2011 FORMULA 1 AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX
LRGP gears up to go down under for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne • Where? Albert Park, Melbourne, Australia • • When? 25th – 27th March 2011 •
Q&A: Nick Heidfeld
Lotus Renault GP • Race Driver • Car 9
“I HOPE WE CAN FIGHT FOR PODIUMS FROM THE START” The new recruit explains how he has settled into the team and his hopes for the season ahead Nick, the first race is upon us. Are you excited? I always enjoy coming to Australia. It’s my favourite place to travel to on the calendar because the people are relaxed and there’s always a warm atmosphere.
You’ve been with the team just over a month. How have you found things? Right from the first test I have tried to push the car in the right direction and I’ve really enjoyed working with the team so far. I have the feeling that I can have more input here than I was used to in other teams because everybody is very open and interested in what I have to say..
What sort of winter have you had? You always have to put things in perspective when talking about testing. I think we have a quick car, but like every team on the grid we have had a few issues to cope with during the tests, especially in terms of reliability. This said, we’ve been able to develop some very promising elements.
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Have you been able to judge the competitiveness of the R31? We have an idea of where we stand, but nobody knows exactly. I think we have good performance in the car and, if everything is working well, I hope we can fight for podiums from the start of the season.
People say that a nice looking car can’t be slow… Well, the answer to this one is in the question. The car is gorgeous. I know this is very subjective, but you have to see the R31 for real.
What can we expect in Melbourne? There are lots of unknowns, especially because it’s the first time we will race with the new adjustable rear wing, KERS and Pirelli tyres. I believe the tyres will have the biggest impact and will make the strategy quite exciting. I expect to see a lot more pit stops than in the past – at least three per race – and I believe the pit stop windows will be narrower. That’s because when the tyres degrade and lose performance, you have no choice but to pit, otherwise you lose too much time.
You’ve contributed to the Pirelli testing last year. Will it help you this season? Not at all. I can’t even remember what we did then. (big smile)
“ The car is gorgeous. I know this is very subjective, but you have to see the R31 for real”
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Q&A: Vitaly Petrov
Lotus Renault GP • Race Driver • Car 10
“THE R31 IS CERTAINLY A BIG STEP FORWARD” Vitaly looks back on winter testing and talks us through his preparations for Melbourne Vitaly, we’re getting the season underway in Melbourne. Do you enjoy this race? It’s a good place to start the year and I really enjoyed my first visit last year. The fans are crazy about F1, the grandstands are full and it’s clear that the country loves the race.
How different do you feel at the start of your second season compared with 12 months ago? I think I’m a very different person. I have more experience; I know the team very well, and I understand more about Formula 1. Even just knowing all the circuits makes things a lot easier. I feel much better prepared.
What are your feelings now that winter testing is over? We learned a lot during the winter. The R31 is certainly a big step forward, but at the same time we have to cope with new tyres, which have a massive impact on performance. With these tyres there is more movement and they are more aggressive than what we were used to in the past because of the degradation.
Do you feel well prepared for the first race? You always want more time to test. If you give us another week, we will use it, especially because we have so many new things on the car this year. I had my first experience of KERS over the winter and the adjustable rear wing, which is something new for everyone. I think our solutions are good and I believe we can be competitive.
Will the drivers be more busy during races? “Multitasking” will be the word of the year. Playing with all the steering wheel dials at 300km/h will be, I guess, like answering to three Blackberry messages while making fried eggs and doing your shoe laces… all at the same time. We’ll see how it goes.
What is a realistic goal for the start of the season? The guys have done a great job with this car. It’s strong, aggressive and innovative, and we will add lots of new things during the season. I don’t want to say where we will finish because nobody really knows, but we believe we are closer to the front than we were last season. Probably by the second or third race we will start to really understand.
Nick AND VITALY’S
GUIDE TO MELBOURNE Describe the Australian Grand Prix in three words? Nick: Different, a long way away, relaxed people. Vitaly: Friendly, interesting, fun. How do you kill time on the flight over? Nick: It’s a good chance to catch up on the latest movies. Vitaly: I always take my ipod and my lap top with me. I also try to sleep as much as I can. What’s your best memory of Melbourne? Nick: I scored my first points there in 2001 with Sauber when I finished fourth. Also my second place in 2008 is a good memory. Vitaly: Last year’s race was my first time in Australia. The track was damp, but I made a great start and the first few laps were very exciting. Favourite place to have dinner? Nick: Every year I go to a Japanese restaurant called Koko in the Crown complex. The teriyaki chicken is very good. Vitaly: I’ve not explored the city that much, but the Stokehouse restaurant is always popular with lots of international food. How do you relax in Melbourne? Nick: I like to walk around the city. I always go to Chapel Street to look around and do some shopping. Vitaly: I try to make the most of the nice weather and do some training. The beach at St. Kilda is a nice place to relax if you like water sports.
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Eric Boullier
Team Principal and Managing Director
A wORD WITH THE BOSS
Eric Boullier updates us on the team’s progress over a challenging winter
Eric, after a busy winter, how does it feel to be heading to Melbourne to kick off the new season?
There have been some reliability issues over the winter. Do you feel these issues have been resolved?
I feel excited. We had a tough winter with a lot of unfortunate and unexpected news, but we have reacted quickly and we are ready for the season. We usually say that everybody in the team has been working very hard over the winter to prepare for the new season, but it’s never been so true. We have some interesting and promising developments on our car. Now it’s time to go racing.
We had to build and produce lots of new technology for the car, but our resources are not unlimited and there were a couple of issues on the car, which reduced our mileage. We have addressed those problems and I’m now feeling more confident than I was three weeks ago. The number one priority given this winter to our engineers: first of all make us a quick car, take risks, be innovative. The R31 is very different from anything the team has produced before and we’re very proud of that.
You’ve attended all the winter test sessions – what has been your verdict on the team’s progress so far? We have done an enormous amount of work over the last few weeks to really understand this car and get the performance from it. What I can say is that we are clearly in better shape in terms of ultimate performance compared to last year, which was our target.
And what about Nick? How has he adapted to the team’s way of working? I think he has settled in as well as we could have expected. The more he works with the team, the easier things become and he has already built a good relationship with everybody.
Vitaly is starting his second season in Formula 1. What can we expect from him? He knows the people, the car, the tracks, and obviously that makes a big difference compared to last year. We can expect him to deliver strong races from the start of the season, just like he ended last season in Abu Dhabi.
What are your expectations for this weekend in Melbourne? Last year we finished second, with the help of the weather. I would love to do the same this year, without any help!
“ The number one priority given this winter to our engineers: first of all make us a quick car, take risks, be innovative”
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James Allison TECH TALK
TURN 10
In qualifying, the drivers will be using the DRS on the exit of every corner to achieve maximum straight-line speed
TURN 5
“I HOPE WE CAN ARRIVE IN MELBOURNE IN GOOD SHAPE”
In the past it was always flat for qualifying, but now the cars are 20 kgs heavier it will be much more challenging. In the race it certainly won’t be flat
TURNS 11 + 12
The drivers need good change of direction for the chicanes. The suspension needs to be quite stiff to achieve this, but also soft enough to ride the kerbs. As ever it’s a compromise
Our Technical Director recaps winter testing and sets out his hopes for the R31
James, how has the team coped with the demands of a busy winter test programme? Winter testing is a challenge on many levels, not just the technical side. There were four tests in quick succession, which is pretty tiring physically for the group of guys involved. Those same people then had to prepare the cars and pack the freight for the first Grand Prix, which is always a race against the clock. As ever, the hours have been long but everyone has done an excellent job to get us ready in time for the start of the season.
And on the technical side? Obviously a Formula 1 car is an extremely complicated piece of equipment, and with the R31 almost every part of it is brand new and needs validating. So the list of things you have to demonstrate to yourself is very long. That’s always a challenge in any season, but it’s made even more complex when you have to cope with the return of KERS and the arrival of the adjustable rear wing. And that’s
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before you consider the amount of work we had to do adapting to the new Pirelli tyres. It meant there was a lot of work to do in a very short space of time.
Talking of the tyres, how do you think they will impact on the racing? Well, I will only repeat what others have already said on the matter. Tyres will be challenging for all the teams because they have been made to be aggressive. They have a high level of degradation per lap, which means you can lose performance very rapidly. Looking after the tyres is something the drivers need to be thinking about all the time and will be a dominating factor in the races. We will probably see three or four stops per race.
Are you pleased with the progress the team has made over the winter? I’m pleased that we achieved what we set out to achieve, which was to assess all the new elements of the car and get through our pre-season test programme. But I won’t be fully content until we’ve actually demonstrated in racing conditions that everything is working properly, the car is reliable and we get to the flag showing good pace.
What are your expectations for the R31? Based on what I saw during the pre-season, I hope we can arrive in Melbourne with a step forward compared to our pace last season so that we can continue our progress towards the front of the grid.
“ THE HOURS HAVE BEEN LONG BUT EVERYONE HAS DONE AN EXCELLENT JOB”
TURNS 1 + 2
Lots of bumps here so the car needs to ride them well and have good stability under braking
TURN 3
We run with a medium to high downforce set-up which helps give good traction out of the low-speed corners
TURNS 15 + 16
The car wants to understeer through the final few corners; you need a good front end to cope with this. Once on the power, KERS will be used down the main straight
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AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX THE REST OF THE NEWS
Did you know?
A black and gold car was on pole position for the very first Australian Grand Prix back in 1985 in Adelaide. And who was behind the wheel of that particular Lotus Renault? None other than Bruno’s uncle, Ayrton. Small world, isn’t it?
Watch Nick’s pre-season interview
On our website, to start with:
www.lotusrenaultgp.com (English, French, German, Russian and Polish versions) On Twitter: twitter.com/OfficialLRGP On Facebook: Lotus-Renault-GP-The-Official Vitaly on Twitter: twitter.com/vitalypetrov10 Nick on Twitter: twitter.com/NickHeidfeld Bruno on Twitter: twitter.com/BSenna Romain on Twitter: twitter.com/Rgrosjean
Australia IN NUMBERS 2 14 54 310 10,000 500,000
Only 2 cities have hosted the Australian Grand Prix. Melbourne took over from Adelaide in 1996 This year marks the 14th occasion that Melbourne has been the season opening Grand Prix Each lap of Albert Park involves 54 gear changes The top speed achieved by an F1 car at Albert Park is 310 km/h Around 10,000 people are involved in staging the race The number of bottles of water will be drunk by fans over the weekend
10 17 66 3,000 54,576
MEDIA CONTACTS Stephane Samson Head of Communications (on site in Australia) stephane.samson@lotusrenaultgp.com Clarisse Hoffmann Senior press officer (back in Enstone) clarisse.hoffmann@lotusrenaultgp.com +44 7747 468 273
The longest stretch at full throttle is 10 seconds on the pit straight
Will Hings Press officer (on site in Australia) will.hings@lotusrenaultgp.com +44 7703 366 151
drivers have won in Australia since the first Grand Prix in 1985
Ben Nichols Press officer (on site in Australia) ben.nichols@lotusrenaultgp.com +44 7748 920 072
of the lap is spent at full throttle The number of concrete barriers to build the track corporate meals are served on the site over the race weekend
Message to Robert Once again, we wish Robert a full and speedy recovery as we say ‘zybkiego powrotu do zdrowia’ – get well soon our friend
What’s happening in Enstone
OFF-TRACK MOMENT Bruno does his best Elton John impersonation
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WHERE CAN YOU FOLLOW US?
The chance to live your dreams and become an F1 driver for the day is closer to reality than you might think thanks to LRGP’s iRace programme. It’s your chance to get behind the wheel of a pukka F1 car and feel the immense power, grip and braking performance. What’s more, you’ll even have one of the team’s drivers as your mentor. Sounds awesome, doesn’t it? Learn more at www.lotusrenaultgp.com/3830-Presentation.html
Who’s who at LRGP ? • Eric Boullier Team Principal and Managing Director • James Allison Technical Director • Steve Nielsen Sporting Director • Alan Permane Chief Race Engineer • Stephane Samson Head of Communications • Race Engineers (Nick) Simon Rennie, Jonathan Marshall • Engine Engineer Ricardo Penteado • Race Engineers (Vitaly) Ayao Komatsu, Julien Simon-Chautemps • Engine Engineer Julien Barbieux Mechanics • Gavin Hudson Chief Mechanic • Greg Baker No.1 mechanic Nick’s car • Rob Cherry No.1 mechanic Vitaly’s car Hospitality • The girls in our hospitality who will look after our guests are Simona, Adriana and Daniela
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Gallery
More images available online: www.lotusrenaultgp.com
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And Finally… Cirebox
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