2015 Formula 1 Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix

Sebastian: you’re always with me

Posted: 31.03.2015
Source: Ferrari

Maranello, 1 April –Everyone was expecting him and Sebastian Vettel didn’t disappoint. After a morning in the simulator, the driver met all the staff of the Gestione Sportiva, assembled together to celebrate last Sunday’s Malaysian Grand Prix victory. Sebastian chose to address the team in Italian: “It was a very emotional moment,” he said.

“I have won many races, but the first one with Ferrari is very, very special. On Sunday night I wanted to celebrate with the mechanics and I said to them, ‘thanks a lot, but I want to be one of you, no more no less. I am part of the team and, even if out on track, I’m alone, I know that really I never am, because I am always with you. I want to thank you for giving me a nice car and I think, in fact I know, that we will experience many more great moments together.’” Maurizio Arrivabene was also there, passing on warmest greetings from Kimi Raikkonen, who had been in touch by ‘phone from Finland, as he is there for his son’s christening. Maurizio reminded everyone that this win was only the starting point and that the team had to continue working with the utmost dedication and concentration.

“I think that, the ‘forza Ferrari!’ from Seb over the radio immediately after taking the chequered flag, was not just for the achievement of a childhood dream, but also for memories of the moments spent with another great champion, who won so much for Ferrari, namely Michael and above all there was the joy of being there with all of you. You have been here for such a long time and you deserve it.”

Lunch With a Trophy

Posted: 31.03.2015
Source: Ferrari

The winning cup of the Malaysian Grand Prix on display at the Maranello Factory Restaurant

Maranello, March 31st – The winner’s trophy of the 2015 Malaysian Grand Prix traveled with the cabin luggage of Team Principal Maurizio Arrivabene. And today at lunchtime, the cup awarded to the winning Constructor in the race was put on display at the entrance of Ferrari’s company restaurant to be admired by the women and men who work at the factory. Nobody missed the chance of taking a picture with the coveted trophy. Maurizio Arrivabene, as well as Technical Director James Allison, Power Unit Director Mattia Binotto, engine designer Lorenzo Sassi among the others, posed with the cup which, in Maurizio’s own words, ‘is your prize’.

Malaysian Grand Prix Sepang, 29th March 2015

Posted: 29.03.2015
Source: Ferrari

For Scuderia Ferrari, today’s win is the 222nd, the first since the 2013 Spanish Grand Prix, while Sebastian Vettel is now on 40 wins.

Maurizio Arrivabene: “This is no one-man win: it’s a success for the whole team, which has been working impeccably at all levels. Seb was just unbelievable today, and Kimi was able to put on a fantastic charge from the back. The whole team has showed a great deal of discipline, just like a Swiss watch-or should I say, an Italian one! Today, the whole team gave me great emotions and I wish to thank everybody, including the women and men back at the Maranello factory, for putting on an incredible effort over the last months, burning the midnight oil. Now we’ve got to be realistic, keep our feet on the ground and our concentration at a high level, because Mercedes is still a formidable contender. After the race our President Mr. Marchionne congratulated the whole team. He’s really one of us, he likes to stay away from the spotlight but still gives us a powerful contribution. And he’s a real Ferrari fan!”.

Kimi Raikkonen: “We had a pretty poor weekend in terms of things going wrong. I had a good speed but in qualify it didn’t go well and then today, after a poor start where I had too much wheelspin right off the line, I found myself fighting with all the other drivers and I had a puncture on the rear left tyre while battling Nasr at the last corner, which means I had to go one full lap before coming back to pits with no tyre. At that point my floor had got a little bit damaged, I had to do a full  lap with no tyre  and then, even if the safety car helped us,  I had to start from way back behind. We did our best and the forth position was the maximum we could achieve. The win of Sebastian is a very good thing for him and for the whole team , knowing how difficult the last year has been;  it’s a very good job what the team has done. We knew from winter testing that we have a good car, so it did not come as a total surprise, and probably the track  with these high temperatures suited us. I don’t know how it will be in other circuits, but the car has been strong so far, not yet as we want but we have a good package, and we are getting stronger”.

Sebastian Vettel: “Grande gara, bella macchina! (A great race and a beautiful car). Sorry for starting to speak in Italian, but today is such a special day for me. I don’t really know what to say, I am speechless. It’s not only one childhood dream that becomes true, it seems to be many dreams together. It was amazing to look down from the podium and see the mechanics, the engineers, the whole team and listen to the German and Italian anthems. The atmosphere in the team has always been great, but it’s just getting better and better. For today, the important thing is for all of us to enjoy this moment together and celebrate. I did not swap teams that much in the past, so winning for a new team is always a relief. Since I joined Ferrari I felt incredibly welcome and together we have worked to improve things. The potential, as I always said, is huge, it’s good to see what a step forward we did over the winter. There were a lot of changes in the background (including one driver…) which never make things easy, but everyone saw the positives of that. It just doesn’t compare to last year, when the car was also good but I couldn’t get on top of it. With Ferrari I had a good feeling right from the start. This is a special day, it has been a while since both I and team won for the last time. I’d like to be in the same position at every race, but we must be realistic, Mercedes were a bit struggling today but they have a great package and our target is to make the gap smaller at every Grand Prix and make sure that we are the team right behind them”.

Chairman Sergio Marchionne’s statement at the end of the Malaysia Grand Prix

Posted: 29.03.2015
Source: Ferrari

Maranello, 29 March  – “My heartfelt gratitude to Maurizio Arrivabene and the men and women of the Scuderia. What we have seen today is the result of incredibly hard work in the last few months, work that has been carried out in silence and with humility which are the real sign of a great team. Congratulations to Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen for a fantastic race. I am really happy for all the fans who have been waiting so long for a day like this. Forza Ferrari”.

Malaysian Grand Prix – Race

Posted: 29.03.2015
Source: Ferrari

Sepang, 29 March –Sebastian Vettel won the Malaysian Grand Prix for Ferrari at the wheel of his SF-15T. Having started from second on the grid, the German managed to finish ahead of the Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. His team-mate Kimi Raikkonen finished fourth, after having to make an unscheduled pit stop on lap 2, because of a puncture. He then fought his way back up the order to finish just off the podium. The Formula 1 circus will be back in action after a two week break, at the Shanghai circuit in China.

Malaysian Grand Prix – Sepang, 28 March 2015

Posted: 28.03.2015
Source: Ferrari

Kimi Raikkonen: “Today it was simply a bad time to go out, we should have been out earlier. I did try to pass Ericsson but he was there trying to do his job; it’s not an unlucky situation but it was a mistake. Tomorrow we’ll try to climb some positions, for sure we have the speed but we are quite far from the front and when you start in this position is not going to be an easy race. Obviously there is going to be more risk in the first corner, but we’ll try to make the best out of it tomorrow.”

Sebastian Vettel: “I think we had a good pace in the end, it was very tight with Lewis. If you look back to one year ago, we had the same conditions, intermediates in the end and it was one tenth, so maybe next year … For sure the result puts us in a good position for tomorrow. I think the target for Sunday is to extract the best race we can, and then we go from there. The nature of the track suits our car well, I expect nothing else than to be very strong tomorrow, but you never know about the conditions in Sepang. There is rain in the air that can hit you at the right time, but also make go all wrong, you just never know. Let’s keep our feet on the ground, in the end we have to look after ourselves. Mercedes is very strong and has an advantage, but it would be nice to give them a hard time tomorrow, it has been a bit too chilled for them in the last months”.

Maurizio Arrivabene: “Today’s result leaves a bittersweet taste. Seb has been just great and the same goes for the all team. About Kimi, I don’t believe either in bad or good luck. First impression comments may render different opinions, but now we have to leave this behind us and focus on tomorrow’s race. I’m sure that also Kimi, who is a great driver himself, will have a go”.

Malaysian Grand Prix – Qualifying

Posted: 28.03.2015
Source: Ferrari

Sepang, 28 March – Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari will line up on the front row of the grid for tomorrow’s Malaysian Grand Prix, after qualifying second in a session hit by a massive storm. The rain arrived at the Malaysian track towards the end of the second part of the session and that meant Kimi Raikkonen, eleventh at the time in 1.42.173, was unable to make the cut into the top ten. In the delayed final part, the German steered his SF15-T to second, running two sets of intermediate tyres, with a best lap of 1.49.908, splitting the two Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton, who took pole in 1.49.834 and Nico Rosberg third in 1.50.299.

Malaysian Grand Prix – Free Practice 3

Posted: 28.03.2015
Source: Ferrari

Sepang, 28 March – The Ferraris finished third and fourth in the final free practice session at the Sepang circuit, with Nico Rosberg once again fastest. Kimi Raikkonen posted a 1.40.245 in his SF15-T, fitted with Medium compound tyres, finishing behind the two Mercedes (Rosberg with a 1.39.690 and Lewis Hamilton in 1.39.875). Raikkonen only did 9 laps, as he had a puncture on his left rear when running the Hards, apparently caused when he ran over a piece of carbon on the track. In the other Ferrari, Sebastian Vettel was fourth fastest in 1.40.266 completing 13 laps.

Allison – Improvements on both sides

Posted: 27.03.2015
Source: Ferrari

Sepang, 27 March – Scuderia Ferrari Technical Director James Allison met the media today, to discuss various topics concerning, above all, the steps forward which are now visible on the SF15-T as compared to last year’s car.

“In pure lap time terms, the gains are almost equal between chassis and power unit. On the chassis side, the lion’s share of the gains are aerodynamic, because that’s what has the most authority to put lap time on the car. So, on the chassis side it’s 80:20 aero versus useful gains made in the cooling efficiency of the car, which then translates into aero by allowing you to have the car tighter at the back.”

Based on Friday’s long runs, one wonders if Ferrari can now challenge the Mercedes on the race pace. Allison answers: “I don’t know. We will find out on Sunday but our tyre degradation is good and our pace is reasonably good. But everyone uses the Friday differently, so you never know what the others were doing. But we feel it’s been a good day.”

James is also wary of reading too much into the effects of the power units improvements: “It’s a little bit early to be confident of that. The way you judge it is blurry. The first time you get to see how much downforce and power you’ve got is in qualifying as that’s when you can be certain the others are on the same fuel as you and trying as hard as you are. The way you try to separate the downforce from the power is that the shape of the way the car accelerates is different depending on whether it’s a power gain or a downforce gain. It is vulnerable to things like the wind, so it’s only after a few races that the real picture emerges. From the Melbourne analysis it looks as though we have made a good step forward with the car and the loss relative to Mercedes is split equally between the chassis and the power unit.”
Speaking about closing the gap, the Technical Director analyses what is yet to come: “We will not be conservative, we will be shovelling development onto the car as quick as we can make it and there’s a load in the pipeline at the factory at the moment. The aero programme is performing strongly. These are still quite young aero rules so we can expect more from it and the same with the engine. The situation with the tokens make this year very different to last year and we can bring more during the year. You need to make sure you’ve got the horsepower to put into the tokens, but three is an important number even if it does not sound like much, as it buys you a combustion upgrade, which is quite significant regarding the top end of the engine.”

Malaysian Grand Prix – Sepang, 27th March 2015

Posted: 27.03.2015
Source: Ferrari

Kimi Raikkonen: “Today we did all we were supposed to do. In the morning the feeling with the car was better, in the afternoon was a bit more tricky, we had some handling issues and some problems with the wind and the heat, but the laptime were not so bad. Unluckily we had red flag when we went out with new softer tyres.The car is still not perfect, but I’m sure we can improve for tomorrow. We have some work to do on the set up to make everything easier, but we’ll do our best and we’ll see where we end up in qualifying”.

Sebastian Vettel: “All in all it was a decent day. It was quite hot and slippery, which makes it difficult for the cars to work with the tyres. I am not entirely happy with myself, I was pushing too much, but it didn’t work out in the end and I spun. But if you have to choose a day where you want to try things, you choose the Friday. It will be close between us and Williams, and probably Red Bull as well. Mercedes didn’t have a clean day but is still very strong. But we have to look now after ourselves”.

Esteban on Sepang

Posted: 27.03.2015
Source: Ferrari

Maranello, 27 March – “Sepang is generally a circuit the drivers like a lot, even though it is very demanding, especially in terms of the high temperatures,” says Esteban Gutiérrez, Scuderia Ferrari’s third driver, in conversation on the topic of the Malaysian circuit with ferrari.com. “Cooling some of the car’s mechanical components is a very important aspect, because while one is always trying to run things right on the limit, on the other one must not forget this race takes place in very hot and humid conditions. For example, on the aerodynamic front, clearly the smaller the air intakes are, the better the resulting airflow, which therefore favours the aerodynamic side but at the same time, it must allow for sufficient cooling of the power unit. In reality, in Malaysia, you have to try and refrigerate everything in the cockpit area including the driver! Therefore, to be in the best physical shape, it’s important to arrive as early as possible and start training in the high humidity levels. We know that in Sepang, there are can often be some sudden and very heavy downpours and this is another aspect of the weather that can impact on strategy, both in qualifying and in the race. In general, it’s a track that requires a set-up that’s a compromise between the optimum level of understeer to tackle the many wide corners and good top speed for the two long straights. If one favours one aspect more than the other, there’s a risk of having an abnormally high tyre wear rate, given the high temperatures involved. There are two heavy braking points,” says the Mexican in conclusion, “but Sepang is not too demanding on brakes, nor in terms of fuel consumption.”

Malaysian Grand Prix – Free Practice 2

Posted: 27.03.2015
Source: Ferrari

Sepang, 27 March – Once again, Kimi Raikkonen posted the second fastest time at the Sepang circuit, in the second free practice session for the Malaysian Grand Prix. And also just like in the morning, it was a Mercedes that was fastest, this time that of Lewis Hamilton (1.39.790.) Kimi did a 1.40.163, while in the other SF15-T, Sebastian Vettel was seventh with a 1.40.652. Both Ferrari men worked on a programme that focused on a comparison of the Hard and Medium tyres and some set-up work.
Track action in this the second round of the season resumes tomorrow at 14h00 with the third free practice session.

Malaysian Grand Prix – Free Practice 1

Posted: 27.03.2015
Source: Ferrari

Sepang, 27 March – The Ferraris finished the first free practice session of the Malaysian Grand Prix in second and third places. Nico Rosberg in the Mercedes was fastest in this first bit of action for the second race weekend of the season, with a time of 1.40.124. The two Ferrari men split an aerodynamic evaluation programme, running two sets of the Hard tyre on the demanding Malaysian track. Kimi Raikkonen completed 17 laps, to finish behind Rosberg with a 1.40.497, while team-mate Sebastian Vettel managed just 13, (1.40.985) after having to spend much of the session in the garage while the cooling system was checked.

Science of Driving Excitement

Posted: 26.03.2015
Source: Ferrari

Sepang, 26 March – The event was packed with excitement-literally. At the beginning of the Malaysian Grand Prix weekend in Sepang, Shell organized a round-up with Scuderia Ferrari’s test and development drivers Esteban Gutierrez and Marc Gené. Each of them drove a Ferrari California T on a specially designed track south-east of Kuala Lumpur, and both wore high-tech shirt designed to monitor the variances in heart rates, breathing and g-force. Thus, Esteban and Marc experienced different driving scenarios on the unusual track, and could share their emotions with the fans around.

Vettel: “We must attack”

Posted: 26.03.2015
Source: Ferrari

Sepang, 26 March – Sebastian Vettel had his usual Thursday media meeting in the Sepang paddock and his first job was to explain to the press that the suggestion that he should attend a Mercedes team briefing today, was nothing more than a joke. “Do you imagine if I went there, they would really open up?” the Ferrari man asked his audience. “I was joking, if you have an advantage you don’t want to give it out. Of course you can learn from other people, but we have a lot of intelligence in our team and I think from last year to this year we seem to have made a good step. Now it’s up to us to confirm that in the next couple of races and make sure we progress. With this year’s car, from the first day I was happy with the balance. I like the flow the car has.”
An encouraging start in Melbourne leaves the German keen for more: “We must work to establish ourselves in the position we were in in Australia, ideally a little bit closer to Mercedes and a little bit further ahead of Williams. It will be very close between us and Williams and also Red Bull: it’s only a question of time as to when they will come back.”
In the heat of Sepang, Sebastian believes the Scuderia should not automatically look to follow Mercedes. “We will tackle the weekend as usual, trying to get the car in the right window to get into a rhythm. In Malaysia, anything can happen, so our target should not be just to establish our position. We must attack and try and close the gap to Mercedes and with the conditions you can get here, a win is always possible.
Asked about the general state of Formula 1 as the sport goes into a second season under new rules, the Scuderia driver was generally upbeat. “In terms of excitement there are some things we miss and speaking to the fans the noise is one of those. Then, as a driver, you always want to go quicker. But the things you enjoy are always the same; driving one of the quickest cars in the world and competing against the best drivers.”

Raikkonen: “Working as one Team”

Posted: 26.03.2015
Source: Ferrari

Sepang, 26 March – Kimi Raikkonen didn’t have much to say in the press conference that marked the official start of the weekend in Sepang, home to the second Grand Prix of the season. But what he did say was packed with confidence.
“We are in a much better position than we were, say even at the end of last season, so in that way it’s a nice place to be but obviously we still have to improve quite a bit,” said the Finn when asked to assess the situation after the opening race. “We want to be in front and we still don’t have the speed exactly, at least in qualifying, to be there. However, in the race I think we are a bit stronger when compared to Mercedes. I think it will be a fun year, obviously not an ideal start of the year for me in Melbourne, after we got some damage from the start and had those issues in the pit stops, but these things can happen sometimes but at least we had pretty good speed. I’m sure we’re going to have strong races and good battles, but like I said we still have some work to do to be absolutely where we want to be but we have done a good job so far.”
Even if Kimi’s Melbourne race didn’t live up to expectations, the Finn felt very comfortable with the SF15-T and he explained this was down to a combination of two factors: the new car suits his driving style better and it is a big step forward in general compared to last year’s car. “It’s the whole package,” he maintained. “We improved the engine a lot but we improved the chassis itself a lot as well. You cannot just point to one area that has been improved from last year. Everybody is working as one team and things are going in the right direction and people are pushing and doing a good job. Like I said, it’s still early days. We still have to work hard and improve things but, from where we started, so far we have done a good job.”

Sepang: heat and humidity the first adversary

Posted: 26.03.2015
Source: Ferrari

Maranello, 26 March –The Malaysian weather is one of the most talked about topics over the race weekend, because the challenges that have to be met, both mechanical and physical are definitely demanding. “As far as the power unit is concerned, Sepang would be considered a medium difficulty track, but the high temperatures and especially the level of humidity means that cooling of the various components is a critical factor,” Lorenzo Sassi, Chief Designer Power Unit, told ferrari.com. “Fortunately, the turbo, unlike the normally aspirated engine, can compensate for the adverse atmospheric conditions, such as the fact the air is less dense, so that there is no negative impact on performance.” No less important is the effect of Malaysia’s tropical climate on the driver, who races, wedged in a narrow cockpit, wearing a helmet and fireproof suit. These items mean he has to put up with even higher temperatures while driving. In a race like the one in Sepang, a driver can end up losing as much as four litres of liquid, which can only be partly replaced with the solution of water and mineral salts carried in the car, essential for a driver to remain lucid and to maintain the necessary level of concentration to get to the end of the race.

The challenges of Malaysia

Posted: 25.03.2015
Source: Ferrari

Maranello, 25 March – Scuderia Ferrari goes into the second race of the season aware that the Malaysian track is extremely demanding in terms of the climatic conditions. “Normally, we assess the tracks based on two parameters; the level of aerodynamic downforce required and the power needed from the power unit,” James Allison, Scuderia Ferrari’s Technical Director, told ferrari.com. “And if one looks at just these two parameters, Sepang is very similar to Melbourne. Therefore, the car’s competitiveness ought to be similar. However, in Malaysia, its much hotter and more humid and this is a factor that stresses both the car and the tyres. Furthermore, usually a sudden storm can require an immediate change of strategy: everyone is constantly monitoring the weather, but reaction time is always vitally important.” Even the car’s cooling system is seriously tested at Sepang, as confirmed by Simone Resta, Scuderia Ferrari’s Chief Designer. “We have various demands to manage: reliability and performance, the latter both in terms of the power unit and the aerodynamics. We are still in the early stages of the season, therefore we need to establish an accurate understanding of our true level: in Melbourne, we managed a good top speed, which could be very useful on the two long straights of the Malaysian track. At the moment, our pace is pretty good too and, at a circuit like this, where tyre degradation is very high, it could prove to be an advantage for us.”