Kimi tops with Friday times

David Bodapati March 22, 2013

326 3 minutes read

Sepang, 22 March 2013: Kimi Räikkönen topped the times on the first day of running as the second round of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship – the Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix – got underway at the Sepang International Circuit.

Kimi set a 1min 36.569secs lap in an afternoon session which was interrupted by a minor rain shower, while Romain Grosjean was sixth fastest. The team evaluated new front wings on both cars with a new exhaust and related bodywork also featuring on Kimi’s car.

Meanwhile, Sahara Force India was back in action today as Adrian Sutil and Paul Di Resta completed their free practice programmes ahead of Sunday’s Malaysian Grand Prix. Paul was P8 to Sutil’s P10 in the second FP session today.

Adrian Sutil VJM06-03

FP1: 1:37.769 P6 17 laps

FP2: 1:37.788 P10 10 laps

Adrian: “The morning went OK and the balance was quite good. We made a change during the lunch hour to cure some oversteer and my general feeling with the car is good. I missed out on some running this afternoon, but I think the rain interrupted things for everybody so I didn’t miss too much dry track time. I still managed a run on the hard and the medium this afternoon so I’ve got a feel for both the tyre compounds.”

Paul Di Resta VJM06-04

FP1: 1:37.773 P8 15 laps

FP2: 1:37.571 P8 30 laps

Paul: “I think we’ve had a reasonable day. We’ve got some tyre data and first impressions suggest that our performance level is pretty similar to where it was in Melbourne last week. Hopefully we can continue the progress overnight. Generally I’m fairly happy but, as always, there’s some work to do tonight to make sure we’re comfortable on both the compounds going into the race.”

Jakob Andreasen, Chief Race Engineer

“A fairly typical day in Malaysia with dry running this morning and a light shower in the afternoon session. On the whole we got through the bulk of the programme and both Paul and Adrian seemed pretty content with the handling of their cars from the start of running. Adrian’s afternoon session was cut short as a precaution, but it did not cost him too much dry track time relative to the others. Paul clocked up 30 laps this afternoon, running both the hard and medium compounds, and is in good shape heading into tomorrow. We don’t have as much long run data as we would ideally like, but we have enough information to make some sensible predictions.”

Lotus team quotes as Kimi runs on top again

Alan Permane, Lotus Trackside Operations Director sends his technical programme notes:

– We evaluated a new front wing on both cars.
– Kimi ran with a new exhaust and outlet package in both sessions.
– Pirelli’s hard (orange) compound tyre was used in the first session, the hard and medium (white) dry tyres as well as the intermediate (green) in the afternoon.
– The second session saw rain-interrupted long runs on both tyre compounds.

What we learned today:
– The E21 ran reliably, giving strong performance on all tyres and in all weather conditions.
– The new front wing works well and will be retained for the rest of the weekend.
– The new exhaust package works well and will remain on Kimi’s car for the rest of the weekend.

Kimi Räikkönen, E21-03
Free practice 1: P2, 1:37.003, 15 laps
Free practice 2: P1, 1:36.569, 28 laps

Kimi: “It was a pretty good day. We tried changing a few things on the car and made progress with where we wanted to be at the end of the sessions. We had some running in the wet which you often get around here and the car feels fine. We ran pretty heavy today so I don’t know how we’ll be when everyone is light for qualifying, but I’m happy with where we are and expect we’ll be reasonable tomorrow.”

Romain Grosjean, E21-01
Free practice 1: P10, 1:37.915 17 laps
Free practice 2: P6, 1:37.206, 26 laps

Romain: “We’re still working on the setup of the car as it’s not quite right for me and it’s difficult to understand why exactly. The new front wing does feel better than the one before so that helps. Kimi was running an updated aero package which looks to be an improvement so we know there’s more pace to come in that area, but there are still things we can do with the current specification once I get everything working for me. It was pretty hot out there – quite a contrast to Melbourne – but I felt comfortable and I’m looking forward to making some improvements tomorrow before we head into qualifying.”

James Allison, Technical Director: “I’m happy with our day’s work. We came here this week seeking reassurance that our car would be equally as competitive in a very different set of conditions to what we saw in Australia, and the early indications are that it looks reasonably useful. The upgrades we’ve trialled today also appear to be working well. Although both drivers ran the new front wing, Romain was at somewhat of a disadvantage in not having the latest exhaust variation and related bodywork on his car, so he can take heart from a healthy position on the time sheets. The only slight interruption to proceedings was a compromise to our long run programme once the rain arrived, but this actually proved to be pretty useful in itself as we now have a better understanding of the crossover point for the intermediate tyres. Overall it’s been a very productive day.”

ends