HUNGARIAN GP PREVIEW

BU DAP EST , 27 T H 29 T H J U L Y 2012

www.lotusf1team.com

20 1 2

cAL En dAr

FIA FormuLA 1 worLd chAmPIonShIP

2 Eyes on the Prize Kimi Rikknen Q&A 4 Lady Luck Romain Grosjean Q&A 6 Brave? Inspired Eric Boullier Q&A 8 Firm Belief James Allison Q&A 10 Tech Talk Brilliance in Budapest An engineers guide to the Hungaroring 12 Team Spotlight Have a Break; Have a Shutdown 14 Inside Line Facts, figures, and all the latest from Enstone 16 Animators Angle Cirebox on the German Grand Prix

c o n T E n T S

AuSTrALIA mALAYSIA chInA BAhrAIn SPAIn monAco cAnAdA EuroPE grEAT BrITAIn gErmAnY hungArY BELgIum ITALY SIngAPorE JAPAn KorEA IndIA ABu dhABI unITEd STATES BrAzIL

mELBournE KuALA LumPur ShAnghAI SAKhIr BArcELonA monTE cArLo monTrEAL VALEncIA SILVErSTonE hocKEnhEIm BudAPEST SPA monzA SIngAPorE SuzuKA YEongAm nEw dELhI YAS mArInA AuSTIn SAo PAuLo

16 - 18 mArch 23 - 25 mArch 13 - 15 APrIL 20 - 22 APrIL 11 - 13 mAY 24 - 27 mAY 08 - 10 JunE 22 - 24 JunE 06 - 08 JuLY 20 - 22 JuLY 27 - 29 JuLY 31 AuguST - 02 SEPTEmBEr 07 - 09 SEPTEmBEr 21 - 23 SEPTEmBEr 05 - 07 ocToBEr 12 - 14 ocToBEr 26 - 28 ocToBEr 02 - 04 noVEmBEr 16 - 18 noVEmBEr 23 - 25 noVEmBEr

Kimi rikknen Race Driver, No. 9

Its only when you win that you dont suffer at the hungaroring. I hope I dont suffer this time

LETS SEE whAT wE cAn do In ThE SEcond hALF oF ThE SEASon

After inheriting the final podium position in the german grand Prix, Kimi heads to his home event in hungary hopeful of another strong result and perhaps some celebrating with his fellow Finns.
Youre up to fourth in the drivers championship with only a small gap to the drivers directly in front; where can you go from here? If you had told me in January that we would be fourth halfway through the season, I think I would have been pretty pleased. Its not a bad place to be, but I think we have a car good enough to have scored more points. I want to win and the whole team is pushing hard to make it happen, so lets see what we can do in the second half of the season how are you feeling heading to hungary? It is always nice to go to Hungary. The circuit is not the most difficult of them all, but it is still quite challenging. It is also the last race before the summer break and its a great city to end the first half of the season. Its always nice to have a summer vacation and recharge the batteries for the last and most important part of the season. how do you rate your past performances at the hungaroring? I have won once in Hungary and finished second three times. It is very hot and very demanding race. Its only when you win that you dont suffer at the Hungaroring. I hope I dont suffer this time. Are you happy to receive a podium placing for your performance in germany? Its nice to get the points for third position, but obviously we would rather score it on the track. Having said that I think we did the best we could at Hockenheim from the position we started. Maybe if we had found a bit more pace in the wet of qualifying we could have started higher, avoided the traffic and pushed the leaders, but it is what it is. For sure we were hoping for a bit better, but the car worked well all through the race and we still brought home some good points for the team so there are some positives to bring to Budapest. how do you assess the teams potential heading to this event? The team has been working hard in developing our car and we are confident we should be competitive in Hungary. Usually we have a hot weekend at the Hungaroring, and thats what we have been looking forward to during the whole summer. Its never nice to go to media after a race without a win. I love to win, not to explain why we were not able to win. Hopefully we can get the result we are looking for. what are the particular challenges of the circuit? Its such a slow and twisty track that you there are two things most of all which are really important for fast lap times; these are good turn in and good traction. If you have those, you have a competitive car there. The circuits tight and twisty: how important is qualifying? This is one of those circuits where its very difficult to overtake. Obviously, you need to get to the front in qualifying and you also ideally want to avoid the dirty side of the track on the grid. We havent been the best in qualifying so far, but we have been good in the race in hot conditions and able to make different strategies work. It wont be the end of the world if we dont qualify at the front, but it wont make things easy for us either. Lets see what happens. The hungarian grand Prix is also sometimes known as the grand Prix of Finland because so many of your countrymen attend. what does this mean for you? It is always nice to see the blue and white flags waving. Its the closest we Finnish drivers get to a home race and a lot of Finns turn up every year. Hopefully I will be able to celebrate with a win for them.

KImI

rA IKKonEn

Q&A

romain grosjean Race Driver, No. 10

Last year I won and finished third, which was a pretty good weekend. Im heading to hungary with a

hocKEnhEIm wAS mY worST rAcE oF ThE SEASon. how ABouT ThE BEST In BudAPEST?
hungary was the location for romain grosjeans first pole position in the gP2 Series, so after a weekend in hockenheim hed really rather forget, our flying Frenchman is hoping for better things in Budapest.
whats the key to a good result this weekend in hungary? Its a familiar story; we need to achieve a good qualifying performance. We have a few updates coming which is good news and Im sure we are going to be better than we were last time out. In terms of conditions, it should be hot and hopefully sunny which will suit our car better than the cold weve seen recently, and certainly better than in the cold and wet! The Hungaroring is a circuit that I quite like and one where I have had good experiences in the past. Hopefully my past history at the track will help me to have a proper race weekend. Having all sessions in the dry, so we can work properly from beginning to end, will also be very helpful! what went wrong for you in hockenheim? It was a difficult weekend , especially in qualifying and in the race. We werent able to get any pace in qualifying and were still trying to understand why that was. My car was very difficult to drive when it was wet, and it was always raining hardest when I wanted to set a fast qualifying lap. On top of that I had a five place penalty on the grid due to my gearbox change. Then in the race, the first lap was a bit of a mess and I got hit by another car. Maybe it was bad luck, but either way I know I need to improve my first laps. I am working on that as it is a bit of a shame when you have a good car, but your race is effectively over after a couple of minutes. In Germany my front wing needed replacing and the punctured tyre damaged the floor. It was then very difficult to finish the race let alone to keep up any sort of good pace. There are races where nothing goes right and it was one of those. Lets hope the luck will turn around and everything will be much better in Budapest. had you driven a race lap with a punctured tyre before? No. That was the first time, so I can add that to my experience. Its difficult to know how fast you can go and you cant see how much damage is being done to the bodywork. Its not a nice experience. Its far better with a car that is healthy! You still had to push on in case there were any opportunities for points it must have been quite character building? It was very difficult. The car was not handling well, but this is normal with the damage we had. I hope I dont have that situation again. The car was unbalanced, unpredictable and inefficient. Everything you dont want from a car! 4 how is your past experience at the hungaroring? I scored my first GP2 Series pole position there in 2008. Last year I won and finished third, which was a pretty good weekend. Im heading to Hungary with a positive attitude. how does it feel to have completed half of the season? Its not been easy so far. Weve had some very good results and some very bad races. The last race was maybe one of the worst - so lets work, analyse and try to understand so I dont make mistakes any more. Stay out of trouble and qualify better, this is the key. And from that we can go forwards. what do you have planned for the August break after the hungarian grand Prix? Im going to have my honeymoon so its going to be a good month for me. Hopefully I can head off on holiday with the very nice present of a podium finish in the Hungarian Grand Prix.

positive attitude

romAIn g r oSJ E An Q&A

Eric Boullier Team Principal

Its clear that if we want to win the races we have to be top four or five on the grid

Im APProxImATELY 1000% hAPPIEr ThAn I wAS ThIS TImE LAST YEAr!

Q&A
Lotus F1 Team enters the second half of the season with over double the points scored in the entirety of 2011. reason for Team Principal Eric Boullier to be happy? Yes. But he still wants more
The team has fallen from third position in the constructors championship. can this be regained in the second half of the year? Its obviously disappointing to lose third place, but its very, very tight and weve built a gap over the fifth-placed team. However, we are hungry for success and we do want more. If we can keep bringing the developments and updates we have been planning and make them work on track then I think we should be able to defend our current position. I am not sure about third or fourth by the end of the year, as everything is very close, but I am pretty convinced that we will be in the fight for one of the prime places in the Constructors Championship. how do you rate the teams performance in germany? We saw a great recovery from Kimi after a difficult qualifying session. He put in a very strong and experienced drive coupled with a good strategy from the team. Starting in tenth and nineteenth positions we were always going to have our work cut out, so it was good to see Kimi score big points again and display strong race pace. Going forwards, its clear what we need to do for better results. Anyone who watches Formula 1 can tell us this. We need to do better in 6 qualifying. Its clear that if we want to win the races we have to be top four or five on the grid. It was one of romains difficult weekends he seems to be either hot or cold in terms of his race performances? We have all seen him have very good weekends, but we have also seen weekends where the results have not been as Romain or anyone in the team would have wanted. This means we need to ensure that he has solid weekends even when circumstances are against him, such as starting from the back of the grid. Hes still learning. Its only his first full year. But as we all know he can do very well and we are working with him to ensure that he always puts in a solid drive. This includes making it through the first lap which is obviously very important. Qualifying was difficult for the team with a lack of pace in wet conditions something weve not seen before? We have not really seen that before, and hopefully we wont see it again! We need to look in detail at what happened. The temperature was very low and the rain showers were short and intense. We are looking into it and will fix it if it happens again. 7 The driver line-up was seen as something of a brave move by the team. how do you assess Kimi and romain in their half term report cards? I dont see much of a downside to Kimi to be honest. He came back to his speed level very quickly and I would not be surprised if he wins very soon. Romain is still building himself up. Even if he did seven races two years ago, he never had a real chance to blossom, so for me he is still very much in his first year. He is making mistakes - of course because he is a youngster. But the good news is that he never repeats a mistake! He is learning, listening and getting stronger with every race. what do you want to achieve from the next ten races? On paper I would say with the experience we have learnt from the first ten races, we should be able to score more points in the second half of the year, which will be very good for our championship battle. how much happier are you at the half way mark of the season compared to this time last year? Significantly; if I had to take a number, lets say 1000%!

ErIc

BouLLIEr

James Allison Technical Director

we need to qualify on the first two rows of the grid. This is even more important

IF ThE FIrST TEn rAcES oF ThE YEAr ArE A guIdE ThEn wE wILL BE comPETITIVE In hungArY.
After creating significant interest during the first practice session at hockenheim with the latest aerodynamic developments on the E20, Lotus F1 Team is confident the car will go well in the heat of hungary, as Technical director James Allison explains.
how should the hungaroring suit the E20? If the first ten races of the year are a guide then we will be competitive in Hungary. It is a bit of a broken record, but for us to really live up to the promise we are sure exists in the team we need to qualify on the first two rows of the grid. This is even more important than normal on the twisty Hungaroring circuit. Traditionally, the circuit sees a lot of track evolution; how difficult does this make it to determine the tyre performance and strategy heading into the race, especially with the tyres being quite hard to read this season? It does cloud the picture for the engineers and strategists, but we have many years of experience racing here so it wont be too bad no worse than Monaco for example. can we expect to see any other appendages to the car and what did we learn from our evaluations in germany? We will continue to dial in the new device that we ran in Hockenheim with Kimi. Despite the difficult weather conditions, we did get a good feel of its performance potential from the free practice session and we aim to take it on a step at the Hungaroring. This is the last race before the summer break how many more developments are in store for the second half of the year? As the second half of the season kicks off the development race in the factory starts to cool down as teams are ramping up efforts on next years car. We also have to deliver a specialist low downforce package for Monza. Having said that, there is plenty in the pipeline for the E20; some of which is delivering on wind tunnel gains already made and other parts which form part of programmes that are still to run. Im confident that we can fight our corner well for the second half of the year. how do you rate the teams performance in hockeheim? It is a mark of how far the team has come this year that we can 8 feel disappointed after a strong fourth place from tenth on the grid. However, we hoped for better than that in Hockenheim and we are looking forward to an opportunity to redeem ourselves in Hungary. what was the impact on the car of the wet qualifying sessions in germany? we seemed to suffer more than others; is this something we could encounter again in the future? We have been pretty reasonable in the wet this year for instance our performance was commendable in the wet conditions of FP2 at Hockenheim - but for some reason the car was utterly lousy once the rain came in qualifying. This mystified us at the time and continues to do so. Trying to figure out what caused the E20 to lose its pace on Saturday in the wet is certainly on our job list.

than normal on the twisty hungaroring circuit

JAmE S A LLISon Q&A

1. rEAr wIng
Rear wing configuration will run to maximum downforce levels thanks to the relatively low speed nature of the circuit.

BudAPEST cIrcuIT
An EngInEErS VIEw: ALAn PErmAnE TrAcKSIdE oPErATIonS dIrEcTor

2. BrAKES
The lap begins with relatively heavy braking heading into turn one, which comes at the end of a comparatively long straight. By contrast, demands on the brakes from turn four to turn ten are very light. The drivers therefore need good confidence in their braking systems to be right on the mark when needed, as they are used heavily relatively seldom over the course of a lap.

APProAchIng Turn 1
heavy braking from almost 300km/h on the main straight to under 100km/h at the first turn creates the most likely overtaking opportunity on the circuit.

Turn 2
The track runs quite noticeably downhill into turn two. with high potential for drivers to out-brake themselves here, they will need to keep their wits about them.

BUD AP EST

Turn 5
moderate braking from c 240km/h to c 150km/h at turn five follows the slight kink of turn four; a tricky series of corners taken at medium / high speed.
1 5

3. SuSPEnSIon
The layout of the Hungaroring circuit promotes understeer, with a strong front end required to prevent this. The drivers will also ride the kerbs a lot at throughout the course of a lap here, so a soft front end is useful in that respect.

4 6

4. TYrES
The medium and soft Pirelli P-Zeros are allocated. The circuit surface and layout is relatively kind to the tyres however the high temperatures frequently experienced can cause the rubber other issues, such as blistering.

7 2 8 13 9 10

TA LK TEch

5. FronT wIng
As with the rear, maximum downforce is required from the front wing in line with the circuit layout and also to help counter understeer. We will run a new specification of front wing to assist with this.
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TurnS 4 11
Turns four to eleven very much lead into each other so theres little braking here and no room for error, as a small mistake at any stage can have a big effect on overall lap time. The drivers need a well-balanced car with good change of direction capabilities through this section.

6. EngInE
Were looking for non-peaky power delivery here to facilitate traction out of the low-speed corners and provide good all round driveability. The engine needs to be mapped in such a way as to deliver sharp bursts of power rather than sustained application of throttle. Ambient temperatures are particularly high in Budapest, so the engine must perform efficiently through the lower rev range while offering efficient cooling solutions.

Turn 13
The second slowest corner on the circuit, turn thirteen is a tight left hander taken at around 100km/h before launching the car into the final turn

Turn 14
A good exit from the third gear turn fourteen is crucial, as it leads on to the circuitsonly straight and subsequently into turn one; the best overtaking opportunity around the lap.

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Team Spotlight

hAVE A BrEAK; hAVE A ShuT down

with the season having reached its halfway point, its time for the team to get some well-earned rest as the Formula 1 show takes time out over the August break.
Signed off by FOTA the Formula 1 Teams Association in 2009, the enforced factory shutdown during was introduced to give the men and women who work tirelessly throughout the season a respite from the hectic world that is Formula 1. With the quest for automotive perfection naturally being a time consuming process, its essential for the industry in its entirety to take a break and recharge for the second part of the year. There are no excuses here; with every team obliged to close its doors over the course of fourteen days. Under normal circumstances, the crew are in action even during gaps between Grands Prix; with new projects, forthcoming concepts and upgrades for the current cars constantly in development back at the factory, while the race team will be stripping down, repairing and tweaking the E20s ready for the next race weekend. Its a process which never ceases, and over the twenty race season which forms the modern calendar it comes as a well-earned rest for everyone involved; from the people who travel across the world with the race team to those back at the factory working just as hard in search of the success every member craves. On returning from Hungary, the trucks will all be unloaded, the cars stripped and sent off for re-sprays where needed, and all loose ends tied off ready to get straight back to business, but come Friday of that same week its time to pack up and head home. Paul Seaby has seen both sides of the coin; from the relentless format adopted before the shutdown came into being to the current setup we see today, and for our Race Team Manager the advantages are clear to see: PS: On the race team we all start to get a bit tired and grumpy around this sort of time as weve been on the road for so long, so the break helps to keep everyone motivated. We all get to see our families and have a rest, which is really important when you look at the shifts our guys and everyone in the paddock put in over the course of a race weekend. I know the crew are looking forward to it, and they deserve the reward for all the hard work they put in As mentioned previously, the shutdown not only gives the race team some time off, but the crew back at the factory as well who are working round the clock to bring new parts for the E20 throughout the season and to create the next challenger designed to propel Kimi and Romain to the front of the pack, as Ben Tiley Composite Technician, Suspension Department explains; BT: Formula 1 is such a 24-7 industry that I think sometimes we all need a bit of a rest to regroup and recuperate from the hectic schedule. All through the year its like a concentrated pocket of hard work, and while that intensity is the
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we all get to see our families and have a rest, which is really important when you look at the shifts our guys put in over the course of a race weekend

thing that keeps us motivated it can also be quite draining! This year has been particularly busy with the success the team has had so far and the rate of development needed to maintain that level of performance. With positive results, the workload is actually raised and remains constant with no real drop off as we aim to push the car even further up the grid. Hopefully well have a chance to take advantage of the late summer were having this year and come back with a fresh determination. Once Enstone lights up again to welcome the five hundred odd members of the family back to base, theres still plenty to look forward to before the cars even turn a wheel. The race crew for example will be heading off to the Isle of Wight for a day; sailing around the coast on a treasure hunt as part of a team building programme. Of course, eventually its back to the grindstone for everyone. With a week to prepare for the Belgian Grand Prix, rebuilds on Kimi and Romains rides wont begin until the Wednesday after the break, giving the crew time to brush off the cobwebs and get back into the regular routine with pit stop practices and the like before the rollercoaster ride springs back into action in Spa. So; once the chequered flag drops in Budapest it will be eleven races down, nine left to go. There may be a time to relax coming up, but will the team be switching off their dedication and determination to reach the top? Not a chance
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Inside Line

The drivers A-z

Lotus F1 Team made its hungarian grand Prix debut in 1986 under the Benetton name, with Italian Teo Fabi and Austrian gerhard Berger at the wheel.

over the Top!

Queen: Anything hrh can Think youve seen the Lotus F1 Team boys drive? You aint seen nothing yet! Created in collaboration with the Lotus F1 Team design department, F1 Race Stars is a fast-to-the-fun arcade racing game featuring official Formula 1 cars, teams and circuits as theyve never been seen before, with the drivers transformed into personality-packed heroes, and the circuits converted into over the top tracks built for super-charged speed. Quick team-mates: racing alongside Fernando Alonso in 2009, now its another world champion in Kimi rikknen. The game will deliver formula fun on every straight, hairpin, jump and loop-theloop with super-fast racing and a range of power-ups for players to collect and deploy as they sprint for the chequered flag ahead of their rivals. F1 Race Stars will take players on a world tour of iconic Formula 1 locations, including Monaco, Silverstone and the new Circuit of Americas in Austin, Texas, recreated as fantastical racing circuits built for speed and wheel-to-wheel competition. Due for launch on Xbox 360, Playstation3 and PC in November this year, a teaser trailer for the game can be found by clicking here.

ENSTO NE

do In 2008 Kimi appeared on a set of Finnish postage stamps.

In its various guises the team has achieved two hungarian grand Prix victories to date; the first in 1994 (michael Schumacher, Benetton) and the most recent in 2003 (Fernando Alonso, renault). Including the two victories, the team has taken eight hungarian grand Prix podiums; the first in 1988 (Thierry Boutsen, Benetton) and the most recent in 2004 (Fernando Alonso, renault). The team has also claimed a total of three pole positions for the hungarian grand Prix; the first in 1994 (michael Schumacher, Benetton) and the most recent in 2009 (Fernando Alonso, renault). under its various banners, the team has set one fastest lap during hungarian grands Prix; michael Schumacher setting the best time as part of a dominant treble (win / pole / fastest lap) in 1994. Kimi has a good record at the hungarian grand Prix, having claimed one win (2005), five podiums (2003 / 2005 / 2007 / 2008 / 2009), one pole position (2006) and three fastest laps (2005 / 2007 / 2008) in his nine participations. romain will be making his hungarian grand Prix debut, but the hungaroring circuit is one he knows well, having taken a win and a third place in the 2011 gP2 Series here, also setting the fastest lap in the second race.

ou r hI STorY :

SToP! carry on
Last week at Enstone, one of the team was mysteriously called into an emergency meeting just as pit-stop practice was about to begin. we needed a hero, or should we say a heroine enter cnn presenter Amanda davies! over the course of the afternoon, Amanda donned the black and gold uniform and got stuck in for a crash course in Formula 1 tyre changing technique; taking the role of wheel man (or should we say wheel woman!) alongside the teams regular pit-stop pros. After a few trial runs, the challenge was to get as close as possible to the times set by the crew during a regular stop. click here to check out video footage from the day and see how Amanda got on

nEwS

London calling
Never one to shy away from the spotlight, Lotus F1 Team third driver Jrme DAmbrosio arrived in Mayfair for a night of celebrity and style courtesy of classic English tailor and Official Partner Lutwyche. Customers of the boutique store are well attuned to the customary charm, cheek and character dished out by Tony Lutwyche and his team, but this particular evening saw service of a different variety as Jrme dropped in for a made to measure Q&A session with Sky Sports F1 presenter Natalie Pinkham and invited guests. Dressed in a specially designed Lotus F1 Team suit, Jrme candidly took time to answer some probing yet in-jest questions from Natalie. Amongst other guests, English rugby star Tom Voyce was present at the event part of a twenty strong audience including sports personalities, customers and associates. To complement the event, the winners trophy from the 2006 British Grand Prix as clinched by former team driver Fernando Alonso featured in the Lutwyche store window for the evening, drawing in passers-by as part of a collection of team memorabilia including Kimi Rikknens race suit amongst other unique items. Since joining the team as an Official Partner in January this year, Lutwyche has fitted Kimi Rikknen, Romain Grosjean, Jrme DAmbrosio and members of senior management with their own tailored suits. Surely there are a few scraps left over to fashion an outfit for our resident Press Officer? No? Oh well, it was worth a try

h ungArIAn

In numBErS
BudAPEST

LA T E ST

3.1 21 36 56 59 80 220 300 500 660

Highest g-force experienced for 2.6 seconds at T11 % of the lap spent braking Total straight per lap (%) % of lap on full throttle Number of gear changes per lap Lowest apex speed (kmh) Highest apex speed (kmh) at T10 Top speed (kmh) Distance in metres from start line to first corner Longest full throttle burst (metres) on the start/finish straight 15

gP

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cirebox

mEd IA

c o nT AcT S

Lotus F1 Team Whiteways Technical Centre Enstone Oxfordshire OX7 4EE, UK Telephone +44 (0) 1608 678 000 Facsimile +44 (0) 1608 678 609 Email pressoffice@lotusf1team.com Stephane Samson Head of Team Marketing and Communications stephane.samson@lotusf1team.com clarisse hoffmann Senior Press Officer +44 (0) 7747 468 273 clarisse.hoffmann@lotusf1team.com Andy Stobart Press Officer +44 (0) 7703 366 151 andy.stobart@lotusf1team.com Ben cowley Press Officer / Social Media Coordinator +44 (0) 7795 121 094 ben.cowley@lotusf1team.com nicolas Faure Digital Media Manager nicolas.faure@lotusf1team.com website www.lotusf1team.com Social network

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