GPI
2013 SEASON & AUSTRALIAN GP PREVIEWS
2013
13.03.2013
ROOKIES 5 New Kids feature Ferrari hopes
5 world champions 22 contenders one world title
ready to
rumble WEEKLY FORMULA 1 DIGITAL MAGAZINE
“What words of wisdom will Kimi mumble this year?� 13 March 2013 It is less than four months since we sat riveted watching the 2012 season finale in Brazil, and we are already on the verge of the 2013 season. Five world champions, five rookies, add to this another dozen hot shots and you have all the ingredients for another epic season of grand prix racing. So many questions to be answered: Can Seb make it four? Can Jenson milk his new status at McLaren? Will Lewis and Mercedes be the next big thing? Have Ferrari provided Fernando with a championship winning car? What words of wisdom will Kimi mumble this year? Time will tell, meanwhile in this edition we preview the forthcoming season from A to Z and say: Bring it on!.
CREDITS Editor: Paul Velasco Editorial Co-ordinator: Roy Franco Content: YallaF1.com Admin: Anja Schwerin Main Photography: Sutton Images & Getty Images Additional photography: LAT Photographic, Hoch Zwei, AF400 Photography, Ercole Colombo & Race Presse
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FIRST WORD
IN THIS ISSUE vettel
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2 First Word 4 In This Issue 8 Ready to rumble 24 Vettel fab four? 38 Ferrari hopes 48 Ferrari will battle to the end 56 Time will tell for Lewis 68 Alonso is the guy to beat 76 Jenson the team leader 88 Iceman feeling good 98 Webber’s home comfort 110 Sutil is mentally stronger 118 New kids on the block 134 Australian GP preview 146 2013 preview: Race-by-race 186 2013 preview: Teams 194 2013 preview: Drivers 228 the Quiet before the storm
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hamilton & alonso
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A
s the freight is unpacked in Albert Park, during the quiet before the storm, it is fitting to contemplate that this year we have five previous Melbourne winners in the field, who also happen to be world champions, namely Fernando Alonso (2006), Kimi RaĂŻkkĂśnen (2007), Lewis Hamilton (2008), Jenson Button (2009-
10-12) and Sebastian Ve the mix five rookies, new several driver/team chan ingredients for an explos 2013 Formula 1 world cha The last year of V8 racin One insider who has a 10
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ettel (2011) - throw into w Pirelli tyre compounds, nges and you have all the sive opening round of the ampionship. ng: If you meet a Formula 000-metre stare this year,
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it’s probably because s/he has one eye on 2014, when the engine regulations will undergo a drastic change. This is the eighth and last season with the current 2.4-litre 8-cylinder format which was introduced in 2006. So enjoy the music of those 18,000 rpm, 750 horsepower units as next year’s 1.6-litre V6 turbos could sound a very different.
“We are looking forward to this season, the final year of the V8,” says Renault engineer Rémi Taffin. “Albert Park is a tough place to start the season as it represents a hard challenge for engines. The average speed is towards the top of the table, while the percentage of the lap spent at full throttle is also one of the highest of the season. The short bursts of power between corners put the internals under intense pressure, while greatly increasing fuel consumption; in fact the fuel consumption per
100km is the second high Five Melbourne rookies Bull, Ferrari, Lotus and T line-ups unchanged from change, of course, is Lew McLaren to Mercedes, wit from Sauber to replace h include Esteban Gutiérre Pérez at Sauber; Valterri moving up from reserve
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hest of the year.” s: Only four teams – Red Toro Rosso – have driver m last season. The major wis Hamilton’s move from th Sergio Pérez coming in him. The five newcomers ez, in for his compatriot i Bottas, the young Finn driver to full-time racer
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at Williams; Giedo van der Garde, the Dutchman also graduating from reserve role to race seat at Caterham; and the all-new pairing of England’s Max Chilton and Frenchman Jules Bianchi at Marussia. Van der Garde probably speaks for them all when he says: “The most exciting moment of 2013 will be when the lights go out in Melbourne and everything I’ve dreamed of for so long comes true. I’ve worked hard all winter and in the tests to prepare myself and I’m ready, physically and mentally.”
A new tyre combo: For the first time Pirelli will deploy its Supersoft (red) compound in Melbourne, alongside the Medium (white)to give the teams a wide gap in performance and therefore in their strategic options. “All the compounds and constructions have changed for 2013, and the drivers should notice a wider working range and a bigger window of peak performance,” says Pirelli’s Paul Hembery. Expect a minimum of two stops per driver – unless, of course, the Melbourne weather finally decides it’s autumn and we get some precipitation… Pirelli, by the way, have a new ambassador in the shape of former Ferrari favourite Jean Alesi. “Albert Park was a circuit that I enjoyed as a driver – I competed there from its debut year after the grand prix moved from Adelaide – but it’s really not typical
of anywhere else,” says Alesi, hitting the Australian nail on the head right away. A new Melbourne winner? Winter testing has suggested – surprise, surprise – that Red Bull will again be the form horses. But the man who has won here three times in the last four years says we should be ready for anything. “One of the most fascinating things about Formula 1,” says Jenson Button, “is the way it resets itself each and every winter. I’ve seen every side of that: you can have a terrible winter of testing, then turn up at the first race and be competitive; equally, you can look impressive in winter testing and be nowhere in Melbourne. If you’re lucky, it all comes together in the tests and you hit the ground running at the first race. That’s always the goal.”
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Lewis in a Silver Arrow: Yes, the 2008 World Champion, who had ‘McLaren Driver’ stamped on his forehead at birth, is one no longer. He jumped ship at the end of last year to Mercedes – and they’ve been pretty eye-catching in the pre-season tests as well. But Lewis is making all the sensible noises too. “I can’t wait to get to Melbourne, get out on track and find out where we stand,” he says. “The Australian Grand Prix is always an exciting race: the teams don’t know how they compare in terms of performance, the fans are fantastic and, with big changes to the tyres again this year, we just don’t know what will happen in the race. I love the circuit. It’s a street track with a really bumpy surface so you try and put as much downforce on the car as possible and it really puts the drivers to the test.”
The return of the prodigal son: They say you never get a second chance to make a first impression, but Force India have been kind – or calculating – enough to offer Adrian Sutil a chance at redemption. The 30-year-old German has been out of the frame since earning a suspended sentence and fine for an off-track incident that clouded an otherwise highly promising 2011, but Barcelona testing confirmed that he would get the nod ahead of Jules Bianchi. He’s had five races in Melbourne before: his best qualifying is 10th, his best race result ninth. “Having been away from the sport, I’m even more determined to achieve my goals in Formula One,” he says. “Things went really well at the Barcelona test and it almost feels as though I’ve never been away. Driving the car felt so natural and I was able to get back in the groove quickly and find the limit.”
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The Mark and Daniel show: It’s a mixed blessing for our two Aussies, coping with the increased demands from all and sundry while rising to the occasion in their home Grand Prix. Last year Mark Webber scored his best-ever Melbourne result – in his 11th appearance here – when he finished
fourth. He’s not getting c what he’s seen and felt in on bigger things this year “The champagne will ta Melbourne if I get on th everyone hopes he will.
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carried away, but he likes n the tests and has his eye r. aste a little bit better in he podium,” he says, and Dan’s eyeing up podium
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finishes in the not too distant future too, but realistically it’s World Championship points like last year’s he is chasing. “As long as it stays dry it’s going to set the playing-field pretty evenly and hopefully we can get up there in the points. That’s the real aim,” he insists.
vettel fa Five Formula 1 world champions on the grid, 22 contenders for the biggest prize in motorsport, 19 rounds to battle it out and a Beatles loving triple world champion aiming to be the first to make it a ‘Fab Four’ and who can stop him?
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ab four?
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o driver in the history of Formula 1 has won four championships before the age of 30 but being first has become something of a habit for Sebastian Vettel. The 25-year-old Red Bull driver became the youngest triple champion last year and the German with the cheeky grin and raised single finger will start the new season in Australia next week as favourite for a fourth title. The youngest points scorer, podium finisher, race winner and champion - who could become only the third driver after Juan Manuel Fangio and Michael Schumacher to win four successive crowns - may be facing his toughest task yet, however. Vettel ended testing in Spain last weekend without fanfare and as the only driver from the leading five teams to fail to top any of the end-of-day timesheets over the 12 days. “I would say that we never had a winter that was less conclusive than this one,” Vettel told reporters in Spain, recognising that the team had not ticked all their boxes on the test track. “I think it is impossible for all of us to read the pace of the cars and to make out any favourites.”
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While rivals suspect that Red Bull have deliberately masked the potential of Adrian Newey’s latest creation, there is hope that the gap between the champions and the rest may have narrowed. Vettel, who took his first crown by stealth in 2010 and his third last year with a second-half surge, will still be the man every driver wants to beat when the red start lights go out. The lifelong Beatles fan may have a long and winding road ahead of him but even if it all starts off as a bit of a mystery tour, magical or otherwise, he has every chance of staying at number one with his own fab four. “He is still the favourite,” said Frenchman Alain Prost, the only other four-times Formula One champion, who took his last title in 1993 at the age of 38. “Behind him, it’s hard to say.” The swansong for the screaming V8 engines, before they are swept away in 2014 by the arrival of a costly new V6 turbocharged unit with energy recovery systems, means the regulations are barely changed this season. New Pirelli tyre compounds, designed to encourage more frequent pitstops and overtaking with high levels of degradation, introduce an element of uncertainty however.
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“I’m not sure there will be a surprise package among the teams,” Red Bull team boss Christian Horner told Reuters this week. “The surprise package this year could be the tyres.” Last season started with seven different winners in the opening seven races and this year saw nine different drivers leading the timesheets on the first nine days of testing.
“We’re not on our own, th Australian team mate Ma competition the champion After three double cham Bull may have less press starved of success but th and more furious than ev Fernando Alonso, the dou
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hat’s for sure,” said Vettel’s ark Webber of the level of ns face. mpionships in a row, Red sure on them than rivals he battle could be faster ver. uble world champion who
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was runner-up last year, declared his new Ferrari F138 to be 200 times better and on another planet compared to the F2012 at the same point last year. “Last year was the best year of my career and I was very happy with the performance, but I think this year will be better,” said the Spaniard, voted driver of the year by team principals last season despite Vettel’s success.
“We have a better starting point, and I have learned from some mistakes of last year...I have prepared better. I am better than last year,” added Alonso of a season that coincides with the 25th anniversary of team founder Enzo Ferrari’s death. Mercedes put in some impressively quick laps, after a shaky start, with both Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg well inside the Barcelona race lap record while also putting in the hard miles. How 2008 champion Hamilton goes after a move
that surprised many is on be answered and he has s after initially playing down “We will definitely be abl point,” said the Briton, who ‘Roscoe’ to some races afte from Formula One suprem McLaren’s Jenson Button most experienced driver, f of Michael Schumacher, a
Sergio Perez as his team mate in place of Hamilton. A championship for McLaren, on the 50th anniversary of the company’s founding by the late New Zealander Bruce McLaren, would be special. Perez has said he wants it to be his. Button is one of five world champions on the starting grid, which has been reduced to 11 teams and 22 cars following the demise of Spanish strugglers HRT who failed to score a point in three seasons.
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ne of the big questions to sounded more confident n his prospects. le to win a race at some o plans to take his Bulldog er securing a special pass mo Bernie Ecclestone. n is now Formula One’s following the retirement and has young Mexican
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There are no new races, with the calendar shrinking to 19 grands prix from a record 20 after New Jersey’s planned arrival had to be postponed to 2014, but plenty of new faces. Sauber, Caterham and Marussia have all-new lineups with a fistful of rookies set to make their debuts in Melbourne. Britain’s Max Chilton and Frenchman Jules Bianchi are newcomers at Marussia, while Caterham have Frenchman Charles Pic joining from
their tail-end rivals and D Garde arriving. Swiss-based Sauber Hulkenberg, moving from F rookie Esteban Gutierrez, to Force India after a year his conviction for grievous Finland’s Valtteri Bottas debut at Williams with M
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Dutchman Giedo Van der and manager. Headlines are sure to be made off the track as have Germany’s Nico well, with the possibility of a postponed flotation Force India to join Mexican of Formula One resurfacing while Ecclestone and while Adrian Sutil returns the governing FIA continue efforts to sign a new on the sidelines following commercial ‘Concorde agreement’ after the last s bodily harm. one expired. s will be making his race Formula 1 faces a busy, and noisy, year ahead Mika Hakkinen as mentor but action is guaranteed!
ferrar Fernando Alonso came close to winning his third Formula 1 championship last season in a Ferrari that was not the quickest car and now he will try again with one he says is 200 times better.
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ri hopes
Simple logic would suggest that this season 31-year-old Alonso has his best chance yet of becoming the 10th driver to win a title for the Italian glamour team, joining a list of greats that includes Juan Manuel Fangio, Niki Lauda and Michael Schumacher. Being crowned with the most successful team in the history of the sport, one that has competed in every championship since the first in 1950, would be a career high for a driver who is already Ferrari’s clear number one. To be a Ferrari favourite you do not have to win the championship for the Maranello team - Gilles Villeneuve and Nigel Mansell never did - but Alonso wants more than just love and respect. The Spaniard won three races in 2012 and, against the odds, finished on the podium 13 times in 20 starts. Despite losing out in the end, Alonso declared it a ‘dream season’ but he feels the best is yet to come. “Last year was the best year of my career and I was very happy with the performance, but I think this year will be better,” he said this week. “We have a better starting point, and I have learned from some mistakes of last year... I have prepared better. I am better than last year.” Give him the tools and Alonso, twice a champion with Renault in 2005 and 2006, can make the difference. He knows it and so do the team, who have done everything they can to give him a winning machine.
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“Last y and we know w underst wind tu the fina Despit in the ch only to s Sebastia The Ge by three Brazil w
that Ferrari reckoned was between seven and eight tenths of a second slower than the Red Bull. “We hope that we have reduced the gap and we will arrive in Australia in better shape than Brazil, which means 200 times better than last year in Australia,” he said. Asked whether he could hope to win the title again this year, the 25th anniversary of the death of the team’s legendary founder Enzo Ferrari, Alonso saw no reason why not.
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year we had a very difficult winter were completely lost. We didn’t what the car was doing. We didn’t tand what was going on in the unnel and on the track,” he said at al pre-season test in Barcelona. te that, Alonso had a healthy lead hampionship by the halfway point see it whittled away by Red Bull’s an Vettel. erman ultimately clinched the title e points at the season-ender in with Alonso pushing hard in a car
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Alonso and Brazilian team mate Felipe Massa have both led the timesheets in testing, with the new F138 looking much less of a handful than the ugly F2012 car. The Spaniard missed the first test in Jerez, deciding instead to spend more time in training for the rigours of the season ahead. When he drove the car for the first time in Barcelona last month Alonso declared it to be “on another planet” compared to the one he drove at the same point in 2012. Ferrari hope their problems with the wind tunnel are now resolved, with the team using Toyota’s in Cologne while theirs is being rebuilt, and they have also rediscovered the real Massa after the Brazilian’s form went missing for the first half of last year. Massa has worked on his mental approach, employing the use of a sports psychologist to help change his thinking and become more positive. Alonso, he said in January, had been the toughest team mate of his career - tougher even than seven-times world champion Schumacher. If the Spaniard has his way, it will not get any easier this year either. “We now have a car responding well to what we change, and that is doing what we expect,” said Alonso in Barcelona. “We know we are maybe not the quickest yet but the potential of the car is there.”
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battl to the With the 2013 Formula 1 world championship season opening weekend looming Ferrari boss Stefano Domenicali gives his views on the season ahead, revealing that the Maranello squad is revamped for the better and ready for a hard fought contest to claim the sport’s ultimate prize.
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le e end
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omenicali said, “To think of drawing conclusions after the first qualifying session in Australia would be premature because it represents only the beginning of a long voyage that ends in November.” But conceded, “For many reasons, however, it can be considered an important test bench to establish the state of play. I expect that the teams
who finished in the top p repeat that in Melbourne advantage – that’s wha anyway.” The general consensus Ferrari F138 is a step fo were constantly on the their ‘complex’ F2012.
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positions in Sao Paulo will Domenicali gives the reasoning behind the e, probably with a reduced new found form, “The new business structure, at we are all hoping for, the working methods, the modifications to the equipment that we have used to work on this car, s is that with the new the consistency of the results compared with our orward for the team who targets and what we saw in the recent tests – these back foot last year with all seem to tell us that we are on the right path at last compared to the past.�
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“So, to make an analysis that is purely centred on ourselves, unless someone else has done an exceptional job I’m convinced that Ferrari will be in the battle to the end,” predicts the Italian. Adding, “A podium in Australia would be a good base on which to build the kind of successes we need. What’s more, apart from the actual performance of the car, our work in the wind tunnel is an element that gives us faith in the area of aerodynamics, where 90% of the performance comes from, so we can work with a certain calmness.” The 2013 season will be a strain on resources as teams develop the all new 2014 car while campaigning for the championship at the same time. He explained, “I’m sure that over the course of the season the competition will reduce because the demands on all the teams for the 2014 project cannot be underestimated. We are talking about a car that is completely different to what we’ve seen before and there’s a risk of missing the boat: the smaller the organisation, the greater and the earlier the resources they will have to invest in the new project.” “Meanwhile for the big teams, the exercise will be to balance the resources required to keep up the development to be competitive right to the end with the attention that needs to be dedicated to 2014 to avoid the risk of being left behind,” concluded the Ferrari team principal.
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Lewis Hamilton handed Formula One a compelling storyline for the new season from the moment he decided to leave the comfort of McLaren for a new challenge with Mercedes.
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ime will tell whether Hamilton, the 2008 F1 world champion, has taken a wrong turn or made the right move but, apart from careering into a tyre wall on his first day of testing, the early signs look promising. Some remain convinced that the Briton will not be a title contender this year, and might not even win a race for his new team, but others are having second thoughts ahead of next week’s season-opener in Australia. The man himself is sure he is on the right track and could be on to a winner. “It’s not ‘no chance’ and not definitely ‘we will’,” Hamilton said of his title prospects after he wrapped up testing with a time a second quicker than the race lap record at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya. “We will definitely be able to win a race at some point,” added the 28-year-old Briton, whose 21 grand prix wins have all been for McLaren - the team that backed him as a boy and gave him his F1 debut in a stunning 2007 season. The debate over whether he was wise to turn his back on regular winners and title contenders for less competitive rivals is sure to rumble on for months to come, particularly if the new McLaren makes a strong start and the Mercedes eats Pirelli tyres like it did last year.
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Hamilton has said that the main target is to be competitive in 2014, when the regulations change significantly, and anything before that comes as a bonus. How much he really believes that, and how much patience he has, is a moot point but the pressure will be much more on the team to deliver than on a driver whose talent is beyond doubt. “There is everything to play for still. We won’t know until the first race but don’t be surprised if we get to the first race and we are not at the front. We are going in the right direction though,” he said. Testing times can be misleading, and Mercedes flattered to deceive last year, with one-lap speed
not necessarily translatin a race distance. There is a suspicion rivals dry but there is no question F1 W04, after initial tee improvement on last year’ had three disappointing se the championship-winnin end of 2009 and renamed Germany’s Nico Rosberg - the team’s sole success flash in the pan, with com world champion Michael S
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ng into performance over just one podium for Mercedes in three comeback years. The team ended the season in Brazil with a s have kept their powder car lagging the leaders by a considerable distance n that the new Mercedes but with the morale boost that comes from having ething problems, is an signed one of the quickest and most exciting ’s model. Mercedes have drivers on the grid. easons since they bought Some said the move was all about money, and ng Brawn GP team at the the private jet Hamilton has acquired shows there it as the works outfit. is plenty of that around, as well as the freedom g won in China last year to build his own ‘brand’. But his behaviour since to date - but it proved a he arrived at Mercedes, despite management mpatriot and seven-times upheaval, has indicated that he is in a happy place Schumacher retiring with both on and off the track.
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The Englishman has, in metaphorical terms, grown up and left home. Like Jenson Button when he moved to McLaren from Brawn in 2009, he has a new challenge and doubters to prove wrong. Hamilton’s gamble, if it is one, is nothing like the decision made by Canada’s 1997 champion Jacques Villeneuve when he switched from multiple titlewinners Williams to newcomers BAR in 1999. Mercedes, a much more recognisable brand than McLaren beyond the confines of Formula One, have the resources and expertise to deliver. They may also have a big advantage next year with the new V6 turbo engine being introduced. “I don’t feel any expectation,” Hamilton told reporters in Barcelona last week. “If anything I feel like I’ve got a free ticket. It’s a year where we know that we may not have the best package but it’s a challenge for me. That’s for me to enjoy. It’s not pressure from outside. The pressure is all on the other guys who have great cars which have evolved into this year’s car. The pressure is on them to compete and perform. We only have everything to gain.” Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, Hamilton’s former McLaren team mate and a double world champion, would be the last to write off the Briton’s chances.
“The strongest opponent, the strongest driver on the grid? Who is the one you have to keep an eye on? It is Hamilton - and it will still be Hamilton next year,” the Spaniard told reporters back in January before any of the new cars had turned a wheel. I am sure he will be able to win. He is a super good driver because he won every year with any car. He won in 2007 and 2008. In 2009 they started around two seconds off the pace with McLaren and Hamilton was able to win races. And it was the same in 2010.” Alonso, who spent one difficult year at McLaren in 2007, had no doubt when Hamilton announced his departure last year that the Briton had made the right decision. He cited his own example and that of fourtimes champion Alain Prost as evidence of how beneficial a change could be. Hamilton would agree with that. “I’m happy I’ve got a new challenge, happy I’ve got a new start, happy it’s a fresh chapter in my life,” he said at the first pre-season test last month. “Happy and excited because I know I can contribute and with a lot of hard work and perseverance I think we can get there.”
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the guy Lewis Hamilton has singled out Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso as the rival the Mercedes driver wants to beat more than any other man on the Formula 1 grid.
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to beat
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amilton, The 2008 world champion, told British reporters ahead of the Australian season-opener in Melbourne next weekend that he saw the Spaniard as the fastest on the starting grid and the one he wanted to be judged against. The Briton said a duel with compatriot Jenson Button, the 2009 champion and Hamilton’s team
mate for the past three y really excite him. “The rivalry between m me more,” added the 28 sensational Formula 1 deb at McLaren in 2007, the S the team from Renault as “He’s the guy I want to
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years at McLaren, did not beat (Red Bull’s triple champion) Seb (Vettel) as they are the ones with most titles. But Alonso’s the me and Fernando excites fastest driver I can see. He’s also one of the most 8-year-old, who made a experienced. Anyone would struggle to beat him. but as Alonso’s team mate Trying to finish ahead of Alonso, in a Ferrari that is Spaniard having moved to actually really competitive, is a really nice challenge. s reigning champion. And I do think the Ferrari is going to be quick this o beat. You also want to year,” said the Briton.
Alonso was overall runnerup last season in a Ferrari that started the season well off the pace, losing out to Vettel by just three points. Hamilton - whose Mercedes may not be competitive enough to challenge for the championship this season - is the only team mate to have beaten Alonso, the 2005 and 2006 champion with Renault, over the course of a season. The two finished level on points and with four race wins each at the end of 2007 but Hamilton was the overall runner up to Finland’s Kimi Raikkonen, who scored one point more, due to his having more second places. Their time together lasted only one bad-tempered season, with Alonso returning to Renault and then joining Ferrari, but any animosity between the two has long ceased. Button scored more points than Hamilton duriing their time together as McLaren team mates. In other comments, Hamilton made clear how much he wanted to return to the top, five years after his sole title to date. “We all want to be the one,” he said. “I was the one for a short period of time. Now it’s toppled over to Sebastian. But I want to be at the forefront. People see (seven times champion) Michael Schumacher as a god and that’s where I want to be.”
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team l
Thoughts of the season-opening Australian Grand Prix helped Jenson Button push his body through the pain barrier as he prepared for a new Formula 1 challenge as McLaren’s leader on the track.
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leader
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utton’s aim remains the same but the landscape has changed. Lewis Hamilton has moved to Mercedes, Mexican hotshot Sergio ‘Checo’ Perez has taken the 2008 world champion’s place and Button has his best chance yet of adding a second title to the one he won with Brawn GP in 2009 as he assumes the role of team leader of the Woking based squad.
Now the most experienc grid, having made his deb old Briton has made sure he seeks to win in Melbou five years. “You do put in the extra winter and because I’ve b years now, it does all add
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ced driver on the starting recent visit to the McLaren factory. but in 2000, the 33-year- “The amount of hours that I do now I wouldn’t e he is fitter than ever as have been able to do four years ago. Physically it urne for the fourth time in would have been too demanding on the body. My body is used to it now so you can put more time a bit of effort through the into it.But it’s not just about the physical training been training for so many over the winter, its about the mental training and d up,” he told Reuters on a putting yourself through all sorts.”
Button - looking ‘chiselled’ in the words of McLaren managing director Jonathan Neale - said a half marathon he ran in Cannes on the French Riviera on a freezing day in February had been one of the most painful things he had ever done but the rewards would come on the racetrack. “The way that I got to the end of it was to think about the first race of the season, being prepared for that first race and being mentally prepared, not feeling the pressure, feeling comfortable within myself and within the team,” he said. “That’s what keeps you going and I think when I got to the end of the race the strength that I’d gained through doing that exercise mentally and physically will help so much when I arrive at the first race.” When Button joined McLaren at the end of 2009, there were plenty who said he had made the wrong move and was stepping into a ‘Lions Den’ where Hamilton was seen as the favourite son. Over their three years together, Button ended up out-scoring Hamilton. Hamilton was usually quicker, particularly in qualifying, but Button was often smarter in the race. The boot is now on the other foot, with Button very much at home as the incumbent while 23-year-old Perez must learn the ropes and show that he deserves to be in what should be one of the best cars on the grid.
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Button, whose smooth driving skills and intelligence have won new admirers since he joined McLaren, will be looking to lay down an early marker against a team mate who has said repeatedly that he is aiming for the championship right from the start. McLaren, who have always spoken of their drivers as equal number ones, expect him to show that attitude right from the first race and are not paying Perez to settle for any subordinate role.
“Of course when you are are expected to win and the Mexican said after his testing in Barcelona. “Sure, there is the need t motivation rather than p going. All the other guys have already proven thems that I still have ahead of m Former McLaren driver J
team leader
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e racing for McLaren you Hamilton’s sensational 2007 debut when he ended this is also my target,” the season second overall and ahead of double s final day of pre-season world champion team mate Fernando Alonso, said Button could have quite a challenge on his hands to prove myself but it is with the added gravitas the role comes with. pressure that keeps me “Jenson now is the de facto number one driver that are in a top team in the team,” he told Reuters. “But as the senior selves, this is something driver and incumbent, he will have to now carry me.” more responsibility than he would have done when John Watson, mindful of he had Lewis as a partner.
“I thought Lewis was going to be dominant and he wasn’t. But that was Jenson joining Lewis. Now Jenson has got Perez. It’s never easy when you get a hot rod coming in, and Perez is a hot rod. How hot a rod he is we don’t know yet.” The new McLaren MP4-28 was quick at times in testing but Button also felt the team was struggling to get the most out of what was a new design rather than a simple evolution. The Briton, who won the first and last races of last season, was confident however that McLaren would benefit over the course of the championship. “We wanted to build a car that would be strong throughout the year and that’s why we’ve made so many changes to the way the car looks, the suspension geometry and how that affects the aerodynamics of the car among other things,” he said. “It’s a very long season and we want to be able to develop all the way through the year. And whereas some teams might come with a car that they used in Brazil with a few tweaks to it, which means they will be strong at the first race, they won’t be able to develop like us through the year. So that is the idea that we have but still we want to be quick at the first race, we want to win from the word go. It’s possibly going to be a tough race for everyone because it seems so close at the moment. But we still go to Melbourne aiming for a victory.”
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feeling Kimi Raikkonen, is just about everyone’s favourite driver, his no bull attitude has won him a legion of Formula 1 fans and he heads into his second year of his comeback stronger than last year. The Iceman looks back on testing and the Australian Grand Prix season opener.
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g good
Albert Park is upon us and testing didn’t quite go to plan for you; how are you feeling at the start of the 2013 Formula 1 season? Kimi Raikkonen: We had some problems in testing but we still completed quite a few laps. 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. Do you feel better placed to fight for the championship than last year? Kimi: Hopefully, but it’s so difficult to say from testing. 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.
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You’ve said the E21 is a nice step forward from the its predecessor; is that across the board and in every area, or is there more you want from a car? Kimi: I think you always want more, but this car is a pretty good starting point and we’ll see; hopefully we’re fast enough. I don’t think there’s any area where it feels worse than last year’s car; so far everything is better. We had good speed last
year, but not enough to That means we need mo can get just a little more our consistency, with som beginning of the year, the better chance.
It’s your second year with
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continuity help you and your feeling with the team and does it mean you are working well together? kimi: It helps for sure, but if it’s going to make a difference, well I don’t know. The fact that we know each other already will be better – you know each other and what the other driver likes from their car and so on – but if this actually helps to bring better Lotus F1 Team; does that results to the team I don’t really know.
o win the championship. ore speed this year. If we e from the car and keep me better results at the en we should have a much
What would you like to achieve in Albert Park? Kimi: I’d like to start the season strongly and hopefully run the first races better than we did last year. We don’t know exactly what to expect so we’ll try to do the best we can; we should have a reasonable start to the season. You’ve had some good races in Australia; is it good to be starting the year there? Kimi: Australia is a nice place even though it’s a long way from Europe. The circuit itself is not the most difficult on the calendar. It was good to score a point on my first time at Albert Park, and the podiums and race win in 2007 obviously made me happy. The circuit hasn’t changed at all so I’m confident I know which way it goes… Do you think Albert Park could suit the E21? Kimi: It’s always difficult to say for the first race of the year. It’s not a full time race track so the weekend starts pretty slippery. The weather can be a bit of a surprise sometimes and we’ll also learn how we compare to the other teams. You need a car with good traction and the E21 feels better in this area than the E20 which wasn’t a bad car itself. Strong turn-in and stable braking help too, and those areas also feel good with the car so we are well placed.
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Mark Webber heads into his 12th season in Formula 1 with change and controversy swirling around his 36-year-old head. He has a new engineer, he’s undergone further surgery in the off-season – and most of all, he has been the subject of some highly critical remarks from within his own Red Bull Racing team. What’s going on?
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t’s four years now since Mark lay on the ground in Tasmania with his right leg broken, the result of a rather lop-sided coming-together between his bike and a four-wheeldrive during his Challenge on the Apple Isle. But it was only a few weeks ago that Mark had more surgery to remove the final material evidence of that accident from his body. We are accustomed to hearing about titanium in Formula 1 cars – but it was a 40-centimetre length of that exotic metal that was removed from Webber’s leg during his six-week break Down Under. The news is good: “The surgery went very smoothly and my recovery was exceptional,” Webber has commented. “I had a few weeks off from my normal training schedule but I was able to ease myself back into it by the first week of January and now I’m back into it properly. “I didn’t really know what to expect from having it removed, apart from my own peace of mind, but I’m very happy that some of the niggles and pain I’ve sometimes experienced with my training over the past three years already seem to be a thing of the past.” That means the daunting physical challenges Webber submits himself to ahead of and during each new campaign should progress smoothly as the season approaches. Just to remind you, Mark’s training regime takes up over 1400 hours a year – which amounts to a daily average that’s pushing four hours.
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He runs almost two-and-a-half thousand kilometres each year; he cycles almost six times that distance. For years now Mark has spoken often and always warmly of the input his race engineer Ciaron Pilbeam has had in his development and especially in his work on race weekends. That’s all a thing of the past. From now on Simon Rennie is the man in Mark’s corner at each of the World Championship rounds.
You may not have heard almost certainly heard the Remember Abu Dhab Raïkkönen telling the Lot alone? The man sending messages was none other has now switched to Red hopes to receive a less d new charge. Pilbeam has direction to work with Kim
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d the name, but you have e voice. bi last year, and Kimi tus pit wall to leave him supposedly encouraging r than Simon Rennie, who d Bull, where he probably dusty response from his s moved in the opposite mi.
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As always, Mark is matter-of-fact about the change. “It’s going to be important to have a solid pre-season with him after spending some six years with Ciaron Pilbeam who I had a long and enjoyable relationship with, but he’s no longer with the team.” In other words, let’s get on with it. It’s an important relationship, not only on the technical front but also – perhaps even especially – in terms of the driver’s psychological well-being. Speaking of which...
Formula 1 is a tou without having to d when it comes from Early in January M surprising attack f central figure at R advises the drive seemed closer in Vettel than to Mark Marko, whose do 1971 Le Mans 24but his Grand Prix c a World Champions accident not unlike Felipe Massa’s own ago. It was not surp adverse comments in January. He’s don What was surpris remarks and the pl in Red Bull’s own in “It seems to me th two races per year said the 69-year-o maintain this form as soon as his pros the world champion with the pressure t With friends like t Is it the start of a cam seventh season wi last? Predictably en “Look,” he says, “e their own agendas a long time now th Marko’s.”
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ugh enough gig, you’d think, dodge sniper fire – especially m your own side. Mark was the subject of a from Dr Helmut Marko, a Red Bull who supposedly ers but who has always every way to Sebastian k Webber. octorate is in law, won the -Hour classic in a Porsche career, which never yielded ship point, was ended by an e the one that interrupted n career a couple of years
prising that Marko made s about Mark Webber early ne it more than once before. sing was the tenor of his lace they were published – n-house magazine. hat Webber has on average r where he is unbeatable,” old Austrian, “but he can’t m throughout the year. And spects start to look good in nship, he has a little trouble that this creates.” these, who needs enemies? mpaign to ensure Webber’s ith Red Bull will also be his nough, Webber is unfazed. everyone at this level has s and it’s been evident for hat I’ve never been a part of
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So how will Webber respond to this unprecedented attack from within? In all probability, just as he always has: by producing his best when people are saying he is down and out. Following his accident in November 2008, after all, he was back on his feet in an insanely short time after surgery, back in his Red Bull cockpit for pre-season testing in Spain – and made 2009 the season in which Mark Webber became a Grand Prix winner. Besides, it takes more than a Marko to make a team, and the man at the top seems to have Mark’s interests more closely at heart than Helmut. Webber spent part of the off-season in a special place that belongs to Red Bull’s billionaire owner. “We spent a few days on Laucala in Fiji which is an exclusive island resort owned by Dietrich Mateschitz,” Mark explains. “He’s been telling me to go for a few years now and I can see why! He’s done an amazing job capturing and maintaining the sheer beauty and nature of a South Pacific island while creating a resort that is escapism at its best; it’s probably the most idyllic place I’ve ever been to.” The perfect antidote to a working environment which in 2013 may not be quite so warm and welcoming...
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mentall stronge
A year out of Formula 1 has increased Adrian Sutil’s desire to be world champion and made him mentally stronger, the Force India driver indicated ahead of his return to the grid in Melbourne for the 2013 world championship season opener.
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ly er
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util sealed his Formula One comeback last week with the Silverstone-based team giving the German racer a second chance as team mate to Britain’s Paul Di Resta this season in the Force India team. Last year, the 30-year-old’s hopes of getting back into the sport looked remote after he was given an 18-month suspended jail sentence and fined
200,000 euros ($262,200) following a Shanghai nigh Sutil, whose best result 2009 Italian Grand Prix, finally have a racing seat break had helped him to r “I was watching it on TV. from the sport,” he told a
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for grievous bodily harm htclub brawl in 2011. t was fourth place in the said he was relieved to but at the same time the reflect on his career. . I tried to take a step back small group of reporters.
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“By the middle of the season I felt so much stronger and found my, let’s say, new goal in life... to be a world champion. I am not in Formula 1 to just race. I would rather stay at home. The car is very important but you have to set your mind. I am here to race against the world’s best and if anyone is there not to win then it is not the right place for him,” added Sutil.
The break also allowed him to lead a normal life and do things he would not normally have found time for. “I had time to think about my career. We will see if I am a better driver but mentally, I would say yes,” he said. “I have seen a life without Formula One and a life with it. In this professional sport you never actually have the time to learn. I wouldn’t have chosen a year off but it was probably for the good. Once I was back in the car, the engineers were very impressed.” Sutil was dropped by the team in 2011 following the incident in which Eric Lux, then chief executive of Renault F1 (now Lotus) owners Genii Capital, needed stitches for a wound caused by a champagne glass. The driver said he had no inhibitions about going back to China in April and was confident that he would be allowed to race anywhere in the world. “Everything happens for a reason I would say. You can’t change it, it just happens in life,” Sutil said. “You have to just learn from it, you have to understand that downside is another side. It just makes you stronger. I have to go there. It’s not that I don’t like the country because something bad happened there. It could have happened anywhere else. I think it was a lesson and in a way I have learnt a lot of things from that. So it is not only a bad thing.” Force India slipped to seventh last season in the constructors’ championship but Di Resta hoped that with Sutil’s return the duo could help the team to reach sixth spot, where they finished in 2011. “Adrian’s got a lot of experience in Formula One and it’s nice to have him back,” he said. “But essentially it is a competition on the track and I want to come out on top of him in the championship. We will surely be pushing each other which is good for the team.”
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s we prepare to enjoy the 64th season of World Championship Grand Prix racing, the influx of five rookies has brought the average age of the 22 man grid for 2013 down to just 26 and five of them are rookies Esteban Gutierrez: “Ready to take the leap” Of the newcomers, the youngest is 21-year-old Esteban Gutiérrez, the Sauber F1 Team driver who will be Mexico’s second representative on the grid after replacing his compatriot Sergio Pérez, now with McLaren. Born in Monterrey in 1991, Gutiérrez started his single-seater racing career in Formula BMW USA, finishing runner-up and rookie of the year in 2007. The switch to Formula BMW Europe in 2008 brought him seven wins from 16 starts and the European title, to which he added third place in the World Final in Mexico City. Joining the well-known ART squad, Gutiérrez competed in the F3 Euroseries before lining up for the same team in the newly-created GP3 feeder series in 2010. The Mexican excelled with five race victories, but the two points for pole position at the final race of the season in Monza made the difference as he became the first GP3 champion. Following one of the now-familiar ladders towards the Formula One pinnacle, Gutiérrez moved up to GP2 with Lotus GP. In 2011 he won once, in Valencia, and in 2012 he posted three victories in Valencia, Silverstone and Budapest on his way to third place overall behind champion Davide Valsecchi (now the Lotus F1 ‘third driver’) and Luiz Razia. Sauber’s Team Principal Monisha Kaltenborn has high hopes for her young driver. “We mapped out his path to Formula One step by step,” she says. “Esteban has great talent and now he’s ready to take the leap.”
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new kids on the block
The latest version of the ‘Flying Finn’ has the pugnacious look of a boxer – and a fighting man has always gone down well in a Williams cockpit. Think Rosberg, think Mansell… The 23-year-old Bottas is the second GP3 champion to make his way to the top – he followed Gutiérrez to that title in 2011. Unusually, perhaps, Valtteri did not race in 2012 – but his role as the Williams test and reserve driver meant he took part in no fewer than 15 Friday first practice sessions on last season’s Grand Prix calendar. In fact Bottas, whose single-seater CV includes the 2008 Formula Renault Eurocup title and two wins in the Masters of F3 event, joined Williams in that supporting role in 2010. That’s why Sir Frank is untroubled by the Finn’s relative inactivity in 2012. “Having a new driver who has spent three seasons testing the car and conducting extensive simulator work means that he is as prepared for his first season as you can get,” insists the man behind a team seeking to revive old glories. Bottas has only five new tracks to learn in 2013, the first of them being right here in Melbourne. On the fitness front he won’t have much to worry about either: as a dedicated triathlon competitor he should feel right at home Down Under.
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Valtteri Bottas: “As prepared as you can get”
Giedo van der Garde: ‘I know I am ready’ At 27 – turning 28 in April – Giedo van der Garde is the ‘old man’ of the new brigade. The Dutch driver has worked long and hard to earn his break with the Caterham team, where he will renew acquaintance with former GP2 teammate Charles Pic. Like Bottas at Williams, Van der Garde got in some useful Formula One experience last season: he took part in six Friday free practice sessions for the team, dovetailing those commitments with his drive in the team’s GP2 arm. Van der Garde won twice in GP2 in 2012, in Barcelona and the glamour round in Singapore, and was on the podium six times in all. It’s a decade now since his single-seater career kicked off in Formula Renault, followed by three seasons in F3, where he was teammate to familiar names like Paul di Resta and Sebastian Vettel. Giedo’s only title to date came in 2008 when he joined P1 Motorsport in Formula Renault, after which GP2 beckoned with iSport International. In 2010 and 2011 Van der Garde was in GP2 again with Barwa Addax, where Pic was his sidekick in 2012. He has other F1 experience as well: he was test and reserve driver with the short-lived Super Aguri squad back in 2006 and with Spyker in 2007. “I know I am ready to take the step up to F1,” he maintains, “and all the work I have done throughout my career, and particularly in the last year with this team, has brought me to my ultimate goal.”
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Jules Bianchi: ‘I am ready to race in Melbourne’ That’s a pretty big call, all things considered: Jules Bianchi was given the nod by Marussia with just two days of the final pre-season test in Barcelona remaining. The 23-yearold from Nice did just 136 laps in a frenzied day-and-a-half but insists he is ready to go. Like several of the season’s other rookies, Bianchi can point to previous F1 experience, though not in race conditions. He has been part of Ferrari’s development program for some time and last season took part in several free practice sessions as a reserve for Force India. He was expected to race for VJ Mallya’s team this season until their last-minute decision to revert to the tried and tested Adrian Sutil instead. His single-seater career began in Formula Renault 2.0 in 2007, when he was national champion; he then moved to the F3 Euroseries with ART for two years, winning three races in his first season and nine in his second to become champion. Next came two seasons in GP2 with Art and Lotus ART, during which he was a race-winner but finished third overall on both occasions. Last season in Formula Renault 3.5 Bianchi came within four points of the title but came off second-best in a final-round fumble with eventual champion Robin Frijns.
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Max Chilton: The late developer That may seem a strange way to describe a man who is a Formula One driver at the tender age of 21 (22 in April), but Max’s career took off like a Grand Prix car in 2012. After single-seater adventures in British F3 from 2007-09, Max – son of the owner of the highly-regarded Carlin team – went straight to GP2. His three seasons there culminated at Carlin in 2011 and 2012, when the team formed its association with Marussia. Somehow the light suddenly went on: pole positions followed, plus two late-season race wins in Hungary and Singapore. By that time Chilton, who ended the season in fourth place overall in GP2, had been offered the job of test and reserve driver with Marussia in Formula One from the Japanese round onwards. “Max very quickly embedded himself within the team, thanks in no small part to the fact that he is a lively and affable character who we’ve enjoyed having around,” said Marussia’s Team Principal John Booth when Chilton’s promotion was announced. “Having been integral to our race weekend engineering environment for the past three months already - as well as having undertaken a significant part of our simulator programme - Max has already found his feet.”
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australian grand pr
start your
ur engines
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rix preview:
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O
nce again Melbourne extends its welcome to Formula One as Albert Park prepares to host the Australian Grand Prix – the opening race of the 2013 FIA Formula One World Championship. Sixteen weeks after stormlashed Interlagos and the drama-laden climax of
the 2012 season, the tea is widely expected to be a racing. Stability in the technical r deal of carryover from 2 exceptions aside, optimis
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ams reassemble for what been the primary focus in developing the 2013 cars. an incredibly close year of While the machinery has a familiar look, the same cannot be said for the driver line-up. Four of 2012’s regulations leads to a great field have switched teams in the off-season and 2012 and, several notable five rookies will be making their F1 race debut in sing existing designs has this weekend.
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Albert Park is not the easiest place to make a good impression. Running on public roads through the park, the temporary circuit has a reputation for being slippery with several large bumps known to destabilise cars under braking. Gravel traps wait for the unwary and the unlucky – but being a street circuit there are also plenty of walls. Added to the limited and hazardous nature
of overtaking opportunitie the safety car is often bus Prix. Another variable to fac on offer from Pirelli. Rep suggest teams are not ye revised compounds, raisin races this year seeing sho
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es at Albert Park, it means frequent pitstops) than was usual in 2012. sy at the Australian Grand As ever, winter testing did not provide any reliable evidence of a pecking order but did greatly add ctor in are the new tyres to the stock of speculation. Consensus points to ports from winter testing a very tight battle ahead but without any hard et fully on terms with the evidence, this weekend will provide the first real ng the possibility of early indication of how the 2013 FIA Formula One World orter stints (and thus more Championship will unfold.
Albert Park Circuit Data • Length of lap: 5.303km • Lap record: 1:25.125 (Michael Schumacher, Ferrari, 2004) • Total number of race laps: 58 • Total race distance: 307.574km • Pitlane speed limits 60km/h in practice; 100km/h in qualifying and race
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australian grand prix preview • Kerbs on the exit of turns 14 and 16, which had subsided prior to last year’s race, have been repaired. • Shade cloth will be used again, installed behind the debris fence in the section of track between turns two and three.
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Changes to circuit since 2012
ALBERT PARK FAST FACTS
• This will be the 29th F1 World Championship running of the Australian Gran 16 of which have opened the Formula One season. • In 1996, when the race moved to Albert Park, it produced the oddity of Austr taken place at Adelaide. • Albert Park is a temporary circuit with parts of the track used by general roa grip-evolution (and thus falling laptimes) over the course of the weekend, a • In common with Abu Dhabi, the Australian Grand Prix has a local start time the low angle of the sun and the lengthening shadows have been known to problem in tree-lined Albert Park is leaves and twigs being sucked into car r • Of the current grid, Jenson Button is the standout performer, having won th Michael Schumacher’s F1-era record. Schumacher won the race in 2000, ’01 • On 11 occasions from 17 starts, the winning driver at Albert Park has gone o • The race winner has started on pole eight times at Albert Park. The lowest s • Four drivers start this race for new teams, having moved during the off-sea from Sauber to McLaren; Nico Hülkenberg from Force India to Sauber and C second stint with Force India. ► Five rookies will contest the Australian Gr der Garde (Caterham); Max Chilton and Jules Bianchi (Marussia). • Reigning GP2 Champion Davide Valsecchi is not among the rookie intake. H champion to not move directly into an F1 race seat was 2008 winner Giorgio • Giedo van der Garde ends a barren spell for Dutch representation in Formul Christijan Albers raced for Spyker for the first half of the 2007 season. • The demise of HRT returns F1 to a 22-car grid for the first time since the op after four rounds reduced it to 20. It expanded to 24 in 2010. 2011
2012
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ralia hosting back-to-back grands prix, the closing race of 1995 having
ad traffic for the majority of the year. As such, it features unusually high as the track ‘rubbers-in’. of 5pm. Unlike the event at Yas Island, this race finishes in daylight – but o make the latter stages of the race difficult for drivers. ► Another perennial radiators. hree times in the last four years. It leaves him one victory short of equalling 1, ’02, ’04. on to lift the Drivers’ Championship trophy at the end of the season. starter to win was Eddie Irvine, who started 11th for Ferrari in 1999. ason. Lewis Hamilton has moved from McLaren to Mercedes; Sergio Pérez Charles Pic from Marussia to Caterham. Also, Adrian Sutil is beginning his rand Prix: Esteban Gutiérrez (Sauber); Valtteri Bottas (Williams); Giedo van
He instead has signed as a test driver for Lotus in 2013. The only other GP2 o Pantano – who raced in F1 before going to GP2. la One. The Netherlands hasn’t had a driver in the Championship since
pening rounds of 2008. During that season the withdrawal of Super Aguri 2010
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nd Prix. It is the 18th consecutive year of the race being run at Albert Park,
Mar 17
Albert Park, Melbourne Distance: 58 laps – 307.574km Lap: 5.303km
Marina
8
6
7
1
5 221 9
6 275
Lauda
Clark
10
5 247
12
2 11
4
Whiteford
3
Jones Chicane
2 1
3 105 1 111 Km/h
5 255
Hill
N
5
Gear
6 280
7 300
1 Timing sector
Source: FIA
2012 Top 8 Team 1. Jenson Button McLaren 2. Sebastien Vettel Red Bull 3. Lewis Hamilton McLaren 4. Mark Webber Red Bull 5. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 6. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber 7. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus 8. Sergio Perez Sauber
2
Waite Ascari
Senna 15 3
13
14
Pit Lane
START
89
16
Prost DRS detection
2
88
DRS activation © GRAPHIC NEWS
Weekend Timetable (GMT +11) Friday Practice 1 12:30 Friday Practice 2 16:30 Saturday Practice 3 14:00 Saturday Qualifying 16:00 Sunday Race 16:00
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race-by-
-r ace
Mar 24
Distance: 56 laps – 310.408km N
6 270
2
80
7 300 4 200 5 255
Gear
Langkawi
3
2
1
Pangkor Laut Chicane
14
Sunway Lagoon
1 111 Km/h
Source: FIA
3 110
4
1
Sepang Circuit Lap: 5.543km
6
Genting
5
6 260
Pit Lane START 3
12 13
1 Timing sector
7
15 8
9
2
96
10
2
4 200 11
Kenyir Lake
DRS detection
4 200
KLIA
4 200
DRS activation © GRAPHIC NEWS
2012 Top 8 Team Weekend Timetable (GMT +8) 1. Fernando Alonso Ferrari Friday Practice 1 10:00 2. Sergio Perez Sauber Friday Practice 2 14:00 3. Lewis Hamilton McLaren Saturday Practice 3 13:00 Qualifying 16:00 4. Mark Webber Red Bull Saturday Sunday Race 16:00 5. Kimi Räikkönen Lotus 6. Bruno Senna Williams 7. Paul di Resta Force India 8. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso
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Shanghai International Circuit
Apr 14
Distance: 56 laps – 305.066km
Lap: 5.451km
4 175
1
7 310
1 111 Km/h
16
1 Timing sector
Source: FIA
2012 Top 8 Team 1. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 2. Jenson Button McLaren 3. Lewis Hamilton McLaren 4. Mark Webber Red Bull 5. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 6. Romain Grosjean Lotus 7. Bruno Senna Williams 8. Pastor Maldonado Williams
6
5 250
ne 5 250
1
7
Pit La
7 326
Gear
5
4
STA RT
N 4 165
14
2
3
5 250
15
3
70
2
3 102
5 250 9
8
10
12
2
DRS detection
11
13
DRS activation © GRAPHIC NEWS
Weekend Timetable (GMT +8) Friday Practice 1 10:00 Friday Practice 2 14:00 Saturday Practice 3 11:00 Saturday Qualifying 14:00 Sunday Race 15:00
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Bahrain International Circuit Distance: 57 laps – 308.238km Lap: 5.412km
Apr 21 2
5 220
95
4
13
6 290 5
1
2 6 7
9
N
6 295
12
8
11
10
3 2
2
80
2 102 1 111 Km/h
4 165
Pit Lane START
1
Gear
4 185
3
7 300 1 Timing sector
Source: FIA
2012 Top 8 Team 1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 2. Kimi Räikkönen Lotus 3. Romain Grosjean Lotus 4. Mark Webber Red Bull 5. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 6. Paul di Resta Force India 7. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 8. Lewis Hamilton McLaren
15
14
3 170
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DRS activation © GRAPHIC NEWS
Weekend Timetable (GMT +3) Friday Practice 1 10:00 Friday Practice 2 14:00 Saturday Practice 3 11:00 Saturday Qualifying 1400 Sunday Race 15:00
13.03.2013 grand prix international issue 62
Circuit de Catalunya Lap: 4.655km Distance: 66 laps – 307.104km
May 12
6 280
4 160
3 133
4 185
Europcar
BancSabadell
6 260
5 213
Campsa 1 3
Repsol 4
Renault 5
1
Elf
12
13 11
Seat 2
9
8 6
2
6 260
7
Pit Lane START
14 15 10
3
16
4 200 3 140
Gear
1 111 Km/h
7 305 1 Timing sector
Source: FIA
2012 Top 8 Team 1. Pastor Maldonado Williams 2. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 3. Kimi Räikkönen Lotus 4. Romain Grosjean Lotus 5. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber 6. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 7. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 8. Lewis Hamilton McLaren
N
DRS detection
6 260
New Holland
DRS activation © GRAPHIC NEWS
Weekend Timetable (GMT +1) Friday Practice 1 10:00 Friday Practice 2 14:00 Saturday Practice 3 11:00 Saturday Qualifying 14:00 Sunday Race 14:00
13.03.2013 grand prix international issue 62
Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo Lap: 3.340km Distance: 78 laps – 260.520km
May 26 3 110
6 275
Anthony Noghes
3 16
19
Ste. Devote
RT STA 13
3 133
1 12
6 275
14 15
11 10
La Rascasse
Gear
4 170
1 111 Km/h
1
3
Tunn el 9
3 105 3 115
5 225
6 280
1 Timing sector
Source: FIA
2012 Top 8 Team 1. Mark Webber Red Bull 2. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 3. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 4. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 5. Lewis Hamilton McLaren 6. Felipe Massa Ferrari 7. Paul di Resta Force India 8. Nico Hulkenberg Force India
Mirabeau
4
2
N
18
3 125
Casino
2
Chicane
17
4 165
6 270
6
5 7 8
Portier
5 250
DRS detection
DRS activation © GRAPHIC NEWS
Weekend Timetable (GMT +1) Friday Practice 1 10:00 Friday Practice 2 14:00 Saturday Practice 3 11:00 Saturday Qualifying 14:00 Sunday Race 14:00
13.03.2013 grand prix international issue 62
Circuit Gilles Villeneuve Distance: 70 laps – 305.270km Lap: 4.361km
Jun 9 5 252
4 200
Island Hairpin 4 183
STA
2
Gear
9
11
12
7 300
1 111 Km/h
6 292
ane
L Pit
3 135
7 310 7 316
1 Timing sector
Source: FIA
2012 Top 8 Team 1. Lewis Hamilton McLaren 2. Romain Grosjean Lotus 3. Sergio Perez Sauber 4. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 5. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 6. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 7. Mark Webber Red Bull 8. Kimi Räikkönen Lotus
3 102
L’Epingle
13
3
10
N
3 102
2
Droit du Casino 14 RT
6 295
8
6
1
4
1
5 210
Pont de la Concorde
7 5
3
7 300
DRS detection
DRS activation © GRAPHIC NEWS
Weekend Timetable (GMT -5) Friday Practice 1 10:00 Friday Practice 2 14:00 Saturday Practice 3 10:00 Saturday Qualifying 13:00 Sunday Race 14:00
13.03.2013 grand prix international issue 62
Jun 30
Distance: 52 laps – 306.198km
N
6 295
18
5 215 17
3
3 140
15
Stowe
1
2
The Loop
Hanger Straight 1 Timing sector
Source: FIA
2012 Top 8 Team 1. Mark Webber Red Bull 2. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 3. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 4. Felipe Massa Ferrari 5. Kimi Räikkönen Lotus 6. Romain Grosjean Lotus 7. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 8. Lewis Hamilton McLaren
6 280
8
6 295
1
Wellington Straight
Farm
Chapel
1 111 Km/h
6
Abbey
2
7 300
Gear
START
3 1005 5 240
7
Brooklands
Pit Lane
16
Woodcote
Luffield
Club
Vale
Silverstone Lap: 5.891km
6 275
9
Copse
3 5
4 12
14 13
10
Maggots
1 305
11
5 220 Becketts
DRS detection
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Weekend Timetable (GMT 0) Friday Practice 1 Friday Practice 2 Saturday Practice 3 Saturday Qualifying Sunday Race
10:00 14:00 10:00 13:00 13:00
13.03.2013 grand prix international issue 62
Jul 7
Distance: 60 laps – 308.623km Warsteiner Kurve N 8
6 280
1 111 Km/h
NGK Schikane
12
4
2
1
1
5
5 240
14
Pit Lane
13
START
3
15
6 260 6
3 103
Gear
9
7 300
3 10
Schumacher S
6 285
2
11
6 295 6 270
Advan Bogen
4 200
7 300
7
Nürburgring Lap: 5.148km
4 200
7 300
3 125
3 120 1 Timing sector
Source: FIA
2012 Top 8 Team 1. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 2. Jenson Button McLaren 3. Kimi Räikkönen Lotus 4. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber 5. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 6. Sergio Perez Sauber 7. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 8. Mark Webber Red Bull
DRS detection
DRS activation © GRAPHIC NEWS
Weekend Timetable (GMT +1) Friday Practice 1 10:00 Friday Practice 2 14:00 Saturday Practice 3 11:00 Saturday Qualifying 14:00 Sunday Race 14:00
13.03.2013 grand prix international issue 62
Jul 28
Hungaroring, Budapest Lap: 4.381km Distance: 70 laps – 306.630km
6 270
11
6 280 3 100
9
13
8
3 100
6
14
3
START
4 170
12
Pit Lane
10
2
5 212
2
7
3 4
5 295
1
3 150
Gear
5
1 111 Km/h
6 290 1 Timing sector
Source: FIA
2012 Top 8 Team 1. Lewis Hamilton McLaren 2. Kimi Räikkönen Lotus 3. Romain Grosjean Lotus 4. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 5. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 6. Jenson Button McLaren 7. Bruno Senna Williams 8. Mark Webber Red Bull
5 205
DRS detection
1
N
5 250
DRS activation © GRAPHIC NEWS
Weekend Timetable (GMT +1) Friday Practice 1 10:00 Friday Practice 2 14:00 Saturday Practice 3 11:00 Saturday Qualifying 14:00 Sunday Race 14:00
13.03.2013 grand prix international issue 62
Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps Lap: 7.004km Distance: 44 laps – 308.052km
Aug 25 6 280
Eau Rouge
3 2
3 TART
S
1
19 18
4
Chicane
80
2
Raidillon
10
17
90
7 315
Blanchimont
1
6 290
7 310
La Source 2
Les Combes
Kemmel
N
Malmedy 7
6 9
11
8
16
Fagnes 12 13
15
Rivage 3 150
7 315 6 270
5
7 315
2
14
Paul Frere Gear
1 111 Km/h
1 Timing sector
Source: FIA
2012 Top 8 Team 1. Jenson Button McLaren 2. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 3. Kimi Räikkönen Lotus 4. Nico Hulkenberg Force India 5. Felipe Massa Ferrari 6. Mark Webber Red Bull 7. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 8. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso
DRS detection
DRS activation © GRAPHIC NEWS
Weekend Timetable (GMT +1) Friday Practice 1 10:00 Friday Practice 2 14:00 Saturday Practice 3 11:00 Saturday Qualifying 14:00 Sunday Race 14:00
13.03.2013 grand prix international issue 62
Autodromo di Monza Lap: 5.783km Distance: 53 laps – 306.720km
Sept 8
6 270 6
Curva di Lesmo 7 330
4 170 5
4
1
N
7
4 200
Roggia
7 335
7 335
Variante
2 8
3 115
3
Curva Biassono
6 290
Gear
1 111 Km/h
2
9
10
Variante Ascari 2 del Rettifilo 1
80
4 185
11
Pit Lane
START
3
Curva Rettifilo Tribune Parabolica 7 335
1 Timing sector
Source: FIA
2012 Top 8 Team 1. Lewis Hamilton McLaren 2. Sergio Perez Sauber 3. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 4. Felipe Massa Ferrari 5. Kimi Räikkönen Lotus 6. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 7. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 8. Paul di Resta Force India
DRS detection
DRS activation © GRAPHIC NEWS
Weekend Timetable (GMT +1) Friday Practice 1 10:00 Friday Practice 2 14:00 Saturday Practice 3 11:00 Saturday Qualifying 14:00 Sunday Race 14:00
13.03.2013 grand prix international issue 62
Marina Bay Street Circuit Distance: 61 laps – 309.316km Lap: 5.073km 6 295
N
4 170 7
9
5 240
1
6 290 2
6 280
90
2
4
85 5 225
10
15
11
4 183
6 5
16
19
17
12
Gear
2
13
1 111 Km/h
1
2
3 135
8 14
3
18
2 1 Timing sector
Source: FIA
2012 Top 8 Team 1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 2. Jenson Button McLaren 3. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 4. Paul di Resta Force India 5. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 6. Kimi Räikkönen Lotus 7. Romain Grosjean Lotus 8. Felipe Massa Ferrari
80
20 21
3 120
DRS detection
3 150
22
START
3 110
Pit Lane
Sept 22 Night race
3
23
4 200
DRS activation © GRAPHIC NEWS
Weekend Timetable (GMT +8) Friday Practice 1 18:00 Friday Practice 2 21:30 Saturday Practice 3 17:00 Saturday Qualifying 20:00 Sunday Race 20:00
13.03.2013 grand prix international issue 62
Korean International Circuit Distance: 55 laps – 308.630km Lap: 5.615km
Oct 6 6 290
8
6 295
7
9 10
11 12
2
1 111 Km/h
Source: FIA
85
5 250 6 295
17
14
4 160
2
N
7 305
15
80
80
2
4 195
4
2
6 290
13
Gear
5
3
5 247
5 230
6
1
18
16
3
STA
Pit 6 270
1 Timing sector
4 200
RT
Lan
e
DRS detection
2 1
2
85
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2012 Top 8 Team Weekend Timetable (GMT +9) 1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Friday Practice 1 10:00 2. Mark Webber Red Bull Friday Practice 2 11:30 3. Fernando Alonso Ferrari Saturday Practice 3 11:00 Saturday Qualifying 14:00 4. Felipe Massa Ferrari Sunday Race 15:00 5. Kimi Räikkönen Lotus 6. Nico Hulkenberg Force India 7. Romain Grosjean Lotus 8. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso
13.03.2013 grand prix international issue 62
Oct 13
Distance: 53 laps – 307.471km
5 230 Spoon Curve 6 295 13
14
2
70
16
10
3 140 1 111 Km/h
8
6 260
3
Degner Curve
6
5 210
5 210 Dunlop “S” Curves
1 Timing sector
Source: FIA
2012 Top 8 Team 1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 2. Felipe Massa Ferrari 3. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber 4. Jenson Button McLaren 5. Lewis Hamilton McLaren 6. Kimi Räikkönen Lotus 7. Nico Hulkenberg Force India 8. Pastor Maldonado Williams
7 300
T AR ST e an
6 285
15
7
tL
7 305
17
N
18
1 9
4 185
6 260
Pi
2
95
2
Casino Triangle
11
Hairpin 12
Gear
Suzuka Circuit Lap: 5.807km
5 240
DRS detection
5
4
3
1 2
4 160
First Curve
DRS activation © GRAPHIC NEWS
Weekend Timetable (GMT +9) Friday Practice 1 10:00 Friday Practice 2 11:30 Saturday Practice 3 11:00 Saturday Qualifying 14:00 Sunday Race 15:00
13.03.2013 grand prix international issue 62
Buddh International Circuit Distance: 60 laps – 307.249km Lap: 5.125km
Oct 27
12 10
2 9 8
4 160
14 13 7
1 16
1 2
3
START
85
ne
Pit La 5 250
4
1 111 Km/h
Source: FIA
3 115
5
5 215
Gear
15
6
4 200
3 100
N
5 250
11
2 3
6 295 1 Timing sector
DRS detection
2
80
DRS activation © GRAPHIC NEWS
2012 Top 8 Team Weekend Timetable (GMT +5.30) 1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Friday Practice 1 10:00 2. Fernando Alonso Ferrari Friday Practice 2 14:00 3. Mark Webber Red Bull Saturday Practice 3 11:00 Saturday Qualifying 14:00 4. Lewis Hamilton McLaren Sunday Race 15:00 5. Jenson Button McLaren 6. Felipe Massa Ferrari 7. Kimi Räikkönen Lotus 8. Nico Hulkenberg Force India
13.03.2013 grand prix international issue 62
Yas Marina Circuit, U.A.E. Nov 3 Distance: 55 laps – 305.355km Lap: 5.554km Day-night race 6 275 10 16
3 19
3 110
14
21
STA RT
11 12 13
18
N
1
3 110 3 125
Gear
1 111 Km/h
80
7 315
9
20
17
15
2
2
8
Pit L ane
7 300
3 125 1 Timing sector
Source: FIA
2012 Top 8 Team 1. Kimi Räikkönen Lotus 2. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 3. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 4. Jenson Button McLaren 5. Pastor Maldonado Williams 6. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber 7. Felipe Massa Ferrari 8. Bruno Senna Williams
6 260 3 125
2
70
3 2
6 260
4
5 250
DRS detection
1
5
6 7
7 300
DRS activation © GRAPHIC NEWS
Weekend Timetable (GMT +4) Friday Practice 1 13:00 Friday Practice 2 17:00 Saturday Practice 3 14:00 Saturday Qualifying 17:00 Sunday Race 17:00
13.03.2013 grand prix international issue 62
Circuit of the Americas, Austin, Texas Distance: 56 laps – 308.405km Lap: 5.513km
Nov 17 2
99
4 175
2 110 2
15
ne T La AR ST
18
N
7 300
Gear
1 111 Km/h
2
99 11
12
2 14 16
t Pi
3
6 290
94
19
20
7 308
6
13 5
4
17
3
1
8 7
5 210
2
9
3 120
10
6 255
6 280 1
5 250 2
99
1 Timing sector
Source: FIA
2012 Top 8 Team 1. Lewis Hamilton McLaren 2. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 3. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 4. Felipe Massa Ferrari 5. Jenson Button McLaren 6. Kimi Räikkönen Lotus 7. Romain Grosjean Lotus 8. Nico Hulkenberg Force India
DRS detection
DRS activation © GRAPHIC NEWS
Weekend Timetable (GMT -6) Friday Practice 1 10:00 Friday Practice 2 14:00 Saturday Practice 3 10:00 Saturday Qualifying 13:00 Sunday Race 13:00
13.03.2013 grand prix international issue 62
Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace Distance: 71 laps – 305.909km Lap: 4.309km
Nov 24 Senna “S” 3 105
Subida dos Boxes 6 280
7 300
7 310
15
7 315
RT
A ST Pit
1
3
10
8
2
6
e
2
N
5
6 295 4 160
Curva do Sol
3
6 280
Gear
1 111 Km/h
80
5 250
Descida do Lago 1
Reta Oposta 1 Timing sector
Source: FIA
2012 Top 8 Team 1. Jenson Button McLaren 2. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 3. Felipe Massa Ferrari 4. Mark Webber Red Bull 5. Nico Hulkenberg Force India 6. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 7. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 8. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso
13
11
4 200
2
5 220
7 9
n La
14
7 315
12
3 125
Jauncao 4
4 160
DRS detection
DRS activation © GRAPHIC NEWS
Weekend Timetable (GMT -3) Friday Practice 1 10:00 Friday Practice 2 14:00 Saturday Practice 3 11:00 Saturday Qualifying 14:00 Sunday Race 14:00
13.03.2013 grand prix international issue 62
2013 teams Five fresh faces join the drivers’ line-up for 2013. Finnish reserve driver Valtteri Bottas makes his debut for Williams in Australia after just four days at the wheel of the FW35 while Marussia fields two rookies – France’s Jules Bianchi and Briton Max Chilton. Caterham embarks on its fourth year in F1 with Dutchman Giedo van der Garde driving its CT03; and Mexico’s Esteban Gutierrez steps up from test driver to the Sauber race team
SCUDERIA FERRARI MARLBORO
Principal: Stefano Domenicali
Technical director: Pat Fry
Fernando Alonso ESP 196 starts, 30 wins 86 podiums
Felipe Massa BRA 172 starts, 11 wins 35 podiums
Ferrari F138 / Ferrari 056
LOTUS F1 TEAM
Principal: Eric Boullier
Technical director: James Allison Romain Grosjean FRA 26 starts, 3 podiums
Kimi Raikkonen FIN 175 starts, 19 wins 69 podiums
Lotus E21 / Renault RS27-2013
SAUBER F1 TEAM
Principal: Monisha Kaltenborn
Technical director: – Esteban Gutierrez MEX Debut season
Nico Hulkenberg GER 39 starts, Best 4th Sauber C32 / Ferrari 056
Principal: Christian Horner Sebastian Vettel GER 101 starts, 26 wins 46 podiums
Technical director: Adrian Newey Mark Webber AUS 196 starts, 9 wins 34 podiums
Car: Red Bull RB9 / Engine: Renault RS27-2013
VODAFONE McLAREN MERCEDES
Principal: Martin Whitmarsh Jenson Button GBR 228 starts, 15 wins 49 podiums
Technical director: Tim Goss Sergio Perez MEX 37 starts, 3 podiums
McLaren MP4-28 / Mercedes FO108F
MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS F1
Principal: Ross Brawn Nico Rosberg GER 128 starts, 1 win 7 podiums
Technical director: Bob Bell Lewis Hamilton GBR 110 starts, 21 wins 49 podiums
Mercedes F1 W04 / Mercedes FO108F
SAHARA FORCE INDIA F1 TEAM
Principal: Vijay Mallya Paul di Resta GBR 39 starts, Best 4th
Technical director: Andrew Green Adrian Sutil GER 90 starts, Best 4th
Force India VJM06 / Mercedes FO108F
13.03.2013 grand prix international issue 62
RED BULL RACING
3 podiums Lotus E21 / Renault RS27-2013
SAUBER F1 TEAM
Principal: Monisha Kaltenborn
Technical director: – Esteban Gutierrez MEX Debut season
Nico Hulkenberg GER 39 starts, Best 4th Sauber C32 / Ferrari 056
WILLIAMS F1
Principal: Frank Williams Pastor Maldonado VEN 39 starts, 1 win 1 podium
Technical Chief: Mike Coughlan Valtteri Bottas FIN Debut season
Williams FW35 / Renault RS27-2013
CATERHAM F1 TEAM
Principal: Cyril Abiteboul Charles Pic FRA 20 starts, Best 12th
Technical director: Mark Smith Giedo van der Garde NED Debut season
Caterham CT03 / Renault RS27-2013
7 podiums
49 podiums Mercedes F1 W04 / Mercedes FO108F
Principal: Vijay Mallya
Technical director: Andrew Green
Paul di Resta GBR 39 starts, Best 4th
Adrian Sutil GER 90 starts, Best 4th
Force India VJM06 / Mercedes FO108F
SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO
Principal: Franz Tost
Technical director: James Key Daniel Ricciardo AUS 31 starts Best 9th
Jean-Eric Vergne FRA 20 starts Best 8th STR8 / Ferrari 056
Principal: John Booth
Technical director: Pat Symonds Max Chilton GBR Debut season
Jules Bianchi FRA Debut season MR01 / Cosworth CA2012
Š GRAPHIC NEWS
MARUSSIA F1 TEAM
13.03.2013 grand prix international issue 62
SAHARA FORCE INDIA F1 TEAM
drivers
s
class of
2013
13.03.2013 grand prix international issue 62
class of 2013
13.03.2013 grand prix international issue 62
2013 helmets
13.03.2013 grand prix international issue 62
class of 2013
I like the beach and Melbourne is a great place to be. There’s a nice vibe to the city and the food in the restaurants is always good - I like the track there too. Australia is an amazing country - it’s great that you can see animals you’d only otherwise see in zoos, such as kangaroos and koalas; and the nature they have there is impressive with the outback. It’s such a shame that I only get to see a small amount of the country - but each year I see a bit more, which I always enjoy. After testing it’s good that now we finally get to go racing. MARK WEBBER I’ve been on the podiums at most tracks around the world and have won at quite a few circuits and Melbourne is one which I would like to add to that. I really enjoy driving at the track, the atmosphere is fantastic. In general the people of Australia love the Grand Prix and are excited to have a world class event there. I’m proud when we go there with F1 as an industry and that we put on such a great event. Of course I want to go there and perform well, so I’ll be focusing on myself to get the job done. The champagne will taste a little bit better in Melbourne if I get on the podium there. PROSPECTS Vettel and his team, both chasing their fourth successive titles, are the favourites. They showed last year that they can come roaring back from a sluggish start and opponents know that any car designed by Adrian Newey is sure to be quick and competitive. Webber, now the oldest driver on the grid at 36 and maybe in his last season with Red Bull, has a new race engineeer. He also had a 38 cm titanium rod removed from his leg over the winter which will give him peace of mind. They were fastest on only one test day but rivals suspected they were masking their potential and have plenty in reserve.
13.03.2013 grand prix international issue 62
SEBASTIAN VETTEL
class of 2013
I think we are more or less ready for Melbourne,” he maintained. “Of course, we would have liked more testing, but the rules are the same for everyone and we completed our programme throughout the tests. I feel confident in the car, while knowing Australia will not be easy. As usual, our aero development will be the key to having a good season, while getting a good understanding of the new, more complicated Pirelli tyres will also be essential. I don’t think we will see one team dominate, but also I don’t expect seven winners in the first races, like last year. It will be very close and from our point of view, a good result this weekend would remove some of the stress. I enjoy the Albert Park circuit, it is technical and difficult and the track, being a street circuit, evolves throughout the weekend. FELIPE MASSA I can’t say Albert Park is my favourite track, but I love coming to Australia, which is a great country with very nice people who really like their racing. The track here is demanding, but I expect the F138 will be well adapted to it and that we can have a good first weekend. I expect the drivers from two or three teams to do most of the winning,” says the Brazilian. “As for ourselves, we start the season with a better car than we did last year, so I am happy and positive with the way testing went, when I felt the car evolved from the first day to the last, when I was happy with the balance of the F138 and felt comfortable at the wheel. PROSPECTS The glamour team are on a different planet compared to this time last year. Alonso has said the new F138 car is “200 times better”, even if still not the fastest. The Spaniard skipped the first test to focus on fitness work and will be hungrier than ever for his third title. Massa knows it could be his final season with the team but he has his confidence back after a dismal start to 2012. Sure to be contenders all the way to the finish.
13.03.2013 grand prix international issue 62
FERNANDO ALONSO
class of 2013 Wow, I can’t believe it’s come around already! It seems like only last week that I was standing on top of the podium in Sao Paulo. But they say time flies when you’re having fun, and I’ve had a fantastic winter: I’ve never stopped training and working, and I feel incredibly fit and focused ahead of this new season. This year, I don’t think any team really knows or understands the competitive order. It’s been an extremely hard-to-read winter: varying fuel-loads and levels of tyre degradation mean that it’s hard to accurately predict who’ll arrive in Australia with the best-sorted car. But that’s part of the game. The start of a new season is always exciting as it’s the culmination of months of hard work and planning. I’ve had some great experiences in Melbourne, having won the race three times, and I love the place. There isn’t a better location in the world to be kicking off what will no doubt be a fiercely competitive world championship.” Sergio Perez “It’s been an incredibly busy winter. Joining Vodafone McLaren Mercedes was always going to be a massively significant step in my career, but I immediately started to appreciate what makes this team such a consistent winning force: the dedication, motivation and attention to detail is like nothing I’ve ever experienced before. On top of all my acclimatisation, our winter has been extremely busy: there’s always a lot of work to do when you make significant changes to the car, and having only 12 days to iron out every single issue is never easy. For me, arriving in Melbourne as a Vodafone McLaren Mercedes driver will be an incredible honour. I’ve never worked harder over a winter to be ready for the new season, and I’m confident I’ve done everything within my reach to be ready. Now all I’m waiting for is for the red lights to go out next Sunday afternoon!” PROSPECTS This could be Button’s best chance yet of a second title. Lewis Hamilton has left and new team mate Perez is still finding his feet. The car looks quick but the team need to unlock a more consistent performance from it. McLaren expect the pair to be trading places and battling for grid position from the start. Perez is well placed to take his first win and the team expect him to push Button all the way.
13.03.2013 grand prix international issue 62
Jenson Button
class of 2013 We had some problems in testing but we still completed quite a few laps. 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. I’d like to start the season strongly and hopefully run the first races better than we did last year. We don’t know exactly what to expect so we’ll try to do the best we can; we should have a reasonable start to the season. ROMAIN GROSJEAN I’m really looking forward to the 2013 season; it’s been a good winter for us and we achieved quite a bit of what we wanted to do, even if the conditions were not always easy. We’re ready for Albert Park, it’s one of my favourite Grand Prix circuits, so it will be good to get there, start the season and do the best that we can. It’s a good continuation of the E20 and definitely a step forward; the team have been working hard and are doing their best to give us a good car. The answer will only be clear after qualifying in Melbourne; we looked quick during winter testing but it’s always different to race weekends, so let’s see what the first race brings us. Hopefully it’s a good surprise, as was the case last year, and I’m sure we can have a very good season. PROSPECTS Raikkonen took one win in his 2012 comeback year and the Finn hopes to do much better than that now, with a real championship challenge a possibility. The Lotus has shown good pace in testing, even if the mileage has been less than the others, and the team are now aiming to crack the top three. Grosjean, now married and with a child on the way, has been seing a sports psychologist and should be a calmer racer than the crash-happy competitor who was banned for a race last year. Some rivals suspect Lotus could be the second quickest car after Red Bull.
13.03.2013 grand prix international issue 62
KIMI RAIKKONEN
class of 2013
Melbourne is a great place to kick off the new Formula One season. I really like the city and the Australian fans at the circuit are always fantastic and so supportive. The first Grand Prix is where everyone finds out where they really are and we can judge how well we have done against our competition as the times in winter testing just don’t tell the full story. The weather in Melbourne looks very hot at the moment which is going to be a tough challenge as we have no experience with the F1 W04 in those conditions. Tyre degradation will be the biggest issue for everyone so we need to look at that carefully and do a good job in managing it. I’m really looking forward to next weekend and getting the season underway. LEWIS HAMILTON It’s the start of a new season and the beginning of a new adventure for me with Mercedes AMG Petronas. I can’t wait to get to Melbourne, get out on track and find out where we stand. The Australian Grand Prix is always an exciting race: the teams don’t know how they compare in terms of performance, the fans are fantastic and, with big changes to the tyres again this year, we just don’t know what will happen in the race. I love the circuit. It’s a street track with a really bumpy surface so you try and put as much downforce on the car as possible and it really puts the drivers to the test. We had a good, reliable car during winter testing so that’s the positive we can take with us into the weekend but we know that in terms of performance, everything begins again from zero in Friday practice. So let’s get Down Under, get racing and see how things turn out. PROSPECTS Can 2008 world champion Hamilton, replacing now-retired Michael Schumacher, be a winner with Mercedes this season? That is the big preseason question and the signs are that he might not have to wait as long as he feared even if testing times can be misleading. The car is a clear improvement on last year’s disappointing vehicle and Hamilton can be counted on to wring the most of it. Rosberg, winner in China last year, will be a strong team mate. Podium contenders at least.
13.03.2013 grand prix international issue 62
NICO ROSBERG
class of 2013 Finally the start of the season is coming closer. I left Europe yesterday. I’m really looking forward to this race, as Australia is always one of my favorite Grands Prix, and Melbourne has a very special atmosphere, so I’m keen to be there. I also like the track which is not a permanent circuit. We are driving around a lake in a park and, especially during the drivers’ parade, you feel very close to the fans. The track itself is very challenging for the drivers. It has got a lot of bumps and you have to know how best to deal with them. In terms of competitiveness, the final Barcelona test showed we are quite well prepared but still have some homework to do, and that we still have room for improvement in certain areas. But I’m confident the baseline is good. I’m really looking forward to racing against the usual grid and finally get a clear picture of where everybody stands with regard to performance. eSTEBAN gUTIERREZ Now we have finalised the pre-season testing, I feel very grateful for the work of every team member and the opportunity to get up to speed with the basics of F1. Melbourne will be my first race in F1 and I’m sure it will be very special. It’s a track that I don’t know, but I’m confident I will be able to learn it quickly in the free practice sessions. Competing in a Formula One race is the next step in my career, and that’s what I need to focus on. One of the things that I need to do is feel natural and relaxed in my surroundings so I can focus on the most important elements during the weekend. I feel I have a good base for the start of the season, but, of course, I will keep on working as I have areas where I can improve. My goal is to exploit the car’s potential and finish consistently within the points.” PROSPECTS Sauber were the quiet revelation of 2012, with four podiums. Doing better than that will be tough for the all-new lineup. But the ‘Hulk’ is highly rated with two full seasons under his belt with Williams and Force India. With a Ferrari 2014 seat likely to be up for grabs, he will be doing all he can to impress. Gutierrez has been learning the ropes with Sauber for a while but remains an unknown quantity. The car is one of the best looking but testing times suggest a mid-field battle ahead.
13.03.2013 grand prix international issue 62
Nico Hulkenberg
class of 2013
It’s good to be back and it felt from the first day as if I had never been away. It helped a lot that I know this team so well and that the whole team welcomed me. These guys from Sahara Force India made it very easy to come back and to feel good from the first moment on. I’ve been out for 14 months, but to be honest when I started in F1 in 2007 I had in total maybe six to eight testing days. Now I have driven 90 Grands Prix in five years and I do have a lot of experience. I trained a lot, I feel relaxed and free, and the rest will come back soon. After 90 Grands Prix, five years of waiting and being - with a P4 - very close to a podium, I want to finally be on the podium. This is my wish for 2013. PAUL DI RESTA I’m feeling very good, I must say. I’m working very closely with my team of people, and that’s changed slightly in different departments. We’re all trying to do the best job possible. Whether it’s managing time and making sure you’re in the best frame of mind or whether that’s on-track performance and the finer details of the car set-up, ultimately it’s all about performance and results. I know the way this team works and they know how I work. When it all gels well we can obviously see the results we get. We just need to make sure we can achieve that on a more consistent basis. PROSPECTS The team have reverted to the 2011 line-up who finished sixth overall. Sutil, returning after a year out, has plenty to prove while Di Resta is targeting the podium in his third season in F1. That could be possible in the right circumstances but the budget remains tight.
13.03.2013 grand prix international issue 62
ADRIAN SUTIL
class of 2013
We have been working extremely hard over the winter to improve the performance of the car and we have noticed good potential in the recent tests in Barcelona. I’ve been involved with the FW35 build since the start of the project in early 2012, working with the engineers, design office and the technicians in the wind tunnel to push for improvements on all fronts. Obviously we don’t know what other teams have done and you can only learn so much during testing, but we expect to be more competitive than last year. I like street circuits so I always enjoy coming to Australia and now I just want to start the season and find out where we stand. VALTTERI BOTTAS We have had a good winter at the factory and the car showed strong reliability and performance during testing. The FW35 feels like a new car in comparison to the FW34, behaving and responding differently around the track to the car I was driving on Friday mornings last year and I’m impressed with the improvements the team have made. The winter has seen me preparing hard for the demands of driving a full race which I haven’t done before in Formula One. However, I’ve always done a lot of fitness training and have driven a lot of miles over the past few years with the team, so I’m feeling fully prepared. The first Grand Prix of my career is a big thing for me and I can’t wait for the lights to go out in Melbourne and see how the FW35 performs against the competition. PROSPECTS Maldonado handed Williams their first win in nearly eight years last season and there is no question that he is quick, but he also squandered a lot of points. Now he just needs to stay out of trouble and use his head. Bottas has spent a year learning the tracks and is a top hope for a team desperate to get back up the pecking order. The former champions believe fifth place overall is a realistic target.
13.03.2013 grand prix international issue 62
PASTOR MALDONADO
class of 2013 If myself and Jean-Eric are matching each other this year, it is probably not going to be enough. I definitely want to try and blow it apart if I can - do something special... Podiums would be great but we really have to see where we are, and how competitive we are as a team. Even if the first few races don’t go particularly to plan, come the European season we will have quite a few updates and things to be positive about. We’ve been competitive through a few years and the relationship has become more competitive, so to speak, because a lot is on the line. I don’t think any team-mates are probably great friends. I think Mark can answer that question as well. It is just how it is and how it probably should be. If you are too close to someone you will probably not go 110 per cent against them, so it is good to have that fighting spirit. JEAN ERIC VERGNE Albert Park is a great place I love the track, it is the first grand prix of the year and we do not where we stand compared to our rivals. It is a really exciting weekend. Should be a good one. For 2013 nothing will be easier. The pressure is still the same, but I have more experience and I am a better driver. With the same team, the car, I will just try to do the best with what I have. Every driver wants to beat his teammate, so I don’t want to say much about that. I try and look beyond that and develop a really good car and to fight together as high as possible in the rankings. And then we see what happens. It is looking better than last year, but we never know where we stand until the first race. This year we want to beat Sauber, Force India and Williams, If after vthe first four races we can match them this will be good, because everyone also moves forward. And that is something important for this whole season is to keep moving forward. PROSPECTS An unchanged line-up from last season but, with the possibility of a vacancy at sister team Red Bull at the end of the season, both drivers have a real incentive to impress. How much the car allows them to do that remains to be seen.
13.03.2013 grand prix international issue 62
DANIEL RICCIARDO
class of 2013 I’m looking forward to returning to Melbourne, this time for my first race with Caterham F1 Team and I think it’s going to be a good weekend. The circuit itself is very cool. It’s quick but as it’s a temporary street circuit the cars run with high downforce and it’s a good challenge to get a really clean lap in. FP1 is always quiet as the track is very green for the early part of the session, but it evolves a lot over the weekend and you need to time your qualifying lap right to make the most of the rubber that’s being laid down. After the tests we’re definitely ready to start racing. We have a good idea of where we’re going to start out and I think we have a very interesting season ahead of us. Whatever happens, I’m enjoying myself in Caterham and it’s great to be part of a team that has such an exciting future ahead.” Giedo van der Garde Honestly I can’t wait to get started. Melbourne will be my first Grand Prix start and, even though it’s taken a while to reach this point, I’m completely prepared and really looking forward to getting back to racing. Having spent a lot of time with the team last year nothing was new to me when I moved up to the race driver position, but it’s still a different world, being a race driver rather than a reserve, but I’m enjoying every minute. Before it all gets serious in Australia I also want to take this chance to thank everyone who has helped me reach this stage of my career. McGregor have played a big role in helping me become and F1 driver, so thanks to everyone there, and thank you to all the people at Leafield. Caterham F1 Team is a family, a very cool group of people who have a long-term plan that will come true, and if I can help the whole team achieve its goals then that would be a good way of saying thanks.” PROSPECTS Two new drivers, both bringing sponsorship to the team, marks a change in direction for an outfit that previously hired men with top team experience. The car has looked a bit of a handful in testing. Caterham, still without a point, have been 10th for the past three seasons and the Renault engine alone should ensure they stay there.
13.03.2013 grand prix international issue 62
Charles Pic
class of 2013
I can’t wait for Australia and the start of my debut season. The past few weeks of pre-season testing have flown by, but I’ve spent a lot of time in the car working on so many different things that I feel totally prepared for what lies ahead now. We gathered a lot of information with the MR02 in Jerez and Barcelona and at every stage it has been possible to see the benefit of all that learning and development. I hope to continue that in the opening races. I think we have a good car for Melbourne but it is vital that we keep pushing forward. It’s my first time in Australia, so I’m looking forward to the experience of Albert Park and the rest of the city, as I’ve heard so many great things about the place and the atmosphere. It’s going to be quite a weekend. JULES BIANCHI So much has happened over the past couple of weeks that it’s difficult to get my head around the fact that I am about to begin my Formula One racing career in Melbourne next weekend. I guess excitement is the only emotion I’ve had time to experience, there has been so much to do and so many people to meet. Things happen for a reason and I feel confident that we are going to have a very positive season together. There is a nice and positive vibe about the Team and good signs from the work that has been done with the MR02. In the short period of time that I was driving the car in Barcelona last week, I felt very comfortable based on my previous experiences with other F1 cars I have driven, so I’m excited to see what we can achieve in the first few races. PROSPECTS A rookie line-up but promising nonetheless. The only team still powered by a Cosworth engine is using KERS for the first time, which will help them get closer to Caterham. Bianchi is highly rated, managed by Nicolas Todt and with Ferrari support. A first point for Marussia still looks very unlikely but stranger things have happened.
13.03.2013 grand prix international issue 62
MAX CHILTON
2013 World Championship Season Teams & Drivers 1. Sebastian Vettel 2. Mark Webber 3. Fernando Alonso 4. Felipe Massa 5. Jenson Button 6. Sergio Perez 7. Kimi Raikkonen 8. Romain Grosjean 9. Nico Rosberg 10. Lewis Hamilton 11. Nico Hulkenberg 12. Esteban Gutierrez 13. Paul di Resta 14. To Be Confirmed 15. Pastor Maldonado 16. Valterri Bottas 17. Daniel Ricciardo 18. Jean Eric Vergne 19. Charles Pic 20. Giedo van der Garde 21. Max Chilton 22. To Be Confirmed
Red Bull Racing Renault Red Bull Racing Renault Scuderia Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari Vodafone McLaren Mercedes Vodafone McLaren Mercedes Lotus Renault Lotus Renault AMG Mercedes Petronas AMG Mercerdes Petronas Sauber Ferrari Sauber Ferrari Sahara Force India Mercedes Sahara Force India Mercedes Williams Renault Williams Renault Scuderia Toro Rosso Ferrari Scuderia Toro Rosso Ferrari Caterham Renault Caterham Renault Marussia Cosworth Marussia Cosworth
big pict
ture
The Formula 1 circus has descended on Melbourne ahead of the first grand prix weekend of the 2013 season, and a certain quiet still prevails around Albert Park before the V8s are fired up in anger. Sutton photographers capture the calmness.
BIG PICTURE the quiet before the storm 13.03.2013 grand prix international issue 62 photo sutton images
BIG PICTURE the quiet before the storm 13.03.2013 grand prix international issue 62 photo sutton images
BIG PICTURE the quiet before the storm 13.03.2013 grand prix international issue 62 photo sutton images
BIG PICTURE the quiet before the storm 13.03.2013 grand prix international issue 62 photo sutton images
BIG PICTURE the quiet before the storm 13.03.2013 grand prix international issue 62 photo sutton images
BIG PICTURE the quiet before the storm 13.03.2013 grand prix international issue 62 photo sutton images
BIG PICTURE the quiet before the storm 13.03.2013 grand prix international issue 62 photo sutton images
BIG PICTURE the quiet before the storm 13.03.2013 grand prix international issue 62 photo sutton images
BIG PICTURE the quiet before the storm 13.03.2013 grand prix international issue 62 photo sutton images
BIG PICTURE the quiet before the storm 13.03.2013 grand prix international issue 62 photo sutton images
BIG PICTURE the quiet before the storm 13.03.2013 grand prix international issue 62 photo sutton images
BIG PICTURE the quiet before the storm 13.03.2013 grand prix international issue 62 photo sutton images
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