Caterham F1 Era End

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Chinese Grand Prix - Sunday 15th April 2012

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Weather
Race: Dry, air temp 22° / track temp 24° (start), 22° / 23° (lap 28), 22° / 22° (lap 56)

Runplan
Vitaly Petrov
1431 leave for grid, 2 laps (1 through pitlane)
Start on soft tyres
Lap 10: pitstop 1, medium tyres
Lap 29: pitstop 2, medium tyres
Finished: 18th
Fastest lap: 1.42.385, lap 38

Heikki Kovalainen
1430 leave for grid, 2 laps (1 through pitlane)
Start on soft tyres
Lap 12: pitstop 1, medium tyres, front wing flap adjustment
Lap 28: pitstop 2, medium tyres (problem with right rear tyre)
Lap 29, pitstop 3, medium tyres
Lap 47, pitstop 4, soft tyres
Finished: 23rd
Fastest lap: 1.41.190, lap 53

Team Quotes

Vitaly Petrov, car 21, chassis CT01-#2: “I am really pleased with my performance today. I think we got as much out of the car as we could and the fact we were on the same lap as the leaders right up until the final lap is a very positive sign. We brought some updates here and they've worked out pretty well - the key for us is to keep pushing, keep bringing new parts to the car and make sure we maintain the momentum we are building up.”

Heikki Kovalainen, car 20, chassis CT01-#3: “I had a good start, getting up to 16th off the line and then was running pretty well for the first stint on the options. We pitted on lap 13 and went to the primes which held up well until lap 30 but then as soon as we made the second stop I could feel an issue with the right rear so we had to stop again immediately which was basically the end of my race. This hasn't been our strongest weekend but with the next race back-to-back with China we can look to bounce back straight away, so we'll regroup in Bahrain and look to put in a stronger weekend there.”
 
Thierry Salvi, Renault F1 Sport Support Leader: "We saw again today that our pace in the races is pretty good. Obviously the issue Heikki had was a shame, but until that point both he and Vitaly were making good use of the engine strategies we gave them, easily passing the slower cars and recording good lap times with no issues on our side."

Mark Smith, Technical Director: “Today's race was pretty tough, but I am pleased with the way both drivers kept pushing and I think we have learnt some very useful lessons here in China. We opted to start both cars on the soft tyres and our pace in the early laps was good. Both drivers switched to the medium compounds for their second stops and we were easily pulling away from the cars behind but then when Heikki stopped on lap 30 he felt a problem with the rear of the car as soon as he pulled out of the pitlane so had to do a very slow lap and come back in. Vitaly had a problem free afternoon and was putting in good lap times, staying on the lead lap until almost the final lap and with every race he is growing more and more confident in the car and with the team. Now we have another week of hard work ahead of us so we will do our best to make the most of the different conditions we will face in Bahrain and aim to get back to where we know we should be."
 
Tony Fernandes, Team Principal: “The whole team did very well today and for me that was one of our most competitive races since we joined Formula 1. There were no safety cars and yet we were incredibly close to finishing on the same lap as the leader. Our race pace was good on both cars - unfortunately we let Heikki down during his second pitstop but apart from that it was another good day in the growth of this team.

"We have also taken another step forward in the direction of the overall business, with Mark Smith assuming his position on the pitwall today and Mike's role as our Group Chief Technical Officer giving us a clear vision on where we are taking both the F1 team and our roadcar and technical operations. We also have John Iley starting with us in the next couple of weeks to boost our capabilities back at the factory, and the wind tunnel operations will be going 24/7 in the next couple of months. With all of this I feel very optimistic about the future and leave China knowing we are going in the right direction.”

maocheng

Bahrain Grand Prix View
Added: Mon 16 Apr, 2012
General
Race laps: 56
Track length: 5,412 metres
Air / Track temp (°C): 34 / 49
Pitlane altitude (m): 20
ATM Press (HPa): 1006
Hum (%): 1012
Wind (kph): SW 10
 
Quick description
Back to 2009 track layout
Sandy track surface at start of sessions and off-line throughout weekend
Altitude is relevant
Bumps and kerbs are not an issues
High brake energy
Usually very windy, can negatively affect car behaviour in high speed corners
Hot and very dry ambient conditions
Braking and traction instability are usually main issues
1st gear used in T1
Usually require short 1st gear for launch due to high grip levels
7th gear requires particular attention due to possibility of strong tail / head winds
 
Circuit particularity
Bumpiness: low
Overtaking chance: T1
Kerbs: smooth / medium
Ride height setting particularity: usually low
Engine severity: high
Gearbox severity: medium
Lat / Long grip: longitudinal
Aero eff ratio: medium / low
Safety car history: 2011 - n/a, 2010 - n/a, 2009 - none
Track grip evo during w/e: high
Aero settings: high
Brake wear severity: high
Brake cooling necessity: high
 
Heikki Kovalainen: "Bahrain is another one of the typical modern circuits. It doesn't have any really challenging corners and you can push hard for most of the lap, particularly over the kerbs which are pretty easy on the cars. As the track surface is rubbered in grip levels improve dramatically, so you'll see laptimes dropping fast over the weekend, and that means you have to be on it for qualifying, to make sure you can get the most of out the session.
 
"Apart from the track conditions, one of the main technical areas we will be focusing on in Bahrain is braking. The high ambient temperatures and the nature of the track mean we will be spending quite a lot of Friday's practice sessions managing brake cooling and wear rates, so we are as well prepared as possible for qualifying and the race."
 
Vitaly Petrov: "Bahrain is where I made my F1 debut back in 2010 so it's a track that means a lot to me. I had great support when we last raced there and I'm sure it'll be the same this year with Caterham F1 Team.
 
"From the driver's point of view it's a pretty technical circuit and one where you need to have a really good balance and make sure you nail every apex to get the best lap times in. That's particularly true in the last sector and if you can get that right you can make up, and lose, a lot of time there.
 
"The sand obviously affects everyone the same, and it'll be interesting on Saturday to see how late everyone leaves their Q1 runs. The track gets more and more quick with every lap, and that means you have to be pretty bold with your strategy to make sure you give yourself the best possible shot at a good quali lap."
 
Mark Smith, Technical Director: "The Bahrain circuit present us with several challenges, the most obvious being its desert location. The track surface is always pretty sandy at the beginning of each session and this means we see a reasonably high level of grip evolution throughout the course of the race weekend. On top of this, the sandy atmosphere means we have to pay special attention to both air filtration and the general mechanical assemblies, to prevent accelerated wear.
 
"The ambient temperatures will be hot and dry as expected, but the wind will also play quite a significant role throughout the weekend. The wind direction can change very suddenly and we have to take that into account when we are making final decisions on gear ratios, particularly top gear with KERS and DRS usage factored in.
 
"Significant demands are also placed on the brakes in Bahrain and it will be important to get the balance right between controlling brake temperatures and wear rate, without losing too much outright performance. This means that car setup work for each day on track will have a heavy focus towards providing a stable platform to meet the demands of both heavy braking and each traction event throughout the lap.

"Finally, the tyres allocated for Bahrain will be the medium and soft compounds which will also have been used in China. Hopefully this means we will have learnt a bit more about their optimum usage, albeit in a different ambient environment, and we will see how we can apply that knowledge over the race weekend."

maocheng

Caterham F1 Team Partner Information
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Weather
FP1: Dry, air temp 27° - 30°, track temp 35° - 40°
FP2: Dry, air temp 32° - 31°, track temp 40° - 33°

Fastest laps / positions:
FP1: KOV 1.36.330 18th / PET 1.36.484, 19th
FP2: PET 1.35.913 16th / KOV 1.35.968 17th

Total laps:
FP1: KOV 11 / PET 18
FP2: KOV 35 / PET 33

Runplan - FP1
Heikki Kovalainen
1003 – 1005: Installation, 1 lap (medium tyres) 
1005 – 1042: System checks. Changes: n/a
1042 – 1053: Run 2, 6 laps (medium tyres)
1053 – 1100: Changes: rear ride height, front torsion bar, front wing flap angle
1100 – 1109: Run 3, 4 laps (medium tyres)

Vitaly Petrov
1003 – 1005: Installation, 1 lap ( tyres) 
1005 – 1042: System checks. Changes: brake balance
1042 – 1058: Run 2, 9 laps (medium tyres)
1058 – 1114: Changes: rear ride height, front anti-roll bar, front wing flap angle
1114 – 1130: Run 3, 8 laps (medium tyres)

Runplan - FP2
Heikki Kovalainen
1402 – 1415: Run 1, 7 laps (medium tyres) 
1415 – 1424: Changes: n/a  
1424 – 1433: Run 2, 5 laps (soft tyres)
1433 – 1442: Changes: front anti-roll bar
1442 – 1504: Run 3, 12 laps (medium tyres)
1504 – 1511: Changes: front anti-roll bar, front wing flap angle
1511 – 1531: Run 4, 13 laps (soft tyres)

Vitaly Petrov
1402 – 1413: Run 1, 6 laps (medium tyres) 
1413 – 1422: Changes: front wing flap angle, brake blanking
1422 – 1429: Run 2, 4 laps (soft tyres)
1429 – 1443: Changes: front wing flap angle
1443 – 1503: Run 3, 11 laps (medium tyres)
1503 – 1511: Changes: front torsion bar, front / rear ride height, front wing flap angle
1511 – 1533: Run 4, 12 laps (soft tyres)

Team Quotes

Heikki Kovalainen, car 20, chassis CT01-#3: “A good day for us in terms of the mileage we've covered and the amount of data we've collated. This morning the track wasn't as dusty as we'd feared, so the grip levels were ok. That meant we could take a proper look at the degradation levels on the prime tyres in FP1 and it was immediately clear that the heat and the nature of this track will mean managing wear rates is going to be crucial on Sunday. Rear grip is an area we'll have to pay particular attention to and we tried a few setup changes to try and manage that, but I think it'll be the same for everyone.”

Vitaly Petrov, car 21, chassis CT01-#2: “It's been a good day for us. We completed a decent number of laps in both sessions and I've been happy with the car all day. It's going to be tough on the tyres on Sunday, on both compounds, but we looked pretty good on the softs on the performance run and we have a couple of changes we can try tomorrow to get the most out of the primes, so I think we're looking good. It's clear that degradation is going to be the biggest talking point on Sunday and I think we'll see a lot of stops right across the field. That'll bring strategy and pitstops into play in a big way so whatever happens it's going to be an exciting race for the fans.”

Thierry Salvi, Renault Sport F1 Support Leader: "The Bahrain International Circuit presents us with an interesting challenge in two main areas: how we deal with the physical conditions of the track, and how we maximise the performance of the car over the whole lap. The ambient temperatures and sandy atmosphere mean we have to work closely with the team to ensure we have the optimum cooling package on the bodywork, but the sand isn't actually a major issue for us. We use filters that are based on our experience in desert rallying and they are the same for the whole season. We cannot change them race by race, so we have accounted for the conditions here many months before the season starts.

"Performance-wise, we have another track that requires us to have good top speed down the main straight from T14 down to T1, and make sure the drivers have good traction throughout the whole lap. We have to pay particular attention to how we configure seventh gear for the main straight as the wind direction can change between tail and head winds and that has a relatively high effect on what ratios we use.

"From what we have seen today I think we can be happy with the plans we have activated here, and we have more performance to come tomorrow, so it looks like this could be a good weekend for the team."

Mark Smith, Technical Director: "The conditions here give us some interesting challenges for us from a technical perspective. Today our main priority has been assessing the tyre degradation rates and how we can manage those on differing fuel loads. It looks like rear tyre degradation is going to play a critical role on Sunday so the mileage we have completed today gives us a good chance to make sure we know what to expect on race day. 

"We have also been looking at how we maximise the brake cooling and how we deal with brake wear. The Bahrain circuit is hard on the brakes so we need to make sure the drivers have consistent performance from the braking system, both in qualifying and on race day.

"Overall I am pleased with what we have achieved today. It is too early to tell where we are in relation to the cars ahead but I think we have got back to where we should be in relation to the cars ahead and I am confident we are in good shape for the weekend ahead.”

maocheng

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Weather
FP3: Dry, air temp 29° - 31°, track temp 37° - 41°
Quali: Dry, air temp 30°, track temp 41°

Fastest laps / positions:
FP3: KOV 1.35.694, 18th / PET 1.36.532, 20th
Q1: KOV 1.34.852, 17th / PET 1.35.823, 20th
Q2: KOV 1.36.132 16th

Total laps:
FP3: KOV 19 / PET 17
Q1: KOV 7 / PET 7
Q2: KOV 3

Runplan - FP3
Heikki Kovalainen
1101 – 1104: Installation, 1 lap (medium tyres) 
1104 – 1115: System checks. Changes: front brake blanking
1115 – 1128: Run 2, 7 laps (medium tyres)
1128 – 1133: Changes: frong wing (race)
1133 – 1144: Run 3, 6 laps (medium tyres)
1144 – 1150: Changes: front wing flap angle, front / rear ride height
1150 – 1159: Run 4, 5 laps (soft tyres)

Vitaly Petrov
1101 – 1103: Installation, 1 lap (medium tyres) 
1103 – 1115: System checks  
1115 – 1127: Run 2, 6 laps (medium tyres)
1127 – 1137: Changes: front wing flap angle
1137 – 1145: Run 3, 4 laps (medium tyres)
1145 – 1150: Changes: n/a
1150 – 1201: Run 4, 6 laps (soft tyres)

Runplan - Q1
Heikki Kovalainen
1406 – 1414: Run 1, 4 laps (medium tyres)
1414 – 1417: Refuel
1417 – 1422: Run 2, 3 laps (soft tyres)

Vitaly Petrov
1406 – 1414: Run 1, 4 laps (medium tyres)
1414 – 1417: Refuel
1417 – 1422: Run 2, 3 laps (soft tyres)

Runplan - Q2
Heikki Kovalainen
1440 – 1445: Run 1, 3 laps (medium tyres)


Team Quotes

Heikki Kovalainen, car 20, chassis CT01-#3: “That was an excellent qualifying session for our team. It's a real bonus for us getting into Q2 but we'd already seen this morning that we were close to a few cars and we thought that with the conditions today, being hot and pretty windy, we might be able to use the option tyres to get us into Q2, and it worked out. We've also saved a set of tyres for tomorrow as we were pretty sure we wouldn't be able to get too much higher, and with the degradation rates we've seen yesterday and today it's clear tyre management is going to play a big role tomorrow. Overall, I'm delighted for the team. We've worked really hard to put ourselves in a position where we can fight and today we showed that we are close enough to record results like we did today. We made progress over the winter, and even though we haven't really shown it yet this season, today's the sort of result we knew we could put in, so it's a great day, for everyone in Caterham F1 Team back at the factory and here on track.”
 
Vitaly Petrov, car 21, chassis CT01-#2: “I'm reasonably pleased with how today went, bearing in mind the problem we had with the floor in FP3 which cost us a bit of time and meant we weren't really able to find a balance on the soft tyres that I could really exploit in qualifying. My run on the prime tyres was good - I was very close to my team mate and the car felt good, but when we switched to the options the car just didn't feel right. It wasn't so much a balance issue, it was more about how the car felt under braking and I think that's what cost me the time on the soft tyres. Despite that I think we look like we're getting towards where we should be. We're much closer to the cars ahead than we were in China and having already seen how we can fight with some of the midfield cars in the races I think tomorrow could be a good day for us. It's definitely going to be interesting. There will be a lot of stops and it'll come down to who uses their tyres best.”

Thierry Salvi, Renault Sport F1 Support Leader: "Seeing Heikki in Q2 is a very good result for us and the whole team. We have been working on giving the drivers the right balance between top speed and traction out of the slower corners and today's result shows we have found the right setup for this track. The wind today, particularly on the main straight where there was a stronger head wind than yesterday, meant we had to fine tune the engine maps and our final positions in today's qualifying session is the reward for the work the whole team has done." 

Mark Smith, Technical Director: “We are all delighted with today's result. This morning we had a very good FP3 and the work we have done overnight has paid off with Heikki's result today. Everything on his car worked as we had planned and this is a clear sign that the whole team is making progress. Vitaly had a strong run on the first set of medium tyres but he just was not able to get the most out of the soft tyres on his second run, but he has already shown how strong he is on Sundays so we have good reason to be positive about his prospects here as well. We know we have a good package for the race tomorrow, so we'll look forward to what will definitely be an exciting Grand Prix and aim to maintain the sort of pace we have already shown in the first three races this season.”

Ends

maocheng

Bahrain Grand Prix - Sunday 22nd April 2012

Caterham F1 Team Partner Information
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Weather
Race: Dry, air temp 28° / track temp 32° (start), 27° / 30° (lap 27), 27° / 29° (lap 57)

Runplan
Vitaly Petrov
1431 leave for grid, 2 laps
Start on option tyres
Lap 11: pitstop 1, option tyres
Lap 24: pitstop 2, prime tyres
Lap 40: pitstop 3, prime tyres
Finished: 16th
 
Heikki Kovalainen
1431 leave for grid, 2 laps
Start on option tyres
Lap 1: pitstop 1, option tyres
Lap 14: pitstop 2, option tyres
Lap 26: pitstop 3, prime tyres
Lap 39: pitstop 4, prime tyres
Finished: 17th

Team Quotes
 
Vitaly Petrov, car 21, chassis CT01-#2: “That was a really interesting race, particularly at the start when there was a lot of overtaking and it was good to be right in the middle of the early battles. We made some very good pitstops, quicker than in China and good enough to help me stay out ahead of Ricciardo who I had a good battle with for quite a lot of the race. It was only towards the end when we had to let the leaders pass that we started losing a bit of time but today’s performance shows again how strong we can be on Sundays. This has been a good weekend all round and a great way to end the first four flyaway races. We have a couple of weeks now until the next race in Spain and we’ll head there feeling very positive about how we keep progressing.”

Heikki Kovalainen, car 20, chassis CT01-#3: “I had a good start but then had contact with a car behind in turn 10 which caused a rear left puncture. We pitted immediately and from then on it was basically about putting in as strong a race as I could. I passed Glock quickly and pulled out a good gap to him and then went after my team mate and Ricciardo. It’s obviously a bit frustrating to have had the puncture on the first lap, but we can take a number of positives from this weekend, particularly from the pace we showed in qualifying and from the way we were able to look after the tyres, so overall it’s been pretty good.”

Thierry Salvi, Renault F1 Sport Support Leader: "I think that was a pretty good day for the whole team. Both cars showed good pace throughout the race and both Vitaly and Heikki were able to take advantage of the engine maps we gave them to easily pull away from the cars behind. Vitaly had a good fight with the Toro Rosso and did well to manage his tyre degradation, so this is another step in the right direction.”

Mark Smith, Technical Director: “We can be pleased with today’s performance from both cars. Despite the puncture Heikki suffered on the first lap he put in a very strong drive all afternoon and Vitaly was also racing Ricciardo hard for most of the afternoon. This shows we are definitely making progress, and our qualifying performance yesterday gives us good reason to look forward to the European season which starts in two weeks in Barcelona. We have a number of updates planned for the next few races, and more to come throughout the season, so we will aim to keep building on this type of performance and keep edging closer to the teams ahead."

Ends

maocheng

Gonzalez to join race drivers
at Mugello
Added: Tue 24 Apr, 2012

Caterham F1 Team has confirmed that Rodolfo Gonzalez will be joining race drivers Vitaly Petrov and Heikki Kovalainen at the fourth official test of the 2012 F1 season, taking place at Mugello, Italy from 1st to 3rd May 2012.



Gonzalez, currently competing with Caterham Racing in the 2012 GP2 series, will be in the car on 1st May. Vitaly Petrov will take over on 2nd May and Heikki Kovalainen on 3rd May.



Rodolfo Gonzalez: "I am very excited about getting back into an F1 car at the Mugello test, and want to thank Caterham F1 Team for this opportunity. It will be my third time in an F1 car with this team and it will be another good chance for me to further my experience at the top level of global motorsport. I took part in the young driver tests in 2010 and 2011 with the team, so to be able to help their development programme mid-season is another good step in my career and something that I can take lessons from back into my GP2 season with Caterham Racing."



Riad Asmat, Caterham Group Chief Executive Officer: "Rodolfo is developing well and we are very pleased we are playing an active role in his growth as a driver. He did a good job for us when he took part in the young driver tests, and we expect him to work to the plans he is given, deliver what we ask him to on track, and provide the engineers with the sort of feedback someone with his experience should. His day with the F1 team in Mugello will also help his ongoing development in GP2 and that will be good news for Caterham Racing, so for everyone involved this is good news."

maocheng

T04 Mugello - Day One
                                               
                                                Mugello, Italy - 1st May 2012
                                                                                                        Driver: Rodolfo Gonzalez
                                                       
                                                        Chassis: CT01-#1
                                                       
                                                        Total laps: 35
                                                       
                                                        Fastest lap: 1.27.197 (lap 27)
                                                       
                                                        0901 - 0904: Installation lap, 1 lap, wet tyres
                                                        0904 - 1001: System checks; Changes - brake balance, brake blanking
                                                        1001 - 1012: Run 2, 6 laps, intermediate tyres
                                                        1012 - 1114: Changes - front / rear brake blanking,  
                                                        1114 - 1133: Run 3, 7 laps, intermediate tyres
                                                        1133 - 1217: Changes - front / rear ride height, front torsion bar, front wing flap angle, brake balance, front brake blanking
                                                        1217 - 1233: Run 4, 9 laps, medium tyres
                                                        1233 - 1245: Changes - front wing flap angle, rear ride height, front torsion bar, front anti-roll bar, rear brake blanking
                                                        1245 - 1301: Run 5, 10 laps, medium tyres
                                                        Lunch break (extended break due to rain): Changes - front wing flap angle, brake balance, front / rear brake blanking
                                                        1512 - 1516: Run 6, 2 laps, wet tyres (run aborted due to heavy rain)
                                                        Rain ends session
                                                       
                                                        Team Quotes
                                                       
                                                        Rodolfo Gonzalez: "Despite the weather, which was obviously frustrating this afternoon, I've had a good day with the team here at the Mugello test. I love this track - I've won here in the past in International F3, so getting back out in an F1 car this morning was a great experience. Obviously I'd have preferred a lot more dry running, but today wasn't about setting the fastest times I could, it was more about making sure I ran to the plan we'd set with the engineers, not making any mistakes, and continuing to learn as much as I could. After the morning session I was happy with my performance, particularly considering how stop / start the session was, and while the running was pretty much meaningless this afternoon it's still been another very valuable day for me. Every minute I'm with the F1 team helps me develop as a driver, so even though everyone at the test was affected by today's rain, for me this has still been another step in the right direction for my career."
                                                       
                                                        Steve Nielsen, Caterham F1 Team Sporting Director: "The weather played its part today in limiting the running we had planned for Rodolfo. Despite that he still did a good, solid job for us this morning, making no mistakes and putting in consistent lap times on every run he completed. His is developing as a driver and we can measure his progress over the last couple of years against the data we accumulated from his previous outings with us, at the Abu Dhabi young drivers' tests in 2010 and 2011, and in the way he conducts himself in and out of the car. He responds well to the instructions he is given and his technical feedback has improved markedly since he first drove for us in 2010, so overall we are pleased with the job he has done for us today, in what have been obviously frustrating conditions, and now we want him to take what he's learnt back to his GP2 season with Caterham Racing and continue to develop his skills every time he is on track.
                                                       
                                                        "Tomorrow we have Vitaly back in the car and he will be spending the day evaluating several new parts on the car, including a new spec rear wing, new bodywork and a number of revisions to the exhaust system. Hopefully we will have a better day with the weather so we avoid losing too much more valuable track time at this test."
                                                       

maocheng

T04 Mugello - Day Two
                                               
                                                Mugello, Italy - 2nd May 2012
                                                                                                        Driver: Vitaly Petrov
                                                       
                                                        Chassis: CT01-#1
                                                       
                                                        Total laps: 112
                                                       
                                                        Fastest lap: 1.24.312 (lap 53)
                                                       
                                                        0901 - 0903: Installation lap, 1 lap, intermediate tyres
                                                        0903 - 0942: System checks
                                                        0942 - 0955: Run 2, 8 laps, medium tyres
                                                        0955 - 1009: Changes - front wing flap angle, front / rear ride height, front anti-roll bar  
                                                        1009 - 1022: Run 3, 8 laps, medium tyres
                                                        1022 - 1037: Changes - front wing flap angle, front brake blanking
                                                        1037 - 1049: Run 4, 7 laps, medium tyres
                                                        1049 - 1100: Changes - front wing flap angle
                                                        1100 - 1112: Run 5, 7 laps, medium tyres
                                                        1112 - 1127: Changes - front wing flap angle
                                                        1127 - 1142: Run 6, 9 laps, hard tyres
                                                        1142 - 1152: Changes - n/a
                                                        1152 - 1205: Run 7, 8 laps, hard tyres
                                                        1205 - 1223: Changes - front wing flap angle, rear ride height
                                                        1223 - 1225: Run 8, 1 lap, medium tyres
                                                        1225 - 1230: Changes - n/a
                                                        1230 - 1239: Run 9, 6 laps, medium tyres
                                                        1239 - 1245: Changes - front wing flap angle, rear brake blanking, rear ride height
                                                        1245 - 1257: Run 10, 7 laps, hard tyres
                                                        Lunch
                                                        1437 - 1441: Run 11, 2 laps, super soft tyres
                                                        1441 - 1449: System checks
                                                        1449 - 1501: Run 12, 7 laps, medium tyres
                                                        1501 - 1512: Changes - n/a
                                                        1512 - 1524: Run 13, 7 laps, hard tyres
                                                        1524 - 1532: Changes - n/a
                                                        1532 - 1544: Run 14, 7 laps, hard tyres
                                                        1544 - 1612: Red flag / Changes - n/a
                                                        1612 - 1619: Run 15, 4 laps, hard tyres
                                                        1619 - 1646: Changes - front / rear brake blanking, front wing flap angle, rear wing
                                                        1646 - 1657: Run 16, 6 laps, soft tyres
                                                        1657 - 1710: Changes - front wing flap angle, rear wing
                                                        1710 - 1720: Run 16, 6 laps, soft tyres
                                                        1720 - 1734: Changes - rear ride height, front wing flap angle, front anti-roll bar
                                                        1734 - 1746: Run 17, 7 laps, soft tyres
                                                        1746 - 1753: Changes - front wing flap angle
                                                        1753 - 1801: Run 18, 4 laps, soft tyres
                                                       
                                                       
                                                        Team Quotes
                                                       
                                                        Vitaly Petrov: "I have very good memories of Mugello as this is where I won in F3000, so coming back is good. I'm not sure the track is right for today's F1 cars - you get very close to the walls and it's maybe a bit small for the cars now, but it's still a good challenge putting together a quick lap. I think we can be pleased with what we have achieved here today. The car has run faultlessly all day and we have completed everything we targeted in today's runplan. This afternoon we started running some new parts and even though it's too early to make any judgements on what sort of step forward they give us, I can say the new rear wing we tried immediately felt like it was giving us more downforce. The car's balance felt better and there was more grip, so that's definitely a step in the right direction. Hopefully we can have a similar day tomorrow and give ourselves a good chance of making more progress when we're back racing in Spain next week."
                                                       
                                                        Jody Egginton, Caterham F1 Team Chief Engineer: "Day two in Mugello has been a good one for the team. The weather is obviously a vast improvement over yesterday and with Vitaly in the car we managed to complete 112 laps, helping us catch up with the time we lost on track yesterday with the rain. This morning we ran through a program on a variety of tyre compounds that gave us the chance to evaluate the new parts we put on the car in the afternoon. From that we have generated a very good amount of data the team on track and back at the factory can use to accurately assess what we have gained with the updates which include new bodywork, a new rear wing and a look at a revised exhaust layout. Tomorrow we will be looking to replicate the same sort of program with Heikki in the car and with the forecast looking good for the last day of the test we want to be able to leave Mugello having completed everything we planned."

maocheng

T04 Mugello - Day Three
                                               
                                                        Mugello, Italy - 3rd May 2012                                                                                                        Driver: Heikki Kovalainen
                                                       
                                                        Chassis: CT01-#1
                                                       
                                                        Total laps: 139
                                                       
                                                        Fastest lap: 1.23.169 (lap 51)
                                                       
                                                        Runplan
                                                        0900 - 0902: Installation, 1 lap, hard tyres
                                                        0902 - 0936: System checks
                                                        0936 - 0949: Run 2, 8 laps, soft tyres
                                                        0949 - 1002: Changes - front / rear brake blanking
                                                        1002 - 1004: Run 3, 1 lap, soft tyres (red flag)
                                                        1004 - 1020: Changes - front / rear ride height
                                                        1020 - 1031: Run 4, 8 laps, soft tyres
                                                        1031 - 1040: Changes - front / rear brake blanking
                                                        1040 - 1051: Run 5, 8 laps, medium tyres
                                                        1051 - 1104: Changes - rear wing, front wing flap adjustment
                                                        1104 - 1106: Run 6, 1 lap, medium tyres (red flag)
                                                        1106 - 1123: Changes - n/a
                                                        1123 - 1135: Run 7, 8 laps, medium tyres
                                                        1135 - 1145: Changes - rear ride height
                                                        1145 - 1159: Run 8, 8 laps, medium tyres
                                                        1159 - 1217: Changes - front wing flap angle, rear ride height, rear wing
                                                        1217 - 1226: Run 9, 6 laps, soft tyres
                                                        1226 - 1235: Changes - n/a
                                                        1235 - 1244: Run 10, 6 laps, soft tyres
                                                        1244 - 1247: Changes - rear brake blanking
                                                        1247 - 1300: Run 11, 8 laps, hard tyres
                                                        Lunch / Changes - revised bodywork
                                                        1411 - 1426: Run 12, 9 laps, medium tyres
                                                        1426 - 1431: Changes - n/a
                                                        1431 - 1445: Run 13, 9 laps, medium tyres
                                                        1445 - 1453: Changes - n/a
                                                        1453 - 1459: Run 14, 3 laps, medium tyres - off in turn one
                                                        Return to garage
                                                        1525 - 1535: Run 15, 7 laps, hard tyres
                                                        1535 - 1542: Changes - return to baseline setup
                                                        1542 - 1559: Run 16, 11 laps, hard tyres
                                                        1559 - 1631: Changes - bodywork, floor
                                                        1631 - 1647: Run 17, 11 laps, hard tyres
                                                        1647 - 1653: Changes - n/a
                                                        1653 - 1659: Run 18, 4 laps, hard tyres (red flag)
                                                        1659 - 1711: Changes - front wing flap angle, rear wing
                                                        1711 - 1727: Run 19, 10 laps, soft tyres
                                                        1727 - 1735: Changes - front wing flap angle, rear wing
                                                        1735 - 1747: Run 20, 7 laps, soft tyres
                                                        1747 - 1750: Changes - n/a
                                                        1750 - 1801: Run 21, 5 laps, soft tyres
                                                       
                                                       
                                                        Team Quotes
                                                       
                                                        Heikki Kovalainen: "A good day's work for the team and good to have completed so many laps. I enjoyed myself out there today - even though a lot of what we were doing was pretty repetitive, it's still a good place to drive an F1 car around and having got through everything we'd planned it's good to leave this test on a positive note.
                                                       
                                                        "We tried a variety of new parts and it felt like we may have found a couple of things that we can take to the next race. You can never tell just how much of an improvement something has been until you go through all the data, but the fact we've brought new parts that feel like a step forward is good. It shows we're pushing as hard as we can and that's what we need to do to achieve the goals this year."
                                                       
                                                        Jody Egginton, Caterham F1 Team Chief Engineer: "It's been another solid day for us on the final day of the Mugello test. Heikki took over the car today and ran a program very similar to Vitaly's from day two, completing 139 laps which helped us achieve everything we wanted from this test. We have tried a number of new parts including bodywork, floor, exhausts and some work on the brakes, some of which we expect to see on the race cars next week in Barcelona.
                                                       
                                                        "This has been a pretty hard week for everyone on track. We've run on all three days without any major mechanical issues, and we've put the hours in to help us keep progressing, so I want to thank everyone for a very good week of hard work. Now we need to take what we've achieved here into the start of the European season and make sure we keep up this level of reliability and focus at the races to come."

maocheng

Spanish Grand Prix View - Catalunya, May 11-13

General
Race laps: 66
Air/track temp (c): 22/36
Pitlane altitude (m): 121
ATM Press (HPA): 995
Hum (%): 40
Wind (kph): NNE 15

Timing
2011 Qualifying
P1: 1:20.981 (WEB Q3)
P2: 1:21.181 (VET Q3)
P3: 1:21.961 (HAM Q3)
CF1T best: P15 KOV (1:25.403 Q2
CF1T delta to best Q2: +3.863 (104.7%)
2011 Race
P1: VET (1:27.162) L60
P2: HAM (1:26.727) L52
P3: BUT (1:27.518) L63
CF1T best:  P18 TRU (1:30.783) L34
CF1T delta to best race lap: +3.621 (104.6%)

Quick description
Lateral track with high percentage of high-speed corners
Slow-speed traction important through sector 3
Medium brake energy
Bumps at entry T9 & braking into T10
Grip level can change depending on conditions (track evolution,track temp & wind)

Circuit Particularity
Bumpiness: Medium
Overtaking chance: Low
Kerbs: Smooth to Medium
Ride height setting particularity: None
Engine severity: Low
Gearbox severity: Medium
Lat/Long grip: Lateral
Aero eff ratio: Low
Safety car history: 2011- none, 2010- none, 2009, first lapaccident
Track grip evo during w/e: High
Aero settings: High
Brake wear severity: Medium
Brake cooling necessity: Medium

Team quotes

Alexander Rossi (replacing Heikki Kovalainen inFP1): "I am looking forward to getting back into the F1 car inSpain and I want to thank the team for the chance to run in FP1 inBarcelona. I have a clear goal for the session - make sure I run tothe plan set by the engineers, not make any mistakes and learn asmuch as I can over the whole weekend. I know how much I will beable to take from my time with the team back to my Formula Renault3.5 commitments and I know the team will do everything they can tohelp me maximise my performance on Friday."

Go to www.caterhamf1.com/tv now to watch a film ofAlexander Rossi's seat fitting at our factory in preparation forhis FP1 run in Barcelona.

Heikki Kovalainen: "Barcelona's agood circuit where the main challenge is to nail everythingabsolutely perfectly. If you make a half a tenth of a mistake itcan cost you a grid position and it's a race weekend where you haveto focus on the details to give yourself the best chance ofsuccess. It's a track with a lot of high-speed corners, some whereyou have to be really on it to save time, and you have to be prettycommitted going into the braking zone in T1 as that's where thereis an overtaking chance. For the fans it's often a pretty quietrace because it's a tough circuit to overtake on, but that makesqualifying even more crucial and means you have to get the plan onSaturday absolutely right."

Vitaly Petrov: "After a good testin Mugello we are all looking forward to getting back to racing inSpain. Barcelona is a track I know well and one I like racing on. Iwas on the podium there in GP2 in 2009 and while I know that's outof reach for us at the moment, we will all be focusing oncontinuing to take the fight to the cars ahead and repeating thesort of performances we've put in so far this season, particularlyon Sundays."

Mark Smith, Technical Director:"The Circuit de Catalunya is a track every team knows extremelywell. We have already tested there twice this year as the layoutgives the cars a good test of most of the track conditions we seethroughout the season - fast, high-G corners, a long straight and anumber of slower speed corners where good traction is key. It isalso one of the more technically demanding tracks for the driversand offers a bit of everything. Turns 3 and 9 are high-speedcorners and finding a balance for both together is not easy. Thefinal sector is also a good challenge - the car has to make bigchanges of direction so you need good mechanical grip to maximiseyour lap time."

"Barcelona is also a relatively open circuit and the wind canhave a significant effect on car balance, particularly when itchanges direction. However, while the wind can be an issue, anothermajor factor in Barcelona is the way in which the track evolvesover the race weekend and throughout each day due to air and tracktemperature changes, which can be fairly extreme. Although weunderstand these factors well, due to the amount of time we spendat the circuit, we do need to constantly monitor what is happeningwith the weather to ensure the car setup remains optimised and weare on top of the changing conditions.

"We will also be giving our Test Driver Alexander Rossi hisfirst FP1 run with us in Barcelona and we are all looking forwardto giving him the chance to work with us at a full race weekend. Hedid a good job in Abu Dhabi when we ran him in the young drivertest in 2011 and I am sure he will perform well for us on Friday inSpain."

Tony Fernandes, Team Principal:"We head back to Europe after what has been an encouraging firstfour races for the team. We may not have quite bridged the gap tothe midfield pack yet, but we are clearly much closer than we werethis time last year, particularly on race day when we have seenclear evidence of the progress we have made.

"Having been with us for four races now, I am very pleased withthe job Vitaly has been doing for the team. He is obviously afighter and he is pushing his team mate well, especially onSundays, and that is good for the whole team. I think Heikki is duea run of better luck in the races as he has been pushing extremelyhard in qualifying, particularly to get himself into Q2 in Bahrain,but he has not had the same luck when the lights go out on raceday. Hopefully that will change in Barcelona and we will be able tosee both cars fighting to the chequered flag on Sunday."

maocheng

Spanish Grand Prix 2012 - FP1 & FP2
                               
                                Caterham F1 Team Partner information
                                CNN won the coveted Prince of Asturias Award for Communication and Humanities in 1997 and has had a bureau in Madrid since 1999
                               
                                Weather
                                FP1: Dry, sunny, air temp 22° - 26°, track temp 24° - 31°
                                FP2: Dry, sunny, air temp 29°, track temp 42° - 44°
                               
                                Fastest laps / positions:
                                FP1: PET 1.27.475 (lap 5), 19th / RSI 1.28.448 (lap 12), 21st
                                FP2: KOV 1.26.296 (lap 19), 19th / PET 1.26.740 (lap 14), 20th
                               
                                Total laps:
                                FP1: PET 20 / RSI 25
                                FP2: KOV 36 / PET 35
                               
                                Runplan – FP1
                                Alexander Rossi
                                1003 – 1005: Installation, 1 lap (hard tyres)
                                1005 – 1028: System checks.  
                                1028 – 1040: Run 2, 8 laps (hard tyres)
                                1040 – 1048: Changes: front wing flap angle, rear wing
                                1048 – 1101: Run 3, 7 laps (hard tyres)
                                1101 – 1107: Changes: front wing flap angle, rear wing
                                1107 – 1122: Run 4, 9 laps (hard tyres)
                               
                                Vitaly Petrov
                                1001 – 1003: Installation, 1 lap (hard tyres)
                                1003 – 1040: System checks.  
                                1040 – 1051: Run 2, 6 laps (hard tyres)
                                1051 – 1100: Changes: front wing flap angle, rear wing, rear brake blanking
                                1100 – 1113: Run 3, 7 laps (hard tyres)
                                1113 – 1122: Changes: front / rear ride height
                                1122 – 1131: Run 4, 6 laps (hard tyres)
                               
                                Runplan - FP2
                                Heikki Kovalainen
                                1402 – 1412: Run 1, 6 laps (hard tyres)
                                1412 – 1425: Changes: rear camber, front anti-roll bar
                                1425 – 1440: Run 2, 9 laps (hard tyres)
                                1440 – 1448: Changes: n/a
                                1448 – 1456: Run 3, 5 laps (soft tyres)
                                1456 – 1502 Changes: front wing flap angle
                                1502 – 1520: Run 4, 10 laps (soft tyres)
                                Pitstop practice
                                1520 - 1531 Run 5, 6 laps (hard tyres)
                               
                                Vitaly Petrov
                                1402 – 1411: Run 1, 5 laps (hard tyres)
                                1411 – 1426: Changes: front wing flap angle, front camber, front torsion bar
                                1426 – 1437: Run 2, 6 laps (hard tyres)
                                1437 – 1446: Changes: front torsion bar
                                1446 – 1455: Run 3, 5 laps (soft tyres)
                                1455 – 1502: Changes: front wing flap angle
                                1502 – 1521: Run 4, 12 laps (soft tyres)
                                Pitstop practice
                                1521 - 1532: Run 5, 7 laps (hard tyres)
                               
                               
                                Team Quotes
                               
                                Alexander Rossi, car 20, chassis CT01-#3: "I am very pleased with how this morning's session went. We completed the program the team had set and I acclimatised quickly to the step up to F1. This isn't my first time working with the team, I already have a day at the Abu Dhbai young driver test last year under my belt, but coming into a full race weekend is a very different proposition to the young driver test. Today wasn't about setting the quickest lap I could - there may have been another seven or eight tenths to be found but the main thing today was to learn as much as I could, contribute by following the plan, give the engineers clear, concise feedback, and not make any mistakes. That's what we did so I think it's been pretty much as good as it could have been."
                               
                                Heikki Kovalainen, car 20, chassis CT01-#3: “A pretty standard Friday for us. We made a couple of setup changes early on in FP2 that improved the balance and I think we've ended up closer to where we want to be today. As it's been all season, tyre management is going to be vital here, especially on Sunday, and from what we've seen from the tyre degradation patterns on both tyre choices I think we need to do more work on managing wear rates, but if we can do that I think we'll be ok tomorrow, and on Sunday.”
                                 
                                Vitaly Petrov, car 21, chassis CT01-#2: “I'm relatively pleased with today but it was a bit of an odd couple of sessions for us. This morning we did all the runs on the hard tyres and couldn't really find a balance I could push with, and then this afternoon we managed to dial out the understeer we had on both the hard and soft tyres, but suddenly found we had oversteer that hadn't been there before. I think this is something that's affecting quite a few of the teams, and it's not what we were expecting after the Bahrain race and the Mugello test, but we'll work on it tonight and I'm sure we'll find a solution for FP3 and qualifying.”
                               
                                Thierry Salvi, Renault Sport F1 Support Leader: "Despite the fact that Barcelona is probably the track everyone in F1 knows better than any other, it’s still a good challenge for us to come back here for the race. We tested here for two weeks in February but the weather conditions were obviously cooler then which means we have to run different engine maps to account for the increase in temperature. Those maps have worked well today and we’ve seen the sort of results we expected from the overall engine performance. This is also the first time we can compare KERS data with information generated at the same track back in February, and with the experience we have now of using KERS in the first four races we can see we’re much closer to optimising its performance over the whole weekend. These are a couple of the areas we’ve been concentrating on in the lead-up to this weekend, and for both sessions today, and from the drivers’ initial feedback on the engine performance I think we can be pleased with what we have achieved today."
                               
                                Mark Smith, Technical Director: “I think we have made good use of both sessions today. Alexander Rossi took part in his first FP1 session for us this morning and did a very good job, working through a program that was looking at a number of rear wing options that gives us more information to work on in addition to the data we generated in Mugello last week. This afternoon Heikki was back in his normal car and he and Vitaly concentrated on tyre work, looking at degradation levels on the soft and hard compounds we have available to us this weekend. There is quite a big time difference between the two types of tyre which will make strategy in qualifying tomorrow very interesting, and will put the onus on Sunday on the drivers looking after the wear rates as much as possible.”

maocheng

Spanish Grand Prix 2012 - FP3 &Qualifying Caterham F1 Team Partner information
Dell was the first PC manufacturer to ship computers in packagingmaterials made from bamboo, a highly renewable and compostablematerial

Weather
FP3: Dry, sunny, air temp 26° - 29°, track temp 36° -39°
Q1: Dry, sunny, air temp 28°, track temp 42°

Fastest laps / positions:
FP3: PET 1.25.911, 18th / KOV 1.26.587, 19th
Q1: PET 1.25.277, 19th / KOV 1.25.507, 20th

Total laps:
FP3: PET 20 / KOV 20
Q1: KOV 8 / PET 8

Runplan - FP3
Heikki Kovalainen
1100 - 1102: Installation, 1 lap (hardtyres)
1102 - 1116: System checks.  
1116 - 1128: Run 2, 7 laps (hard tyres)
1128 - 1135: Changes: front anti-roll bar
1135 - 1147: Run 3, 7 laps (hard tyres)
1147 - 1154: Changes: front wing flap angle
1154 - 1202: Run 4, 5 laps (soft tyres)

Vitaly Petrov
1100 - 1102: Installation, 1 lap (hardtyres)
1102 - 1114: System checks.  
1114 - 1126: Run 2, 7 laps (hard tyres)
1126 - 1133: Changes: front wing flap angle
1133 - 1145: Run 3, 7 laps (hard tyres)
1145 - 1153: Changes: front wing flap angle
1153 - 1201: Run 4, 5 laps (soft tyres)

Runplan - Q1
Heikki Kovalainen
1405 - 1413: Run 1, 5 laps (hard tyres)
1413 - 1417: Refuel
1417 - 1422: Run 2, 3 laps (soft tyres)

Vitaly Petrov
1407 - 1415: Run 1,  laps (hard tyres)
1415 - 1417: Refuel
1417 - 1422: Run 2, 3 laps (soft tyres)


Team Quotes

Vitaly Petrov, car 21, chassis CT01-#2: "Iam very happy with today's performance. It feels great to have itall come together in qualifying today and I want to thank the teamfor doing a great job and helping me put together a final lap likethat. There was even more time to come as I made a small mistake insector two that maybe cost me two or three tenths, but between FP3and qualifying we found a good balance on the softs and a KERS mapthat I could really get everything out of, so it's great to see itpay off with that sort of performance.

"Tomorrow's going to be an interesting race. I think a lot of itwill come down to who uses the rear tyres best and as we've alreadyseen earlier this season, we can fight with the cars ahead onSundays, so hopefully we can carry through this afternoon'sperformance to tomorrow, and who knows what could happen."

Heikki Kovalainen, car 20, chassis CT01-#3:"I'm not unhappy with today's performance but we could havedefinitely got more out of the car this afternoon. I made a mistakein turn three that cost me some time but overall I've notreally been able to find a setup I'm happy with all weekend. We'vetried a few different things to find a decent balance but forsome reason we just couldn't find a compromise for qualifyingtoday. We'll put that behind us now and move on to tomorrow wherewe'll aim to maintain the sort of race pace we've shown in thefirst four Grands Prix this season. If we can look after the tyresI think we'll be ok."

Mark Smith, Technical Director: "I think weprobably got close to extracting as much performance out ofthe cars as we could this afternoon. Both drivers may have beenable to find a couple more tenths but I am pleased with theperformances they put in and now the focus moves to tomorrow'srace. Tyres will be the defining factor in the race. We havealready shown that we can fight with several cars ahead on Sundaysand I think that careful management of the tyres and good pitstopstrategy should give us a chance of putting in a goodperformance."

maocheng

Spanish Grand Prix - Sunday 13th May 2012
                               
                                Caterham F1 Team Partner Information
                                A standard Caterham 7 is approximately 520kgs. The lightest ever Caterham 7 weighs just 400kgs
                               
                                Weather
                                Race: Overcast, dry, air temp 22° / track temp 31° (start), 23° / 33° (lap 33), 23° / 34° (lap 66)
                               
                                Runplan
                                Heikki Kovalainen
                                1331 leave for grid, 2 laps
                                Start on soft tyres
                                Lap 13: pitstop 1, soft tyres
                                Lap 27: pitstop 2, soft tyres
                                Lap 43: pitstop 3, hard tyres
                                Finished: 16th
                               
                                Vitaly Petrov
                                1330 leave for grid, 2 laps
                                Start on soft tyres
                                Lap 10: pitstop 1, hard tyres
                                Lap 28: pitstop 2, soft tyres, front wing flap adjustment
                                Lap 44: pitstop 3, hard tyres
                                Finished: 17th
                               
                                Team Quotes
                               
                                Heikki Kovalainen, car 20, chassis CT01-#3: "I think we got as much out of the car as we could this afternoon. I had a good start, passed Senna and was hanging on to the pack ahead up until the second stops. The first stint on the options was good, and we stayed on the soft tyres right up until the last pitstop but maybe the last stint on the hards was a couple of laps too long. Still, it was a decent race and we showed we have decent pace on Sundays, more than enough to easily pull away from the teams behind, but not quite enough to be able to fight throughout the whole race with the cars ahead. We knew this track was going to be one of the tougher ones for us, but now we go to Monaco which will give us a chance of fighting higher up, so we'll keep pushing to close the gap and aim to take another step forwards at the next race.”
                                 
                                Vitaly Petrov, car 21, chassis CT01-#2: “I'm pleased with how I drove this afternoon and, like Heikki, I don't think we could have got much more performance from the car today. Yesterday we found a good KERS map for qualifying but this afternoon it wasn't working as well in the first and second stints, and I think that's where we lost some time to Heikki. The tyre degradation was higher than we'd seen in the long runs in practice, so we need to look again at why that happened and how we can fix it for future races. Apart from that it was one of those afternoons when we got as much out of the race as we could so now we'll move on to Monaco where the circuit layout and the difficulty of passing should give us a better chance of pushing the cars ahead throughout the weekend."
                                 
                                Mark Smith, Technical Director: “I am pleased with the performance from both drivers today. They kept pushing throughout the whole race and made sure they didn't make any mistakes, particularly at the start of the race. Our early pace was good and we used the tyre strategy well to keep ourselves within touching distance of the midfield pack, but again we saw the issue with blue flags, having to let the cars ahead pass articifially lengthened the gap to the cars we had been fighting with, but we have to deal with that on tracks like this where we knew we would be lapped at some point. We now have a busy couple of weeks before the next race, with an aero test in the UK, part of the program that is helping us keep edging closer to the midfield, and we will go to Monaco, hopefully aiming to repeat the sort of performance we saw last year when we finished 13th and 14th."

maocheng

Russian Helicopters becomes Official Partner of Caterham F1 Team



Russian Helicopters, one of the global leaders in the helicopter industry, is glad to announce an official partnership with Caterham F1 Team, one of the 12 participants in the FIA Formula One World Championship. From the Monaco Grand Prix, the Russian Helicopters logos will be seen on the Caterham F1 Team cars and in future the drivers' overalls and the team's race garages.



Russian Helicopters is a subsidiary of United Industrial Corporation Oboronprom. It is one of the global leaders in helicopter development and production with a number of special, innovative and widespread models, both civilian and military. Russian Helicopters is dominant in the Russian and CIS markets and is the leading player in the fast growing Indian and Chinese markets. The company is also rapidly increasing its presence in the Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific regions.



As a global market leader, Russian Helicopters leads the field in the use of innovative technological methods. This provides the perfect synergy between its high-tech business and the high-tech world of Formula 1. The global business interests of Russian Helicopters takes the company into markets worldwide, and now, through its partnership with Caterham F1 Team, Russian Helicopters will also be represented at grands prix all over the globe.



Tony Fernandes, Team Principal of Caterham F1 Team, commented on the deal: "I am absolutely delighted to welcome Russian Helicopters into Caterham F1 Team. It is a sign of the increasingly strong relationships we are growing in Russia that we can attract partners of this calibre and we look forward to repaying their faith in us and Vitaly on and off track."



Dmitry Petrov, General Director of JSC Russian Helicopters: "Russian Helicopters are delighted to announce the start of our partnership program with Vitaly Petrov's Caterham F1 Team. It is important for Russian businesses to support projects which positively raise the profile of Russian interests worldwide and, as Russian Helicopters is a global high-tech company, it is a natural step for us to support Vitaly, as Caterham F1 Team's Russian driver, in his role in a high-tech sport which is enormously popular all over the world. Our helicopters are actively marketed internationally and I am sure that our involvement in Formula 1, a sport that is popular worldwide and is at the pinnacle of modern technology, will help us to strengthen the international image of Russian Helicopters, as well as contribute to the growth of investment in the Russian economy."



Russian Helicopters is a subsidiary of UIC Oboronprom, which in turn is a part of Russian Technologies State Corporation. It is one of the global leaders in helicopter production and the only helicopter design and production powerhouse in Russia. Russian Helicopters is headquartered in Moscow. The company comprises five helicopter production facilities, two design bureaus, a spare parts production and repair facility, as well as an aftersale service branch responsible for maintenance and repair in Russia and all over the world.



Its helicopters are popular among Russian ministries and state authorities (Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Emergency Control Ministry), operators (Gazpromavia, UTair), major Russian corporations. Over 8000 helicopters of Soviet/Russian make are operated in 110 countries worldwide. Traditionally, the demand is highest in the Middle East, Africa, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Russia, and CIS countries. Russian Helicopters was established in 2007. In 2011, its IFRS revenues increased 27.8% to RUB 103.9 billion and deliveries reached 262 helicopters.

maocheng

Monaco Grand PrixView                                                   

• Added: Thu 17 May, 2012

   
                        

General
Race Laps: 78
2011 Air/Track temp (°C): 21/34
2011 Pitlane altitude (m): 2
2011 ATM Press (HPA): 1000
2011 Hum (%): 40
2011 Wind (kph): NNE 10

2011 Timing
Qualifying
P1: VET (1:13.556 Q3)
P2: BUT (1:13.997 Q3)
P3: WEB (1:14.019 Q3)
CF1T best: P18 KOV (1:17.343 Q1)
CF1T delta to best Q2: +2.136 (102.7%)

2011 Race
P1: VET (1:16.267) L78
P2: ALO (1:16.471) L77
P3: BUT (1:16.463) L78
CF1T best: P13 TRU; P14 KOV (1:20.678) L66
CF1T delta to best race lap: +4.411 (105.7%)

Quick description
Needs high brake cooling to avoid calipers overheating, but brakewear is not an issue
Maximum downforce needed, compared to better efficiency aeropackage
Very low grip, especially on Thursday P1, and track improvesconsiderably over race weekend
All setup changes between sessions are usually shadowed by trackimprovement
Highest percentage of low speed of all circuits & theseason's slowest corner at T6
Track was partly resurfaced in 2010 and 2011 and bumps have beenremoved for 2012

Circuit Particularity
Bumpiness: Medium
Overtaking chance: Low
Kerbs: Low / medium
Ride height setting particularity: Don't need much higher rideheight than standard track
Engine severity: Very Low
Gearbox severity: Very high
Lat/Long grip: Longitudinal
Aero eff ratio: Very low
Track grip evo during w/e: Very high
Aero settings: Very high (max)
Brake wear severity: Medium / high
Brake cooling necessity: Very high

Safety car history
2011: 2 (34-36, 69-72)
2010: 4 (1-6, 31-33, 43-45,75-78)
2009: none

To see a Renault Sport F1 telemetry trace from a HeikkiKovalainen lap in Monaco 2011, and a detailed explanation of whatis being measured from Thierry Salvi, Renault Sport F1 SupportLeader, go to the latest issue of Caterham Notes here:  www.caterhamf1.com/notes

Team Quotes

Heikki Kovalainen: "Monaco's the race everyone in F1wants to win, and it's not just a famous F1 race, it's one of thebiggest annual events in the world. For drivers it's a prettyhardcore race, in and out of the cars, but it's a challenge Ireally enjoy and racing around the streets is one of the realhighlights of being an F1 driver.

"On track it's one of the races where the pack bunches up a bitand that might give us a chance to do something special. Last yearI finished 14th, one of our higher finishes of the season, sohopefully we can improve on that this year. We have KERS this yearand a car that has good race pace, and as our car is slightlyeasier on the tyres than some of the teams ahead, maybe thatwill help us achieve a high race finish."

Vitaly Petrov: "I've raced a lot in Monaco, not justin Formula One. I had a podium there in GP2 when I finishedsecond in 2009, which was good. In F1 I've raced there twice. Thefirst time wasn't so great but last year was pretty good,right up until the point I crashed! That was so disappointing,but I couldn't avoid it. We had a good strategy and I'd had a goodrace up to that point, but that's how racing goes sometimes.Monaco is an unbelievable place though. Normally, between Barcelonaand Monaco we have just one week and I'd leave Barcelona on Sundaynight and drive to Monaco, because on the Tuesday of the race weekwe have the football match for the F1 drivers, which is alwaysgreat.

"The track itself is always a little bit dirty at the start of theweekend and it's quite difficult to get tyre temperatures up duringthe lap. It's tricky because the walls are so close. If you makeone mistake or have a little bit of oversteer, you don't even get achance to correct it - you're in the wall. It takes quitea bit of mental preparation and you need to be totally focused forevery single lap of every session. The race itself? The atmospherein the race is incredible. It's just an amazing place to drive aracing car and I really love it."

Mark Smith, Caterham F1 Team Technical Director:"Monaco is a unique challenge, for the drivers and the teams. Thefact we are in very different garage conditions to normal, and in acramped paddock, makes it a tough race for the truckies, themechanics and the engineers, but it is a race we all look forwardto and one that everyone wants to do well at.

"The short length of the lap and the limited high-speed sectionsmeans there is much less difference in lap times than at somewherelike Barcelona. We all use high downforce settings, and we have aspecific aero configuration we will use in Monaco and probablyHungary, but the days of cars sprouting all sorts of special wingsjust for Monaco are behind us. The cars may not look hugelydifferent to how they appeared in Spain, but we do have as muchdownforce as we can find for the whole weekend in MonteCarlo.

"The other challenges are managing the brake cooling and tyrewear. Even though it's a stop - start lap, the brakes are not putunder huge strain as the speeds never get as high as a normaltrack, but there is a real emphasis on making sure we cool thebrakes as efficiently as possible, and that is something we workedon at the Mugello test, so we are happy we have a good solution forthat.

"For the tyre wear we have planned as well as we can, but we haveseen so far this season that until we are actually out on trackit's almost impossible to know which teams will be hard on thetyres and which teams will be able to manage the degradation levelswell. We have the soft and the supersoft compounds in Monaco, andif the wear rates on the softs are anything like we saw in Spain,strategy will be critical."  

Tony Fernandes, Team Principal, Caterham F1 Team:"Before looking ahead to Monaco I want to talk about what happenedafter the race in Spain. We performed well in the race itself -both cars ran faultlessly and Heikki and Vitaly put in strongdrives, managing their tyres well and getting as much performanceas they could from the cars that afternoon.

"After the race I was absolutely delighted for Sir Frank and thewhole Williams F1 Team that they won their first race in eightyears. Williams is one of the cornerstones of F1 today and SirFrank and Patrick have served as mentors for me in F1 so I owe thema great deal. When I saw what then happened in their garage I wasobviously concerned for the safety of my team and all the peoplefrom teams up and down the grid who showed incredible bravery,putting themselves in the middle of a very dangerous situation tohelp a fellow team.

"Since the team returned to base I have received a very graciouscommunication from Jean Todt, thanking our boys for helping put thefire out on Sunday. The actions of the Williams team, people fromour team and everyone else who helped out, stopped the situationescalating and it makes me incredibly proud to be part of a sportthat shows such bravery and spirit. For us, teams like Williams setthe standards we must reach on track, but we showed on Sunday thatwhen faced we adversity we behave like a championship winning team.That spirit is at the heart of our team and it is what we will callon to keep progressing and keep fighting to emulate the teamsahead."

maocheng

Monaco Grand Prix 2012 - FP1 & FP2
                                       
                                        Caterham F1 Team Partner information
                                        Russian Helicopters comprises five helicopter production facilities, two design bureaus, a spare parts production and repair facility and an aftersales service branch responsible for maintenance and repair in Russia and all over the world
                                       
                                        Weather
                                        FP1: Dry, sunny, air temp 22° - 23°, track temp 28° - 33°
                                        FP2: Overcast (start), rain (intermittent) air temp 23°, track temp 31° - 26°
                                       
                                        Fastest laps / positions:
                                        FP1: KOV 1.19.039, 18th / PET 1.19.341, 19th
                                        FP2: PET 1.18.440, 18th / KOV 1.20.029, 21st
                                       
                                        Total laps:
                                        FP1: KOV 20 / PET 16
                                        FP2: PET 25 / KOV 13
                                       
                                        Runplan – FP1
                                        Heikki Kovalainen
                                        1000 – 1002: Installation, 1 lap (prime tyres)
                                        1002 – 1037: System checks
                                        1037 – 1054: Run 2, 11 laps (prime tyres)
                                        1054 – 1109: Changes: brake blanking, front wing flap angle
                                        1109 – 1132: Run 3, 8 laps (prime tyres)
                                        Engine failure ends session
                                       
                                        Vitaly Petrov
                                        1000 – 1003: Installation, 1 lap (prime tyres)
                                        1003 – 1038: System checks
                                        1038 – 1051: Run 2, 9 laps (prime tyres)
                                        1051 – 1113: Changes: brake blanking, front / rear ride height, front camber
                                        1113 – 1123: Run 3, 6 laps (prime tyres)
                                        Session red flagged
                                       
                                        Runplan - FP2
                                        Heikki Kovalainen
                                        1406 – 1408: Installation, 1 lap (prime tyres)
                                        1408 – 1411 System checks, rear brake duct blanking
                                        1411 – 1416: Run 2, 3 laps (prime tyres)
                                        1416 – 1438: Changes n/a
                                        1438 – 1444: Run 3, 3 laps (option tyres)
                                        1444 – 1516: Changes: n/a
                                        1516 – 1526: Run 4, 6 laps (intermediate tyres)
                                       
                                        Vitaly Petrov
                                        1400 – 1412: Run 1, 8 laps (prime tyres)
                                        1412 – 1414: Changes: n/a
                                        1414 – 1418: Run 2, 2 laps (prime tyres)
                                        1418 – 1438: Changes: n/a
                                        1438 – 1444: Run 3, 3 laps (option tyres)
                                        1444 – 1515: Changes: n/a
                                        1515 – 1534: Run 4, 12 laps (intermediate tyres)
                                       
                                        Team Quotes
                                       
                                        Heikki Kovalainen, car 20, chassis CT01-#3: “This morning's session went pretty well. We tried a new suspension part early on that felt pretty good, and then we ran through a normal FP1 session on the primes until the engine let go as I was entering the tunnel towards the end of the session. As soon as I engaged neutral the rear axle locked up and that brought FP1 to a slightly early end. In FP2 everyone had the same issues with the rain and even though we got a couple of laps done on the supersofts I didn't have a chance to put in a flying lap on those so we'll have to look at that again on Saturday. We made the final run on the inters and coming into turn five the car went straight on - it was very greasy out there but there was no damage so I parked it and that was that.”
                                         
                                        Vitaly Petrov, car 21, chassis CT01-#2: “Both sessions were good for me today. Even though we’d obviously liked to have had more time on the options this afternoon the rain interrupted the run we tried on the super softs, but that was the same for pretty much everyone so we’re all in the same position.
                                       
                                        “In FP2 the car felt pretty good and even though the track was very slippery when we went out on the inters I still felt like we have a decent balance to work from . This is one of the races where we need to make sure we’re there at the chequered flag and not make any mistakes, so having had a few laps in what will probably be the trickiest conditions all weekend I’m feeling good about the sessions ahead, and the race on Sunday.”
                                       
                                        Thierry Salvi, Renault Sport F1 Support Leader: "Monaco is obviously a unique circuit, similar only to Hungary in its demands on the engine. There are two key areas that we focus on while preparing to race here and in the first two practice sessions - driveability and maximising stability under braking. The number of slow speed corners here means we need to give the drivers an engine package that gives them excellent engine response out of all the low speed corners so they can be on the power early and have a smooth exit from each turn. Braking stability is also key. The heaviest braking zone is out of the tunnel into turn ten and even though the track has been resurfaced this year and the bumps that were there in 2011 have been smoothed out, we need to ensure the KERS and engine maps are giving the drivers the confidence to brake as late as possible into one of the few possible overtaking places in Monaco."
                                       
                                        Mark Smith, Technical Director: “Today's practice sessions were ok for us, if a bit stop start with the weather in FP2. This morning we tried a couple of new suspension parts on both cars that worked as we had expected and even though Heikki's FP1 was cut short by the engine failure it was at the end of the session and we did not lose any track time as the session was red flagged. The new engine he ran in FP2 was due to go on his car tomorrow anyway, it had covered more than 2,000kms, so it really was not a big problem for us to see his morning session end that spectacularly! The team worked very well with Renault Sport F1 to make the engine change over lunch and Heikki was back on track about six minutes after FP2 began. In the afternoon session we managed to get Vitaly and Heikki out on the supersofts before the rain came back, so we have some data from those runs that will be useful for Saturday and Sunday. We finished the session with intermediates on both cars but as we also managed to complete enough laps on the softs in FP1 I think we're ok data-wise for the rest of the race weekend.”

maocheng

Saturday in Monaco                                                   

• Added: Sat 26 May, 2012

   
                        

Monaco Grand Prix 2012 - FP3 &Qualifying

Caterham F1 Team Partner information
Like the British Royal wedding in 2011, CNN also broadcast PrinceAlbert's Royal Wedding in Monaco to a huge global audience

Weather
FP3: Dry, sunny, air temp 24°, track temp 31° -35°
Quali: Dry, sunny, air temp 23°, track temp 39°

Fastest laps / positions:
FP3: KOV 1.17.276, 17th / PET 1.17.404, 19th
Q1: KOV 1.16.538, 18th / PET 1.17.404, 19th

Total laps:
FP3: KOV 25 / PET 22
Q1: KOV 13 / PET 13

Runplan - FP3
Heikki Kovalainen
1100 - 1102: Installation, 1 lap (primetyres)
1102 - 1112 System checks. Changes: front/ rear brake blanking
1112 - 1122: Run 2, 7 laps (prime tyres)
1122 - 1127: Changes: front wing flap angle, front/ rear brake blanking
1127 - 1137: Run 3, 6 laps (option tyres)
1137 - 1142: Changes: front / rear brake blanking
1142 - 1158: Run 4, 11 laps (option tyres)
End of session

Vitaly Petrov
1100 - 1102: Installation, 1 lap (primetyres)
1102 - 1110: System checks
1110 - 1121: Run 2, 7 laps (prime tyres)
1121 - 1132: Changes: front / rear ride height,front torsion bar
1132 - 1141: Run 3, 6 laps (option tyres)
1141 - 1146: Changes: front wing flap angle
1146 - 1158: Run 4, 8 laps (option tyres)
End of session

Runplan - Q1
Heikki Kovalainen
1401 - 1406: Run 1, 2 laps (option tyres)
Red flag
1406- 1410: Refuel
1410 - 1419: Run 2, 6 laps (option tyres)
1419 - 1421: Refuel
1421 - 1427: Run 3, 5 laps (option tyres)

Vitaly Petrov
1401 - 1405: Run 1, 2 laps (option tyres)
Red flag
1405 - 1410: Refuel
1410 - 1419: Run 2, 7 laps (option tyres)
1419 - 1421: Refuel
1421 - 1427: Run 3, 4 laps (option tyres)

Team Quotes

Heikki Kovalainen, car 20, chassis CT01-#3:"That was a good session for me. I've had a good balance allweekend and I went into this session knowing I could push. I'd saidto my engineer before quali that I thought we could get into Q2 andwe were very close - if it hadn't been for one of the Marussia carsslowing me up in the final sector we'd have been there, but it'snot a huge issue, that's what happens in Monaco.

"Around here I think tomorrow we have the car to be able to fightthe cars ahead throughout the race. So far this season we've beenable to stay with them for pretty much most of the first twostints, but  because it's a shorter lap here we'd like to beable to fight for the whole race. Whether it's dry, wet or inbetween, it doesn't really matter to me - whatever happens I'mlooking forward to it."

Vitaly Petrov, car 21, chassis CT01-#2: "Thatwas pretty good - the car's felt good every time we've been out andI think we probably got as much as we could out of it today. We hadan issue with KERS this morning so we had to shut that off forquali, so that obviously cost me some time, but we worked aroundthat and pushed as hard as we could in Q1 so it worked out as wellas we could have hoped.

"The red flag obviously disrupted everybody and even though I'dgot a lap in before the session started it wasn't a quick one. WhenI went out again the second set of tyres didn't feel quite as good,but all in all it's been a positive weekend so far. Tomorrow willbe exciting and I'm looking forward to it. We've already seen thatpeople can make mistakes here so we want to make sure we're thereto take advantage of whatever happens on track and fight to theflag."

Mark Smith, Technical Director: "This has been a goodweekend for us so far, and today's performance is another step inthe right direction for us. Heikki put in another very good lap andhad it not been for traffic he would probably have been into Q2. OnVitaly's car we had a KERS problem at the end of FP3 so we had toswitch that off for qualifying and that clearly cost him some time.Despite that he drove very well and continues to reward the teamwith maximum effort every time he's in the car.

"Tomorrow is a chance for us to race the cars ahead for longerthan we have been able to so far this season, so both drivers andthe whole team are up for the challenge. The weather could play amajor factor here and we are prepared for whatever it throws at us- hopefully we see an exciting race and we will aim to get bothcars to the chequered flag to capitalise on whatever goes on upahead."

Tony Fernandes, Team Principal: "I am delighted to beback in Monaco and to see the whole team in such good spirits. Wehave increased the size of the QPR logo on the cars this weekendand I am very pleased to see that the same fighting spirit thathelped the football club retain their Premier League status isalive and well in the Caterham garage. When the team sees bothdrivers giving everything they have got behind the wheel it makesthe long hours and the hard work, here on track and back at thefactory, all worth it.

"Despite the fact Heikki was held up by the Marussia we keepedging closer to the long-term goals. We have the right people inthe factory and in the race team, the foundations have been laidfor us to maintain the progress that has seen us close the gap tothe midfield to the point where we are talking about Q2 in Monacoas a realistic proposition and we have the hunger tosucceed. I do not want to make any predictions for the racetomorrow, but in our two previous seasons here we have performedextremely well, so that has to be the aim for race day. We have twodrivers who know how to mix it in the midfield pack and theengineers and mechanics to use pitstop strategy to the best effect,so I would like to see us have a problem free race and who knowswhat might happen."

maocheng

Monaco Grand Prix - Sunday 27th May 2012
                                       
                                        Caterham F1 Team Partner Information
                                        Dell have two billion conversations with customers each year
                                       
                                        Weather
                                        Race: Dry (start), air temp 22° / track temp 35° (start), 21° / 33° (lap 39), 21° / 31° (lap 78)
                                       
                                        Runplan
                                        Heikki Kovalainen
                                        1330 leave for grid, 2 laps
                                        Start on option tyres
                                        Lap 30: pitstop 1, prime tyres
                                        Lap 73: pitstop 2, option tyres, nosecone change
                                        FInsihed: 13th
                                       
                                        Vitaly Petrov
                                        1330 leave for grid, 2 laps
                                        Start on prime tyres
                                        Lap 3: pitstop 1, prime tyres
                                        Lap 15: Retired, electrical failure
                                       
                                        Team Quotes
                                       
                                        Heikki Kovalainen, car 20, chassis CT01-#3: “That was obviously a great race for the team and I'm delighted we've got tenth place back and recorded our highest finish of the season. Despite that I think we could have had even more, but the rain came at just the wrong moment for us. If it had been fully wet and everyone had pitted we'd have been able to keep 12th, possibly even made up more in the stops, but when the light rain started falling my brake temperatures dropped and I wasn't quite able to keep up the pace I'd had throughout the race up to that point.
                                       
                                        "However - this is a really good day for the team, and it's great to get back to the garage and see everyone in such good spirits. This type of track was always going to give us the chance to fight, I'd said that before the race, and it was really good fighting with Jenson for as long as I did, keeping him behind me and really pushing. We have more to come from this car throughout the season, so I think we have more races like this to look forward to, and results like today make all the hard work the whole team put in worth it.”
                                         
                                        Vitaly Petrov, car 21, chassis CT01-#2: “I made a good start and passed a few cars but then a Sauber came right across me and hit me as we were going into turn 1. I could immediately feel a problem with the front wing so we gave it a couple of laps to see how bad the damage was but then had to pit for a new nose on lap 3. From that point I was pushing as hard as I could but then I had a low battery warning light on the dash and from that point my race was pretty much over. My engineer told me to box on lap 16 with an electrical failure and that was the end of the race. It's a real shame as I was in a strong position after my good start and as the car has felt good all weekend I would have been in with a chance of finishing really well, but these things happen in motor racing.”
                                         
                                        Mark Smith, Technical Director: “A very exciting race and one where we showed how we are progressing. It was obviously unfortunate to see Vitaly having to retire early, had he not been hit by the Sauber he would likely have been right up there with his team mate and we had opted to start the cars on different compounds so we would have had more strategy options open to us if he had not had the electrical failure that ended his race.
                                       
                                        "With Heikki we started him on the supersofts and kept him out for a long first stint as he was managing his tyres well. He was having a fantastic battle with Jenson and keeping him at bay, and the pitcrew did a very good job indeed to keep him ahead of the McLaren after the stops. When the rain started falling we saw Heikki's brake temperatures starting to drop and he was telling us the car was harder to control, but had Perez not hit him and caused his front wing failure I am sure he would have retained that place - he was clearly in a very determined mood and driving to the level everyone knows he can. I am delighted for him and the whole team - this has been a strong weekend for us and one that gives us even more impetus to keep challenging as we head to Canada and the rest of the season."
                                       
                                        Tony Fernandes, Team Principal: "I am obviously a very happy man today. That was one of the most tense but most exciting races we have had since we came into the sport just two and a half years ago, and to be not only racing Jenson's McLaren, but to be keeping him behind us and to be able to resist his attacks is a huge achievement for a team that is still young, still growing and hungrier than ever to succeed. In fact, when Heikki passed Jenson out of the pits that was definitely the most exciting moment in my Formula 1 career and something that I will remember for ever.
                                       
                                        "For Vitaly today will go down as one of those races. It was good to see him how disappointed he was to be forced out by something out of his control as it proves how hungry he is to help us keep pushing forwards, but he has had another good weekend with us and I am sure the luck will turn for him soon. On the other side of the garage Heikki put in one of the best drives we have seen from him since we started back in Bahrain 2010 and his 13th place today puts us back into tenth in the championship and gives us a very good platform to work from for the rest of the season.
                                       
                                        “I am also extremely proud of how the whole team worked today. The people back at the factory have never stopped working as hard as they can to give the drivers a car that they can use like they did this weekend, and the team on track were magnificent today. Calm, professional and as good as anyone else out there in the pitlane. When Heikki had to box late on in the race for a new nose it was a pretty tense moment, but they performed brilliantly, enough to make our Chief Race Engineer Jody Egginton tell them over the radio that they had done a "fantastic job lads - pure mint", and that sentiment goes for the whole team. I am an optimist and our pitwall is full of people who would call themselves realists – I would probably say they are pessimists - but after today I have never seen so many pessimists so optimistic about the future. A great day for sure."
                                       
                                        Ends

maocheng

Canadian Grand Prix View                                                   

• Added: Thu 31 May, 2012

   
                        

General
Race Laps: 70
Circuit Length: 4.361 km
Race Distance: 305.270 km
Lap Record: R Barrichello, 1:13.622 (2004)
2011 Air / Track temp (°c): 21 / 27
Pitlane altitude (m): 8

2011 TimingQualifying
P1: VET (1:13.014 Q3)
P2: ALO (1:13.199 Q3)
P3: MAS (1:13.217 Q3)
CF1T best: P19 TRU (1:16.745)
CF1T delta to best Q1 lap: +2.923 (103.8%)

Race
P1: BUT (1:16.956) L69
P2: VET (1:17.217) L69
P3: WEB (1:19.576) L65
CF1T best: P16 TRU (1:22.233, L67)
CF1T delta to best race lap: +5.277 (106.8%)

Quick description
Very high brake energy track, therefore critical in terms of brakewear and cooling
Track surface is very smooth with very low grip which is hard ontyres
Longitudinal track with several major traction points
Braking stability is critical, particularly in T8 & T10 due tobumps
Ability to ride kerbs and maximise top speed are both important forquick lap times
Track was partly re-surfaced in 2010 (mainly apexes) but no majordifference from 2008 layout

Circuit Particularity
Bumpiness: Bumpy
Overtaking chance: T10, T13
Kerbs: Medium / High
Ride height setting particularity: None
Engine severity: Medium
Gearbox severity: High
Lat/Long grip: Longitudinal
Aero eff ratio: High
Safety car history: 2011 - 4 (8/12,20/34,37/40,56/60); 2010 - None,2009 - No race
Track grip evo during w/e: Medium
Aero settings: Medium / Low
Brake wear severity: Very high
Brake cooling necessity: High

Team Quotes

Heikki Kovalainen, car 20, chassis CT01-#03:"Montreal is a very cool track. It's a temporary street circuitwith a couple of long straights and low downforce settings and thatmakes the cars pretty tricky in the faster corners and into thebraking areas, but it's a great track to race on. As witheverywhere we race you have to find a good balance to get the bestlap times, but you need a setup that means you can really attackthe kerbs, particularly in the final corner as you head back to thestart /finish line. You also need to make sure you have maximumspeed down the back straight, so we'll look closely at the gearratios we use and balance seventh gear against the speeds we couldbe doing with DRS and KERS both engaged.

"Apart from being a great race Montreal is also a really good cityas well. All the teams like going there as the fans are passionate,the stands are always full on track and the city itself turns intoa party town while we're there. The Canadian people are brilliantand there's a special atmosphere all over Montreal, which we onlyget at a few races we go to so it's one of the weekends everyone'sup for."

Vitaly Petrov, car 21, chassis CT01-#02: "I havevery good memories of Canada after finishing fifth there last yearand I'm really looking forward to getting back to Montreal.Everyone loves racing there - it's a great city with some reallygood restaurants, and enough bars to keep everyone who'snot driving happy!

"The track itself is a good challenge from inside the cockpit. It'svery slippery on Friday morning and while the grip does improveover the weekend it's important to keep the rear tyres in goodcondition. There a few things to get right for a really quick lap -you need to manage the brake wear and cooling enough to be able toget on the brakes hard every time you need them,  you have tohave very good traction out of the slower corners and you need tobe able to really hit the kerbs hard to save the tenths of a secondthat add to up to a good time.

"The other thing is the weather. Last year it obviously got so badwe had to stop the race and while that's not good for the fans it'smuch safer for the drivers. Hopefully we won't have quite so muchrain again this year, but if it does we'll deal with it. I likeracing in the wet, it gives us more of a chance to fight a few carsahead and it's an even better feeling in the car when you get itright in the wet. Whatever happens it's always a pleasure to comeback to Montreal."

Mark Smith, Technical Director, Caterham F1 Team:"The Montreal circuit is another fascinating challenge from atechnical perspective. As a temporary street-style circuit it isalways very green when we start running on Friday but the evolutionlevel is not as high as somewhere like Monaco. The asphalt on thetrack surface is also very smooth and has very low grip levels sothe tyre degradation rate is high throughout the whole weekend. Aswe have already seen this year, managing tyre wear is the key toboth qualifying and the races, so tyre strategy will play an evenmore crucial role in Montreal than it has all season.

"The other major factor in Canada concerns the brakes. The trackhas a couple of very long straights with heavy braking zones at theend that lead into tight corners so it is pretty severe in terms ofbrake wear. We need to make sure we keep optimise the brake coolingevery lap and while we do not have a specific brake duct set forCanada, we will be using the larger ones in our range to give usthe best chance of managing the brake cooling."

Tony Fernandes, Team Principal, Caterham F1 Team:"I am still on a high after the race in Monaco. Moving back intotenth place is important but there are 14 more races to come thisseason and we are taking nothing for granted. However, Heikki's13th place and the battling performance he and the wholeteam put in is another sign that all the hard work we have put inover the last two and a half years is starting to pay off. Vitalyhas not had the best luck in the last couple of races but hishunger, enthusiasm, humour and determination are all evidentwhenever he is with us so he has everything he needs in his lockerto succeed with us long-term.

"I am very realistic about what we have achieved so far, and I knowthat Monaco is a unique circuit that gave us the sort ofopportunity we grabbed last Sunday, but I also know that as wecontinue through this season we keep making small but significantsteps forward. During the Monaco race I had some very good newsfrom the factory about a new update we have planned for Silverstoneand to see that come in while we were having our best race of theseason was another sign that we are doing this in the rightway.

"Next it is Canada, a race the whole team looks forward to andpossibly another one where we can spring a surprise. UnfortunatelyI will not be in Montreal but I will be watching every session andI know everyone wants to build on what we achieved at the lastrace."

maocheng

Friday in Montreal
Added: Fri 8 Jun, 2012

Weather
FP1: Overcast, air temp 21° - 22°, track temp 22°
FP2: Overcast, air temp 23° - 24°, track temp 27° - 22°

Fastest laps / positions:
FP1: PET 1.17.935, 18th / KOV 1.18.177, 19th
FP2: KOV 1.16.981, 16th / PET 1.17.075, 18th

Total laps:
FP1: PET 23 / KOV 16
FP2: KOV 24 / PET 41

Runplan - FP1
Heikki Kovalainen
1000 - 1002: Installation, 1 lap (prime tyres)
1002 - 1020: System checks  
1020 - 1032: Run 2, 8 laps (prime tyres)
1032 - 1039: Changes: rear wing
1039 - 1050: Run 3, 7 laps (prime tyres)
1050: Accident in exit of T9 ends session

Vitaly Petrov
1000 - 1002: Installation, 1 lap (prime tyres)
1002 - 1021: System checks  
1021 - 1034: Run 2, 8 laps (prime tyres)
1034 - 1037: Changes: front wing flap angle, rear wing
1037 - 1049: Run 3, 6 laps (prime tyres)
1049 - 1059: Changes: front wing flap angle, rear wing
1059 - 1115: Run 4, 8 laps (prime tyres)

Runplan - FP2
Heikki Kovalainen
1433 - 1444: Run 1, 8 laps (prime tyres)
1444 - 1504: Changes: n/a  
1504 - 1519: Run 2, 10 laps (option tyres)
1519 - 1522: Changes: n/a
1522 - 1532: Run 3, 6 laps (option tyres)

Vitaly Petrov
1401 - 1415: Run 1, 9 laps (prime tyres)
1415 - 1421: Changes: rear brake blanking  
1421 - 1432: Run 2, 7 laps (option tyres)
1432 - 1436: Changes: front wing flap angle
1436 - 1449: Run 3, 7 laps (option tyres)
Red flag
1449 - 1502: Changes: front brake blanking
1502 - 1512: Run 4, 7 laps (option tyres)
1512 - 1516: Changes: n/a
1516 - 1530: Run 5, 10 laps (prime tyres)


Team Quotes

Heikki Kovalainen, car 20, chassis CT01-#3: "First I want to say thank you to the team for doing a great job and getting the car fixed and ready for most of FP2. I made a mistake on the exit of turn 9 and hit the wall, obviously doing some pretty substantial damage to the car but, thankfully, not to the chassis. As soon as we got it back to the garage the guys started work on rebuilding it so to get that job done and giving me FP2 track time was a very good achievement.

"Before the FP1 off the car had felt good pretty much from the first lap. In FP2 I had the same sort of positive feel from the balance and I think we look ok here - not quite as close as we were in Monaco but certainly close enough to have a good race on Sunday."

Vitaly Petrov, car 21, chassis CT01-#2: "I am pleased with how both sessions went today. 64 laps over FP1 and FP2 gives us a very good amount of data to work on tonight and we pretty quickly found a decent balance on both sets of tyres so I think we can keep progressing throughout the weekend. We obviously can't tell where we really are against the cars ahead as everyone was running different fuel levels and tyre compounds at different times, but I think we look pretty good here. The aim now is to keep up the positive momentum and see what happens in quali and in the race."

Thierry Salvi, Renault Sport F1 Support Leader: "Canada is an interesting challenge for us from the engine side. The track evolves quickly over thw eekend but for us cooling and fuel consumption are probably the biggest focus areas, and we need to pay particular attention to the weather as that has a large effect on both cooling and fuel consumption. Both sessions today were dry so I think we have good data to work on from today's running, despite losing some time on Heikki's car after his accident in FP1.

"On the cooling side the weather also has a major influence on how we configure the car. The lower speeds in the wet mean the cooling capability of the cars also has to be lowered to compensate so today's information from the dry runs should give us the right platform to work on for both qualifying and the race. Both drivers are happy with how we have started the weekend, so we go into FP3 and qualifying in a positive frame of mind."

Mark Smith, Technical Director: "That was a positive Friday for us. Heikki's accident this morning obviously meant we had to change his runplan for the day but excellent work by the team gave him enough laps on both tyre compounds in FP2 to make sure we minimised the loss of track time today. His times this afternoon were good but there is definitely some more to come. He had a few issues with traffic on the super soft tyres so I think we will see him pushing hard all weekend. Vitaly also had a good day, working through his whole plan and setting good times on both the soft and the super soft tyres. We have some more work to do on his car to help improve his low-speed traction and front grip, but we know what to do with that so I think we will be in good shape tomorrow on both sides of the garage."