McLaren-Mercedes MP4-23

Ferrari 312 B3S ‘Spazzaneve’

Tyrrell-Cosworth 006

Tyrrell-Cosworth P34

Stoner feeling fit and ready for Sunday challenge

The Ducati Team rider overcame some set-up problems in qualifying on Saturday afternoon to take second place on the grid, and says the heat is not affecting him at Catalunya.

Casey Stoner is prepared to push on for a second podium of the season at the Gran Premi Aperol de Catalunya tomorrow after taking a front row starting position, thanks to a late fast lap in qualifying on Saturday afternoon.

The Ducati Team rider struggled with the set-up of his bike for some of the session and encountered some traffic on track, before managing to set a best time of 1’42.410 to ensure he gives himself the best chance of success in the race.

“We only got one soft tyre in because everyone was holding us up. We had to leave it to the last minute really to do that fast lap but in general we’ve been pretty happy and consistent with our race tyres,” said Stoner.

“We struggled a little bit this afternoon trying to get some pace but we tried a few too many things and got a bit confused and it wasn’t really in the right direction,” he continued. “We feel that we can put up a bit more of a challenge. My fitness seems pretty good so we’re just going to have to wait for the race tomorrow. But qualifying was to be expected and we thought we could go a lot faster than that.”

With the air temperature reaching 35ºC and the track 53ºC there were some who struggled with the hot conditions, but Stoner was not one of them.

“For myself it’s not too bad,” he stated. “I don’t know if I’m doing a little better than everyone else and I’m sweating now because I’m under the lights! But when we were out there it didn’t seem too bad and we were doing some laps. I would have liked to have done a bit of a longer run and been a little more comfortable with the bike, but in general everything feels pretty good and I don’t feel like it’s the hardest race like everyone is going on about. I think there have been a lot worse than this!”

Second row for Repsol Honda

Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso qualified in fourth and sixth places respectively for the Gran Premi Aperol de Catalunya.

Repsol Honda riders Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso will start from the second row of the grid in tomorrow’s Gran Premi Aperol de Catalunya after a swelteringly hot qualifying session at the Montmeló circuit today. Pedrosa’s best lap was good enough for fourth place and was just 0.080s from giving the Spaniard a front row start at his home race, while Dovizioso’s time was a further two-tenths back and secured sixth place and the final spot on row two.

Pedrosa set a series of fast, consistent laps in the morning session and finishing in second place just 0.050s behind the leading time. He improved his pace further this afternoon, in spite of the soaring temperatures which hit 35ºC ambient and 53ºC at the track surface, but in the increased heat, grip was once again the elusive ingredient and the Spaniard continued to lose a little time in the final section of the lap. Pedrosa and his crew are confident that adjustments in t he warm-up and the correct tyre choice can give him a good chance of battling at the front tomorrow.

Dovizioso spent much of the qualifying session in second position before being nudged backwards in the closing minutes. The 24 year-old Italian established a good race set-up however and he too is confident of his chances in the race. Dovizioso has qualified in sixth position on two previous occasions this season - at the first race of the year in Qatar and at the last race at Assen - and each time he has finished higher in the race. In fact, on average Dovizioso’s race finishing position this season has been three places above his qualifying position - a trend which would see the Italian on the podium for a fifth time this year if it continues tomorrow.

Dani Pedrosa:

“The second row is not perfect but anyway, the position is not a big deal and to be fourth is ok with the lap times so close here. Today we've been trying the tyre options to check which will be the best ones for the race. It will be a tough race tomorrow because of the heat, and also because of the level of our rivals. Also managing the tyre performance so that we can lap consistently at 1’43” will be critical. We need to work a little more on the chassis set-up because this morning I felt better than this afternoon. Anyway, we are better than we were at the last race in Assen in terms of qualifying performance, and we had a strong race there. I'd like to be on the front row and I think it was possible but on my penultimate lap I made a small mistake and this cost me the chance. T4 is still my weak point in the lap - the last hard braking point in particular. We will try to find some thing in the warm-up to fix this. Obviously I want to have a good race in front of all the people who will come to support me and we'll certainly be going for it.”

Andrea Dovizioso:

“I’m satisfied with the race pace and I think we are ready for tomorrow. The second row is not the best position to start but being on the front two rows is the important thing. Also, we were using the hard Bridgestone tyre at the end of the session so this qualifying position doesn’t truly reflect our potential. For the race there are many riders with a similar pace and we will have to see how the tyre performance goes tomorrow in these hot conditions and manage our race well. Today we started the session with the soft tyres to see how they affected the pace and rhythm and I think we will use the hard compound tomorrow because it’s really too hot for the soft ones. We need to adjust the electronic controls because the bike is sliding quite a lot - due to the characteristics of this track and also because of the heat. I’m looking forward to the race tomorrow. I really like this track and the atmosphere is always fantastic here.” www.motogp.com

Lorenzo on pole after pulsating Catalunya qualifying

The Fiat Yamaha rider secured his third consecutive pole position in a fantastic session which saw the order change many times. Casey Stoner and Randy de Puniet will complete the front row for Sunday’s Gran Premi Aperol de Catalunya.

 

Jorge Lorenzo put in a strong end of qualifying run to take pole position for Sunday’s race at Montmeló, coming out on top in an hour-long battle for supremacy in the session. The Fiat Yamaha rider’s best time of 1’42.046 ended up placing him 0.364s clear, but only after top spot had changed hands a number of times.

Second position was Casey Stoner’s after the Ducati Team rider overcame what was a clear dissatisfaction with his bike to move up several places on his 19th of 21 laps. The Australian did take first spot with his time of 1’42.410, but only momentarily as Lorenzo hit back with his penultimate lap.

Completing the front row after another superb QP will be Randy de Puniet, and the LCR Honda rider’s consistency throughout the session was impressive. The Frenchman led until ten minutes before the end when the battle heated up, eventually timing a further 0.102s behind Stoner to make it three front-row starts in succession.

Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa also made a late surge and he climbed onto the front row for a few minutes before finishing fourth, just eight hundredths of a second off De Puniet in a breathless final few laps. Ben Spies also made a charge at the end of the session and improved his standing considerably, the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider following up an impressive day one practice with fifth place on the starting grid.

Andrea Dovizioso completed the second row as he took his Repsol Honda round in the sixth best time. Loris Capirossi will have been pleased with the marked improvement on the GSV-R of the Rizla Suzuki team as he placed seventh, with rookies Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini) and Álvaro Bautista (Rizla Suzuki) also taking third row places, the latter securing his best qualification so far this season.

Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech3) and Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) were 10th and 11th respectively. Aleix Espargaró (Pramac Racing) had finished the session in eighth, but his final lap was cancelled after Race Direction deemed he had cut the track between Turns 1 and 2, meaning his reclassified position was 12th.

The Gran Premi Aperol de Catalunya MotoGP race gets underway at 2pm local time on Sunday.www.motogp.com

Aleshin aims for F1 test with Renault

Mikhail Aleshin currently leads the World Series by Renault championship. The Russian talent leads the championship ahead of Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo. Aleshin enjoyed his first laps on track with a Formula 1 car last month. The experience now motivates him even more to win the championship and earn himself that day of testing with the Renault F1 team.

Speaking about his day of action at Magny-Cours Aleshin said: “I have driven in many different single seaters in my career and honestly, nothing compares to an F1. I think that the grip around fast bends and the braking power are the two most impressive aspects. I know I stayed far away from the limits of the car, I need to drive more, in order to gain a full understanding of how an F1 works, but this experience gave me the chance to get pretty comfortable aboard this race car.

“It confirms me in my desire to get into F1. It motivates me even more to win the Formula Renault 3.5 Series so that I could get to do a real test with Renault F1 Team.”

Speaking about his position as championship leader in the 2010 World Series by Renault season he said: “The season has actually got off to a very good start. I didn’t do too well in some of the races and I suffered a bit at Brno, but in general I have shown my potential and the potential of the Carlin team. I am really satisfied with the way the team works. Everyone is extremely focused on winning, this really helps the drivers to race in good conditions. www.gpupdate.net

Hamilton looking forward to home crowd support

Next week's British Grand Prix will be Lewis Hamilton's home Grand Prix. The Briton will travel to Silverstone as Formula One's championship leader and he can't wait to enjoy the enormous support from the British fans.

“The Santander British Grand Prix is the halfway point in the season, and our whole team is really hungry for success. After spending most of 2009 out of the hunt, I can tell that everybody is really fired up, particularly for this weekend, where we’ll be performing in front of a home crowd, and all our friends and families. It would be amazing to score another great result at our home race.

“We haven’t raced on this Silverstone configuration before – I’ve looked at the track map, and I’ve seen some onboard footage, and I like what I’ve seen. It still looks fast and sweeping – even the new corners look medium- to high-speed, which is what you want around here.

“To be leading the world championship going into my home race is a fantastic feeling – I know very well the effect of people-power around here – in 2007, when I got pole position, I vividly remember driving around on my slowing-down lap and I could hear the noise of the crowd over the engine. And in 2008, in those terrible, wet conditions, nobody lost heart or faith, and they kept waving their flags and banners for me on every single lap.

“When you see that kind of dedication, you know you’ve got to repay it. And that’s why I go to Silverstone absolutely determined to get a great result; to make 100,000 people proud of our team and our country.

“The Santander British Grand Prix is one of the best races of the year – it’s going to be a brilliant weekend. Bring it on!" www.gpupdate.net

Audi repeats: No interest in Formula 1

Audi is not planning to be Formula 1’s second German manufacturer alongside Mercedes-Benz, the Ingolstadt-based company has stressed. The news quashes rumours in the country’s press that the company may be considering the move.

At present, just two car manufacturers are involved in F1 in their own right – Mercedes and Fiat, with the latter racing under its Ferrari marque; despite hearsay, Audi wishes to reiterate that it will not be seen on the grid alongside them. 

We believe Formula 1 is not suitable for Audi - at least not with the technology it currently uses, which has no relevance to the development of our production vehicles,” Wolfgang Ullrich, head of Audi Motorsport, explained to German press agency SID.

Although word has already been killed off in the recent past, Audi’s superb 1-2-3 result in last month’s Le Mans 24 Hour race has sparked off speculation once again.

“Besides the fact that we still have to win at least seven more times to get to the top of the all-time Le Mans victories table, we still see Le Mans as the best platform to test and demonstrate new technologies in motorsport,” Ullrich added. “It’s more authentic than any other type of racing.”

Hamilton disappointed to miss fight for win

Lewis Hamilton’s European Grand Prix drive-through penalty confirmed that any chance of challenging Sebastian Vettel for victory was lost. The Englishman was instructed to come in by FIA-appointed race stewards following his pass on the Safety Car.

Although the Safety Car overtake may have been marginal, overhead television camera angles do confirm that Hamilton drove by the Safety Car once past the line which marks the end of the pit lane, leaving the McLaren driver to ponder what might have been. 

“The penalty meant I didn't really have an opportunity to take the fight to Sebastian,” said Lewis. “Obviously, you can't change something once it's done, but I think we could have had a pretty good scrap at the front. I think I could have pushed him.

“Okay, passing around here is a different matter, but I'd like to think I might have been able to pressure him either to make a mistake or perhaps to put his car under too much mechanical strain, but it wasn't to be.

“I came away from Valencia still in the lead of the championship, having extended my lead, and I'm now looking forward to Silverstone, where we'll hopefully have some of the new parts on our car that some of the other teams enjoyed last weekend.”

Sauber to divide resources for new car

With half of the 2010 season now gone, Sauber is very much arranging itself for 2011 by drafting up plans of how its development team will soon be partitioned in order to work on both the current and new car at the same time.

Sauber’s existing C29 was started by BMW last year although, as the Munich manufacturer pulled out of Formula 1 at the end of the 2009 season, Peter Sauber’s Hinwil outfit was left with a very much ‘work in progress’ situation, meaning any new developments are always subject to limitations in the car’s overall design. 

“We are currently in the process of splitting our resources as best we can between the current car and the C30,” Technical Director James Key explains. “We are a private team and we don’t have unlimited resources to do everything we want.

“For Silverstone we have some front wing updates and modifications around the middle of the car. Then for Hockenheim we will have a rear end update, which includes a diffuser step as well.

“The numbers in the wind tunnel are progressing well. At the same time we are focusing on Spa and Monza, for lower downforce and drag configurations, and there will be further steps towards the end of the year.”www.gpupdate.net
 

McLaren set to debut exhaust-blown diffuser at Silverstone

The British Grand Prix is likely to see McLaren introducing the low exhausts pioneered by Red Bull Racing and which appeared on the Ferrari, Mercedes GP and Renault cars last time out in Valencia. Team Principal Martin Whitmarsh reveals that the changes were set to arrive in Germany but have been developed quicker than planned.

Although Red Bull is always likely to gain the most from the idea, as its car was the only one on the grid whose design incorporated the lower exhausts, Whitmarsh is optimistic about the Adrian Newey concept which allows hot exhaust gases to channel out and contribute to rear end downforce. 

“The upgrade was planned for Hockenheim but all being well we will have it for Silverstone,” Martin is quoted as saying by ESPN.

"The British Grand Prix is an important race for us and at a circuit like that we have to be competitive with Red Bull if we are going to be able to beat them this year.

“If we can be competitive there, then we have a good chance to win both championships; it will be a big race but it will not be the end of it, whatever happens - if we beat them they will not stand still and if they beat us we are not going to stand still. I hope it will be close, certainly closer than last year...”

Alonso retracts Valencia criticism

Having pilloried the European Grand Prix stewards in the 48 hours following the race, Ferrari have begun to tone down their criticism of Sunday’s event.

Fernando Alonso was first to take a step back from his earlier criticism of the race as “manipulated”, saying “we should talk about it together in a calm way, to ensure that things like this do not happen again.”

Alonso said:

We were particularly unlucky in terms of the timing of when the safety car appeared on track. It would have only needed a few seconds more or less to totally change our race. It does not achieve much going over the events that followed on. Obviously, in the clear light of day, I am much calmer than I was in the moments immediately following the race.
At the time, I reacted emotionally and in that situation, it is all too easy to adopt a tone and say things that can be interpreted wrongly, giving rise to suspicions, something which I had no intention of doing.
Sure, I understand that the stewards have a difficult job to do and they have to take decisions that are not easy. What I meant was that those drivers who, like us, respected the regulations, unfortunately, in this situation, suffered much more than those who broke them, even though they were given a penalty.
And I am not referring to any of the drivers in particular: it’s a general matter and I think we should talk about it together in a calm way, to ensure that things like this do not happen again. I was pleased to hear that the FIA has reacted promptly, calling an extraordinary meeting of the Sporting Working Group and I am confident, certain even, that all the points up for discussion will be cleared up in a comprehensive fashion.
Fernando Alonso

Team mate Felipe Massa, who lost even more places than Alonso during the safety car period, added:

What happened needs to be looked into because it is not normal than someone commits a serious infraction like overtaking the safety car, when there is a dangerous situation on track and is not really penalised in practical terms.
We must talk about this together and do something to ensure a situation like this does not happen again. The team has told me that, next week there will be a meeting of the Sporting Working Group: that’s good and it’s an obvious indication that the FIA is paying close attention to the matter.
Felipe Massa. www.f1fanatic.co.uk

FIA must learn from Valencia shambles

There’s no reason to believe Ferrari’s claim that the European Grand Prix was somehow “manipulated”.

But considering the penalties that were handed out, particularly the nine drivers who were penalised after the race was finished, it’s clear there’s still room for improvement in how F1 races are refereed.

The FIA should start by bringing back the ‘pit lane closure’ rule and changing how drive-through penalties are applied.

The delay in handing out penalties

Inevitably, much attention has been paid to why Lewis Hamilton’s penalty came so late, as it had a crucial bearing on the race.

As well dealing with the aftermath of a potentially very serious crash in which the medical car was sent out, Hamilton’s infringement was just one of 12 incidents the stewards had to deal with, all of which occurred within a very short space of time.

Hamilton’s infringement was among the first to occur and he was the first to be handed a penalty. He was the only driver who received his penalty soon enough to serve it during the race:

Lap	Incident	Time decision was published
10	Hamilton overtakes safety car	15:07
9	Incident in pits involving Hülkenberg and Buemi	17:40
9	Incident in pits involving Petrov and Liuzzi	17:41
?	Glock disobeys blue flags	17:43
9	Kubica exceeds safety car target lap time	18:09
9	Button exceeds safety car target lap time	18:10
9	Barrichello exceeds safety car target lap time	18:11
9	Hülkenberg exceeds safety car target lap time	18:12
9	Buemi exceeds safety car target lap time	18:12
9	Sutil exceeds safety car target lap time	18:13
9	Liuzzi exceeds safety car target lap time	18:14
9	Petrov exceeds safety car target lap time	18:15
9	de la Rosa exceeds safety car target lap time	18:16

The clearest proof of Hamilton’s infraction was the helicopter shot of him crossing the second safety car line. That video was apparently not available to the stewards immediately.

In the meantime they had to rely on timing information which was also sketchy, as Tony Dodgins points out in Autosport (sub. req.):

Depending on where the timing transponders are placed on a car – for instance if one was at the back and the other at the front, you can have a situation where one car that appears to be ahead of another one actually records the same time. So, when it’s that tight, installation positions have to be checked, times and distances noted and calculations made.

This explains why the stewards took so long but does not excuse it.

In the build-up to the race BBC viewers were shown details of the Global Positioning System-based control centre the stewards have access to, allowing them to see where every car is on the track at any given time.

With access to that kind of computing power, it should not take 48 30 minutes (see comment) to decide which of two cars crossed a line first.

This is far from the first time the stewards have been criticised for taking too long to reach a decision. At Indianapolis in 2004 it took them until lap 59 to disqualify Juan Pablo Montoya for an infraction that took place before the race even started.

Unnecessarily complicated rules

The five second penalties given to nine drivers for “failing to stay above the minimum time set by the FIA ECU when the Safety Car was deployed” stem from regulations which are outdated and should be replaced.

Drivers are required to stick to minimum times to prevent them rushing to the pits too quickly after a safety car deployment, as they may be passing the scene of an accident.

This rule was introduced to replace a rule which closed the pits during safety car deployments. This pit lane closure rule was removed because some drivers had to make pit stops during a closure to avoid running out of fuel.

That is no longer a concern as refuelling has been banned. Therefore the FIA should drop the unnecessarily complicated rules requiring drivers to stick to minimum lap times, and go back to closing the pits until after the safety car period, perhaps with an exception for damaged cars that need to come in.

Read more: Ten drivers get penalties, Alonso and Rosberg gain extra points

Consistent penalties

The five-second penalties

The FIA has published little to no information about the five-second penalties.

We don’t know what target times the drivers were set – they may have been completely unrealistic. And we don’t know how much each driver failed to meet them by.

Therefore, we have no way of knowing if the penalties were fair, or too harsh, or too lenient.

What we do know is that a five-second penalty is not one of those defined under the Sporting Regulations:

The stewards may impose any one of three penalties on any driver involved in an Incident:
a) A drive-through penalty. The driver must enter the pit lane and re-join the race without stopping;
b) A ten second time penalty. The driver must enter the pit lane, stop at his pit for at least ten seconds and then re-join the race.
c) a drop of any number of grid positions at the driver’s next Event.
However, should either of the penalties under a) and b) above be imposed during the last five laps, or after the end of a race, Article 16.4b) below will not apply and 20 seconds will be added to the elapsed race time of the driver concerned in the case of a) above and 30 seconds in the case of b).
2010 FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations

Lewis Hamilton and Timo Glock both got penalties under these rules. So where does the five second penalty the other drivers got come from?

It’s possible the stewards were using the powers given to them by articles 152 and 153 of the International Sporting Code, although they did not refer to it:

152: Any breach of this Code or the Appendices thereto, of the national rules or their appendices, or of any Supplementary Regulations committed by any organiser, official, competitor, driver, or other person or organisation may be penalised or fined.
Penalties or fines may be inflicted by the stewards of the meeting and ASNs as indicated in the following articles. [...]
153: Penalties may be inflicted as follows in order of increasing severity:
− reprimand (blame);
− fines;
− time penalty;
− exclusion;
− suspension;
− disqualification.
Time penalty means a penalty expressed in minutes and/or seconds.
FIA International Sporting Code

It seems likely the stewards decided to give the drivers a lenient penalty because their infractions were only minor. Jenson Button, one of the drivers penalised, said after the race that he had no opportunity to slow down any more and avoid a penalty:

There was no room to lift off or hit the brakes, so to be honest I can’t really see why I was called to the stewards.
Jenson Button

However if stewards are able to give post-race time penalties of less than 20 seconds, it’s a pity they didn’t use that to give Michael Schumacher a less severe penalty for breaking a rule the FIA admitted was unclear.

Hamilton’s penalty

The highly unusual circumstances surrounding Hamilton’s penalty have been explained in detail in these earlier articles:

• Safety car plays into McLaren’s hands in Valencia
• Valencia’s short pit lane helps Hamilton hold onto second

Comparing Hamilton’s drive-through penalty on Sunday with Alonso’s at Shanghai for jumping the start highlights the inconsistencies in using drive-through penalties. Because of the varying lengths of the pit lanes Hamilton’s penalty cost him 12.7s at Valencia, Alonso’s in Shanghai cost him 21s.

Add in the difference in the delay in handing out the penalties – Alonso got his much earlier because he happened to commit his infraction before the eyes of the race director – and the reasons for the perceived difference in severity of the penalties become clear.

None of this justifies Ferrari’s claim the race was “manipulated”. But it’s clear the rules could be improved.

There is a simple and fair solution to the drive-through penalties problem: Replace them with stop-go penalties, and vary the duration a driver is stopped from race to race to even out the differences in pit lane length.

Should Hamilton have received a more severe penalty? As Will Buxton points out when he overtook the safety car in a GP2 race four years ago (albeit in rather different circumstances) he was disqualified.

But GP2 rarely sets a precedent for F1. In 2008 Bruno Senna was handed a penalty for an unsafe release in the pits two weeks after Ferrari’s Felipe Massa escaped a penalty for exactly the same thing.

According to Mark Hughes, “the precedent for [overtaking the safety car] is a drive-through.” I’ve been racking my brains trying to recall when that precedent was set but with no joy. If anyone knows, please post it in the comments.

It could be argued that, by the time race control came to give Hamilton his penalty they should have realised how limited the effect of a drive-through would be and given him a harsher penalty accordingly – such as a stop-go penalty.

But I fear that altering penalties to suit the circumstances would only leave the stewards open to even more damaging claims of inconsistency – and increase the burden on them even further. What is needed is clear and consistent penalties delivered in a timely fashion.

A shambles, not a scandal

This is the latest in a series of F1 races spoiled by a controversy over penalties. While some people have been quick to claim that certain rulings always favour one driver or team, it’s clear this isn’t the case.

To Valencia ‘10 we can add Alonso’s penalty at Monza in ‘06, Hamilton’s a Spa in ‘08, Schumacher’s at Monaco earlier this year and others.

FIA president Jean Todt has shown a commitment to improving the standards of stewarding in F1. Bringing in former drivers as advisers appears to have helped tone down some of the excessively severe penalties we saw in previous years.

And only last week the Sporting Regulations were clarified to remove the grey areas highlighted by Schumacher at Monaco and Hamilton in Canada. But further progress needs to be made.

The connection between what infringement gets what penalty is too often unclear. And far too little information explaining penalties is published, despite earlier promises to supply more detailed explanations.

Although the stewards show a commendable commitment to using all the information at their disposal to get decisions right, little heed is paid to delivering decisions in a timely fashion.

If the FIA fails to learn from these lessons we will continue to see race results being altered after the chequered flag – something the governing body should take every reasonable step to avoid. www.f1fanatic.co.u

Status GP’s Robert Wickens has been issued a post race penalty after today’s GP3 Series race.

Canadian Wickens has been given a ten place grid drop for his next race at Silverstone Circuit on Saturday 10th July.

Wickens was penalised for causing a collision with the #2 car of Esteban Gutierrez.