide open throttle for 15.5 seconds
• At peak revs on that straight, the engine’s pistons will be accelerating at 81,000 m/s2 , equivalent to over 8,250 G

Mercedes AMG Petronas is grappling with one important question. Why have the cars been competitive in the qualifying sessions, but nowhere at that level in the races?

“In both races, our problems have been related to getting the tyres into the correct working window,” explains Team Principal Ross Brawn. “However, at each race it was at different ends of the scale: in Melbourne, we overheated the tyres – it was under control on Friday, then we developed the set-up in a direction which did not prove helpful in the warmer conditions. In Malaysia, having done a lot of work in practice to make sure we didn’t suffer from the same problem, the cooler conditions on Sunday dropped us out of the window again.”

The temperatures on Friday and Saturday hovered around the mid-40s in Sepang and dropped to around 30˚C during the race! Instead of needing to protect the tyres from overheating, the team had to work again to generate tyre temperature in the cooler conditions. This was a situation not exclusive to Mercedes AMG Petronas but most of the other teams on the grid.

“The result in Malaysia was a great one for Formula One – but certainly not what would have been predicted before the start,” continues Brawn. “Like other teams at the front of the grid, we spent two days getting tyre temperatures down – and then, in the race, found that we needed to work the tyre harder. The cooler conditions reversed what was needed from the cars.”

Brawn is also convinced of the potential of the F1 W03. He says the fundamentals of performance : enough downforce, horsepower and good chassis are all there. “We have too narrow a window in which we are operating the car – and we have to broaden that, and build more tolerance into how we are using the tyres,” explains Brawn. He also emphasizes that “nothing has been consciously done to focus on making the car quick in qualifying, and not so good in the race – with DRS and the number of pit stops – there are no real rewards for doing so.”

“Using the tyres properly is vital for success, and it depends on a number of factors, including set-up, the downforce the car is generating and the drivers’ approach. Within the set-up variations we can choose, we have the opportunity to find the right solution. But it’s a learning process, and we missed the mark at the first two races.”

Michael Schumacher

“When I think about the Chinese Grand Prix, the fans are the first thing that comes to mind. For many years now, I’ve had a big and loyal fan base there, and it’s still very touching to see the lengths they go to in supporting me. A big thank you to all of them! As for the race itself, I’ve never had much luck in Shanghai, apart from my win in 2006; however that could change this year. In the first two races of 2012, we didn’t manage to maintain our qualifying pace in race conditions. We’ve been working intensively on this, so that we can offer our fans a strong performance in China.”

Nico Rosberg

“I have good memories of the Chinese Grand Prix as I was on the podium there in 2010 and led the race last year. I like the Shanghai International Circuit very much with its many unique, long corners. For me, China is really the start of the season as the first two races have not gone to plan. The track is quite different to the first two, as it demands more from the front tyres than the rears – in other words, what is termed a front-limited circuit. We know that we have a quick car, but we are looking to improve our long run pace in China next weekend and to have a better race performance.”

Ross Brawn, Team Principal

“The Chinese Grand Prix takes place at the very impressive Shanghai International Circuit and has really established itself on the Formula One calendar in recent years. China is an important and growing market for our sport, and indeed for Mercedes-Benz, and we look forward to our annual visit next week. On track, we hope that the weekend will prove more successful than the first two races of the season where our race results did not match expectations after a positive start to both weekends. A lot of hard work and analysis has taken place back at the factory since our return, and I hope to see these efforts pay dividends next Sunday in Shanghai with a performance which reflects the capabilities of the F1 W03.”

What then of prospects for Shanghai? Practice data from Sepang indicated that, in dry conditions, race performance should have been more consistent than in Melbourne. China will provide an opportunity to confirm this. “Our analysis since Malaysia has given us an even better understanding, and we have plans and actions in place to improve our tyre management,” concludes Brawn. “We clearly have a reasonably quick car – we have shown that in qualifying – and now we have to convert our speed into race performance.”

Norbert Haug, Vice-President, Mercedes-Benz Motorsport

“The first two races of the 2012 Formula One season have been ones of unfulfilled promise for our team. Michael’s second row qualifying positions were less than half a second from pole in Australia and Malaysia, however at both events we did not convert our qualifying speed into a consistent race performance on Sunday when it counts. Since the last race in Malaysia, the team has conducted analysis of our tyre usage during the first two rounds, and how we can improve. The Chinese Grand Prix will provide an answer on our progress, although weather conditions and circuit characteristics will be different to either Melbourne or Malaysia. The 1170 metre back straight accounts for over 20% of the lap distance, the cars exceed 285 kph on four different occasions, and nine of the circuit’s corners are considered to be low or medium speed, with five taken at less than 100 kph. Our team has been hard at work since Malaysia, and we hope to be able to translate our learning process into consistent and competitive lap times on race day in China.”