Caterham F1 Era End

maocheng

Belgian Grand Prix - FP3 &                                                    Qualifying                                                   

• Added: Sat 27 Aug, 2011

   
                        

FP3 & QUALIFYING

Team Lotus Information


Sum invested in 2010 by GE in intellectual content: $6billion


Team Lotus Facebook fans: 111,798


Go to www.teamdellracing.comto see how Team Lotus has the power to domore withDell               






Weather
Mixed: Overcast, rain
Min / max air temperature: 14˚   /19˚
Min / max track temperature: 15˚ / 21˚




Positions / fastest laps


FP3


KOV 12th, 2.13.036 (lap 13) / TRU 18th, 2.14.682 (lap10)


QUALIFYING


Q1


KOV 16th, 2.06.780 (lap 8) / TRU 19th, 2.08.773 (lap5)


Q2


KOV 17th, 2.08.354 (lap 6)


Total laps


FP3


KOV: 15 / TRU: 11


QUALIFYING


Q1


KOV: 9 / TRU: 8


Q2


KOV: 7




Runplan
Driver: Jarno Trulli
Chassis: T128-01   
FP3
1103 - 1107: Installation, 1 lap (wet tyres)
1107 - 1129: System checks / heavy rain, front brakeblanking adjusted
1129 - 1140: Run 2, 4 laps (wet tyres)
1140 - 1148: Adjustment - front brake blanking
1148 - 1203: Run 3, 6 laps (intermediate tyres)


Qualifying
Q1
1401 - 1414: Run 1, 6 laps (intermediate tyres)
1414 - 1416: Refuel, front wing flap adjusted
1416 - 1422: Run 2, 2 laps (intermediate tyres) Finished19th


Runplan
Driver: Heikki Kovalainen
Chassis: T128-04   
FP3
1103 - 1107: Installation, 1 lap (wet tyres)
1107 - 1129: System checks / heavy rain, front brakeblanking adjusted
1129 - 1149: Run 2, 8 laps (wet tyres)
1149 - 1151: Change to intermediate tyres
1151 - 1206: Run 3, 6 laps (intermediate tyres)


Qualifying
Q1
1401 - 1414: Run 1, 6 laps (intermediate tyres)
1414 - 1416: Refuel
1416 - 1423: Run 2, 3 laps (intermediate tyres) Finished16th


Q2
1427 - 1437: Run 1, 3 laps (intermediate tyres) / (redflag)
1437 - 1441: Refuel
1441 - 1450: Run 2, 4 laps (intermediate tyres) Finished17th


Heikki Kovalainen, Car 20 - Chassis T128-04: "I think wecan be very pleased with the performance today. That last lap in Q1was as much as I could get out of the car and to get back into Q2is obviously a great result for the whole team. We had the rightplan for the conditions, put it into action on track and it paidoff. I don't think I could have got any more out of the packagetoday, so finishing where we did goes down as objective achievedfor today. It looks like it'll be a dry race tomorrow, and I thinkthe key for us is to make sure both cars finish. If we can do that,be there to take advantage of anything that happens, and leave Spahaving got into Q2 and had a solid race, this will go down as agood weekend for us."


Jarno Trulli, Car 21 - Chassis T128-01: "Another good dayfor the team and congratulations for Heikki for getting back intoQ2. For me it was looking pretty good until traffic pretty muchruined my second run, but the car felt good as the track was dryingup and we were definitely on the right strategy for the conditionsso it's a shame we couldn't make the most of it, but wheneveryone's out like that trying to get times in you're always goingto have some issues with traffic, and it's unlucky it hit my lastrun in Q1 today."


Thierry Salvi, Renault Sport F1 Support Leader: "From ourperspective that goes down as a good day. Heikki drove very well inthe conditions and to put his car into the second qualifyingsession was a good result for the whole team. It is a shame Jarnohad traffic on his last run as he had a chance of getting into Q2as well, but I think we achieved what we wanted to in both sessionsso that is very satisfying."


Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer: "That was anexciting qualifying session for us! Obviously it was great forHeikki to get into Q2 and it was particularly impressive as he washeld up in the last corner in Q1 so had more time to come from thatlap. I think Jarno would have got into Q2 as well but he was heldup on his last run but despite that we can be very satisfied withthe effort of the whole team and now we are looking forward to astrong race tomorrow."


Riad Asmat, Group CEO: "I am delighted with today'sperformance from right across the whole team. We had worked thismorning on turning the cars around quickly in the garage to takeadvantage of whatever the weather threw at us in qualifying and itpaid dividends with a good use of strategy, some great driving andvery solid teamwork to put Heikki into Q2. Jarno was on course tojoin him as well but suffered from traffic, so with the goodreliability we have had all weekend, a very good performance today,now we want to put together the perfect weekend for us and have aclean, problem free Sunday."

maocheng

BELGIAN GRAND PRIX 2011

Team Lotus Information
Weight of lightest ever Caterham Seven: < 400kgs   
Number of patents filed by GE in 2010: >2,900   
Global page views on CNN.com in May 2011: 1.6billion               


Weather
Overcast
Min / max air temp: 17&#730; / 19&#730;
Max track temperature: 21&#730;  / 27&#730;


Runplan
Driver: Jarno Trulli
Chassis: T128-01   
1332: Car leaves for grid / 2 laps
1345: Pitlane closes
1359: Fire up
1401: Lights out - start on option tyres
Lap 14: Pitstop 1, option tyres
Lap 32: Pitstop 2, prime tyres
Finished 14th


Runplan
Driver: Heikki Kovalainen
Chassis: T128-04   
1330: Car leaves for grid / 2 laps
1345: Pitlane closes
1359: Fire up
1401: Lights out - start on option tyres
Lap 1: Pitstop 1, option tyres, new nose
Lap 14: Pitstop 2, option tyres
Lap 33: Pitstop 3, prime tyres
Finished 15th


Jarno Trulli, Car 21 - Chassis T128-01: "For me and thewhole team that was a really good race. I had a great start,passing a few other cars away from the line but then the accidentin T1 meant both Heikki and I suffered damage - him to hisnosecone, me to the floor and I had to run the whole race with thatdamage, so to finish 14th after that is just fantastic. Apart fromthe start I enjoyed the whole race - I passed a number of cars andwhen the safety car came out I was able to close the gap to thecars ahead. That gave me the chance to fight with the Renault and Ipassed him and was then able to keep pace with the other guysahead. One of the best points of the race was the first stop I made- I came in just behind one of the HRTs and the pitcrew did abrilliant job to get me out fast enough to pass him in the pitlane,so I want to thank them and the whole team for a really solidweekend. Racing like this, with no problems and with a car I canfight with all afternoon is very satisfying, so now I can't wait toget back in when we get to Italy and keep up the momentum we'vebuilt up here."
Heikki Kovalainen, Car 20 - Chassis T128-04: "That was agood race for us, obviously apart from the start! I got off theline well but it all tightened up at the first corner and I touchedJarno after someone else had hit me - I was caught in a bit of asandwich but after I'd pitted and had a new nose it all went prettywell from there. The soft tyres weren't working quite as well asthe mediums, but I was still able to push and the main thing is wehad a two car finish in strong positions, so that's a good end tothe weekend."
Thierry Salvi, Renault Sport F1 Support Leader: "We can bevery pleased with the result today. Our race performance was goodand we were able to show that the setups we had worked on in thepractice sessions were right for today, giving us the chance tofight and manage the tyres well all afternoon. We enjoy races likethis!"
Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer: "That is a verygood result for the whole team today and goes down as one of ourstrongest performances since we came into the sport. We had a poorstart where both cars were last after making contact in the firstcorner but we recovered very well, and to have finished in 14th and15th after that is very pleasing. Both drivers were excellenttoday, but the pitcrew deserve special praise for having taken amassive step forward in their performance. All our stops wereexactly what we needed so congratulations to them for a job verywell done today."
Riad Asmat, Group CEO: "I want to thank the whole team fortoday's performance, and the jobs everyone has done all weekend.The main aim was to make sure both cars saw the chequered flag, andwe wanted to be in the mix to take advantage of any opportunitiesthat presented themselves and finish as high as we could reasonablyexpect. 14th and 15th means we achieved that, and everyone playedtheir part in making sure we leave Spa on a high, so this goes downas a very good weekend."

maocheng

Monza preview                                                   

• Added: Fri 2 Sep, 2011

   
                        

2011 Italian Grand Prix View

2010 Timing
Qualifying
P1  ALO 1.21.962 Q3
P2  BUT 1.22.084 Q3
P3  MAS 1.22.293 Q3
TL best  P18 TRU 1.25.540 Q1

Race
P1  ALO 1.24.139 L52
P2  VET 1.24.598 L46
P3  MAS 1.24.575 L51
TL best  P18 KOV 1.27.822 L50

Quick description
Long and low downforce circuit with the highest top speed of theseason
Additional kerbs behind the old kerbs in both chicanes in 2009(different ride requirements)
It is possible to overtake with good top speed
Fuel effect below average
High brake energy but high cooling rate so not big issue forbrake wear in general
Braking stability is important
Radio and DST coverage could be a problem around T4 to T7

Typical balance issue
Braking stability is usually the main issue

Gears ratio (1st gear/others)
1st gear used in T1
Longer 3rd gear usually needed for T6 / T7

Circuit particularity
Bumpiness: Medium
Overtaking chance   T1
Kerbs: Medium
RH setting particularity: None

Sensitivities
Engine severity: Very high
GBX severity: Low
Lat/Long grip: Medium
Aero eff ratio: Very high

Track and base setup
Track grip evo during WE: High
Aero settings: Very low
Brake wear severity: Medium
Brake cooling necessity: Medium / low

Team Lotus Partners
Pirelli tyre compounds in Italy: Medium / Soft

Heikki Kovalainen, Car 20 - Chassis T128-04: "Monza is anotherdifferent challenge for us and it'll be good going there on theback of such a strong weekend in Spa. It has different downforcerequirements to most of the rest of the tracks we race on, butwe'll go there with the same sort of aggressive strategy we usedwell in Spa to put us into Q2.
"For Monza you'll hear a lot of the drivers talking about howone of the keys to a quick lap is how well you use the kerbs.Getting over them as efficiently as possible helps minimise theoverall length of the lap and it might only be fractions ofseconds, but shortcutting as much as you can, obviously within therules and as much as the car can take, saves time and helps youmaintain momentum onto the straights. To the viewer on TV and evenat the track the kerbs don't look all that hardcore, but whenyou're in the car you hit them pretty hard and you need to be readyfor it to get out of shape and even start to snap away from you.We'll work on Friday on getting the setup right to give us maximumspeed on the straights and enough compliance in the suspension toreally be able to attack under braking and into each corner. I'm looking forward to it - it's a classic track and the Tifosi areamong the most passionate fans anywhere, so it's a good place toend the European leg of the season."

Jarno Trulli, Car 21 - Chassis T128-01: "Monza's a funny one forme.
As an Italian everyone expects it to be the most special race ofthe season for me but really it's not. I can't really afford totreat it differently to any other race as I want to make sure I canfocus on the job every day I'm on track, and even though there's alot of fans in the stands, and friends and family around thepaddock, I always try and treat it like any other race. Obviously the good thing for me is that it's close to my home, so Ido get to catch up with lots of people who I don't normally havetime to see, but ever since I started racing I was nearly alwaysabroad, so while it's obviously my home race it's not one Iapproach differently to any others.
"From a technical perspective Monza's not the most technicaltrack, but it's still critical to have the car balanced so you canattack the kerbs and be really confident under braking,particularly into the first chicane as that's the most obviousovertaking opportunity.
The car felt really good in Spa, and I know we have the revisedpower steering system I used in Hungary back for this race, so Ithink we'll be ok. We had very strong race pace in Belgium, and ifwe can carry on like that in Italy we'll be just fine."

David Mart, Renault Sport F1 Engine Engineer: "Italy is thetoughest circuit of the year for engines due to the high percentageof wide open throttle time per lap. 75% of the 5.793km lap is spentat full throttle and near maximum revs - it's comparable to highspeed oval racing in the States. As such we need to create enginemaps that allow the engine to work well at the top of the revs,from 16,000rpm to 18,000rpm, with a smooth power delivery whichpeaks to a maximum obtainable from a 2.4 litre naturally-aspiratedV8 engine, to ensure that the car doesn't get out of shape and cango as quickly as possible."

Tony Fernandes, Team Principal: "I am delighted to be back ontrack after having had to miss a couple of races due to what hasprobably been the busiest summer of my working career! Despite notbeing on track I have been keeping up with everything that has beengoing on, both at the factory and the races, and it was verypleasing to see the team have such a strong weekend in Spa after adisappointing couple of races before the break. The factory staffwere working right up until Friday night of the Belgian raceweekend on reliability fixes, to ensure we did not see a repeat ofthe problems we had in Hungary and Germany, so the fact both carsfinished well, particularly after being involved in the collisionsat the first corner, is testament to a job very well done by thefactory team.
"Monza gives us another chance to keep edging towards the teamsahead before we go back to the Far East and what is really ourthird home race in Singapore. This weekend we are not going to bechallenging the teams ahead quite yet in outright pace, but cleveruse of strategy and very strong drives from both Heikki and Jarnogives us a chance to hold our own in the race, so the target forMonza has to be to maintain the reliability record established inSpa and look for another two car finish at the chequered flag, ashigh as we can reasonably hope. That is a realistic target, andthat is the approach we bring to everything related to our team.The plans for the future development of the team, and the group itsits in, are taking shape eactly as we want them to and we aresetting ourselves reasonable goals that can be achieved throughhard work, innovation and a little bit of luck."

Track guide: The Italian Grand Prix in Monza brings to a closethe European Formula 1 season at another historic venue, madefamous by countless heroes of previous championships and with theessence of Italian motor racing embedded into the tarmac. Thecircuit's current guise puts an emphasis on aerodynamic performanceand with the two DRS zones active during the race weekend, fans canexpect to see a huge amount of overtaking throughout every session.The temperatures are expected to be very hot, with Italy havingbeen subjected to an intense heatwave over the last few weeks, sohow the teams manage the increased level of tyre degradation willdefinitely play a major role in how they fare in qualifying and therace itself.

maocheng

Italian Grand Prix - FP1 & FP2                                                   

• Added: Fri 9 Sep, 2011

   
                        

ITALIAN GRAND PRIX 2011 - FP1 / FP2

Team Lotus Information   
Maximum width of a 2011 F1 car: 1800mm
Number of G20 governments using Dell equipment: All 20
Amount of the world's power created by GE power generationequipment:25%

Weather
Sun
Min / max air temperature: 21° / 31°
Min / max track temperature: 22° / 41°
Fastest laps / positions   
FP1KOV 19th, 1.29.539 (lap 8) / CHA 20th, 1.30.148 (lap 18)
FP2TRU 18th 1.28.559 (lap 22) / KOV 19th, 1.28.605 (lap 25)   

Total laps   
FP1KOV: 10 / CHA: 19
FP2TRU: 32 / KOV: 32               

Runplan
FP1: Karun Chandhok
FP2: Jarno Trulli
Chassis: T128-03
FP1: Karun Chandhok
0959 - 1002: Installation, 1 lap
1002 - 1027: System checks, front wing flap & brake blankingadjusted
1027 - 1029: Run 2, 1 lap
1029 - 1038: System checks, front wing flap, brake balance, brakeblanking
1038 - 1050: Run 3, 7 laps
1050 - 1107: Adjustments - brake blanking
1107 - 1124: Run 4, 10 laps

FP2: Jarno Trulli
1400 - 1409: Run 1, 5 laps
1409 - 1424: Adjustments - front wing flap / rear rideheight
1424 - 1439: Run 2, 8 laps
1439 - 1448: Adjustments - front wing flap, front torsionbar
1448 - 1456: Run 3, 4 laps
1456 - 1501: Adjustments - front wing flap
1501 - 1511: Run 4, 6 laps
1511 - 1517: Adjustments - rear wing / long run fuel
1517 - 1533: Run 5, 9 laps

Runplan
Heikki Kovalainen
Chassis: T128-04   
FP1
0959 - 1002: Installation, 1 lap
1002 - 1031 5601: System checks, front wing, brake balance
1031 - 1045: Run 2, 8 laps
1045 - 1055: Adjustments: rear wing
1055 - 1056: Run 3, 1 lap: gearbox issue ends session

FP2
1400 - 1412: Run 1, 8 laps
1412 - 1428: Adjustments - front wing, rear ride height
1428 - 1446: Run 2, 11 laps
1446 - 1452: Adjustments - front wing flap
1452 - 1504: Run 3, 7 laps
1504 - 1515: Adjustments - front wing flap / long run fuel
1515 - 1526: Run 4, 6 laps

Karun Chandhok, Chassis T128-03 (FP1): "I'm pretty pleased withthe performance this morning. The car felt OK from the first lapsand it was good to get some more time under my belt in the cockpit.Friday mornings are always pretty limited running, particularlywhen the track's got that light covering of dust on it, but today Iwas focusing on some aero evaluation and we got through thatprogram so I think I did ok today."
Heikki Kovalainen, Car 20 - Chassis T128-04: "That wasn't toobad but we can definitely improve. This morning's session wasbrought to an early end with a sensor issue on the gearbox and Iwas given the instruction to pull over when the engine temperaturesstarted rising.This afternoon we worked on both sets of tyres and Ithink the softs are ok but we weren't really able to get the bestout the mediums which gave us some areas to work on tonight onimproving overall grip."
Jarno Trulli, Car 21 - Chassis T128-03: "That was a trouble freeFriday afternoon for me but honestly I'm not all that happy withthe balance of the car at the moment. There's quite a lot ofundersteer on turn-in and through the exit of the corners and weneed to work on dialling that out to find more speed. There'sdefinitely more to come and we've shown all season we can take goodsteps forward from Friday to Saturday, so I think we'll be oktomorrow."
Thierry Salvi, Renault Sport F1 Support Leader: "This morning weworked with Karun on engine mapping and he did a good job for uscollecting a lot of data we can use on both race cars thisweekend.The chassis he was in, which reverted to Jarno for theafternoon session, completed decent mileage throughout bothsessions, but this afternoon we struggled a bit with Jarno in thecar, and we need to spend some time this evening to make sure wecan progress for FP3 and qualifying."
Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer: "That was a bit of adifficult Friday for us.  It started well this morning withKarun doing a good job running through an aero evaluation programand it was good for him to have a full session in the dry. For therace drivers, the main problem today was getting heat into theharder tyres and I think we may find that improves with increasingthe downforce levels tomorrow. Both Jarno and Heikki were reportingthat they could not find enough grip and as that is linked to bothtyre performance and the downforce package the goal is to solvethat for tomorrow and unlock the speed we know is in the car forqualifying."
Riad Asmat, Group CEO: "That was not one of our best Fridays.Despite completing a pretty decent number of laps we struggled tofind grip on both cars all day so the main challenge now is for theengineers to work through the data that we have accumulated andimprove our speed tomorrow. We know we can increase performancelevels in all areas for FP3, qualifying and the race, and that isthe focus now for the remaining sessions."

maocheng

Saturday at Monza                                                   

• Added: Sat 10 Sep, 2011

   
                        

FP3 & QUALIFYING

Team Lotus Information  


Amount of sports new programming broadcast each year onCNN: > 1,000 hours


Number of days a Caterham 7 spends on the production line:11


Go to www.teamdellracing.comto see how Team Lotus has the power to
do more withDell               






Weather  


Sun


Min / max air temperature: 27&#730;   /31&#730;


Min / max track temperature: 30&#730; / 43&#730;




Positions / fastest laps


FP3


TRU 19th, 1.27.328 (lap 18) / KOV 20th, 1.27.491 (lap20)


QUALIFYING


Q1


TRU 19th, 1.26.647 (lap 10) / KOV 20th, 1.27.184 (lap12)




Total laps


FP3


TRU: 19 / KOV: 21


QUALIFYING


Q1


TRU: 12 / KOV: 13




Runplan
Driver: Jarno Trulli
Chassis:T128-03   
FP3
1100 - 1102: Installation, 1 lap
1102 - 1110: System checks
1110 - 1122: Run 2, 7 laps
1122 - 1135: Adjustments - front wing flap
1135 - 1143: Run 3, 4 laps
1143 - 1150: Adjustments - front wing flap 1150 - 1202:Run 4, 7 laps


Qualifying
Q1
1359 - 1409: Run 1, 6 laps
1409 - 1413: Refuel
1413 - 1422: Run 2, 6 laps
Finished 19th




Runplan
Driver: Heikki Kovalainen
Chassis:T128-04   
FP3
1059 - 1102: Installation, 1 lap
1102 - 1110: System checks
1110 - 1121: Run 2, 7 laps
1121 - 1129: Adjustments - front torsion bar, frontanti-roll bar
1129 - 1141: Run 3, 7 laps
1141 - 1147: Adjustments - front anti-roll bar
1147 - 1158: Run 4, 6 laps


Qualifying
Q1
1400 - 1410: Run 1, 6 laps
1410 - 1412: Refuel
1412 - 1423: Run 2, 7 laps
Finished 20th






Jarno Trulli, Car 21 - Chassis T128-03: "I'm really happywith the job the team has done today and I think I got the most Icould out of the car, particularly on the second run. There's onlyreally one line here in Monza - it's not a particularly technicalcircuit but you need to be extremely precise and with the powersteering system we had in Hungary back on the car I'm able to feelmy way around the whole lap, which gives me the chance to put inlaps like I did to get into the 1.26s. The car has definitelyimproved since yesterday - we found the balance we were strugglingfor in FP1 and FP2 and I think that puts us in a good place for therace tomorrow."


Heikki Kovalainen, Car 20 - Chassis T128-04: ""The carfelt good today but I struggled a bit to get the ultimate lap timeout of it this afternoon. I don't really know why so I'll have alook at the data with the engineers and see where we could findsome time, but the good thing is that we have definitely improvedsince yesterday which shows we keep on going in a positivedirection all the time. Even after that I think we didn't qualifytoo badly and are in a reasonable position to fight tomorrow. Jarnois strong here and it will be a good battle with him tomorrow. Theimportant thing is to keep the gap to the guys behind us and lookahead, not behind. I think we'll be ok."
Thierry Salvi, Renault Sport F1 Support Leader: "It hasbeen quite a good day for us. Overnight we quite substantiallychanged the setups on the cars which gave us a fair amount of workto do in FP3, but it looks like that has paid off as the feedbackfrom both drivers has been much more positive today. Jarno wasparticularly strong on his home track in qualifying, and I think heand Heikki will both be in a good position to fighttomorrow."


Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer: "After yesterday Ithink that was a pretty good qualifying session. We finally foundthe performance we knew was in the car and with both drivers happywith the balance we can be pleased with the job we did overnightand this morning. Jarno in particular was much more happy with hiscar and he could have found a few more tenths on his quickest lapbut for the traffic that held him up in the final sector. Heikkiwas not quite as happy with the balance of his car, but he also putin a good performance, as did the whole team, to get the best outof what we have today and now we look forward to a strong race anda solid two car finish tomorrow."


Tony Fernandes, Team Principal: "Firstly I am thrilled tobe back on track after a few races away - nothing beats F1 and I amvery pleased with the performance today. Last night I was a littlenervous after a slightly disappointing Friday, but we had a goodconversation with the whole team and I think we did very welltoday. This is the type of track where KERS plays an important roleand without that this year we are always going to struggle, but tohave kept a respectable gap to some of the teams ahead is quitepleasing. I noticed some of what Eddie Jordan said on the BBC thisafternoon and I take that sort of comment as a positive - he is notalone in wanting to see us keep moving further up but Rome was notbuilt in a day and our plan has always been worked out over thelong-term. We cannot rush this and we always knew that securingtenth place in the first two seasons would give us the platform tobuild for a secure future, so we are on target to achieve that.Over the next few weeks we will unveil some more of the plans fornext season and beyond, and having seen the development plan fornext year's car I am confident the foundations we have laid willhelp us reach where we want to be. Hopefully in yearsto come people with the experience of Eddie will be proud of whatwe have achieved, and we will take his comments as a positive forcefor us to keep pushing on."

maocheng

Team Lotus has today announced that it has extended Jarno Trulli's contract to take the Italian into his third season with the Anglo / Malaysian squad. Jarno was first confirmed alongside Heikki Kovalainen in late 2009 and has played an integral role in the development of the team from its entry into the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship to its current position in 2011, closing the gap to the established teams ahead and laying the foundations for a long-term challenge for the ultimate Formula One honours.

Tony Fernandes, Team Lotus Team Principal, gave his thoughts on Jarno's extended relationship with the team: "We are all delighted that we have been able to reach an agreement to keep Jarno on board for at least one more year with our team. He has shown in qualifying in Monza just how much pace he has and how he can wring every last drop of performance out of his car and since day one with us he has brought a level of professionalism, insight and raw speed to our team that has helped accelerate our development on and off track. Today's announcement will give us the benefit of his experience and knowledge into 2012, another very important year in the growth of our team."

Jarno added his comments, saying: "I am very pleased that we have been able to confirm today that my contract with Team Lotus has been extended into 2012. The challenge I first accepted when I joined the team is becoming more exciting every day, and I am very proud that I can keep helping the team take steps forward for at least another year. I would like to thank Tony, Kamarudin and Nasa for the chance to keep working with them, Riad, Mike and the whole team and I am looking forward to the challenges that lay ahead."

maocheng

Sunday at Monza                                                   

• Added: Sun 11 Sep, 2011

   
                        

ITALIAN GRAND PRIX 2011

Team Lotus Information
Weight of lightest ever Caterham Seven: < 400 kgs
Number of patents filed by GE in 2010: >2,900  
Global page views on CNN.com in May 2011: 1.6billion               

Weather
Sun
Min / max air temp: 29&#730; / 30&#730;
Min / max track temperature: 40&#730; / 40&#730;

Runplan
Driver: Jarno Trulli
Chassis: T128-01   
1331: Car leaves for grid / 2 laps
1345: Pitlane closes
1359: Fire up
1401: Lights out
Lap 5: Pitstop 1, new nose Lap
25: Pitstop 2
Finished 14th

Runplan
Driver: Heikki Kovalainen
Chassis: T128-04   
1331: Car leaves for grid / 2 laps
1345: Pitlane closes
1359: Fire up
1401: Lights out - start on option tyres
Lap 21: Pitstop 1
Lap 35: Pitstop 2
Finished 13th
Heikki Kovalainen, Car 20 - Chassis T128-04: "I had a greatstart, passing Jarno and then seeing the HRT coming into T1 in apretty hardcore style so I avoided that and was then up into a goodposition early on. I managed to hold that place for a good numberof laps and found the tyre degradation pretty easy to manage. Thepitstops were really good today - the calls to come in were made atthe right times and the whole crew did a great job to get me out soquickly, so thanks to them and the whole team for a good end to theweekend."
Jarno Trulli, Car 21 - Chassis T128-03: "For once I didn't havea great start but I managed to avoid the crash at the first cornerand luckily Heikki and I were able to get through that and avoiddamaging our cars. While I was racing Heikki, I think Massa gotinto trouble into the first chicane, so I had to go off track toavoid hitting him. When I rejoined the track he shut the door onme, so I went down the inside, kept flat out and managed toovertake him. Then, going into the first corner I had two fastercars behind me with KERS - they had just pressed the button andwhile going into the second corner Massa lost the car under brakingand hit me which forced me into the car next to me,  damagingthe front end of the car and the front wing. It was really unluckyas I was basically in a sandwich and I was the only one that wasdamaged! The team did a great job to bring me in , change the noseand then rethink the strategy, switching me to one stop strategypretty much straight away. From there my lap times were really goodand I enjoyed the whole of the rest of the race. I'm really happyabout the performance today and the pace was excellent allafternoon. In fact, throughout the whole weekend I have been veryhappy with the pace of the car overall and this morning's newsabout next year's contract has made this a fantastic home race forme - thanks to the whole team for that!"
Thierry Salvi, Renault Sport F1 Support Leader: "From the engineperspective that was a pretty tough race but one that we are verypleased to have finished so well. Jarno's pace today was reallygood - he was easily able to pull away from Timo once he passed himand to have both cars finishing so closely together after theincident Jarno had is a very positive result. Monza is extremelytesting for the engines as the drivers spend so long at fullthrottle, but we managed to get both cars home without any problemsso that is a good afternoon for us and the whole team."
Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer: "That was a great racefor us. Both drivers managed to avoid the carnage at the start butthen Jarno lost a bit of time early on after being hit by Massa.That incident meant we had to bring him in to change his frontwing, putting him back a few places but we switched his strategyand put him onto a long stint on the soft tyres tyres beforechanging to the mediums. That change, and the fact he was pushingthroughout the whole race, helped him get back in front of hisdirect opposition and he did well to finish 14th. Heikki was alsostrong all afternoon and was holding the places he had gained atthe start as long as he possibly could - we are all delighted thathe brought his car home in 13th without any issues at all as thatwas the primary goal for today. After a difficult Friday thisperformance was a great recovery from the team to show how we canbounce back from a difficult start to the weekend. It is been anextremely positive result which sets us up well for Singapore, sowell done to everyone."
Tony Fernandes, Team Principal: "It has been a great day forTeam Lotus and, for me, about the best race I have been to so far!To come 13th and 14th at Monza is way above my expectations so I amvery proud of both drivers and the whole team. Obviously the racehad a number of incidents which helped our final grid positions,but there are two key points for us to take out of today - we werethere at the end to take the advantage of the positions that wereavailable and our pace over the race distance was strong enough tokeep up with a number of the established teams. Both Heikki andJarno did an absolutely fantastic job throughout the wholeafternoon and they were helped by the pitstop crew who performedbrilliantly, and the engineers who made the right calls at theright times. Well done to all. This has been a pivotal few days forour team and we will be making anumber of announcements over thenext few weeks that will show just how well we have laid thefoundations for the future of our team. But now for me it is backto London and Loftus Road!"

飘神

team lotus明年可能会换名字哦

maocheng

team lotus明年可能会换名字哦
飘神 发表于 14-9-2011 10:27

    可能换去caterham

飘神

可能换去caterham
maocheng 发表于 14-9-2011 12:09 PM

对咯。。有点可惜..

maocheng

回复 994# 飘神


    等多几个星期， ＴＬ会宣布ＦＵＴＵＲＥ　ＰＬＡＮ。。。

maocheng

2011 SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX VIEW

2010 Qualify Result
P1 &#160;ALO 1.45.390 Q3
P2 &#160;VET 1.45.457 Q3
P3 &#160;HAM 1.45.571 Q3
TL best P19 KOV 1.50.915 Q1

2010 Race Result
P1 &#160;ALO 1.47.976 L58
P2 &#160;VET 1.48.141 L59
P3 &#160;WEB 1.49.706 L54
TL best P16 KOV 1.53.051 L53

Quick description
Still very bumpy, even after resurfacing in 2010, especially T13-14
Needs high ride height to avoid bottoming out / excessive plank wear and max. suspension travel
Hard on brakes for temperatures but wear is not usually an issue
High downforce track
Braking stability and traction are the major balance issues
Difficult to overtake
Very hot and humid climate
Very high fuel effect and high start fuel load
Braking stability and traction are the major balance issues

Gears ratio (1st gear/others)
1st gear used in T3 and T13 / Long 1st gear needed for launch

Circuit particularity
Bumpiness: Very high
Overtaking chance: Low
Kerbs: Medium / High
Lat/Long grip: Longitudinal
Aero eff ratio: Low

Sensitivities
Engine severity: Low
GBX severity: Highest
RH setting particularity: High RH for bumps

Track and base setup
Track grip evo during WE: Very high
Aero settings: Very high (max)
Brake wear severity: High
Brake cooling necessity: High

Team Lotus Partners
Pirelli tyre compounds in Singapore: Soft / Super Soft

Heikki Kovalainen, Car 20 - Chassis T128-04: "I'm really looking forward to getting back to South East Asia and particularly Singapore. I like the heat and we have a lot of support in Singapore so it's a race the whole team is excited about. Last year was obviously a pretty spectacular end to the race, maybe a little too hot even for me and not quite how I'd like it to have finished, but there were a load of cool photos from the fire and we ended up winning the LG Moment of the Year prize for a shot of me putting it out. This year we go with a similar goal to last year - have a solid weekend, make sure we're there at the end of the race to take advantage of whatever happens around us and do our best to push the guys ahead.

"There are a few obvious talking points around the race weekend - it's a night race so all the drivers and teams stay on European time. In practical terms that means heavy blackout&#160; blinds in the hotel rooms, breakfast at lunchtime and our normal race weekend schedule all shifting forwards several hours to replicate the European race schedules. The heat is pretty hardcore for the guys in the garages, but I like it. Physically I have felt good all season and while it's obviously more challenging in the humidity and heat of Singapore, it's a good challenge and it's what F1 should be all about."

Jarno Trulli, Car 21 - Chassis T128-03: "I left Italy after what had been a pretty intense weekend for me and the whole team! On track I enjoyed myself all weekend and if I hadn't got hit by Massa I think I would have finished even better, but it was one of those races where we pretty much gave as much as we could, so I left feeling good about how we'd performed in all the sessions.

"I'll go to Singapore as late as possible, to make sure my body-clock isn't affected by the fact we run at night. I'm excited to get back to somewhere that means so much to Tony, Din and Nasa, and to see the strong fanbase we have out there but once we're on track I treat it just like any another race - the circuit is so well lit you don't suffer from any issues to do with light, and as its layout is similar to Monte Carlo it's somewhere I feel pretty comfortable."

Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer: "We approach Singapore in much the same way we do Monaco. We will be running with a maximum downforce package with a new floor and diffuser and bigger front brake ducts to cope with the brake cooling demands. The numbers from the wind-tunnel look pretty promising for the update to the floor so we will see what we have found when we get out on track. Because the track surface is very bumpy we have to run the cars at almost the highest ride-height settings of the season whilst also focusing on braking stability and maximising traction to generate the quickest lap times.&#160; As Singapore is a street circuit the track surface is very green when we first run on Friday, but it has high evolution throughout the weekend and by Sunday the grip levels have improved dramatically. Pirelli are bringing the soft and super soft compounds to Singapore and it will be interesting to see how teams deal with the degradation rates of both, especially in qualifying and in the race itself."

Tony Fernandes, Team Principal: "I have been looking forward to Singapore for the whole year -there is an incredible atmosphere around the whole place and the fact it is a night race just adds to the spectacle. Alongside Malaysia and Silverstone this is our third home race of the year and the support we have in Singapore is fantastic, both from the Singaporean locals and from the thousands of Malaysians and other visitors from around the world who attend what is always a fantastic race.

"The heat and humidity are obviously challenging for the whole team but we have shown throughout the year that our guys are ready to take on whatever lies ahead of them, deal with it and keep learning and progressing. One of the most pleasing aspects for me over the last couple of races has been to see the improvements in the garage and on the pitwall that have seen us perform quicker pitstops, turn the cars around during and in-between sessions more quickly and efficiently, and make the right strategic calls at the right time. This was particularly true in Italy where Jarno performed particularly well all weekend but was robbed of a higher position by bad luck and Heikki also gave his all, giving us 120% all weekend and helping us show what we can do when the opportunities arise. Drives like those, and every step forward for the team, are all part of the process of our development, and while we are working very hard behind the scenes to put all the pieces in place for the next phase of our growth, the team is working equally hard under intense pressure at the races and back at the factory and it makes me very proud to see how far they have already come. The icing on the cake now would be a point - perhaps we can win the LG Moment of the Year for 2011 by recording our first points finish, that really would be daring to dream!"

maocheng

Friday at Singapore                                                   

• Added: Fri 23 Sep, 2011

   
                        

SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX 2011 - FP1 / FP2

Team Lotus Information   
Number of times seventh gear is engaged in a lap of MarinaBayCircuit: Three      
Number of conversations Dell has with customers each year: 2billion
Amount of investment GE has made in clean-tech research anddevelopment since launching ecomagination: $5 billion

Weather
Dry
Min / max air temperature:       31° / 32°
Min / max track temperature:     34° / 34°

Fastest laps / positions
FP1
TRU 19th, 1.54.821 (lap 7) / KOV 20th, 1.56.198 (lap 4)
FP2
KOV 18th, 1.51.950 (lap 17) / TRU 20th 1.52.420 (lap 18)

Total laps
FP1
TRU: 9 / KOV: 8
FP2
KOV: 26 / TRU: 25

Runplan
Jarno Trulli
Chassis: T128-01     FP1: all runs on softtyres

FP1
1832 - 1834: Installation, 1 lap
1834 - 1900: System checks, rear brakes changed 1900 - 1916: Run2, 7 laps
1916 - 1921: Adjustments - brake balance
1921 - Run 3 aborted, 1 lap, red flag / end of session

FP2
2138 - 2159: Run 1, 10 laps (soft tyres)
2159 - 2205: Adjustments - front wing, front anti-roll bar
2205 - 2214: Run 2, 4 laps (soft tyres)
2214 - 2221: Adjustments - front anti-roll bar
2221 - 2224: Run 3, 1 lap (super soft tyres)
2225 - 2225: Refuel
2225 - 2236: Run 4, 5 laps (super soft tyres)
2236 - 2244: Adjustments - front wing flap angle
2244 - 2255: Run 5, 5 laps (super soft tyres)

Runplan
Heikki Kovalainen
Chassis: T128-04
FP1: all runs on soft tyres
1831 - 1833 Installation, 1 lap
1833 - 1841: System checks,
1841 - 1854 Run 2, 7 laps
1854 - front brakes running hot caused issue on track / end ofsession

FP2
2144 - 2203: Run 1, 8 laps (soft tyres)
2203 - 2205: Refuel, rear brake blanking adjusted
2205 - 2215: Run 2, 5 laps (soft tyres)
2215 - 2220: Adjustments - brake balance 2220 - 2230: Run 3, 5laps (super soft tyres) 2230 - 2235: Refuel
2235 - 2253: Run 4, 8 laps (super soft tyres)

Heikki Kovalainen, Car 20 - Chassis T128-04: "I was pretty pleasedwith where we ended up, but obviously we wanted more running inP1.The fire this time was much smaller than last year, and withbrakes at the temperatures they run it's not uncommon to see themcatch like that, but it wasn't a major issue at all and we gotwhere we wanted by the end of the day's running. I think we cankeep getting more from the new package here - there's definitely acouple more tenths in there so let's see where we are tomorrownight."

Jarno Trulli, Car 21 - Chassis T128-01: "I didn't have the bestruns today, but I'm still relatively happy with where we finished.We were able to get good temperatures into both compounds, buttraffic and the red flags ruined both my quick laps so I don'tthink we really showed what's in the car yet."

Thierry Salvi, Renault Sport F1 Support Leader: "The disruptionthis morning meant we could not learn as much as we were aiming toin FP1, so the pressure was on in FP2 to complete as much of theprogramme as we could. The data we accumulated in that session willhelp us make sure that we can give the drivers the best maps we canto maximise traction and fuel economy at a track which is prettyhard on engines, and I think we will be ok for tomorrow andSunday."

Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer: "That was a pretty hardday's work for everyone in the team. The first session wasobviously disrupted before it even started and then the red flagsaffected the whole grid. Jarno's programme suffered from thestoppages and Heikki had a small off on his third run in FP1. Oncehe came to a halt the high brake temperatures meant he had a smallfire in the front right but it was not a big issue and once we hadthe car back it was sorted out quickly. With Heikki's car and somechanges to Jarno's setup the team had a lot of work to do duringthe break to turn both cars around and worked extremely well tohave both cars ready for FP2. The second session was moreproductive and we were able to evaluate the aero updates we havebrought here and it looks like we have made another small stepforward. We will know more after going through the data tonight andthen look forward to a good qualifying session tomorrow.

Riad Asmat, Group CEO: "I think everyone up and down the pitlanehad a disrupted FP1 with the track issues just before the session,and with Heikki stopping out on track we were looking to make surewe completed as much mileage as we could in FP2. I am not too surewhat it is about Heikki and fire here in Singapore, perhaps ourFinn thinks it is not quite hot enough for him here in Singapore,but the car was pretty much unscathed this time and the guys workedwell to clean it up and get him out for FP2. We are reasonablyhappy with where we ended up - there is more to come on the supersofts and both drivers are giving us positive reports on theupdates we have brought here, so I am pretty happy with where weended up."

maocheng

Saturday at Singapore                                                   

• Added: Sat 24 Sep, 2011

   
                        

Team Lotus Information  

Number of CNN global news gathering operations:47
Amount GE has committed to help clinicians andhealthcare deliver high-quality healthcare at lower cost to morepeople around the world: $6billion   
Go to www.teamdellracing.comto see how Team Lotus has the power to do more withDell               


Weather
Dry
Min / max air temperature: 30&#730; / 32&#730;
Min / max track temperature: 32&#730; / 35&#730;


Positions / fastest laps
FP3
KOV 19th, 1.52.510 (lap 14) / TRU 22nd, 1.53.823 (lap17)
QUALIFYING
Q1
KOV 19th, 1.50.948 (lap 2) / TRU 20th, 1.51.012 (lap5)


Total laps
FP3
KOV: 17 / TRU: 18
QUALIFYING
Q1
KOV: 6 / TRU: 6


Runplan
Driver: Jarno Trulli
Chassis:T128-01   
FP3
1900 - 1902: Installation, 1 lap (soft tyres)
1902 - 1916: System checks, brake balanceadjusted
1916 - 1942: Run 2, 12 laps (soft tyres)
1942 - 1951: Adjustments - front wing flap, brakeblanking
1951 - 2002: Run 3, 5 laps (super soft tyres)
Qualifying
Q1
2203 - 2211: Run 1, 3 laps (super soft tyres)
2211 - 2214: Refuel - front wing flap adjusted
2214 - 2222: Run 2, 3 laps (super soft tyres)
Finished 20th


Runplan
Driver: Heikki Kovalainen
Chassis:T128-04   
FP3
1900 - 1902: Installation, 1 lap (soft tyres)
1902 - 1920: System checks
1920 - 1941: Run 2, 10 laps (soft tyres)
1941 - 1950: Adjustments - brake blanking
1950 - 2002: Run 3, 6 laps (super soft tyres)
Qualifying
Q1
2203 - 2211: Run 1, 3 laps (super soft tyres)
2211 - 2213: Refuel
2213 - 2222: Run 2, 3 laps (super soft tyres)
Finished 19th


Heikki Kovalainen, Car 20 - Chassis T128-04: "I'm prettypleased with that. I got held up on my second run but still managedto get within a second of the car ahead and I think I got close togetting the most out of the car I could. We definitely improved inFP3 and the wear rates weren't too bad so I think we're in goodshape for tomorrow. It's a long race, and one where the safety carwill probably play a role in how it all ends up, so the aim forSunday is clear - make sure we get both cars home to the end andput ourselves in a position to take advantage of what happensahead."
Jarno Trulli, Car 21 - Chassis T128-01: "Honestly I'vestruggled with the car all day and even though I managed to getmuch closer to Heikki in qualifying I'm still not all that happywith where we are. The guys in the garage have been working reallyhard all weekend to fix one or two problems we've had, and I wantto thank them for getting the car to the point where I could getthat quick laptime out of it, but now it's about getting to the endof the race tomorrow in one piece."
Thierry Salvi, Renault Sport F1 Support Leader: "We workedvery hard last night on improving the driveability of the enginesand the braking stability and give ourselves the right choice ofengine maps for qualifying. The results prove we made the rightchoices and as this track has such specific demands on the engine,in terms of traction and maximising fuel economy, I think we haveput ourselves in the right place to be able to push tomorrow. Thisis one of the hardest tracks on fuel economy in particular, so eventhough we are already good in that area, we have a specific map forthe race tomorrow that I think will give the drivers a chance topush when they need to, and help to make sure they can both finishthe race."
Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer: "A reasonableeffort from us in qualifying today. Jarno was not happy with hiscar in either session today so we need to look at why that haschanged since yesterday. With Heikki his first qualifying lap wasgood but on his second run he was compromised by the cars aheadwhen he would have definitely gone quicker, so it is encouraging toknow there is still more outright pace in the car than we extractedtoday. The aim is the same as it always is for us on Sundays - havea strong performance, bring both cars home and do the best we canto push the cars in front."
Tony Fernandes, Team Principal: "I am encouraged to seethat the upgrade we have brought here has pulled us a little closerto the cars ahead but qualifying tonight was possibly not oursmartest day in the office - we sent Heikki out just behind Liuzziwhich definitely compromised his quickest lap, but on the positiveside the changes we made overnight helped us to retrieve the coupleof seconds we seemed to have lost yesterday. We know that we canmix it with a couple of the established teams on race pace so weneed to make sure we have a good start, use whatever chances we canto overtake, something that is particularly difficult here, and getboth cars home across the line."

maocheng

TEAM LOTUS AND RENAULT SPORT F1 CONFIRM EXTENSION OF AGREEMENT AND NEW KERS SUPPLY IN CONJUNCTION WITH RED BULL TECHNOLOGY

Singapore, 25th September 2011

Team Lotus and Renault Sport F1 have confirmed that their existing engine deal is to be extended for a further year to the end of 2013 and the end of the V8 engine formula, with the aim to continue working together when the new engine regulations come into force. Renault Sport F1 and Red Bull Technology will also provide the Anglo-Malaysian squad with KERS systems for the first time for the duration of the agreement.

Tony Fernandes, Team Lotus Team Principal: “Having established an incredibly good working partnership since the first days of our agreement we are absolutely delighted that Renault Sport F1 and Red Bull Technology will be playing such an integral role in the ongoing development of our team until at least 2013, and then we are aiming to keep working together when the new rules are introduced. They are both passionate, dedicated teams of people with whom we have a growing relationship that is creating a number of exciting opportunities for us for the future. They share our vision for where we want to take our team, and we are very proud to have their power pushing us forward.

“Not only will we be able to build on everything we have learnt through working with Renault and Red Bull Technology in 2011, but we will now have the added benefit of KERS for next year, which really is a major step forward for our team. We have done the very best job we can this year but without that extra power we are always competing on a different level to the teams ahead, so to give our drivers that boost is a key element of helping us catch the cars ahead, and compete with them when we do so.”

Jean-Fran&#231;ois Caubet, Managing Director of Renault Sport F1: “This year we have established solid foundations with Team Lotus and this latest agreement consolidates the relationship that we look forward to continuing for many seasons to come. Renault is in F1 to display the quality of its product, so we need to be associated with teams that clearly have potential. The steps Team Lotus has made on and off track with its technical structure and facilities have given us a confidence they will achieve their aims. KERS is now an essential part to a competitive performance in F1 today and we hope this supply will help the team continue its evolution. Furthermore a wider experience of using the KERS system at this point in time will help in the development of the powerful energy recovery systems that will be introduced under the future engine regulations.”

Christian Horner, Team Principal of Red Bull Racing: “We’re very happy to extend the relationship between Red Bull Technology and Team Lotus, which already utilises our gearboxes, to include KERS for 2012 onwards. This endorses the joint venture between Renault Sport F1 and Red Bull Technology, which will continue to develop in the coming months. Hopefully this will enable Team Lotus to build on the significant progress they have already made this season.”

maocheng

Sunday in Singapore                                                   

• Added: Sun 25 Sep, 2011

   
                        

Weather

Dry
Min / max air temp: 31&#730; / 32&#730;
Min / max track temperature: 33&#730; / 35&#730;


Runplan
Driver: Jarno Trulli
Chassis: T128-01   
1930: Car leaves for grid / 1 lap
1945: Pitlane closes
1959: Fire up
2001: Lights out
Lap 17: Pitstop 1
Lap 20: Pitstop 2 (puncture)
Lap 45: Pitstop 3
Lap 48: Retired - gearbox issue


Runplan
Driver: Heikki Kovalainen
Chassis: T128-04   
1931: Car leaves for grid / 1 lap
1945: Pitlane closes
1959: Fire up
2001: Lights out
Lap 12: Pitstop 1
Lap 28: Pitstop 2
Lap 48: Pitstop 3
Finished 16th
Heikki Kovalainen, Car 20 - Chassis T128-04: "I'm reallypleased with the performance today and we should all be happy as itwas a great race from the whole team. The pitstop strategy workedout well for us and the boys worked brilliantly to get me outquickly each time, helping me make sure I could stay ahead ofPetrov at each stop. The car felt balanced throughout the wholerace and the tyres worked well so I was able to pull away fromPetrov and ended up finishing strongly in 16th. It'salso good that the upgrade we've brought here has helped us take asmall step forward and I think we'll see more from that in Suzukawhere it will come more into its own. After a race like today Ican't wait to get back in the car, so we leave Singapore feelingpretty good about the last few races of the season."
Jarno Trulli, Car 21 - Chassis T128-01: "I had anotherreally good start and was ahead of both Renaults and the ToroRosso. They were pushing me but the car felt great and I was ableto keep ahead of them pretty comfortably, coming out of the firststop still ahead and feeling good on the second set of tyres. ThenJaime hit my left rear and I had to come which was prettydisappointing - it's just bad luck really, but that meant I had totry and fight back which I did my best to do until the gearboxproblem meant I had to pull over. I'm pleased for the team that wewere able to fight from the start and I think it's a good sign thatwe could do so well in the race, but now we move on to Japan and Ihope we can keep pushing on there."
Thierry Salvi, Renault Sport F1 Support Leader: "I thinkwe can be pleased with how we Heikki finished but again the luckwas not with Jarno. Another good start put him in a very goodposition early on and even after his first pitstop he was still ingood shape. After that the puncture meant he had to give up thepositions he had won at the start which is obviously very bad luckbut it was fortunate that Heikki was able to push throughout thewhole race and finish in front of the Renault. I think that is agood car and it shows that our car is getting better and better.Engine wise it was all ok for us. We managed the temperatures thepressures well and had no issues on either car so I think we can bepretty happy with how it ended."
Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer: "Mixed reactionsfrom me because that was possibly our strongest race performance,particularly early on, but it obviously did not end for Jarno as wewould have wanted. Jarno drove a very good first stint and byswitching the strategy and stopping Heikki early we were able tocontrol the cars behind us that we were racing at that point. Whenwe pitted Jarno we got him back out in front of the cars he wasracing but unfortunately Alguersuari hit him, causing a left rearpuncture and ruining his race. He kept pushing when we got him backout but finally he had to stop with a gearbox problem. Heikki drovea very strong race and it was good to beat one of the Renaults onpace today, both on track and in the pitstops. It is a shame wecould not get both cars to the finish, but this was still a verygood performance from the whole team."
Tony Fernandes, Team Principal: "For me that is probablythe best race we have had in our short life in Formula One so far.Heikki drove an outstanding race and was able to keep pace with alot of the cars around him, and pull away from the cars behind, andhe made the most of the new package we brought here to finish verywell. Jarno again suffered from bad luck and maybe the strategy wegave him was not the best, but we called it as we saw it and I amsure we will learn from how his race worked out. I am delighted foreveryone back at the factory to see their hard work on the upgradework out well on track, and I think we can look forward to a strongend to the season, knowing we can fight with established teamsaround us when the opportunities arise."

maocheng

Japanese Grand Prix View
Added: Fri 30 Sep, 2011
2010 Timing
Qualifying  Result
P1  VET 1.30.785 Q3  
P2  WEB 1.30.853 Q3  
P3  HAM 1.31.169 Q3  
TL best  P19 TRU 1.35.346 Q1
Race Result
P1  VET 1.33.653 L51   
P2  WEB 1.33.474 L53   
P3  ALO 133.823 L53   
TL best  P12 KOV 1.37.620 L51               

Quick description     
Very high percentage of medium & high speed corners
Extremely lateral track
Ability to ride kerbs is not a priority
Multiple altitude changes and very narrow track make overtaking difficult
Very easy on brakes
Low front ride height possible (track very smooth)
Wind often changes between Fri & Sun (changed 180° in '09 & '10)

Typical balance issue
Need good balance for S1 and high speed S2 section

Gear ratios (1st gear/others)
1st gear not used on track

Circuit particularity
Bumpiness: Low  
Overtaking chance: Low  
Kerbs: Smooth  
RH setting particularity: Low RH   

Sensitivities   
Engine severity: High   
GBX severity: Low   
Lat/Long grip: Lateral   
Aero eff ratio: High               

Track and base set-up
Track grip evo during WE: High
Aero settings: Medium / high
Brake wear severity: Very low
Brake cooling necessity: Low

Team Lotus Partners   
Pirelli tyre compounds in Japan: Medium / Soft   

Heikki Kovalainen, Car 20 - Chassis T128-04: "I headed out of Singapore on Monday and back to Europe to do a bit of work in the simulator before heading back out for the Japanese and Korean races. Singapore worked out really well for us and we all left feeling pretty good about what the new floor and diffuser had given us, and how we'd performed generally all weekend.

"Next up it's Suzuka, somewhere I think all the drivers look forward to and a track that's produced a lot of F1's greatest moments. Most guys will say 130R is the corner that really stands out - it's pretty hardcore heading in there at over 190mph and knowing you have to stay committed to avoid losing any time, but for me the best bit of the track is the whole run in S1 from T1 to T7. You go into T1 and T2 at high speed and you need to be committed to get the best out of the car through that fast, positive camber section, then from T3 right through to T7 is about the best sequence of turns we race in all year."

Jarno Trulli, Car 21 - Chassis T128-03: "I've always loved Japan so I'm really looking forward to getting back again for 2011. I have a lot of really good support out there, and the fans are always generous and happy but without the sort of pressure I get in places like Italy! On track I'd just like to have a race without some of the bad luck that struck again in Singapore. I'd had such a good start and was holding off the Toro Rosso and both Renaults well, even running 11th at one point as we went into the first round of stops, but the puncture I suffered when Alguersuari hit me was just another one of those things. Hopefully in Suzuka I can make up for that and get as much out of the car as I did on Sunday around Marina Bay."

Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer: "Suzuka is without doubt one of the classic F1 destinations, both for what happens on track, and for its place in the sport's history. The circuit is very quick, it puts a lot of demands on the tyres and the cars need to have very good high-speed stability, particularly when they are closely following a car ahead so they can keep up the pressure into the braking zones.

"130R is all about commitment, guts and the right line, and straight out of that corner and into the chicane at T16 / T17 is about the best overtaking zone on the track, but we also see moves being made into the hairpin at T11 as there are a couple of lines you can take in there and if you have good traction out you can stay ahead of someone you have passed all the way back to the chicane at the end of the lap.

Pirelli are bringing the Medium and Soft compounds to Japan and as the circuit predominantly affects the cars' lateral grip I think we will see degradation playing an even more pronounced role in Japan than it has throughout the rest of the season. With the small step forward we saw from our new aero package in Singapore I think we can use that and a bit of clever tyre strategy to take the fight again to the cars ahead, and if we can get qualifying right we have proved we can mix it in the races in midfield, so that has to be the aim again for the race - make sure both cars see the chequered flag and be there when it counts to take advantage of what happens around us."

Tony Fernandes, Team Principal: "2010 in Japan was our best race of the season - we finished 12th and 13th and essentially wrapped up our little battle for the title of fastest new team in Formula One, so it is a race and a country we hold very dear. I am delighted that we are heading to Japan next, both because it is a country that is very important to me personally, and to help The Japanese people show that their fantastic country is bouncing back from the terrible events there at the start of the year. We go around the world, doing business, racing, playing football and occasionally relaxing for a couple of hours, but we rarely have time to stop and take in what goes on around us, so it is good that we can go back to Japan now and help show that one of the greatest sporting events in our calendar is as successful, well managed and as great a spectacle as it ever has been.

"On the team side, I said after Singapore that that grand prix was just about our strongest ever race performance, and having been through the post-race reports it is very pleasing to see that our pace has definitely improved as a direct result of the upgrade package we brought out there. Jarno suffered again with bad luck, but the reliability issue that ended his race is still something we need to improve on - we may be small and we may not have the facilities of the teams ahead of us, but that does not mean our standards should be any lower than them, so we have to make sure in Japan, and at the remaining races, that we are a two car team that can help us guarantee tenth place this year. That is a reasonable aim and one everyone in the team is working very hard to achieve."

maocheng

Friday at Suzuka
Added: Fri 7 Oct, 2011
Weather

Dry, sunny

Min / max air temperature: 25&#730; / 27&#730;

Min / max track temperature: 30&#730; / 34&#730;



Fastest laps / positions

FP1

TRU 19th, 1.39.168 (lap 9) / CHA 20th, 1.39.946 (lap 10)

FP2

KOV 17th, 1.36.225 (lap 17) / TRU 23rd 1.39.800 (lap 6)



Total laps

FP1

TRU: 10 / CHA: 22

FP2

KOV: 35 / TRU: 24



Runplan

Jarno Trulli

Chassis: T128-03   

FP1: all runs on medium tyres

1002 - 1004: Installation, 1 lap

1004 - 1029: System checks

1029 - 1041: Run 2, 6 laps

1041 - 1056: Adjustments - baseline exhaust deflectors

1056 - 1102: Run 3, 3 laps

End of session - setup change



FP2

1400 - 1414: Run 1, 7 laps (medium tyres)

1414 - 1420: Adjustments - front brake blanking

1420 - 1447: Run 2, 15 laps (medium tyres)

1447 - 1456: Adjustments - front wing flap angle, front / rear brake blanking

1456 - 1502: Run 3, 2 laps (soft tyres)

Electrical issue - end of session



Runplan

FP1 - Karun Chandhok

FP2 - Heikki Kovalainen

Chassis: T128-04   

FP1: Karun Chandhok - all runs on medium tyres

1000 - 1002: Installation, 1 lap

1002 - 1032: System checks

1032 - 1045: Run 2, 7 laps

1045 - 1053: Adjustments - Rear wing flap, front brake blanking

1053 - 1104: Run 3, 6 laps

1104 - 1110: Adjustments - brake blanking

1110 - 1125: Run 4, 8 laps



FP2: Heikki Kovalainen

1359 - 1412: Run 1, 7 laps (medium tyres)

1412 - 1420: Adjustments - Front wing flap angle

1420 - 1434: Run 2, 8 laps (medium tyres)

1434 - 1450: Adjustments - front wing flap, front brake blanking

1450 - 1456: Run 3, 3 laps (soft tyres)

1456 - 1502: Adjustments - front wing flap angle

1502 - 1524: Run 4, 12 laps (soft tyres)

1524 - 1526: Adjustments - refuel

1526 - 1535: Run 5, 5 laps (medium tyres)

   
Karun Chandhok, Car 20 - Chassis T128-4: "It was good to get back out on track, particularly here in Suzuka as this is a circuit I haven't driven on before and was looking forward to trying out. It took a while to get the right lines, and as the tyre wear started to kick in I wasn't really able to improve the overall time, although I was getting quicker in certain sectors of the track. I got through a decent number of laps and think I did exactly what was required of me this morning. The car definitely feels quicker than it did when I raced it in Germany - the update we brought to Singapore has definitely taken us a small step forward and we finished pretty close to the Williams, so I think we'll be able to fight in the race and hopefully put in as good a performance as we did here last year."

Heikki Kovalainen, Car 20 - Chassis T128-04: "I'm pretty pleased with how my afternoon went. You're always a little bit on the back foot when you miss the morning session at this kind of high speed circuit as you need a bit of time to get your eye in, but the balance was good almost immediately and we were able to complete the whole plan, so it was a good session. The tyres seem to be behaving well here - on the long run on the softs they held up until about the last lap so I think we've already found a good setup. As the track evolves that will improve even more so I think we could be in a good position in the race, bearing in mind our race pace and how well we can manage the degradation on both compounds. We'll see on Sunday!"


Jarno Trulli, Car 21 - Chassis T128-03: "One of those stop start days for me. This morning I was adapting to the power steering system we've put on here and it felt ok but the runs were cut short with a mechanical issue before I could really start pushing. This afternoon the changes we made definitely felt better but when we had the soft tyres on an electrical problem meant I couldn't get any meaningful times in. Despite that the car felt like it was improving and looking at Heikki's times I think we'll be ok tomorrow."

Thierry Salvi, Renault Sport F1 Support Leader: "This is a pretty tough circuit on engines - up there with Monza and Spa in terms of outright pace and we need to work on driveability, responsiveness and ensuring a smooth power curve to give the drivers the right power delivery here. This morning Karun worked through his program, and even though Jarno's was somewhat disrupted, we have been able to complete most of the program with him and Heikki this afternoon, so I think we look ok for the rest of the weekend."


Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer: "A reasonable Friday for us here in Suzuka. This morning we had Karun in Heikki's car and he did a very solid job for, focusing on aero programs and engine mapping. Jarno was less happy with his car, struggling a bit with the balance and the brakes, but we made a number of changes for this afternoon and they made an immediate improvement for him in FP2. Unfortunately an electrical problem brought his afternoon to an earlier end than we wanted, preventing him from setting any quick times on the soft tyres, but with Heikki we completed his whole plan and his time on the softs looks pretty good. This weekend will be all about managing tyre degradation and when that is the case it seems to benefit us so we are all looking forward to a strong weekend."


Riad Asmat, Group CEO: "I think we can be pretty pleased with today. Karun performed very well this morning on a track he had never driven on before, and Heikki put in a series of strong runs this afternoon that is just starting to unlock what we think we can do here. Jarno suffered issues in both the morning and afternoon sessions, but we improved the overall balance for him in FP2 and with more work tonight and some clever use of strategy tomorrow I think we can push the cars ahead, particularly bearing in mind the limited running some of the teams just in front had today."

maocheng

Saturday at Suzuka
Added: Sat 8 Oct, 2011
Weather
Dry, sunny
Min / max air temperature: 25&#730; / 26&#730;
Min / max track temperature: 32&#730; / 35&#730;

Positions / fastest laps
FP3
TRU 19th, 1.36.327 (lap 13) / KOV 20th, 1.36.912 (lap 13)
QUALIFYING
Q1
KOV 18th, 1.35.454 (lap 2) / TRU 19th, 1.35.514 (lap 5)

Total laps
FP3
TRU: 16 / KOV: 14
QUALIFYING
Q1
KOV: 3 / TRU: 6

Runplan
Driver: Jarno Trulli
Chassis: T128-03   
FP3
1059 - 1102 Installation, 1 lap (medium tyres)
1102 - 1120: System checks
1120 - 1122: Run 2, 1 laps (medium tyres) run aborted / red flag
1122 - 1131: Adjustments - front wing flap angle
1131 - 1144: Run 3, 7 laps (medium tyres)
1144 - 1150: Adjustments - front wing flap angle, front torsion bar
1150 - 1205: Run 4, 7 laps (soft tyres)

Qualifying
Q1
1359 - 1405: Run 1, 3 laps (medium tyres)
1405 - 1410: Refuel / Adjustments - front wing flap angle
1410 - 1416: Run 2, 3 laps (soft tyres)
Finished: 19th

Runplan
Driver: Heikki Kovalainen
Chassis: T128-04     
FP3
1100 - 1103: Installation, 1 lap (medium tyres)
1103 - 1121: System checks
1121 - 1123: Run 2, 1 lap - not counted (medium tyres) run aborted / red flag
1123 - 1135: Adjustments - front wing flap angle, brake blanking
1135 - 1149: Run 3, 8 laps (medium tyres)
1149 - 1152: Adjustments - front wing flap angle
1152 - 1204: Run 4, 5 laps (soft tyres)

Qualifying
Q1
1410 - 1415: Run 1, 3 laps (soft tyres)
Finished: 18th


Heikki Kovalainen, Car 20 - Chassis T128-04: "I'm pretty happy with that, particularly as it was one run, one lap to get it right, and I nailed it straight out of the box. We took the riskier strategy with the tyres, went out late in the session and I think I may have even been able to find a bit more in the first sector, but overall I'm pleased. I went through 130R with the rear wing open which was pretty hardcore, but having been bold with the tyres we're in a good position for the race tomorrow. There's been quite a lot of talk about the tyre wear here but I'm not sure the degradation will be as big a problem as people thought. The long run on the soft tyres yesterday was good - I think we can get maybe up to 15 laps out of them, and as we have a few new sets ready to go tomorrow it'll be an interesting afternoon."
Jarno Trulli, Car 21 - Chassis T128-01: "That was a good session. The car felt much better this afternoon as we made the right changes to the setup and even though I made a couple of mistakes on my quickest lap I still don't think I could have got much more out of it. Tomorrow we'll fight as hard as possible in the race and give our Japanese fans something to cheer for. Our pace in the races has been good all season, so I hope I can make as good a start as I have been in a lot of the races this year, play with the tyre strategies and see where we end up."
Thierry Salvi, Renault Sport F1 Support Leader: "We have been working all weekend on giving the drivers the best engine maps for this circuit and I think today's performance in qualifying shows we have done a pretty good job on both cars. We need to make sure the engine has good driveability, particularly through the 'S' curves in the first sector where it is important to have a smooth power delivery that does not upset the balance of the cars, and the feedback we have had from both drivers, especially Jarno, is that we have achieved that, and the times we have seen this afternoon bear that out, so this has been a good weekend for us so far."

Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer: "A good Saturday for us in both sessions. Jarno and Heikki has issues this morning with understeer but we managed to dial that out for qualifying and their feedback was that they were both happy with their cars this afternoon. Jarno chose to do a run on the medium tyres early in qualifying to see if that could help him get more temperature into the brakes, and then the plan was always to do one run on the softs on both cars. We wanted to make sure we kept well clear of the cars behind and, with tyre degradation likely to play an important role in the race, give ourselves as many sets of tyres as we could for tomorrow, so job done."
Riad Asmat, Group CEO: "We keep edging ever closer to the teams ahead so where we finished up today is very pleasing. We made the right call on the tyre strategy, opting to save sets of the softs, and as we have seen all season we can mix it with some of the cars ahead in the race, so with the excellent way our pitcrew have been performing in the stops I think we are in a good position for the race."

maocheng

Sunday at Suzuka                                                   

• Added: Sun 9 Oct, 2011

   
                        

Number of @myteamlotus Twitter followers:43,067

Hours between finishing garage pack-up in Japan andgarage set-up in Korea:34   

Total weight of freight to go from Japan to Korea: 29,000kgs




Weather   

Dry, sunny

Min / max air temp: 26&#730; / 28&#730;

Min / max track temp: 35&#730; / 38&#730;




Runplan

Driver: Jarno Trulli

Chassis:T128-03   

1432: Car leaves for grid / 2 laps (1 throughpitlane)

1445: Pitlane closes

1459: Fire up

1501: Lights out - start on soft tyres

Lap 11: Pitstop 1 (soft tyres)

Lap 25: Pitstop 2 (soft tyres)

Lap 39: Pitstop 3 (medium tyres)

Finished 19th




Runplan

Driver: Heikki Kovalainen

Chassis:T128-04   

1430: Car leaves for grid / 2 laps (1 throughpitlane)

1445: Pitlane closes

1459: Fire up

1501: Lights out - start on soft tyres

Lap 10: Pitstop 1 (soft tyres)

Lap 23: Pitstop 2 (soft tyres)

Lap 38: Pitstop 3 (medium tyres)

Finished 19th




Heikki Kovalainen, Car 20 - Chassis T128-04: "What a greatrace for the whole team! I made an incredible start, no wheelspin,the perfect clutch slip and was suddenly past a load of cars and upinto 14th. It looked like everyone else went intoreverse and I even heard one of the engineers laugh andaccidentally telling someone else how brilliant the start was, andI thought 'no! Don't mention it now, I need to get on with the restof the race!' After that the first couple of stints were great. Thecar was working really well on the soft tyres and the stops weremega, and then the safety car came out and bunched everyone up sofrom there it was a race to the flag with Jarno and I stayed aheaduntil the last lap. The car has felt balanced all weekend so on theharder compound I was still able to push all afternoon, and eventhough I was held up a bit by the Virgins and the HRTs when theywere being shown blue flags, I was still able to keep ahead ofJarno and as he's always been quick here that feels prettygood.


"Also - the fact that this is the first time this seasonwe didn't see any blue flags is very satisfying. Every time youhave to let someone pass you are artificially slowing up your ownrace, and it shows our car keeps improving, as does the whole team.Ok, the safety car helped us, but then you have to be in the rightplace to take advantage of whatever happens on track, and today wedid just that. A great day."


Jarno Trulli, Car 21 - Chassis T128-01: "For me that was agood day. It didn't start too well - for once my start wasn'tperfect but once we got under way I was able to put in a few goodpasses and was making up ground. After a few laps it felt like Ihad a problem with the gearbox that slowed me down, but it cameback and almost immediately the safety car came out and I was ableto make up the gap to Heikki and we both had a good run to the end.For the whole team this is a pretty significant result. Wecompleted every lap of the race, and while that might not seem allthat important when there are guys winning championships up ahead,it still shows we keep on improving, and I'm really pleased foreveryone, here at the track and back at the factory, that we canleave Japan on a high again and head to the next race inKorea."


Thierry Salvi, Renault Sport F1 Support Leader: "We aredelighted for the whole team today. For Renault Sport F1 this is anhistoric day - Sebastian's won his second title, so congratulationsto him for that, and for Team Lotus we have been in the very happyposition, for the first time this year, where we have had to managethe fuel consumption levels right to the flag. We have been workinghard all weekend on giving the drivers the best balance we can withthe blown floor, and they are both reporting that they have hadwell balanced cars all afternoon, so we have definitely done ourpart in helping the team take another step forward today.Congratulations to everyone!"


Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer: "That was a reallypleasing race weekend for the whole team. For the first time bothcars finished on the lead lap and even though we were helped by thesafety car our level of performance was still the best we have everseen relative to cars around us. Both drivers pushed throughout thewhole race, right up until the last lap and I think we managed toextract every ounce of performance we could from the cars. Heikkimade an amazing start, by some way the best of the year and thatmade a three stop strategy the obvious choice, running the optionfor the first three stints, and that worked out pretty well. WithJarno we managed an issue he had in the first stint, and to see himpushing Heikki hard at the end of the race was exactly what wewanted from him and his team mate. They were also both helped bysome tremendous pitstops from the guys in the garage so all in allthis was a very professional job right across the board and I wantto thank the whole team for the work they have put in here, andgive my congratulations to everyone."


Tony Fernandes, Team Principal: "Firstly I'd like to wishSebastian and all our friends at Red Bull Racing hugecongratulations for an incredible job this season. They still havea job to do, and I know from firsthand experience that they willnot let up in their pursuit of the constructors' title this year,and many more titles in the future. They set the standards that wemust aspire to and I am very proud that we are part of theirextended family and can keep being inspired by them as we grow to,one day, take the fight to them on track.


"For us, I know I keep saying it at every race but thisreally was the best race we have ever had. As soon as I came inthis morning I had a feeling that everything in the team isbeginning to come together as we had planned, and to finish on thesame lap as the world champion is a huge step forward for us. Thedrivers both drove their hearts out today and the pitstops wereexcellent all afternoon. Our race pace was strong and we were boldwith the strategies on both cars and that gave us the reward of notseeing a blue flag throughout the whole race. A great teameffort.  



"I think that this is a turning point for us. Suzuka is a quickcircuit, not an easy place to take steps forward, so to haveperformed as well as we have done all weekend means I leave hereabsolutely thrilled, knowing our hard work is starting to pay off.The strategy that we have employed, of being patient and notrushing into the wrong decisions is paying dividends, and this is aclear sign that next year, and especially the year after, weare going to see more big steps forwards from our team."