2015 Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix

Chinese Grand Prix – Shanghai, 12th April 2015

Posted: 12.04.2015
Source: Ferrari

Sebastian Vettel scores the third podium in a row.
· Kimi gains two places at the start, from sixth to fourth.
· Today podium is n°683 for Scuderia Ferrari.

Maurizio Arrivabene: “Today we ended up where we were supposed to be, so we can say we achieved our target. I never promised we’d be making miracles to anyone. Our strategy was to get as close as possible to Mercedes, getting ready to take advantage of any mistake from them. It was no surprise to see that they were strong. Temperatures were different from Friday’s long runs, and this affected the behavior of the tyres. I am very happy for Kimi and, above all, I’m happy for Seb’s third podium finish in a row. The boys in the garage did a splendid job, today it was easier to get things wrong than to make the right thing. I don’t have the crystal ball and I can’t tell what our competitors will do in the next races. But I do know that we’ll try our best”.

Kimi Raikkonen: “Considering that my position on the starting grid today was not ideal, fourth place is a good result. My start was ok, I had quite a good jump off the line, and at the first corner I decided to go inside and at the end of the corner I was in the right place and managed to take the Williams under braking – my car is really good at that – and managed to pass them. The car was quite good today; the first set of tyres was a bit tricky, but I think it was the same for everybody, and then the next two sets were ok. Towards the end of the race I was catching up, I knew I had the speed and I thought I still had good tyres. I could still have had a chance to try and fight for podium but the safety car came in and we know we cannot change that. Today we got close to the podium, from the next race on we have to have a better weekend, doing everything right in qualifying, and we’ll do our best. As a team we scored the maximum today, we know we are behind Mercedes, but we have to be happy with the result. From tomorrow on we have to make another step to be able to challenge them every weekend; we’ll keep working hard as we have done since last year. We trust the way the team is working: now we have to be patient”.

Sebastian Vettel: “All in all we can be really happy. It is only race three and the steps we have made so far are really impressive. Third and fourth place for the Team, makes me really happy, I would have obviously loved to put more pressure on Mercedes: after the first and second stop we were able to be right there, but in the last stint they were able to pull away quite a lot. Basically we are closer than four weeks ago, which is positive, but there is still a lot to do. But what’s very positive is also the fact that we stayed ahead of all the other Teams. Second for us was not really possible today, you have to accept that our opponents were quick. For Bahrain, we hope to get again a bit closer. We have a strong car no matter which condition, that is the feeling”.

Chinese Grand Prix – Race

Posted: 12.04.2015
Source: Ferrari

Shanghai, 12 April –Come the end of the third round of the Formula One World Championship, Scuderia Ferrari saw its drivers finish in third and fourth places. Sebastian Vettel made it to the bottom step of the podium and, having started sixth, Kimi Raikkonen came home fourth, thanks mainly to an excellent start. Both drivers set off on new Soft tyres and ran a two-stop strategy. Lewis Hamilton won ahead of his Mercedes team-mate, Nico Rosberg.

Chinese Grand Prix – Shanghai, 11 April 2015

Posted: 11.04.2015
Source: Ferrari

Kimi Raikkonen: “I’m disappointed with the result, my car was behaving pretty well most of the time but in in my last run I was not able to put a good lap together. For some reason the handling of the car was different, more loose than in the previous laps and slippery on the rear especially in the first three corners. It’s a shame because in the previous sessions I had been satisfied with the behaviour. My starting position for the race tomorrow it’s not ideal , but I expect to have the same good car we’ve had so far. We’ll try to do our best and I’m sure that with a good start we can extract the best result out of the situation.”

Sebastian Vettel: “All in all it was a good session for us. We had only one real run in Q3 and were able to nail this run and put the car on P3. It is a shame that we couldn’t put both cars side by side. As far as I was told, Kimi had some issues with traffic on the warm up lap and with these temperatures everybody is relaying on the out lap, to nail it on the flying one. The pace is there and I am very happy with this. We have to keep our feet on the ground, Mercedes is very quick, and for a reason, they have a great car and both drivers seem to do a good job. So this makes them difficult to beat. For us, though, I am happy where we are and I hope we can be a bit closer tomorrow. We also have to watch out for others. Never underestimate Williams, also Red Bull seems to be better this weekend: it will be a long race.”

Chinese Grand Prix – Qualifying

Posted: 11.04.2015
Source: Ferrari

It was an exciting qualifying session at the Shanghai track today. Come the end of the hour long grid deciding session, the two Mercedes locked out the front row, with Hamilton on pole in 1.35.782 and Rosberg second with a 1.35.824. Sebastian Vettel will start from the second row in his Ferrari, third fastest with a 1.36.687. Kimi Raikkonen is sixth, separated from his team-mate by the Williams duo of Massa and Bottas.

Chinese Grand Prix – Free Practice 3

Posted: 11.04.2015
Source: Ferrari

Shanghai, 11 April – In the final free practice session for the Chinese Grand Prix, dominated by Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes, the Ferraris of Sebastian Vettel (1.38.313) and Kimi Raikkonen (1.38.512) finished third and fourth. The English Mercedes driver did a 1.37.615 this morning, having been fastest in both Friday sessions too, with team-mate Nico Rosberg second in 1.37.841. The Ferrari duo started off on Medium tyres, working on set-up, before switching to the Soft compound for a qualifying simulation.

Chinese Grand Prix – Shanghai,10th April 2015

Posted: 10.04.2015
Source: Ferrari

Kimi Raikkonen: “Overall it has been a good day of work.In the afternoon we had a problem with the brakes but the mechanics did a very good job and managed to fix it, then I was able to go back on track and go on with the programme. It’s a bit early to make predictions, we still have things to improve, tomorrow we have to make sure that everything works and have another good day without any issues or problems and then we’ll do our best for qualifying and the race.”

Sebastian Vettel: “Generally I feel happy in the car, but I think we can improve it for tomorrow, that is usually what Friday is for. So ideally I would have loved to do more laps, but all in all it was a solid session, for the team as well. I think we can do a step forward tomorrow and then we can see what we can do. First of all it is only the third race of season; second, it is a different track compared to Malaysia, therefore the most important thing is to look after ourselves. The target n.1 is that we are right behind Mercedes, you have to accept that they are very strong, as the season gets on we try to get closer and closer. Fight for pole with Mercedes tomorrow? They were very strong today. For us the most important thing is to make a step forward, there are a few things that we can improve. Am I scared of Red Bull? No, it was probably the first more or less ok Friday for them. I think it is clear that it gets tougher as the season goes on, as everybody will find his own rhythm. Tyre management will be crucial.”

Chinese Grand Prix – Free Practice 2

Posted: 10.04.2015
Source: Ferrari

Shanghai, 10 April – The second free practice session saw the Scuderia Ferrari drivers finish second and fourth, with Kimi Raikkonen (1.37.662) and Sebastian Vettel (1.38.339) respectively. The afternoon programme included a comparison of the two tyre compounds and some long runs. The session ran without a hitch. Fastest was Lewis Hamilton who posted a 1.37.219 in his Mercedes, while Daniel Ricciardo (1.38.311) split the two Ferraris in his Red Bull.

Chinese Grand Prix – Free Practice 1

Posted: 10.04.2015
Source: Ferrari

Shanghai, 10 April –Lewis Hamilton was fastest in the first free practice session for the Chinese Grand Prix, the third round of the World Championship, which got underway this morning in Shanghai. Behind the Englishman, who did a 1.39.033, was his Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg (1.39.574) and the two Ferraris of Sebastian Vettel (1.40.157) and Kimi Raikkonen (1.40.661.)
On the agenda for the Ferrari men, aerodynamic and mechanical set-up work, using two sets of the Medium tyre under a pale sun hanging over the Chinese track, with slightly warmer temperatures than in the past few days.

Chinese Grand – Prix Kimi: “Not quite like last year”

Posted: 09.04.2015
Source: Ferrari

Shanghai, 9 April – On Thursday before the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai, Kimi Raikkonen addressed questions from the media. Many of them focused on his predictions for the week end. “Obviously we have to put in a clean weekend with no issues, then I’ m sure we could be pretty happy with the result. This is a different track but so far the car has been working well in all kind of conditions on every place and I don’t see reasons why it should be different here. Here it can be a little bit different because it’s cold and the track is challenging, but of course if you have a good car it helps. Tomorrow we’ll go out and see but I don’t expect big surprises.”

Can you say you can challenge Mercedes even if, unlike Sepang, the weather here is not so hot and this one is not a rear tyre limited track? “All track are different and every condition too, and one car can behave better in a place that in another one. Maybe we are not where we would like to be, but compared to last year things have changed a lot even if we still have a lot to do.”

The win in Malaysia is a very good result for the team and for Sebastian. “We knew from testing we have a good package but the two first races for me have been pretty difficult , although I could take some good points in Malaysia. We keep pushing as hard as we can trying to do things right knowing that every race can be different, but generally I think we can be quite strong everywhere. In general we know we have the speed but we have to get rid of all the issues even if they are not our fault like the puncture”.

Chinese Grand Prix – Seb: our approach is unchanged

Posted: 09.04.2015
Source: Ferrari

Shanghai, 9 April – Sebastian Vettel met the press at Shanghai circuit on Thursday. Winning his first race for Scuderia Ferrari in Malaysia hasn’t changed his approach to the remainder of the season: “I think we’re realistic about where we are and what we want to achieve”, he said. “Targets haven’t changed. The victory we had in Sepang is a great result as a team but for the next race we haven’t changed our approach. We have to confirm that we have a strong package and a strong car and we’ll try to make sure that we stay ahead the people we stayed ahead the last couple of races, but knowing that Mercedes is in a very strong position.”

Asked whether Ferrari’s pace in the last race was a reaI indication of the car’s potential, Seb replied: “I think it was for real two weeks ago: I don’t think Mercedes backed off and everyone left. It has been nice but we had a couple of circumstances coming together. Most important of all, we managed to capitalize and get a very good result and win the race, but for the next races things can be up and down: we want to make sure that there are a lot of up and not so many downs as it is normal that at some races you’re more competitive than others.”

The four-time world champion reckons that it’s too early to make judgements: “We’ve had two races and usually you need at least a couple of races to understand where you are. I think we had a decent understanding, but the target is to confirm the fact that we vere close to the top class in Australia, fighting with Williams for the podium, and obviously in Sepang two weeks ago we were close enough to win, but – as I said – in general we want to make sure that we establish ourselves as the team behind Mercedes and it means that we stay ahead of strong teams like Williams and Red Bull for the entire season. The target is to ensure that the gap to Mercedes gests narrower and narrower.”

Shanghai, a very technical track

Posted: 08.04.2015
Source: Ferrari

Maranello, 8 April – The Formula 1 World Championship stays in Asia for Round 3, moving on to China. “It’s a very different circuit to the one in Malaysia, both in terms of its technical characteristics and when it comes to the weather,” says Esteban Gutierrez, Scuderia Ferrari’s third driver. “Shanghai has many fast corners, such as turn 1, that leads on to the long finish straight.

This, along with the fact that usually, it’s quite cool in Shanghai, means the tyres are made to work in a very different way when compared to Sepang. In fact, in Malaysia, we benefited from the fact our tyres had very low degradation in the high temperatures. However, in China, the track surface will be much cooler and there are some very heavy braking points: at the end of the long straight, you actually have to decelerate from 330 km/h down to 60 in around 120 metres.

It’s definitely a good passing opportunity, but if you don’t have a well-balanced car, then you can suffer from tyre graining after just a few laps. “I think it will be a harder race than Malaysia for us,” concludes Esteban. “But, all the same, we hope to be able to reduce the gap still further to our competitors and to make the most of our current potential with both our cars. China is a very important market for Ferrari road cars and we want to do well in front of the many Prancing Horse owners and fans there.”