@ formula1.com: Mention Istanbul Park and talk immediately turns to Turn Eight, the multi-apex left-hander that has become one of the classic corners on the F1 calendar. It’s going to be tough on tyres, so the focus will again be very much on Pirelli’s rubber. On top of that, several long straights will place a premium on KERS and DRS performance. Teams and drivers discuss the challenge that will be the Turkish Grand Prix…
Kamui Kobayashi, Sauber 2010 Qualifying - 10th, 2010 Race - 10th “After spending some time in Tokyo I’m very much looking forward to the race in Istanbul Park. It is an exciting track and one of my favourites. Last year our performance was pretty good there, and we scored our first point when I finished the race in tenth. It was a relief for us and this feeling is still a nice memory. There are a couple of high speed corners which I like, and I feel we should be quite competitive in Turkey. However, the corner I like most is the triple left hander which forms Turn Eight. Regarding tyre management, I find it difficult to predict how the situation will develop. The grip level at this circuit is normally very low, which means the cars tend to slide a lot. I believe it will be crucial to save the front tyres in particular so the wear is as low as possible.” Sergio Perez, Sauber 2010 Qualifying - n/a, 2010 Race - n/a “In a way I feel for me the championship is about to start now with these next races on circuits I know. I have raced at Istanbul Park twice in the GP2 series and I find the track very nice. I especially used to enjoy turn eight a lot. With the Formula One car it will, of course, be physically demanding for the neck muscles, and turn eight will also be a special challenge for the front tyres. We will have to be careful with them. In any case I’m really looking forward to the Turkish Grand Prix and I want to bag my first points.” James Key, Sauber technical director “Istanbul Park is a good circuit, and one of the favourites with the teams and drivers. It’s quite technical and challenging. It will be another interesting event for the tyres, because the famous Turn Eight is one of the high speed corners of the year with the highest loading of the tyres. Although we have seen some high speed corners at the last two events, I think this is by far another step beyond that. It will be interesting to see how well the tyres cope with that in terms of wear and degradation. This could result in some alternative strategies in the race, but we will not know until we get there. The rest of the circuit is a pretty good mix of some medium-speed corners and the long back straight, which could provide some overtaking opportunities. But then at the end of the lap we have a combination of three low speed corners where braking stability into them, the line through them and traction out of them is important. They are quite technical corners. Overall this track offers a good mix of different corners. We expect quite reasonable weather conditions, with it not being too hot but in a better window for us than Shanghai was. Tyre management could be the key to the weekend of the Turkish Grand Prix. As far as the car is concerned, we will have some more test items to run on Friday - some of them aerodynamic and some of them mechanical - which we hope to introduce to the car pretty soon. Apart from that it will be another weekend for us to target the top ten, both in qualifying and the race.” Michael Schumacher, Mercedes GP 2010 Qualifying - 5th, 2010 Race - 4th "It is always exciting when the calendar returns to Europe and the racing schedule becomes more intense. After returning from the first three races, I have enjoyed spending some time with my family in the short break, and I am now really looking forward to the action getting underway again. The venue for our next race, Istanbul Park, is a great track and provides a good challenge for the drivers. It's anti-clockwise, has a lot of gradient changes and different corner layouts, so it's quite nice to drive. I know that the team have been working very hard to continue the progress that we made during the last race weekend in China and, with the help of some developments planned for Istanbul, I am confident that we can enjoy an equally positive weekend." Nico Rosberg, Mercedes GP 2010 Qualifying - 6th, 2010 Race - 5th "We had a more difficult start to 2011 than we had expected, and the first three races felt a little like a rollercoaster of emotions. We were all disappointed in Melbourne and Malaysia but, after leading the race in Shanghai, we have confirmed the potential of our car. The team did a very good job to take a step forward and we learned a lot from the weekend. Hopefully we can now make a further step for Turkey and produce another positive performance. After spending time with my family during Easter, I am really looking forward to the race at Istanbul Park. Turn Eight is one of the most challenging corners of the year: it's taken at full throttle for over eight seconds, with forces of up to 5G. If I had to create a fantasy Formula One circuit, this corner would definitely be included." Ross Brawn, Mercedes GP team principal "The team and drivers have worked extremely hard in the short break before the European season begins to ensure that we continue to move forward. We have a fundamentally good car and we need to achieve its full potential in the races to come. The Chinese Grand Prix reminded everyone at the team what it is like to fight for a race. We didn't succeed on that occasion but it's a feeling that we would like to experience more often. When the car is working properly, we can be more competitive and the solutions we are bringing to Turkey will help us achieve this level more consistently. However, we also know that we need to push for more performance if we want to fight regularly at the front. The first three races have been a challenge but we have pulled together and will continue working hard to make progress." Norbert Haug, Vice-President, Mercedes-Benz Motorsport "The Turkish Grand Prix is the first race of the European season in the 2011 Formula One world championship. It is a demanding circuit for both cars and drivers, and Turn Eight is the longest corner of the entire season. Nearly 70 percent of the 5.338 km lap is spent at wide open throttle which means that, in addition to the chassis and tyres, the engine is under considerable load. At the last race in China, our team took a step up in competitiveness relative to the first races in Australia and Malaysia. Our aim is to consolidate this level of performance in Turkey before building on it." Nick Heidfeld, Renault 2010 Qualifying - n/a, 2010 Race - n/a “I think we’ve shown over the first three races that we have a good car and Istanbul could be very interesting because it is the first European race and a lot of teams will bring updates, including us. Hopefully we’ll be able to give a good performance again.” Vitaly Petrov, Renault 2010 Qualifying - 9th, 2010 Race - 15th “I have very good memories from Istanbul Park, I like racing there. I had some big successes in GP2 there (winning in 2009). My first race there as a Formula One driver in 2010 was also memorable, as it was the first time I entered Q3 in qualifying and then I had a good race with great battles with both the Ferrari’s - unfortunately I didn’t score any points in the end due to a puncture but my race was still very good. “I like the layout of the circuit; it has a lot of slow and fast corners, a good mix of everything but at the same time quite a technical circuit, we all know about the famous Turn Eight in Istanbul. Another aspect is that it is quite a wide track which makes it quite safe. Also, the track allows overtaking manoeuvres are possible so that should help make a great race. “I will of course do the best we possibly can to get the best possible result. We’re expecting upgrades for Turkey which is good, and of course the other teams will react too and work hard to beat us. We’ll be doubling our efforts in order to catch the teams in front. You never know what can happen during a race weekend but both my team and I will fight hard.” Eric Boullier, Renault team principal “We have a good upgrade package coming for Turkey. I think that historically the teams were preparing to introduce their development packages for Europe, but I think that in the last couple of years the development race is continuous and this competition has already started. Teams have already been bringing new packages in Malaysia and China. Still, the first race in Europe remains significant in terms of improvements that teams will bring and this will be clear again this year. “It [Istanbul Park] reminds me of a great fight Vitaly had with Fernando (Alonso) last year, and a very strong race that both Robert (Kubica) and Vitaly had. I know that our car is looking more competitive this year and our drivers know like the circuit, so we hope that it will be a good weekend for us.” James Allison, Renault technical director “Like all the teams we’ll be bringing some [new] parts. There will be a different front wing, some modifications around the nose, updates to the air intake area of the car and some tweaks to the floor. It’s a fairly regular type of track, not especially dissimilar to Malaysia and China, so I would hope that we can continue compete at a high level.” Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull 2010 Qualifying - 3rd, 2010 Race - DNF “I hope you all had a good weekend; I relaxed a bit with my family and friends, as I haven’t seen them all for a long time and also did some training to be fit for Turkey. After being on the road for such a long time it was good to do normal things again. I like the Turkish circuit, it has all types of corners, slow and fast, like Turn Eight. It’s an awesome corner, we try to take it flat year by year. It’s fast and extremely bumpy, so you can hardly see where you’re going - you turn in and hope for the best. Turkey is a hard track on tyres and it’s usually quite hot there - but I especially like the place as it’s where I had my first F1 test drive. Our car should be strong there, but of course we have to respect our competitors and can never take anything for granted. People are pushing hard, but we are pushing very hard too to maintain our strengths.” Mark Webber, Red Bull 2010 Qualifying - 1st, 2010 Race - 3rd “I hope you all had a good Easter. I caught up with some friends and had some good downtime. It’s a bit odd in the UK at the moment with all the bank holidays, but the weather has been sensational. And, of course, I ate a few Easter eggs… Looking to Turkey, I like Istanbul Park - there are a lot of undulations, which makes the track a little bit more challenging in places. The circuit includes Turn Eight, which is a very, very long corner with multiple apexes and is very high speed, which puts added strain on the tyres and the drivers’ necks. It’s also a corner that rewards accuracy with your racing line if you get it right early in the corner.” Lewis Hamilton, McLaren 2010 Qualifying - 2nd, 2010 Race - 1st “I won this race last year and Istanbul Park is a circuit I really enjoy. It’s a great modern track, with a real variety of corners, plenty of high-speed stuff and a place where you really feel the benefit of having the car properly hooked up beneath you. Of course, everyone talks about Turn Eight, which is a fantastic corner, but I also love late-braking into Turns Nine and 12, because you can get the car into the corner while still carrying quite a bit of speed; and getting it right is really satisfying. “For this race, I think we’ll be seeing drivers working quite hard to look after their tyres throughout the race, particularly in Turn Eight, which is fast and bumpy; it’s one of the most demanding corners for tyres anywhere on the calendar. This is also a circuit where KERS Hybrid will be a major benefit - most of the straights come after low-speed corners, so there’s plenty of scope for using the KERS Hybrid - most notably out of Turn 10, but also out of the final corner. There’s always quite a big chance for passing into Turn 12, because it’s quite easy to stay with a leading car out of Turn 10 and duck into the tow. “There’s every reason to believe that the run of interesting and exciting races will continue next weekend.” Jenson Button, McLaren 2010 Qualifying - 4th, 2010 Race - 2nd “After the race in China, I think there’ll once again be a lot of focus on tyre durability and drop-off next weekend. Looking at the track configuration, our simulations suggest that Turkey will be a critical test for the tyres - particularly the front-right, which will be placed under considerable load through Turn Eight. It’s a high-speed, multi-apex turn with a lot of loading, so I think we’ll spend part of Friday monitoring the loads through the tyres to make sure we can achieve a safe and achievable balance for the race before we head into qualifying on Saturday. “I don’t think it’s an under-estimation to say that tyre wear will probably determine every team’s race strategy. It will be important to run the tyre within a safe operating window, and that’s likely to determine when and how often we stop during the Grand Prix. The weather also looks like it’s going to be a bit colder than we’re used to in Turkey - the race is three weeks earlier in the season than it was last year, and that might also have an effect on how the tyre operates. It’s going to be another interesting race.” Martin Whitmarsh, McLaren team principal “Winning in China was a fantastic reward for all the hard effort that’s been undertaken both at the racetrack and the McLaren Technology Centre to turn MP4-26 into a race winner. We’re excited and encouraged by the pace and consistency that both drivers have shown in the opening three flyaway races, but the return to Europe brings fresh challenges. We’re under no illusions that we need to improve our qualifying and race pace if we are to remain a threat at the front. Additionally, many teams will be readying significant upgrade packages for the Turkish Grand Prix; nobody can afford to sit still. “For this race, we’ll be evaluating a number of small modifications - which include some aerodynamic refinements to the bodywork - during Friday practice. Our pace of development is what can win us this championship, and we go into Turkey determined to ensure our upgrades deliver practical gains and are able to confer a useful margin to both drivers. Our one-two finish in Turkey last year was one of our most exciting races - and the memory of that result will doubtless spur on the whole team next weekend.” |
