Zitat2013 Hungarian Grand Prix, Saturday 27th July
Romain Grosjean will take third place on the grid with Kimi Räikkönen lining up sixth for tomorrow’s Hungarian Grand Prix, after a hot qualifying session at the Hungaroring.
Both drivers are one place behind where they qualified here in 2012 which resulted for a 2-3 finish for the team; Kimi coming home just ahead of Romain on that occasion.
Kimi Räikkönen, E21-03. Q: P6, 1:19.851. FP3: P11, 1:21.589. “It hasn’t been the easiest weekend for me so far. Maybe the new tyres are a bit different – especially on the front – so it’s been hard to find a good setup. We’re getting there little by little and the car was definitely better in qualifying than at any other point this weekend. Obviously P6 is not ideal, but it’s better than we have seen sometimes so we’ll try and see what we can do tomorrow. It’s not so easy to overtake here, but we have seen in past years that if you can run with the tyres well you can make a lot of places, so let’s see what we can do.”
Romain Grosjean, E21-05. Q: P3, 1:19.595. FP3: P1, 1:20.730. “It’s been a good weekend so far with the car consistently showing strong pace. Setting the fastest time in practice this morning was a good sign, and the car was handling really well throughout each qualifying session. Lewis set a very quick time, but we’re not too far from Sebastian [Vettel] and anything could happen in the race depending on the tyres. I think tomorrow will be very open and a lot will depend on strategy, traffic and things like that, so if we can put everything together there’s the strong possibility for a good result.”
Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director: “From third and sixth we can have a strong race.”
How was qualifying for the team? We’re reasonably happy but – of course – we always want more. Everything went pretty much as we expected. For Romain, his single lap and long run pace has been strong and Kimi is much more on top of his car than yesterday. From third and sixth there’s no reason why we can’t have a strong race with both drivers.
Who do we see as the main rivals for a good result? We see Sebastian Vettel as our main challenger in the race. The Mercedes did go well in Monaco on a tight and twisty circuit – in the race as well as in qualifying – but here tyre degradation should be more of a factor. This should help us in our fight for a good result.
We saw some sideways moments from Kimi in the last corner; any concerns? It happened a couple of times and certainly makes for nice slow motion television. He has complained of the rear sliding which has been something we’ve focused on eliminating through setup tweaks.
Romain just missed out on P2; how much of a difference is it here between being on the front or second row? Third is actually almost as good as second here as you start on the clean side of the grid and it’s a very dusty circuit. Lewis [Hamilton] and Sebastian were just too strong for us in qualifying, but there’s potential for us to have a very good race tomorrow.
ZitatGrosjean escapes penalty after floor stay failure
Romain Grosjean’s car failed a floor deflection test after qualifying in Hungary, but after investigating the matter the FIA Stewards did not give a penalty.
The top three cars were subjected to an “asymmetric front floor RHS deflection test,” and Grosjean’s deflected more than 5mm vertically.
They accepted that the floor stay was broken after a high vertical loading was caused by hitting a kerb at Turn 11. In fact it was deemed to have ranged from -7.3g to + 11.1g.
The stewards also examined an identical part from Kimi Raikkonen’s car and accepted that Grosjean’s had done 600kms, including a race distance.
They stewards thus decreed that “this is deemed to be a case of accidental daamge, not a case of non-compliance.”
ZitatAdam Cooper @adamcooperf1 1m
If you're interested here's the actual report from the FIA stewards on the @RGrosjean floor business: pic.twitter.com/enx1Wubypv
ZitatThe tire reformation put Räikkönen's setups in a knot
F1 | Turun Sanomat 00:29
Changing the tire structure in the middle of the season seemed to hit Kimi Räikkönen in particular. Räikkönen lost his sensitivity to manage tires in Hungary practice and the situation wasn't completely in place in qualification either.
6th position in the grid is actually higher when comparing to Saturday practice.
– It's not a catastrophy, but it's not an ideal starting position, Räikkönen described his weekend so far.
After going through his tv- and press-interviews, Räikkönen sat down for an interview with Turun Sanomat. It was clear beforehand that the starting position to make this discussion work was just as challenging as it was for the driver to manage tires a moment before.
What is it exactly that's wrong with the tires?
– The tires are so different that it has taken insanely time to get them to work the way I want. We have improved little by little, but it still isn't where it should be. Especially front tires have made it more difficult. The car pushes a bit too much. The last corner in particular has been a tricky spot for me the whole weekend, Räikkönen said.
Does the tire reformation make your WDC-battle more difficult?
– Well it doesn't help it, that's for sure. I don't think that it will change it much though. The car was already better in quali than it has been the whole weekend. My lap was okay with a pushing car. Of course it took a longer time to get it better through setups.
Old manner still in value
Räikkönen started 5th in Monaco. It proved impossible to climb up from there. Now he has a new attempt to start from the 3rd row on an almost as curly track as Monaco.
– Fortunately this is different than Monaco. Overtaking is difficult, but we have already seen this season how we can improve positions if we get the tires and everything else to work well.
When the temperature goes up to 40 degrees, is it an advantage for Lotus?
– I don't have the energy to start guessing. It's impossible to say beforehand since we haven't raced one race with these new tires. We'll see it on Sunday.
What is the worst track to drive when it's this hot?
– In Malaysia it's even more hotter than in Hungary, but Singapore is the toughest one. It feels hotter than in Malaysia, because the track is so slow and there's no decent wind there. As a matter of fact the race there doesn't feel as bad as the pratice does, because we stop all the time and the heat hits all the way to the pitbox. When driving the flow of air helps all the time, Räikkönen compared.
Grosjean got away with a scare
Romain Grosjean beat Räikkönen in qualification for the second time this season and he snatched superbly the 3rd position.
In scrutineering the car's front floor bent against the rules, but telemetry proved that the floor constantly hit in corner 11 which damaged the floor. Hence Grosjean starts the race from a strong position as one of the winner candidate.
Then why did the tire fit Grosjean better than Räikkönen?
– We didn't lose much to them and you don't have to fall back much in order to lose positions in the quali, Räikkönen belittled.
Either way Grosjean's driving style, based on more fierce braking and precise turning, seemed to immediately fall in place with this tire structure when compared to Räikkönen.
Will Grosjean help you in the race if needed?
– You have to ask that from him, not me, Räikkönen snapped - and left to his own premises so he could concentrate on Sunday's challenges.
ZitatSarah Holt @sarahholtf1 2m What could stir us out of our scribbling at Media HQ? Finnish fans fever as Kimi Raikkonen appears on the big screens here at the circuit.
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Sat Jul 27, 2013 7:01 pm
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