[Official] Round 14: Singapore Grand Prix

[CTD]

Let's remember with 6 races to go, thats only 2x DNF's for Alonso and 2x Victories for Hamilton to be in a close fight for the victory!
My hopes for the WC title is still:
1. Hamilton
2. Kimi Raikonen
3. Alonso
Deadlast. Vettel.

[Knowlesy]

Well unfortunately the only DNF Alonso has mustered thus far came in an accident that also wiped out Hamilton.

The Ferrari is bulletproof and Alonso is just stroking her home every race.

[CTD]

Originally Posted by Knowlesy

Well unfortunately the only DNF Alonso has mustered thus far came in an accident that also wiped out Hamilton.

The Ferrari is bulletproof and Alonso is just stroking her home every race.

Well, Maldonado is still in the field the year out

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Knowlesy

Well unfortunately the only DNF Alonso has mustered thus far came in an accident that also wiped out Hamilton.

The Ferrari is bulletproof and Alonso is just stroking her home every race.

As the WDC now stands:

Alonso 194
Vettel 165
Raikkonen 149
Hamilton 142

All it would take is for Alonso to have another DNF next race and it's wide open again.

[TrapezeArtist]

This race took the F1 habit of driving outside the track to a new high. Everyone was three-quarters off the track several times per lap. Massa took the whole thing to an even greater extreme during his battles with Senna and err someone else. Only Webber got a penalty, because he was a few millimetres further over than the rest, and despite the fact that he was barged off.

It is so UGLY!

[TrapezeArtist]

Watching Scumacher's accident, I thought it was either a car problem or a monumental driving error. Schuey said it was a car problem; no-one else has offered an opinion. Then the stewards gave him a 10 place penalty, presumably after reviewing telemetry, so I have to assume it was indeed a driving error. There have been rather too many of those from someone who should be the elder statesman of F1. I predict a retirement at the end of the season.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by TrapezeArtist

Watching Scumacher's accident, I thought it was either a car problem or a monumental driving error. Schuey said it was a car problem; no-one else has offered an opinion. Then the stewards gave him a 10 place penalty, presumably after reviewing telemetry, so I have to assume it was indeed a driving error. There have been rather too many of those from someone who should be the elder statesman of F1. I predict a retirement at the end of the season.

I predict Lewis to Mercedes.

[JeremySmith]

I think Lewis will stay at home...

[Adam43]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

As the WDC now stands:

Alonso 194
Vettel 165
Raikkonen 149
Hamilton 142

All it would take is for Alonso to have another DNF next race and it's wide open again.

I think Alonso needs all that lead and a DNF makes it close, if you see what I mean.

[QnickFTW]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

As the WDC now stands:

Alonso 194
Vettel 165
Raikkonen 149
Hamilton 142

All it would take is for Alonso to have another DNF next race and it's wide open again.

I think we dont even need an Alonso DNF. Let him just score his usual 3rd and 4th.

At the next 3 track Vettel is pretty much untouchable. He was beating Webber on these tracks in a Toro Rosso (let alone without an exception always beating him in an RBR), and in India he was just perfect last year, completely owned the whole event, every session, every lap, every sector.

We dont need anything artificial to make it super close by the time we leave India

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by QnickFTW

I think we dont even need an Alonso DNF. Let him just score his usual 3rd and 4th.

At the next 3 track Vettel is pretty much untouchable. He was beating Webber on these tracks in a Toro Rosso (let alone without an exception always beating him in an RBR), and in India he was just perfect last year, completely owned the whole event, every session, every lap, every sector.

We dont need anything artificial to make it super close by the time we leave India

If Vettel wins the next race and Alonso has a DNF that only gives Alonso a 4 point lead with 5 races still to go and you say Vettel is pretty much untouchable at the next 3 tracks.

[Marbot]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

All it would take is for Alonso to have another DNF next race and it's wide open again.

Even when Alonso has a DNF, he still manages to come out of it smelling of roses. Red ones!

Originally Posted by JeremySmith

I think Lewis will stay at home...

Monaco?

[Marbot]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

If Vettel wins the next race and Alonso has a DNF that only gives Alonso a 4 point lead with 5 races still to go and you say Vettel is pretty much untouchable at the next 3 tracks.

Hopefully, someone will be able to stop 'Goldfinger' from doing the treble.

And can someone please explain to me just How Raikkonen has managed to get that car that high up the leader board?

[wnut]

Originally Posted by Marbot

Hopefully, someone will be able to stop 'Goldfinger' from doing the treble.

And can someone please explain to me just How Raikkonen has managed to get that car that high up the leader board?

He managed to pass his team mate and finished just ahead of him.

[CTD]

Originally Posted by Marbot

Hopefully, someone will be able to stop 'Goldfinger' from doing the treble.

And can someone please explain to me just How Raikkonen has managed to get that car that high up the leader board?

Doing the same as Alonso, although just not as well

[Razzzor]

Originally Posted by TrapezeArtist

This race took the F1 habit of driving outside the track to a new high. Everyone was three-quarters off the track several times per lap. Massa took the whole thing to an even greater extreme during his battles with Senna and err someone else. Only Webber got a penalty, because he was a few millimetres further over than the rest, and despite the fact that he was barged off.

It is so UGLY!

I think the difference is that he did it to complete a pass, thereby gaining an advantage. But it was pretty grey... the other car (Kobayashi?) wasn't leaving him any room, and he was only JUST off the track.

Not like the Vettel on Button pass where he was damn near in the car parking area :P

[Razzzor]

Originally Posted by Marbot

Hopefully, someone will be able to stop 'Goldfinger' from doing the treble.

And can someone please explain to me just How Raikkonen has managed to get that car that high up the leader board?

It's puzzling isn't it, he never really stands out that much to me and is often behind Grosjean. How the heck he's managed to get to 3rd in points is pretty amazing. I guess the same as Alonso.

Interesting that Webber's falling away a bit... that's 2 races now where he's failed to score any points, and he didn't really have any problems (apart the penalty dropping him out of 10th). He just hasn't had the pace of Vettel... what's going on there?

[Razzzor]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

If Vettel wins the next race and Alonso has a DNF that only gives Alonso a 4 point lead with 5 races still to go and you say Vettel is pretty much untouchable at the next 3 tracks.

Yeah but Vettel should be untouchable at Singapore too, but he was slightly slower than Hamilton and only barely faster than Button/Maldo/Alonso... so I don't know. But Vettel is very good at Japan and Korea.

It's a bit like 2009 and 2010 isn't it, with Vettel being at least one race win away from the points lead. The difference is this time he doesn't actually have the fastest car anymore, McLaren do. And everyone keeps somehow getting out of Alonso's way. I bet the McLarens are going to take a few potential wins away from fingerboy. I reckon it'll be close by the end of the year with Alonso/Vettel/Hamilton. What an interesting season!

[CTD]

I see no reason why McLaren and Hamilton's pace should drop down to allow Vettel to dominate the next 3 races!?

[davyboy]

Originally Posted by Adam43

On the podium Eddie Jordan tried to create more controversy out of this. Except Jenson didn't rise to it. That sounds like the sort of thing you'd appreciate.

Good on EJ ! Jenson looked like a slimy politician on the podium trying to squirm out of that one. Maybe he'd forgotten that whole world heard what he said on the radio. Apparently he called EJ a f**king pleb as he walked away but he's denying it this morning

[JamesH]

Originally Posted by TrapezeArtist

This race took the F1 habit of driving outside the track to a new high. Everyone was three-quarters off the track several times per lap. Massa took the whole thing to an even greater extreme during his battles with Senna and err someone else. Only Webber got a penalty, because he was a few millimetres further over than the rest, and despite the fact that he was barged off.

It is so UGLY!

Note that you are not off the track until all four wheels are outside the white line. Three quarters off the track = still on the track.

Happens in all forms of motorsport, and always has done.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Razzzor

Yeah but Vettel should be untouchable at Singapore too, but he was slightly slower than Hamilton and only barely faster than Button/Maldo/Alonso... so I don't know. But Vettel is very good at Japan and Korea.

It's a bit like 2009 and 2010 isn't it, with Vettel being at least one race win away from the points lead. The difference is this time he doesn't actually have the fastest car anymore, McLaren do. And everyone keeps somehow getting out of Alonso's way. I bet the McLarens are going to take a few potential wins away from fingerboy. I reckon it'll be close by the end of the year with Alonso/Vettel/Hamilton. What an interesting season!

Even If Alonso has a DNF in the next two races, which I think is unlikely and Vettel wins both, Vettel will only have a points lead of 21, with four races still to go.

[TrapezeArtist]

Originally Posted by JamesH

Note that you are not off the track until all four wheels are outside the white line. Three quarters off the track = still on the track.

Happens in all forms of motorsport, and always has done.

I don't dispute that the rules allow it. And when racing, I've taken full advantage. But I still think it looks ridiculous. In athletics, they don't say he only put one foot over the white line. In football, rugby, tennis, etc, on the line is in and over the line is out, but balls are relatively small. Cars are big. I think athletics provides the better analogy.

In reality, it would be far better if the track was delineated in a way that gave a disadvantage to driving off the track rather than an advantage. Concrete walls do that of course, but there are certain obvious disadvantages. I think we must discount greasy kerbs or a stinger run along the edge of the track. A small drop (25-50mm) off the tarmac onto grass would be a disincentive to running off the track and would make a track more aesthetically pleasing. Ever bigger and flatter kerbs are just treated as a part of the track.

[frostie]

On Sunday before the Singapore Grand Prix I sat down with Caterham's Technical Director Mark Smith to discuss matters ranging from the team's competitiveness to the future direction of driver safety. I found his thoughts on driver protection to be very interesting and the fact that he sees it being implemented as early as 2014 shows the desire for improvements in this area.
-----------------
Stephen English: Can you asses where the team is at present?

Mark Smith: At this type of circuit, and particularly at this circuit, it’s not a big surprise, particularly in the first practice session, to find ourselves where we were. We know what we are doing in terms of fuel load and our run programme.
Also for probably the last five or six races, certainly since Silverstone, we are trying to evaluate so much stuff in the first free practice session that inevitably what falls down the priority list is optimising the setup of the car. We’re still trying to do lots of evaluations on little pieces of the car and particularly anything to do with exhaust blowing which we cant model very well has to be on the car in that first free practice session. So it’s not a big surprise; we know that Marussia has closed the gap and have made lots of big progress.
I suppose what I am saying is that we are going to have to resist the urge to panic in the first practice session as there is that factor that we are not working too much on the car in that session. Also I think that with the car we have, in terms of downforce, I think that circuit evolution is a bigger factor for us. So as the circuit rubbers in we make better use of and the car works better in it relative to, potentially, some of the other cars.
I think that’s what we saw in FP2 and then FP3. I think as we gravitate towards qualifying, as long as we do our homework well, we end up where we should be as opposed to dropping the ball in some way. I think by and large it’s been a positive progression throughout the weekend so far.

Why does the car progress so much once the track rubbers in? Is it an inherit characteristic or is there something deeper?

I think that one of the factors is where you are in the downforce rankings influences how much sliding the tyres do versus how much traction they have. I think that certainly what we suffer from in the first two practice sessions compared towards FP3 and qualifying was that we were overheating the rear tyres and we were doing that primarily because of slip and sliding rather than gripping so I think that’s the key factor in it. If we had a bit more load at the beginning of the weekend, it would still be a factor, but the extent to which it would be a dominant factor [in performance] would change. I think for us at the moment it is a fairly dominant factor.

Is there much development planned for the last six races or is the plan to make a big jump in performance with next years evolution?

What we are trying to do, and we have been all season to be honest, is that when we have a performance advantage, and I guess our view is that would be about a tenth of a second, then we try and bring that to the race. Our aero gradient has been fairly constant at a certain number of points per week.
I think that you can either try and build it up in a big step or increment it on a steady basis. I think it’s just area under the curve that if you increment on a steady basis that you will ultimately get more from it. Obviously there are implications, logistical and cost, associated with that but I don’t think that we’ve done anything where we thought, “Well actually if we waited another race we could have rolled that up and been more cost effective.” With the budget that we have I think that we always try to do the most cost effective things anyway.

One of the reasons for this interview was that earlier in the year when I was talking with Heikki about the differences from a driver’s perspective of working with Renault and McLaren compared to now with Caterham. Obviously you have similar experience having worked with Renault. What are the main differences between the teams?

I’ve been fortunate to work with a few teams at different stages of their lifecycles. Jordan GP was day one of the project and when I initially joined Benetton it was in the throes of being handed over to Renault. If we took that team when I joined it in 2001 there team was fighting at the back of the grid with Minardi in qualifying. In reality it’s not like from that point on there was a massive change that swept through the organisation that allowed us to deliver.
There was an addition of good people and a steady development of the resources available over a number of years and I think stability was the key thing. There was an injection of new people into the organisation but what I see with us now is something that I saw then. That is that the core group that we have is a good group that will deliver. It’s very easy to forget how young the team is, and the other new teams. I know that on occasion when I talk to Eddie [Jordan] about this that his expectations were that one of the teams would have made a bigger step forward but it’s different now.
Even compared to my stint with Renault developments tended to be two or three big developments throughout the year but it’s really three, four or five years ago that we’ve had this change to every race where every team is looking to take changes to the car. The development rate is very high.
As with every other team we do statistical analysis of our performance compared to our competitors and if you take the three teams ahead of us-Toro Rosso, Williams and Force India-we are developing, broadly speaking at the same rate as them from the beginning of the season to now. Given the resources that we have I don’t think that’s too bad but obviously just matching them we’ll never catch people so somehow we have to make the jump and probably the biggest factor will be how much of a gain we can make in the close season.
Going back to your previous question we do plan on developing right up until the last race because for us there are so many key parts to the overall architecture of the car that are the same [for next season]. We have the same engine, the same gearbox and other factors that will mean that there isn’t a big architecture change for next year. This means that we can get new bits and pieces we will put them on because the development should be fairly continuous for next year.

Yes because I know that the team have announced that next year’s car will be an evolution of this year’s car as you look towards the major regulation shift in 2014.

That’s absolutely right. When John Illey joined us from McLaren [as chief designer] we looked at if there were any big conceptual things that we wanted to do. The technical group, before John’s arrival concluded that it would be more advantageous to develop the current car and evolve it, and when John joined he agreed. So we are reasonably confident that evolving the car is probably going to give us the best development curve.

We’re probably at the point of the law of diminishing returns now given that we’ve had stability for three years.

It is. I think that we’d all probably conclude that the reason that the whole grid, by and large, is closing up is because of regulation stability and it is diminishing returns and that’s another factor that should come into us closing the gap more because we are further back and have more potential gains to make so that’s our development plan for next year. Normally you make a big architectural change in the winter and you spend a couple of weeks in the winter flat lining [with no development progressing] and we are planning on avoiding that.

Obviously the team recently made the move to the old TWR facility in Leafield. How big a change is that going to make in allowing the team to move forward?

I think that it’s a very positive factor in a number of respects. First of all what we have now is a facility that isn’t restraining us in any respect. The design office will have all of its staff in the same area now as opposed to being spread throughout the building. It’s not something that can put your hand on and say, “That will give direct performance” but communication is benefits from that so it eases the whole operational aspects of the technical group and whenever I think of the facility the word potential springs to mind.
We have so much potential there that we never had before in the way that we operate. Right now it’s not as if it will turn a switch to give us performance but over the next six, twelve or eighteen months it will. It’s a very positive move and I think it’s well publicised that one of the reasons we wanted to move was because it was difficult to recruit and retain staff [in Norfolk]. I know that it’s a double edge sword and we’re now close to other teams who might want to target our guys but the net effect will be a gain.

From my perspective I’ve always been impressed by how Caterham have made aggressive steps to try and move up the grid. Compared to Marussia and HRT it always seems that you are looking to make that big jump and fight with the established teams. Even with Marussia making their big change at the start of the year by splitting with Nick Wirth Caterham have moved factories, spent money on Renault engines and KERS and a Red Bull gearbox it always seems that the aim is to make the big step forward.

Yes that’s absolutely right. We all know that we have to. It’s a source of massive frustration to everyone, we want more and we’re hungry for more. I can honestly say that we are working flat out and doing as much as we can with what we have. One of the solutions is to have a little more of whatever it is that we have. So as long as it’s done in a balanced and manageable way we will yield performance within a relative short time-frame and having made it will help.
One of the areas that we will move forward significantly this year is with the mechanical design of the car if you sat the two cars next to one another. I’m sure many people have been to the museum in DoningtonPark and it’s amazing how quickly a Formula 1 car dates and I think that contrast between our cars from this year and last is quite obvious. But that is enhanced by having a state of the art composite gearbox and KERS unit.
We’re fortunate to have those on the car that at the stage of the team’s life we just couldn’t have them on the car if we looked to do it ourselves. So it all does help and I think Tony’s approach to things is quite different. He’s definitely a go-getter and he’s inspirational to a lot of the guys on the project and it’s demonstrated, as you say, by the things that we do have on the car for a relatively young team that perhaps we wouldn’t have ordinarily.

How big of a hands on role does Tony have in the team? This weekend we saw a new CEO hired, is it a sign that he is taking a step back?

Not particularly, to be honest it’s probably the contrary. He has so much going on in his professional life anyway that trying to keep all the plates spinning must be a pretty incredible task! I do know that many months ago I walked around the Leafield facility, way before we made any commitments, and it had a certain image. It was a tired building that hadn’t been maintained and so forth but I know when Tony recently came to have a look around he was really excited by the whole thing. I think that it will be part of his vision for the whole Caterham Automotive Group and he sees the potential of that side. So I think that we’re probably more likely to see more of Tony than we have in the past.

What’s the headcount in the factory right now?

We’re only a little over 200 on the Formula 1 side and I think by the time that more of the manufacturing, there is still some in Norfolk, moves to Leafield it will bring us to the 250 mark.

The main reason that I was asking was that from talking to Heikki he has told me that working at the track Caterham is as good as anyone that he’s worked with but with a smaller group at the factory it’s impossible to keep pace with the McLaren’s or the Red Bull’s of the sport.

Yeah it does. One of the hurdles that we had in Norfolk was that, rightly or wrongly, it was difficult to attract people but now that has significantly changed and we have had people approach us looking to join.

At the Italian Grand Prix Luca di Montezemolo talked about trying to bring back budget caps to the discussion tables for F1. Do you think that it is something feasible for the sport?

I think anything is feasible it’s just whether or not there is a will to do it. I always find it interesting to listen to commentaries from time to time from perhaps teams who are wealthier about how they support cost reduction and maintaining a certain level of cost control. I don’t see how it’s not possible but I know and appreciate that it’s not easy. There’s not a rigid boundary that we could police across every transaction. Obviously for Caterham we would welcome a levelling of the playing field in that respect and I would think that if the will was there it could be done but I’m not sure that the will is universal.

Yes that’s how I feel about it as well. It’s fine for Ferrari to talk in those terms right now but obviously when they get into a title fight with those restrictions we would probably just see a repeat of the Resource Restrictions Agreement with teams searching for loopholes to find more performance.

It’s perfectly understandable. Every team, and there are categories of teams, has its own pressures from different directions. Whether it’s from a board of directors from a manufacturer or a small team fighting for survival every team has its own angles and pressures to succeed. Whether it’s us at the back of the field, where the pressure is significant, or a team further up the grid it’s all relative.
We all want to have as much resources as possible to get the job done. Personally I can’t recall too many occasions where the whole of Formula 1 world has stepped outside and looked at the global show and decided that this was the best thing for the sport. We all try to do what’s right for us and it’s natural.

Exactly when each team has its own shareholders and stakeholders in each team they would look to do what’s best for them. Looking towards next season again has there been any progress in resigning Heikki?

That’s not something that I’m involved with.

OK. We saw at Spa that the issue of cockpit protection came back to the centre of attention with Fernando’s near miss. Have you heard much about that being implemented in the next couple of years or is the FIA still evaluating the best way to implement it?

There is a very serious intent to do something to improve the scope of protection for the driver because ultimately it is just a probability thing that we will end up with a serious injury that none of us want. It won’t be next year because the timescale for completing evaluations and integrating them into the chassis design is running away but I firmly believe that for 2014 we’ll see something.

That soon?

Yes, there will be a significant step forward in driver head protection. That’s me, not an FIA response obviously, but I think that from the work that we are doing and the added impetuous of the Spa incident that I’d be amazed if in 2014 that we didn’t have something to improve the situation.

What do you think that it will be?

Genuinely I don’t know. We all want to maintain as much of the single seat Formula 1 tradition that we can. What’s acceptable in terms of risks however changes with time. I think that a side protection rather than a canopy [would be best]. But again that’s only my expectations. Towards the end of the year I would thing that the situation will become clearer.

Obviously we’ve seen the mock-ups of the roll hoops in front of the driver to deflect a wheel but the driver will lose visibility with that so it’s not an ideal solution to the issue and just removes one issue by adding another.

I think that whatever we do it has to be fully integrated into the chassis. We’re all a little bit wary of add-ons and anything really that inadvertently will create an issue with trapping a driver inside the car. This is why I suspect that something that gives more side protection would be best. It obviously wouldn’t solve the issue of an object striking from the front but I think that it would be a significant step forward from where we are. I also don’t think that we would significantly lose the feel of a single seater.

I’ve been impressed that it’s three years since Felipe’s crash in Hungary and Henry Surtees death in F2 [after being struck on the head by a loose wheel at Brands Hatch] and the FIA are evaluating options rather than having brought in a knee jerk solution to the problem.

The encouraging thing is that when you look at a typical Technical Working Group meeting obviously each team has it’s own angle or agenda point on whether something is beneficial for them or not but when it comes to safety that is where you really do see teams buying into far more things even if they don’t particularly like something it isn’t a factor. The question is how much it will help.
The teams do work together on that along with the FIA research for evaluations by giving donor parts and making test pieces. It could be teams testing things for visibility in the simulator. Teams do buy into that and I think that the time scale doesn’t draw out because of a lack of impetus it is, as you said, the will to do it properly and not to knee jerk and do something that could create other issues. This is why it’s my expectation that in 2014 we’ll have something in place.

That's great. Thanks for taking the time to speak with me Mark and best of luck this weekend.

No problem.

[Knowlesy]

I am with you on this Trapeze. It is an ugly sight.

I shudder when people talk about Kubica vs Massa at Fuji 2007 as the defining battle of our time, for example. Those two waged the vast majority of their battle on tarmac runoff areas.