By F1 Correspondent
Shanghai, 15 April 2012: A close-fought Chinese Grand Prix saw Paul Di Resta finish in 12th place, while team-mate Nico Hulkenberg ended the race in 15th as Sahara Force India failed to get any points in the third GP of 2012. In the first F1 race at Australia, Paul managed to get into points while both Paul and Nico Hulkenberg got into points in the rain-hit Malaysian Grand Prix.
However, it was another day to be proud of for the only Indian driver in Formula One, who managed to finish the race. Both the HRT cars finished the race in 21st and 22nd place but are still being bogged down by cooling problems which may be difficult in the hot conditions for next Sunday at the fourth GP in the controvery-ridden Bahrain.
HRT happy with Shanghai show
Pedro de la Rosa F112-02 #22 21st
Narain Karthikeyan F112-01 #23 22nd
It was another important step forward for HRT Formula 1 Team today with Pedro de la Rosa and Narain Karthikeyan completing the 56 lap Chinese Grand Prix, as they did in Malaysia a few weeks ago, in 21st and 22nd position respectively. What’s more pleasing for the team is that the distance with regards to the leading pack was reduced notably as De la Rosa came in one lap behind the winner and Narain two laps behind. A good tyre strategy, made up of two pit stops, and a much noted improvement in the team’s pit stops lead the team to finish ahead of Heikki Kovalainen’s Caterham. Therefore it’s safe to say that the Spanish team comes away from Shanghai having met its main targets: finishing the race, accumulating miles for the F112, cutting down the gap to the front runners and continuity to optimize teamwork.
And now, with no time to lose, the team flies to Bahrain where the fourth Grand Prix of the season will take place in only a few days.
Pedro de la Rosa: “I’m happy with the race we did. It’s true that the start wasn’t great but I was able to maintain a good rhythm afterwards, especially with the medium tyres. We had an interesting fight with Kovalainen, which is always stimulating, and at the start we had the Marussias in our sights during various laps. Although I wasn’t able to catch them in the race, we’ve got them right there and with a little bit of progress I’m confident we can get ahead of them. We leave here with a feeling that we’ve taken an important stride and that we’re right in the fight. The overall assessment is that we’ve progressed in every aspect, the pit stops are better every time, our rhythm is improving and the team is more of a unit. It will be difficult to see much of a difference in Bahrain because there is no time to introduce upgrades but we can progress in terms of teamwork and set-up”.
Narain Karthikeyan: “My start was also quite poor, so we still have to do some work on the start system because it’s still new. It was quite difficult to drive on the option tyres because we had a problem and the car was moving a lot on the straight, we are yet to identify what the reason was for that so we’ll have to look into it and make sure we overcome it. But on the primes the car balance was much better and it was easy to drive. We set out to finish the race this weekend in China and we’ve achieved it, so we have to be pleased about that. Now we hope to progress a little bit more in Bahrain next week”.
Luis Pérez-Sala, Team Principal: “We’re satisfied because we’ve met the targets we set for this Grand Prix. This was mainly to finish the race with both cars but there are many other things that have improved in this race with regards to the last one. The rhythm of both drivers was good and the tyre changes worked well. It was good for us that it wasn’t too hot and there’s no doubt that we still have to polish many things but I’m very happy with the work done by the drivers and the rest of the team. I congratulate them but we mustn’t relax because in only a few days we’ve got the next Grand Prix in Bahrain and it won’t be easy”.
Double finish but no points for Force India
P12 Paul Di Resta (VJM05/02)
Tyre strategy: New soft, new medium, new medium
Paul: “It was an extremely close race today and although we were able to keep ourselves in the hunt, we were just missing the pace to catch people and make up any more ground. So it was a bit like the race in Australia where there were lots of cars running very close to each other and a lot of guys nursing their tyres. I think we made some good calls with the tyres and there were lots of different strategies playing out around us. It was also incredibly slippery offline with the marbles making things very tricky. So we go away from here knowing that we are not too far away from the other teams and determined to get the car dialled in nicely for Bahrain next week.”
P15 Nico Hulkenberg (VJM05/03)
Tyre strategy: Used soft, new medium, new medium
Nico: “I didn’t get a great start because there was a lot of wheelspin and I lost a few places straight away. Then I picked up some damage to my front wing on the first lap. I don’t think I hit anybody, but there was a lot of debris flying around going into turn one so maybe that’s when it happened. That made the first stint very difficult because there was massive understeer and I had to change the nose at my first stop. We targeted a two-stop strategy, which I think was the right choice because our pace was strong towards the end of the race and I closed up on the main pack, but I think we lost too much at the start to make a real impact in the race.”
Robert Fernley, Deputy Team Principal
“We always felt that scoring points in today’s race would need an element of luck or attrition, but as it was we saw almost 100% reliability. Paul was in the mix for most of the race, fighting to get in the top ten and ending up just under eight seconds from seventh place, and just 22 seconds off second place, which shows how competitive the field was today. Nico’s race was compromised by a poor getaway and the front wing damage, but we take encouragement from the pace he showed, especially towards the end of the race. We know that our race pace relative to our midfield rivals is not too far away and hopefully we can continue to close the performance gap quickly. ”
McLaren on top: Both in Constructors’ and Drivers’ points table
Starting from fifth and seventh respectively, Button and Lewis Hamilton were both able to put the excellent long run pace of the McLaren MP4-27 to good use as they took the lower spots on the on the podium. Hamilton’s third successive third place lifts him into the lead of the Drivers’ Championship on 45 points, two points clear of Button who has a second to add to his victory in Australia. Their combination of 88 points lifts the team well clear of Red Bull Racing who are now second in the Constructors’ Championship.
While Button pronounced himself pleased with his podium finish he was left to regret a fumbled final pitstop which destroyed any chance of him chasing down Nico Rosberg and challenging for the victory. Instead he came out in the middle of a battle for the lower places and had to thread his way through the crowd to regain his position.
“Our race pace was good, especially on the harder of the two tyres, I had some really good battles out there,” said Button in the FIA post-race press conference. “And then in my last stop, we had a problem with the rear of the car, so I was stuck there for nine or ten seconds I think it was. It was a pity because when I exited the pits I had four cars in front of me; cars that I wouldn’t have been racing, and I would have had a nice clear track to hopefully hunt down Nico. It was a big gap but you’ve got to give it a go. But, all in all, a fn day. I really enjoyed today. It was a good race, some good overtaking out there and nice to eventually come away with some good points and second place.”
Hamilton had the more difficult challenge. Having qualified second but started seventh after taking a five-place penalty for changing a suspect gearbox, he needed to make a good start and then rely on the pace of the McLaren to pull himself forward in each successive stint. “I’m very happy to have made it up to the podium,” he said. “I wanted to just go forwards and the team did a great job with the pit stops and with strategy. I think it was one of the best races so far this season, just because there was a lot of overtaking. It was incredible.”
Hamilton also paid tribute to Mercedes and his former team-mate Rosberg, the pair having driven together in junior categories. “We knew that all weekend they had been quick and if we let these people get away it would be hard to catch him, so fantastic for him, congratulations. Your first pole and your first win is an incredible feeling.”
Double finish for Williams: Having started 13th and 14th on the grid, the Williams cars both opted for a two-stop strategy, though the South American pair approached it with differing tyre strategies: Maldonado from 13th choosing to go soft, medium, medium and Senna being one of four drivers choosing to start on the medium tyre, which he followed with a short stint on the soft before reverting to the medium compound. “It was a great result for the team to finish with two cars in the points today,” commented Senna. “It was a tough race and tyre wear was high. Our strategy worked for us today but we’re still learning and improving together. We aim to continue to get better throughout the next few races.”
Maldonado had perhaps a more eventful race than his team-mate and was involved in several thrilling tussles for position as he worked his way back up the field having had a poor start. “It was very tough today,” said the Venezuelan. “I lost places at the start and it was difficult to overtake but we had good pace. We were able to fight all the way to the end so I’m happy to get some points. It was a great result for the team.”
The result confirmed the suggestion of the first two races in which Williams demonstrated they were capable of running well up in the top ten. While failing to score in Australia after a late race crash for Maldonado and a first lap collision for Senna, their points today added to Senna’s haul for sixth place in Malaysia means the team has already scored more than three times as many points as it accumulated in the entire 2011 season.
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