Technical spotlight - F1® fuel systems

A Formula One car’s fuel system is unusual in that it involves both the chassis and engine design teams - the former are responsible for the design and operation of the fuel cell, lift pumps and collector, while the latter look after the main fuel pump, filters and injectors. In the final year of the V8 engine formula, Renault - who power Red Bull, Lotus, Williams and Caterham - guide us through their RS27 engine’s intricate system...
What is the function of an engine’s fuel system?
The task of the engine’s fuel system is to recover the fuel from the fuel tank and deliver it to the engine where it is sprayed into the trumpets to mix with air on the way into the cylinder, where the fuel-air mix is ignited to generate torque. The fuel must be delivered to the injectors at the correct pressure so the quantity injected can be accurately metered, so the fuel system is designed to recover fuel from the tank and increase and regulate this pressure by means of a sophisticated mechanical pump.
The fuel system starts with the fuel cell (tank), which is located within the monocoque behind the driver, but in front of the engine. It is a large leak-proof flexible bladder made of military-grade ballistics material to contain all the fuel necessary for the car during a race (approximately 160 kilogrammes or 230 litres). The hoses feeding fuel to the engine are equipped with dry-break frangible couplings, so if the engine and chassis become separated in an accident, fuel cannot leak from the broken hose, which would create an obvious fire risk as per the fiery accidents of the 1970s.
The fuel inside the bladder is subject to lateral and longitudinal g-forces due to cornering, acceleration and braking. The fuel therefore sloshes around the tank, moving from side to side and back and forth. As a result it can be tricky to recover the fuel as it moves around in the tank, particularly at low level - imagine drinking with a straw from water bumping around on a tray compared with drinking the same water with a straw in a bottle.
The tank therefore contains a number of low-pressure electrically-powered ‘lift pumps’, typically three or four of them, positioned to suck up fuel from the tank corners. Filters at the entry to these pumps protect them from damage that may be caused by impurities that may have entered the fuel cell. The lift pumps deliver to a smaller vessel within the fuel cell known as a ‘collector’, which typically has a capacity of 2.5 kg or 3 l.
The collector is pressurized by the lift pumps, and it contains enough fuel to feed the main pump continuously even if supply from the lift pumps becomes intermittent at low fuel levels, particularly bearing in mind that an engine running at full revs will need up to 3.5 litres/minute of fuel. It looks like an upside-down soda bottle - that is, tall and slim, to ensure the fuel supply is constant.
The next stage is for the collector to deliver fuel to a mechanically driven fuel pump that in turn delivers fuel to the injectors. In fact, the role of the main pump could be compared to a domestic jet washer operated by a push button - it takes tap water at low pressure and delivers it at much higher pressure to the spray lance when required, but when the button is not pushed nothing is delivered.
The pump is entirely mechanical and must be protected by a fine filter at the entry. This pump delivers fuel flow fundamentally proportional to engine RPM. The fuel consumed by the engine is also approximately proportional to RPM at full throttle, but at closed throttle, the engine uses no fuel. To match the fuel supplied to the fuel required, the main pump has a variable displacement mechanism actuated by a sophisticated pressure regulating device.
After passing through the pump and a final filter in the fuel rail, the fuel is delivered to the injectors at high pressure (95 bar). Technical regulations forbid a pressure higher than 100 bar.
The injectors are - in technical parlance - precision electro-mechanical solenoid valves controlled by the SECU (Standard Electronic Control Unit). The SECU hardware and control software is common to all F1 engines, but the calibrations are free within a range permitted by the FIA. Fuel is delivered when the solenoid is energized, delivering it at high pressure into the intake air at precisely the right instant in the engine cycle to achieve optimum cylinder filling and mixture preparation, ultimately promoting efficient combustion and therefore engine performance.
How has the fuel system changed over the V8 era?
Other than routine changes due to year-on-year car development, the overall layout of the system has changed little other than the change to the size of the fuel cell to accommodate the refuelling ban since in 2010. Previously, the fuel cell could be smaller - containing the fuel needed between pit stops (say 70 kg) - but now it must be large enough to hold the fuel for the whole race.
The larger cell highlights the problems of recovering the last fuel in the tank:
• The large shallow fuel volume at low tank level is more tricky to recover with the lift pumps
• Fuel temperature is also a greater concern. Fuel is heated by conduction and radiation from the rest of the car - the exhausts, the engine etc. Higher fuel temperature reduces engine performance and it also makes the fuel more difficult to pump by the lift pumps.
There have been developments to overcome these challenges, including changes in car design to reduce heat transfer to the fuel, additional constraints on fuel formulation, and fuel cell and lift pump design improvements.
What would we now be seeing if there had not been an engine freeze?
Actually in this case, development has been more limited by technical regulation than by the engine freeze. Injection pressure is limited to a maximum of 100 bar, (or 100 times normal air pressure at sea level) and a single injector per cylinder must be positioned in the inlet tract.
These regulations have outlawed the use of ultra-high pressure injection systems, and also the use of direct injection into the combustion chamber.
With greater technical freedom, it is probable that more complex injection systems would have been developed, perhaps multiple injectors per cylinder, with delivery pressures towards 500 bar (the pressure of being 5 kilometres under the sea, or equivalent to the weight of an elephant balanced on a postage stamp, or the equivalent of one person trying to support 50 jumbo jets.)
The performance payback for this work would have been improved power, driveability and fuel consumption.
Any interesting stats and facts?
At 18,000rpm - before the limiter kicks in - the fuel injector is fired once every 6.6ms for a duration of 2.7ms at full throttle. The fuel delivered by each injection event is 0.049cc, approximately the same volume of venom in a snake bite. However, the fuel used by the engine at full throttle in the same conditions is between 3.5 l/min and 4 l/min depending on ambient conditions, about half as much as a normal power shower dispenses during your daily shower.

WRC.com preview: Philips LED Rally Argentina

Round five of the FIA World Rally Championship - Philips LED Rally Argentina - is renowned for its amazing landscapes, its passionate and enthusiastic fans and for being one of the toughest events of the season to win.
The all-gravel event, which runs from 1-4 May, is characterised by its jumps, river crossings and the lunar landscape of the high altitude Mina Clavero stage.
It’s also very much about endurance, and features a string of long and demanding stages, including one of the longest of the season – the 51.88 kilometre Ascochinga-Agua de Oro.
Although they are flowing in nature, the stages in Argentina have a reputation for being slightly slower but more technically demanding than some of the other tests drivers experience in the WRC.
The road surface is quite sandy, which increases the risk of punctures due to the greater likelihood of rocks being pulled onto the road by the competing cars. Because the road surface is softer, ruts can form following the first pass.
This year’s rally features just seven special stages, each run twice. Three stages - Ascochinga-Agua de Oro, El Cóndor-Copina and the super special stage - run identically to last year, while Santa Catalina-La Pampa and Mina Clavero-Giulio Césare have length changes.
The two remaining stages - Santa Rosa-Villa del Dique and Amboy-Yacanto - are classed as new, the first the result of combining two stages run in 2011 and the second covers 30 kilometres of new road.
Rally headquarters and the central Service Park are based at Villa Carlos Paz, a holiday resort located 700 kilometres north of the Argentine capital Buenos Aires, close to the city of Cordoba.
Argentina’s Southern Hemisphere location means the rally will take place in early autumn and in its changeable weather conditions. The latest forecast is for sunshine and temperatures of up to 28 degrees Celsius, however rain showers are likely.
This year’s rally features a modified timetable compared to 2012. Organisers have taken advantage of a public holiday on Wednesday 1 May to enable the fans to watch free practice and qualifying, as well as the super special stage later that afternoon, meaning that the event finishes one day earlier than usual, on Saturday 4 May.

Loeb: WRC absence a concern

  

Ahead of his much-anticipated WRC return on this week's Rally Argentina, Sebastien Loeb has admitted a lack of recent seat time in his Citroen DS3 is some cause for concern. 

The nine-time World Champion is unbeaten in Argentina since 2005, and is aiming to maintain his record-breaking run with an eighth victory when the rally concludes next Saturday (4 May) 

To do that, however, he’ll first have to beat Sebastien Ogier the man who has dominated the last three rallies in a Volkswagen Polo R.
But while Ogier was at the top of his WRC game just a fortnight ago in Portugal, Loeb’s racing commitments ahead of a WTCC campaign with Citroen in 2014 have kept him out of a gravel-spec rally car for months.
Will Loeb take a while to get back up to speed again? Here’s what he had to say before he headed to Argentina.
Q: You seem to have been very busy in the last few weeks. Have you had any time to relax?
SL: “Not really… Whenever I thought I’d have some free time, I found myself busy, more often than not at the wheel of a racing car! After Argentina, I’ve got another four racing weekends. I think I’ll only be spending something like two days at home in May. But I can’t really complain – I was the one that chose to accept the opportunities that came up. I’m even busier than I have been in recent years, but it means I can work on my ability to adapt and acquire some experience geared towards the plans I share with Citroën. This was the year that we had to do all of this. I can learn how to do nothing later…”
Q: Did you get the chance to follow Rally Mexico or Rally Portugal? What did you think about them?
SL: “Obviously, I watched the rallies and saw how they went. It wasn’t always easy for Citroën faced with a rival that was already managing to combine very high levels of performance and reliability on a state-of-the-art car. But the season isn‘t over yet, because winning a thirteen round championship where all the rounds count also requires consistency. We saw that the DS3 WRCs were quicker in Portugal than in Mexico, so that suggests that the team is making progress. It also confirms that the DS3 WRC is more comfortable when there is a high level of grip.”
Q: How have you prepared for Rally Argentina? Do you feel ready to go after an eighth consecutive win?
SL: “Apart from one day of testing, I haven’t driven on gravel since the 2012 Rally de Espana. So I don’t know what sort of feeling I’ll have on the first few stages in Argentina. I think that you can lose your rhythm pretty quickly, and that’s why I’m cautious about my chances. There's no denying the fact that I have pretty much moved on from rallying and am now focused on the future. This reduced programme is a good way to continue to compete for Citroën in 2013, but I’m not as well prepared as Mikko, Dani and the other guys. We’ll see what happens when we get our helmets on...”

Pirelli tweak hard tyre as latest nominations revealed

Formula One racing’s official tyre suppliers Pirelli have announced that their orange-marked hard tyre will change to a different compound from the next round of the championship in Spain.
“After evaluating tyre performance over the balance of the first four races, we took the decision - in consultation with all of the teams - to change the hard compound from Spain onwards, as we did in Barcelona two years ago when we also introduced a new hard tyre for the rest of the season,” Pirelli’s motorsport director Paul Hembery said.
“This latest version of the hard compound is much closer to the 2012 tyre, with the aim of giving the teams more opportunity to run a wider range of strategies in combination with the other compounds, which remain unchanged.”
The new specification hard tyre will debut in Spain where, because of the high-energy demands of the Circuit de Catalunya, it will be used alongside the next-hardest tyre in the range: the white-marked medium compound.
For Monaco, Pirelli have selected their two softest compounds: the yellow-marked soft and red-marked supersoft. This is the same nomination that has been in place for the Principality for the last two years and is best-suited for the demands of the street circuit.
Finally, in Canada there will be a full step between the compounds, as Pirelli have selected the white-marked medium tyre and the red-marked supersoft compound.
At a glance - tyre compounds for 2013:
Australia - medium, supersoft
Malaysia - hard, medium
China - medium, soft
Bahrain - hard, medium
Spain - hard, medium
Monaco - supersoft, soft
Canada - supersoft, medium

Exclusive Toto Wolf Q&A: We have a mountain of work to do

It’s just over three months since Toto Wolff left his position as executive director at Williams to become part of a high-profile management triumvirate at Mercedes, with Niki Lauda and Ross Brawn. Since then, the 41-year-old Austrian, who is now a shareholder and executive director with the Brackley-based team, has witnessed the Silver Arrows score two podiums and two pole positions from the opening four races. In this exclusive interview Wolff discusses, amongst other things, the season so far, his plans for the future and why there is still much work to do...
Q: Toto, even if the Bahrain result was a bit disappointing, you must feel like you’ve landed in the land of milk and honey since joining Mercedes…
Toto Wolff: Ha, yes, two pole positions so far - that goes down really nicely. But milk and honey would be if we were to do the same on Sunday and finish at the top of the sheet. Maybe we could persuade Bernie (Ecclestone, Formula One group CEO) to also allocate points on a Saturday! So yes, I am happy, not so much about the results, but more about being part of that team. We have a fantastic spirit that means besides the hard work we are able to laugh together. That is very important for establishing a sense of ‘we’.
Q: Could it be that you all are somewhat taken aback by the sudden and rather unexpected success? You must feel very lucky…
TW: Well, I don’t feel that it is knocking on wood that propels us. If you look at our races so far we’ve had two pole positions and finished twice in P3 - that translates to a very solid upward movement through hard work. Yes, we have to consolidate our race results, but our two guys in the cockpit and our engineers and mechanics are doing a top job and I think what must be on our agenda now is to dovetail all elements a bit better - then we will have the race results we want. It sure is nice to have a pleasant Saturday evening, but I would settle much more for a great Sunday evening! (laughs)
Q: A few garages along from Mercedes you find Williams. With what emotions do you watch their early-season struggles?
TW: Of course, I see them struggling and I would say that it didn’t help that I left. I think with all the changes in the team they have to refocus. The team has a solid financial basis and I think what is needed now is that step-by-step they build on that. I hope that they drive through that hard time very fast.
Q: Coming back to Mercedes, at management level nobody - you, Ross Brawn, Niki Lauda - had ever worked together before. At what stage of the bonding process are you right now? Surely success must help…
TW: Niki I’ve know a bit longer - and I would say that we do get along very well. Niki is very outspoken and in daily business to get to the point in plain language helps immensely to sort out problems faster. Ross I pretty much only knew by name and fame, so we had a different starting point. What I witness is that we are on the way towards a non-verbal communication where a glance is all that is needed to understand what’s on the other's mind.
Q: What qualities have you learned to appreciate in Niki and Ross? You three make a very interesting trio - but also good bedfellows?
TW: The quality I value most with Niki is his straightforwardness and his efficiency and, needless to say, his value as a sportsman. Ross has all the virtues that a great engineer must have: the preciseness, the focused and structured working mode, the calmness and the leadership he exhibits with his technicians.
Q: Everything is pointing towards the arrival of Paddy Lowe from McLaren next season. Now that you've spoken so much of Ross’s technical leadership qualities, is friction to be expected?
TW: Why? One doesn’t obviate the other. Ross is team principal and I don’t want to change that. We need to get stability in the team as we have a mountain of work to do. From where this team is coming it is important to have as many good people as possible - that is my focus in all these discussions.
Q: Are you surprised that Lewis Hamilton has advocated Ross so strongly?
TW: No, not at all. Everybody has the highest esteem for Ross and I would be completely mistaken were I to question Ross’ technical skills - someone who has won seven or eight titles. Who am I in this respect? I have been in Formula One for only three years. So I completely agree with every word Lewis said.
Q: What about your two drivers? After almost three months of working together, what qualities do you appreciate in them? After the Malaysian Grand Prix there were suggestions that Lewis must be your number-one driver…
TW: Three months is not an overly long time. I have seen a bit of their private side, but of course much more of their professional side, and what I can spontaneously say is that I not only admire their talent, but also their very focused working style. Nothing can distract them from their goal: to win. Sure, they are different in their approach…
Q: How so?
TW: Well, maybe you could say that Nico (Rosberg) has a Teutonic way of approaching things. That starts with his daily routine and ends with how he solves problems. Lewis’ approach is more emotional - and he has a lot of emotions. But if you look at the lap times, both ways work equally well - it’s only a different avenue! (laughs)
Q: How far are you on your way to rebuilding the team? What is the main focus for the next couple of weeks? Hiring? Firing?
TW: I am in a very exciting situation as I get to know the people around me better and better and can judge their contribution. It is not about revamping everything - it is all about nuances. I am speaking with everybody, I am listening - and I give my opinion. I want to establish a structure that exudes success. Of course what I do is based on experience from my other businesses, and not necessarily from running an F1 team, but success is spelt the same anywhere.
Q: What is the most useful lesson you’ve learned so far in your short new career?
TW: To understand what it needs to make Ross function - or how he functions.
Q: And how is that?
TW: Extremely structured. Accurate. Focused on sustainable results and not on short-term optimization. An excellent manager who gives his people room.
Q: It’s still a young season - how do you expect 2013 to progress? Mercedes have obviously got to build both an engine and a chassis for 2014 so at some point you’ll have to make pragmatic decisions…
TW: We’re already working on 2014 and we’ll gradually raise the percentage of people working on next year’s car. I would say that in May we will reach a point where more than 50 percent will work on the 2014 car.
Q: What will that mean?
TW: There is no doubt that at a point in the summer everybody will switch their main resources to the 2014 car, as this is a very complex and complicated machine. Of course it all depends on where you are in the standings. Those who are fighting for the title will of course concentrate longer on this year’s car.
Q: When everything is said and done at the end of November, what do you want to go home with?
TW: I want to be among the four top teams in the constructors’ championship and have a driver among the top four as well.

Ferrari targeting perfection following Bahrain woes

Team principal Stefano Domenicali has said that Ferrari must ‘be perfect in every area’ if they are to avoid dropping more points and challenge for both titles in 2013.
Domenicali’s words come in the wake of the Scuderia's difficult race in Bahrain in which Fernando Alonso fell back down the field because of a DRS problem and Felipe Massa was slowed by two tyre-related issues.
“It’s hard to recall a race where so many things went wrong,” said Domenicali. “The DRS failure prevented Fernando - who yet again produced a great performance - from fighting Vettel for the win.
“Then for Felipe, there were the two tyre-related problems that pushed him out of the points and prevented from getting the top five finish that was within his grasp. We had the potential to get these results, but we were unable to do so, partly because of external influences.
“We must work with renewed attention on (the reliability) front. We must also continue to develop the car and increase our understanding of the tyres, which is more crucial than ever this year. In these first four races of the season, we have not managed, for various reasons, to bring home the points that were within our grasp.”
Analysis has revealed that the DRS problem on Alonso’s F138 - which resulted in the rear-wing flap sticking open - was caused by a breakage of a mechanical component within the system. Ferrari say it is the first problem of its kind that they have experienced in three years of using the DRS, but despite their recent bad luck Domenicali insists Ferrari must not be discouraged, even though the Italian team has slipped further behind their rivals in both championships.
“We have seen so often, both in our favour and against, how things can change in a hurry,” he said. “We believe in our ability to be in the fight for the titles right to the end and this time, we have been in that fight since the start, which has not been the case for a while.
“At the same time, we must be aware that in order to achieve our objectives, we have to be perfect in every area.”

Ogier: Loeb duel won’t distract from title push

Volkswagen's Sebastien Ogier says he is more interested in preserving his lead in the WRC drivers' championship at Rally Argentina than trying to beat his returning arch rival Sebastien Loeb.

Loeb, the defending world champion, missed the two most recent WRC rounds in Mexico and Portugal but has chosen next week’s rally to be one of the handful he will contest in his retirement season.
The Citroën ace has a remarkable winning record in Argentina, having won every WRC qualifier the country has hosted since 2005.
Ogier won the Super-2000 class at Rally Argentina last year but is yet to win the event outright. He came closest in 2011 when he finished third.
The former team-mates have competed together twice this season. Loeb won the season opening Rallye-Monte-Carlo, while Ogier came out on top on round two in Sweden.
Ogier has since proved unbeatable on gravel, and wrapped up a hat-trick of rally wins in Portugal earlier this month.
Before heading to Argentina, and the pre-event recce that starts on Monday, Ogier said:  “After the three victories, we obviously want to continue where we left off and, ideally, defend our lead in the championship until the end of the season. For now, however, we would be happy with another podium.”
“I am looking forward to the duel with Sébastien. We had a great battle in Sweden, and it will be anything but easy again here. However, my main focus is on my rivals in the World Championship.”

Interview with Sebastian Vettel in Sochi

    

Red Bull’s triple world champion Sebastian Vettel was in Russia on Monday to visit the new Sochi Olympic Park Circuit, which hopes to host a Russian round on the 2014 FIA Formula One World Championship calendar. Whilst there Vettel shared his thoughts on the circuit and spoke about the prospect of racing in Russia...
Q: Sebastian, what potential does the Sochi track have from a driver’s perspective?
Sebastian Vettel: I would say a massive one. Of course I can only judge it after I have been driving it - but from what I see I expect it to be massive. The venue looks just incredible. The Olympic Park - and the circuit right in the middle - that is unique in the world so it will be something very special to be part of the first Russian Grand Prix.
Q: As you said, it is a track that is incorporated into the Olympic Village. Do you think that this can become some sort of role model for future tracks?
SV: First of all: the track here definitely stands out with all those impressive buildings and stadiums around - how far it can be a role model I am not able to answer. One thing I can say: in the past years we have seen some new tracks that are pretty much away from a city - and the Sochi track is right in the middle. That could give a hint for future developments. The people will return to this place after the Olympics and after a Formula One race because it is an area obviously with a huge recreational value with the Black Sea in front and the mountains behind with impressive ski resorts.
Q: Will you attend the Sochi Olympic Games next year to have another glimpse at the track and to follow some of the competitions?
SV: That will depend on my schedule, but as I have never been to an Olympic Games - neither the summer nor the winter version - maybe I will.
Q: Is it about time that Russia gets a Formula One race?
SV: I think so. If you consider the sheer size of the country and the importance of Russia on a global scale, then it’s a bit of a surprise that we haven’t had a Russian Grand Prix before Sochi 2014.
Q: Have you already had a taste of Russian F1 fans? You and the Red Bull team are the first to come to Sochi…
SV: Ah, it’s nice to be the first in almost anything! (laughs) Well, look at the numbers that are following us around the globe. Russian fans are increasingly a part of the international fan community and it will jump up even more significantly once we have been racing in Sochi. When we arrived at the airport and were talking to some fans who came to greet us it was interesting to see that they all knew so much about Formula One - that they are real experts! (laughs)

Returning Loeb heads Argentina entries

Sebastien Loeb will make a return to World Rallying on the next round of the Championship, Philips LED Rally Argentina, which starts on 1 May.

After missing the last two rounds in Mexico and Portugal, the return of the reigning world champion is one of the highlights of an entry list that features twelve other World Rally Car crews.
Loeb has chosen Argentina to be one of the handful of rallies he will tackle this season as he bows out of the WRC after a record-breaking nine world titles.
Less than a fortnight after driving a McLaren MP4-12C at the FIA GT Series race at Zolder, the Frenchman will be back at the wheel of the number 1 DS3 World Rally Car for the Citroen Total Abu Dhabi team. Mikko Hirvonen will drive the French team’s second car. Dani Sordo will drive a third DS3 for the Abu Dhabi Citroen Total team.
After his recent win in Portugal, championship leader Sebastien Ogier will return in his Volkswagen Motorsport team Polo R WRC, with team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala in an identical car. Andreas Mikkelsen will drive a third Polo R for the Volkswagen Motorsport II team.
Qatar M-Sport team-mates Mads Ostberg and Evgeny Novikov head the Ford runners, with Thierry Neuville also in an M-Sport Fiesta RS for the Qatar World Rally Team.
Martin Prokop will represent the Jipocar Czech National team in his Fiesta RS, while Brazilian Daniel Oliveira will make his 2013 WRC debut in another Fiesta RS, run by Stohl racing.
LOTOS team driver Michael Kosciuszko will be at the wheel of his Motorsport Italia-prepared Mini JCW World Rally Car. Long-time P-WRC competitor Gabriel Pozzo from Argentina was to have driven a second Mini, but made a late switch to an M-Sport Ford Fiesta RS.
The rally has also attracted nine entries in the FIA WRC-2 championship, including the winner in Mexico, Fiesta RRC driver Abdulazis A-Kuwari.
Production Cup leader Nicolas Fuchs also returns in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX - the Peruvian fresh from winning the production category in Mexico and Portugal.
Philips LED Rally Argentina kicks off on Wednesday 1 May with the Qualifying stage at 1058hrs and the Super Especial Parque Termatico at 1600hrs.
Download the full entry list here.

Wales Rally GB gets new home

Organisers of Wales Rally GB, the final round of the 2013 World Rally Championship, have announced sweeping changes to this year's event, including a new base in North Wales and a revised rally route.
The headquarters and central Service Park will move from the Welsh capital Cardiff, where they have been based since 2000, to a new home 180 kilometres north on Deeside in Flintshire.
The event’s ceremonial start will be hosted in the town of Conwy on the Thursday evening with the finish celebrations in neighbouring Llandudno on Sunday afternoon.
Four days of competitive action will feature a more compact route with the majority of the timed Special Stages set in the classic Welsh forests.
Both night and family-friendly spectator stages are being reintroduced into the itinerary and ticket prices have been slashed in a bid to increase spectator numbers.
“We have listened to what the teams and fans want in our determined efforts to create what we are confident will be not only one of the best rounds in the WRC but also a fitting finale to the entire 2013 world championship,” explained Andrew Coe, Chief Executive of rally organiser International Motor Sports.
“South Wales has provided us with a fantastic home for Wales Rally GB since 2000 but the move to North Wales has a number of significant advantages. Most importantly, perhaps, we are closer to the sport’s traditional heartlands, some iconic rally forests, as well as being within a short drive of some of the larger conurbations in the UK such as Liverpool, Manchester and the Midlands.
Taking those factors into account, as well as our new ticket pricing policy which is designed to cater for both hardcore rally fans and a wider family audience, we are confident that the 2013 Wales Rally GB will be a highlight on the motor sport calendar."
Further details of the route and the 2013 event itinerary will be announced in mid May. In the meantime, World Rally Passes which give access to all competitive stages over the four days including qualifying, will be available from Friday 3 May with discounted packages available for early purchasers.
Full details can be found on the rally’s website: www.walesrallygb.com.

Race results - Vettel dominates Bahrain thriller

Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel utterly dominated the 2013 Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix in Sakhir on Sunday, but it was the thrilling action behind him for which the race will be remembered.
Vettel took the lead shortly after the start of the race, whilst behind him the Lotus pair of Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean came through numerous battles to grab the final two podium spots...

1	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing-Renault	57	Winner	2	25
2	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Lotus-Renault	57	+9.1 secs	8	18
3	8	Romain Grosjean	Lotus-Renault	57	+19.5 secs	11	15
4	14	Paul di Resta	Force India-Mercedes	57	+21.7 secs	5	12
5	10	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	57	+35.2 secs	9	10
6	6	Sergio Perez	McLaren-Mercedes	57	+35.9 secs	12	8
7	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing-Renault	57	+37.2 secs	7	6
8	3	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	57	+37.5 secs	3	4
9	9	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	57	+41.1 secs	1	2
10	5	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	57	+46.6 secs	10	1
11	16	Pastor Maldonado	Williams-Renault	57	+66.4 secs	17
12	11	Nico Hulkenberg	Sauber-Ferrari	57	+72.9 secs	14
13	15	Adrian Sutil	Force India-Mercedes	57	+76.7 secs	6
14	17	Valtteri Bottas	Williams-Renault	57	+81.5 secs	15
15	4	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	57	+86.3 secs	4
16	19	Daniel Ricciardo	STR-Ferrari	56	+1 Lap	13
17	20	Charles Pic	Caterham-Renault	56	+1 Lap	18
18	12	Esteban Gutierrez	Sauber-Ferrari	56	+1 Lap	22
19	22	Jules Bianchi	Marussia-Cosworth	56	+1 Lap	19
20	23	Max Chilton	Marussia-Cosworth	56	+1 Lap	21
21	21	Giedo van der Garde	Caterham-Renault	55	+2 Laps	20
Ret	18	Jean-Eric Vergne	STR-Ferrari	16	Accident damage	16

Nico Rosberg Q&A: Bahrain pole can kick start my season

It’s been a frustrating start to the 2013 season for Nico Rosberg. While new Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton has scored two podiums from the first three races, Rosberg has endured two retirements. But after scoring his first pole position of the year in Bahrain on Saturday, the German is hoping to get his campaign firmly back on track in Sakhir…
Q: Nico, congratulations on your pole position - the second for Mercedes in a week. How does that make you feel?
Nico Rosberg: We are absolutely happy. It feels very, very good. This pole position really all comes down to the work that we did last night, as yesterday we didn’t look good at all, as we were really struggling. We started optimizing everything last night, and also this morning, and we saw that we were getting closer and closer, and in the end managed to stay on pole. It is not one single issue that we found and changed, it is a lot of small details on the set-up that we had optimized. Looking from my point of view, I take this opportunity with my pole position to kick start my season, as for me there has not been one weekend where things didn’t go wrong somehow. And today everything went quite smoothly, and with this I managed to be on pole, so let’s hope for the best.
Q: What does this pole position mean for the race tomorrow?
NR: Ah, tomorrow’s race will be a totally different story to be honest. The rear degradation is very intense here, and also the temperature of course, so we cannot make any prediction. What we know though is that there have been a few other teams that looked very strong, and we will have to count with all of them as well. We have seen that today’s pole position doesn’t automatically mean we’ll win.
Q: When did you realize that you had really got the time that would make you the polesitter?
NR: Only at the very end, as many cars were still on a timed lap after I had already finished with my last try. For sure I felt that I had done a quick lap, but I did not know if it was quick enough for the pole.
Q: How do you see the strategy for the race then? Will it look like China?
NR: For sure we have to try and make the tyres work as long as possible. I think that teams will either be on a three-, or even just on a two-stop strategy, probably even us. But a two-stop strategy will really be on the edge, as the tyre degradation is super intense. It will be a very demanding race tomorrow - for driver, car and tyres - and I really hope that all the work we’ve done in the last 24 hours will pay off and that we have reasons to cheer again tomorrow.

Qualifying - Rosberg beats Vettel to take surprise Sakhir pole

Nico Rosberg snatched Mercedes’ second pole position in a row in Bahrain on Saturday, when his lap of 1m 32.330s beat Sebastian Vettel’s best of 1m 32.584s in the Red Bull.
Q1 saw plenty of late action, as Ferrari's Fernando Alonso set the pace with 1m 32.878s to Vettel’s 1m 33.327s. Pastor Maldonado equalled Williams team mate Valtteri Bottas’ time of 1m 34.425s to edge out Esteban Gutierrez’s 1m 34.730s in the Sauber, but he subsequently dropped into the relegation zone when Daniel Ricciardo staged a last-gasp improvement for Toro Rosso. Thus the Venezuelan and the Mexican were 17th and 18th.
Behind them, Charles Pic comfortably beat Marussia’s Jules Bianchi with his improved Caterham, with 1m 35.283s to 1m 36.178s. As he returned to the pits, Bianchi’s car was doused with fire extinguishant. Max Chilton was closer to his Marussia team mate with 1m 36.476s, but was pushed to 22nd right at the end when Caterham’s Giedo van der Garde improved to 1m 36.304s.
The action continued in Q2, where Vettel was fastest on 1m 32.746s from Rosberg on 1m 32.867s. Jenson Button’s last-minute 1m 33.702s pushed his McLaren to 10th place at Romain Grosjean’s expense, the Lotus driver losing out by six-hundredths of a second with 1m 33.762s. Sergio Perez came up short in the second McLaren with 1m 33.914, just six-hundredths ahead of Ricciardo’s Toro Rosso on 1m 33.974s, which was just two-thousandths ahead of Nico Hulkenberg on 1m 33.976s for Sauber. Bottas was 15th on 1m 34.105s, and Toro Rosso's Jean-Eric Vergne was 16th on 1m 34.284s.
Rosberg set the pace initially in Q3 with 1m 32.543s, before Vettel replied with 1m 32.584s. But Rosberg’s second run set the issue beyond dispute as the German recorded 1m 32.330s.
Alonso’s best was 1m 32.667s after he aborted a messy final Q3 lap, while Lewis Hamilton’s sole run in the Mercedes yielded 1m 32.762s.
Mark Webber failed to break 1m 33s, taking his Red Bull around in 1m 33.078s, which left him fifth ahead of the Ferrari of Felipe Massa - the only Q3 runner to opt for medium tyres - on 1m 33.207s. Paul di Resta continued to shade Force India team mate Adrian Sutil, as they came in seventh and eighth on 1m 33.235s and 1m 33.246s respectively. Kimi Raikkonen couldn’t better 1m 33.327s for Lotus, while Button aborted his lap without setting a time and so finished 10th with free tyre choice for Sunday.
There are several grid penalties to apply, however. Hamilton gets a five-place grid drop for changing gearboxes prior to qualifying, Webber drops three places for his clash with Vergne in China, and Gutierrez five for his incident there with Sutil.
So at the front the grid will read: Rosberg, Vettel; Alonso, Massa; Di Resta, Sutil; Webber, Raikkonen; Hamilton, Button.
The middle of grid comprises Grosjean, Perez; Ricciardo, Hulkenberg; Bottas and Vergne.
At the back Maldonado heads row nine with Pic alongside; then come Bianchi and Van der Garde, and Chilton and Gutierrez.

Practice Two - Raikkonen edges Webber in Sakhir

Kimi Raikkonen rose to the top of the timesheets at Sakhir on Friday afternoon, as he set the fastest time of the day for Lotus in 1m 34.154s to beat Mark Webber's Red Bull by 0.030s.
Webber, who lapped in 1m 34.184s, was followed by his team mate Sebastian Vettel on 1m 34.282s, and the Ferraris of Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa which sandwiched Paul di Resta's Force India. Alonso posted 1m 34.310s, Di Resta 1m 34.543s and Massa 1m 34.552s.
In a session that was cloudier and cooler than this morning's Practice One - the track temperature varied between 39 and 41 degrees Celsius and the ambient between 32 and 33 degrees - Romain Grosjean took seventh with 1m 34.631s in the other Lotus ahead of Nico Rosberg's Mercedes on 1m 34.666s, Adrian Sutil's Force India on 1m 34.932s and Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes on 1m 34.976s.
Once again there were few incidents. Hamilton ran wide in Turn One early on, and Sauber's Esteban Gutierrez and Caterham's Charles Pic had a minor altercation in the final corner when each had to make room for the other.
Jenson Button was 11th for McLaren on 1m 35.356s from Toro Rosso's Jean-Eric Vergne on 1m 35.506s, team mate Sergio Perez on 1m 35.589s and Daniel Ricciardo in the other STR8 on 1m 35.761s.
Sauber continued to struggle, with Nico Hulkenberg 15th on 1m 36.133s from Pastor Maldonado on 1m 36.279s ahead of his Williams team mate Valtteri Bottas on 1m 36.579s and Gutierrez on 1m 36.616s.
Pic showed the progress Caterham are making with the revised CT03 on his way to 1m 37.061s for 19th, as Max Chilton just edged out Marussia team mate Jules Bianchi, with 1m 37.313s to 1m 37.363s. Giedo van der Garde brought up the rear in his standard CT03, driven this morning by Heikki Kovalainen, on 1m 37.970s.

Exclusive Lewis Hamilton Q&A: We are way faster than I expected

When it was announced late last year that Lewis Hamilton would be leaving McLaren to join Mercedes in 2013, there was considerable shock in the paddock. But after three races - and two podium finishes - Hamilton’s bold decision looks to have paid immediate dividends. We caught up with the 2008 world champion in Bahrain to discuss, amongst other things, what’s gone right at Mercedes and what might be going wrong at his old team…
Q: Lewis, you must laugh at all those who predicted that your career would go south when you joined Mercedes. How does it feel proving them all wrong?
Lewis Hamilton: It feels nice! (laughs) It is good to walk around with my head up and smile at all those who have helped me in my decision and gave me the opportunity. I also feel good about myself. I have really thought it through and it is great to see now that the team is doing so well and that I can contribute to that success.
Q: Can it be that you are the one who is most surprised about the current situation?
LH: No, not really. I remember meeting with Ross (Brawn) before I signed; he came to my house and we sat down and he told me all the plans and I have been in the sport long enough to understand what he was talking about. I could see that Mercedes were en route to making some very positive changes - that they were really, really determined to turn things around. He showed me what potential there was in the car and I thought ‘wow, this sounds good’. Of course I didn’t know how good it would be and, to be honest, I never expected it to be as good as it is now. I thought it would be a slow but steady improvement - but it is way faster than I expected.
Q: The McLaren was the fastest car on the grid at the end of last season and the Mercedes was sometimes two seconds off the pace, but now - after three races - Mercedes is way ahead of McLaren. Would you have believed that if somebody had told you so?
LH: Definitely not. That is probably the biggest surprise - where we are in relation to them. The McLaren at the end of last year was awesome - the quickest car on the grid - and usually if you have the quickest car and there are not massive changes in the regulations you carry that into the next year. So it should, again, be a quick and awesome car, but for some reason - I don’t know why - it hasn‘t happened that way. But that is not my concern anymore! (laughs) And take Mercedes: they had a car that was nowhere, and look - we had a pole position last weekend! What a great feeling that was - it is a beautiful car to drive.
Q: So that marathon of improvement actually turned out to be a sprint…
LH: Ah, it’s not that easy. We still have a lot of work to do. It is still early in the season and we can still have bad races. But fingers crossed that won’t happen.
Q: What is going so wrong at your old team, McLaren?
LH: I don’t really know - I haven’t even spoken to the drivers about what is happening there. It surely has something to do with the downforce on the car. It was there all last year but probably they tweaked something. I thought that the car looked the same, but I was told that they’ve changed the car completely. They’ve probably made some big decisions which they thought would translate into big gains, but that hasn’t happened. Actions like that are not unusual with McLaren. I have experienced that in the past, particularly in 2009 and in 2010 as well. So it’s not unheard of that they make drastic changes. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.
Q: And what’s going so right in your current team, Mercedes? The winter tests weren’t that promising - and suddenly you have a pole in China and two podium places so far…
LH: I think that they’ve been lost before. They have even said that. The aerodynamics, the wind tunnel - people were in the wrong place - so they took a step back and tried to analyse everything and move things into the right position. The car has just been on a positive curve since they changed the wind tunnel - since they made all these changes within the last half year - and they’ve been improving at a very serious rate.
Q: And obviously with you they’ve put the right man in the cockpit…
LH: Hopefully. I’ve tried to be as helpful as possible. But even if they didn’t get the results last year, this is a fantastic team and they clearly had the ability back then - but sometimes you just get lost. Even with McLaren - such a great team - they have troubles now. It is so easy to lose your way and it is so hard to find it again. I am so glad that Mercedes have now found it.
Q: We hear that there will be no more team order at Mercedes. Were you surprised that there was one issued in the first place?
LH: True, I haven’t been in that position for a long time and obviously it came as a surprise. I tell you, it is not the greatest of experiences. After the race, as we sat down and talked, I understood the situation and now I feel a lot more positive about it, but also we must make sure that we are never in such a position again.
Q: Without a robust ego you don’t get anywhere in F1 racing. How much elbow room should there be for a driver?
LH: Oh yes. (laughs) Wow, that’s an interesting question - I have never been asked that before. Let me think: I feel that I am fully a team player. Of course when you are driving and are in the position that Nico (Rosberg) was in, he had to put his own ego to one side. Even for me, my ego was affected by it because my team mate was quicker than me at the point, and that is something a driver never wants to see - that his team mate is faster.
Q: So at that point you were both losers - you because he was faster, and Nico because you bagged his podium?
LH: Let’s put it this way: it was a win-lose, win-lose situation.
Q: Your lapse in Malaysia when trying to pit at the wrong team caused much laughter. But in reality, how much contact do you still have with McLaren? You’ve grown up with them so a new contract can hardly cut off such deep roots…
LH: I went to see them in Australia. But I also tried to see them in Jerez, at the test, and there Sam Michael threw me out of the garage. That wasn’t very positive and I don’t feel very good about that. Martin (Whitmarsh) has been great and I have to say that I haven’t had enough contact, so I will give Martin a call.
Q: You’ve looked more concentrated since you joined Mercedes, but you also seem to laugh less - at least during your working hours. Why?
LH: Really? Maybe it is that I have so much to take in at the moment. I don’t have time to laugh and chill. When I was at McLaren I was at the top of everything - I knew everything: what the car was doing, how people reacted - so it was a lot easier as I knew exactly how I wanted to have my car set up. Here I have so much more work to do with the engineers - so many new, different things on the car that I still don’t fully understand - so I have no time to mess around. But don’t get me wrong: I am still having a great time.
Q: From Barcelona onwards, there has been talk of Pirelli looking at the tyre situation. If they made changes would the racing lose the current spice and is there really such suffering at the moment? The way the tyres are now seems to separate the wheat from the chaff in terms of drivers…
LH: I don’t know what’s coming our way, any improvement is welcomed and will be very positive. And about the wheat and the chaff; that’s not really so. The more balls you can juggle the better you are - all the different techniques you have to do to look after your tyres the better you are as a driver - and that is the challenge. So hopefully after Barcelona there will be fewer balls that we have to juggle.
Q: A pole position and two P3 finishes. Isn’t it about time to count down?
LH: Well, yes, second place is the next position. One step at a time. I don’t want to shoot straight at P1 - but of course if it comes, it comes. I am not saying ‘we have to win’. So if we move forward - a second place and then a first - that would be fantastic. So my target for this weekend is to finish higher than last weekend. And all signals suggest that we can do it. I feel very positive for this weekend. Sure it is a very tough track for tyre degradation, but generally I’ve always been quite quick here. So I’ll keep fingers crossed to end up in a better position than last weekend. (laughs)

McLaren: Spain updates must deliver

McLaren admits that its Spanish Grand Prix update package "has to deliver" after Jenson Button had to use an alternative strategy to finish fifth in China last weekend.

Despite having made progress from its troubled start to the campaign, the Woking-based outfit is resigned to waiting until its revamped car arrives to see if it can rescue its title hopes.

And although Jenson Button led the race in Chinathanks to his two-stop strategy, team principal Martin Whitmarsh knows that doing that is not good enough.

"I would like to be leading it when the chequered flag comes out," he said, after seeing Button eventually come home in fifth place.

"I am not delighted. I cannot be delighted. To be honest, I am disappointed about it.

"An enormous amount of work went into some modifications which were a bit on the fly, a bit of a try here, and I think we made a bit of progress but not as much as I would like.

"So overall I am a bit disappointed but we now have to make sure that the big package coming for Spain delivers."

When asked by AUTOSPORT if it was essential McLaren's Spanish GP updates produced a big step forward if the team was to remain in the title hunt, Whitmarsh said: "It has to deliver something."

Button himself says there are tangible signs that McLaren is making progress, as he felt it vital the team did not let its motivation slip.

"We are still a long way behind the lead guys but there is progress, from the first race to now," he said.

"The first race was 1.5 seconds [off pole position], the last race was nine tenths and here we were seven tenths in Q2, so it is definitely improving.

"We were two tenths off a Red Bull in Q2, so there is definitely progress.

"It is tough being where we are, but we need to be positive that we are moving forward."

Monte Carlo Rally route revisited for '14

The Automobile Club de Monaco has announced a revised route for next year's World Rally Championship opener, with Gap replacing Valence as the starting venue.

Valence has hosted the event - as both a WRC and Intercontinental Rally Challenge round – for the last seven years. But next season, Gap will be the focus for the first half of the event.

A statement from the ACM said: "After seven consecutive years with a start from Valence in the Drome region, competitors on the 82nd Monte Carlo Rally are going to renew an itinerary from Monte Carlo to Gap (Hautes-Alpes).

"After two days of competition, crews will arrive in Monte Carlo on Friday January 17 in order to finish in the night from Saturday to Sunday January 19 by the traditional route in the Nice countryside."

This move will be good news for current WRC leader Sebastien Ogier, who was born and brought up in Gap.

James Allison Q&A: Lotus optimistic for Bahrain

 

So far it’s been an up and down season for Lotus: victory at round one in Australia, only sixth at round two in Malaysia, and then back on the podium with second in China. Technical director James Allison talks us through the difference between Kimi Raikkonen’s and Romain Grosjean’s cars, how changing Raikkonen’s damaged nose in Shanghai wasn’t worth it and why he’s cautiously optimistic about this weekend’s Bahrain race… 

Q: Second in the drivers’ championship and third in the constructors’ isn’t a bad place to be; talk us through China from your perspective.
James Allison: It’s not as good as first and first but it’s definitely okay! The race was good. Considering we had a grim start and were then involved in a tangle with Perez on lap 15, it was a reasonably strong second place so we can be quite happy with that. It’s also satisfying to see that the cars have gone adequately well at a number of tracks now; albeit slightly masked by the rain in Malaysia. Having said that, I think we’ll only be properly happy as a team when we’ve got both our cars up where they need to be, and that’s really the main focus now.
Q: Tell us about Romain and the problems he’s having with the car.
JA: The truth is that it’s certainly not Romain causing the problem. Romain is fast, smooth and good at looking after tyres, however we have not yet managed to give him a consistent car that lets him bring his talent to bear. It’s not him; it’s that we haven’t got it quite right for him yet and what seems to be clear from Kimi’s weekends is that the car is a tricky little beast to get just right. We have managed that with Kimi in two of the three races and we need to make sure we’ve giving Romain all the opportunity to shine as well.
Q: Some people might ask why you wouldn’t set up the car exactly the same as Kimi’s if it seems to be working for him. What are the complications between the two different cars?
JA: First of all, both drivers don’t want the exact same thing out of the car. Kimi has a driving style which uses the front tyres a little heavier than Romain, while Romain uses his rear tyres slightly more than Kimi, so they need a different set up anyway. Secondly, we’re not completely certain that even if we were to bolt the same setup onto both cars that we would get the same result in any case, so it’s not just as straightforward as saying we’ll put the same set up on and everything will be fine.
Q: Kimi had a bit of trouble with his nose in China too after that tangle; did it affect his performance and why did we decide not to change it?
JA: We definitely shouldn’t have changed his nose. It probably cost around a quarter of a second a lap and he did it on lap 15, so if we multiply that by the remaining 40 laps then we lost about 10 seconds by the end of the race. A pit stop with a nose change would have cost and extra seven seconds over a standard stop, so you might say we should have changed it and saved ourselves three seconds to Fernando [Alonso]. The reality, however, is that with Kimi’s position in the race a pit stop would have dropped him down into all the traffic and we would have paid a much heavier penalty than the three seconds’ difference. The best option was what happened; Kimi adapted his race to make the most of what he had and drove very strongly with a damaged car to come second.
Q: Based on recent form, Bahrain is potentially a strong track for Lotus; do you think it will suit the E21?
JA: We certainly went well there last year and I hope it will be good for us this year as well! There are things that are special about Bahrain which might make us more optimistic. For example, it is one of the most aggressive tracks on the rear tyres and if we have a particular strength it does seem to be that when we get the car set up just right it does seem to use the tyres rather gently. Secondly, in Kimi in particular, we have a driver who is able to get the car to go quickly without really burdening the rear axle. While we are looking forward to the weekend, it is abundantly clear that there are several very strong teams this year, so we can expect a tough fight as always.
Q: What’s in the Bahrain goodie bag?
JA: We won’t be bringing anything particularly revolutionary on top of the China upgrades, but we will trial a suspension modification - internal rather than to the wishbones - which is an evolution of something we ran to good effect during pre-season. You’re always trying to find the right compromise between the mechanical grip that the suspension’s articulation offers to the tyres and holding the aerodynamic platform at the optimum height from the road, and we believe this is a step forward in helping us achieve that.
Q: When could we see the DDRS making an appearance?
JA: Not for this race as we still have work to do with it. We’ll be trialling the DDRS again between the first round of flyaways and the start of the European season when we have an opportunity to do some straight line testing.

Loeb: It's all about the challenge

Sebastien Loeb has revealed that the challenge of trying something new was one of the main reasons he agreed to tackle the Pikes Peak hillcimb.

Last month Peugeot announced plans to win this year’s unlimited class at the Colorado-based event with a one-off 208 T16 to be driven by the nine-time World Rally Champion.
As the first pictures of the new car were made public [above] Loeb explained why he had chosen to get involved in the attempt.
“My career has been marked by many challenges, and its new challenges that motivate me,” he said.
"Pikes Peak is a combination of things but above all it’s a great sporting challenge so it’s a very nice project to be involved with. I admit that I had this race in a corner of my mind for some time - it was on my list of ‘exotic’ things to do.”
"At a different level, Pikes Peak reminds me of my experience at the X-Games last year with the Citroën DS3 XL. It was a new type of racing - even though I knew the basic format. I faced new opponents and all this made it refreshing."
To be run on 30 June, the 20km all-asphalt hillclimb features 156 corners and a route that snakes up from an altitude of 2,800 metres to the 4,300 metres summit of Pikes Peak.
Featuring carbon bodywork and parts robbed from Peugeot’s Le Mans 24 Hours-winning 908, the aggressive-looking 208 T16 was another draw for Loeb, who is bowing out of full time WRC competition this year.
“The ‘unlimited’ category means you can drive unique cars – and that too was appealing,” he said. “Almost everything is allowed: two or four-wheel drive, turbo or not, prototype, silhouette, hybrids and so on. I like the diversity, as well as the idea of taking the wheel of an unusual car, or at least a car whose philosophy is different from what I know.”
With two Pikes Peak wins and nine WRC drivers’ titles between them, the Peugeot / Loeb combination is one of the favourites to win. But having never driven Pikes Peak before, and with only limited options to test on location, Loeb is not underestimating the challenge.
Official test sessions enable competitors to familiarise themselves with the course, but only one section at a time. The first opportunity Loeb will get to tackle the route in one go is when he does it for real on the day.
"I know I'm expected to do well. People expect me to shine at Pikes Peak, and my goal is always the victory. It is nevertheless a difficult race, whose preparation is special: in Colorado, we will encounter conditions that cannot be found anywhere else. Like the Le Mans Endurance, it seems difficult to make real simulations,” he said.

F1: Bahrain preview quotes

      
After a thrilling race in Shanghai, the F1 paddock moves rapidly from the Far East to the Middle East for round four of the 2013 FIA Formula One World Championship, the 2013 Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix in Sakhir. Those involved discuss their prospects for the desert event…
Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull
2012 Qualifying - 1st, 2012 Race - 1st
“The positive of back-to-back races is that on the Friday of the second race, you get into the rhythm quickly. You save time by travelling direct from one race to the next and can adapt to the time zone a bit quicker, as you don‘t have to travel so far. The only thing is that there‘s not much time for physical and mental recovery after the first race. I make the most of the Monday after the first race, in terms of relaxing and recovery. On the Tuesday, I do some easy training in the gym or some badminton, to keep the body and mind in correct mode. It‘s important that the race calender is well balanced so that drivers can get proper rest periods in order to be able to push 100 percent at each event. This means that sometimes it is good to have back-to-back races and then some longer breaks. The circuit in Bahrain? The corners can fool you and lead to errors because the track is very wide and quite often the apex of the corner is not obvious. For example the apex of Turn 14 is hidden as you approach it.” 
Mark Webber, Red Bull
2012 Qualifying - 3rd, 2012 Race - 4th
“The benefit of back-to-back races is that we like racing and it’s another opportunity to go racing again soon, so that’s a positive. We’re already roughly in the same part of the world, so back-to-back races can be an efficient way for us to go racing; as an industry it’s good organisation. It’s important to make sure you get ready for the next race off the back of the first one, so travelling as soon as you can is important. If you have a very big result at the first race then you’re not going to stay in the night club too long that evening celebrating, as you need to make sure you’re ready for the next event. It’s a short turnaround; you want to make sure that the training is sensible and you’re keeping yourself healthy. It’s good to have a back-to-back, then a bit of a break, and then back-to-back again. When we’re off we have a bit of a chance to regroup. My favourite corner of the Bahrain Circuit? I quite like the last sector, Turns 12 and 13, up over the crest, that’s a nice part of the lap. It’s a little bit quicker, because the rest of the track is quite slow and not super exhilarating. There are some quick-ish corners, which are quite rewarding.”
Jenson Button, McLaren
2012 Qualifying - 4th, 2012 Race - 18th
“The Sakhir circuit requires a good overall car balance. There are some tricky and technical low-speed changes of direction; you need to place the car really precisely at the corner entry in order to maximise traction at the exit. And there are also some high-speed sweeps – Turns Six and Seven, for example – and some fast corners, such as the uphill left-hander at Turn 11. You need a good front-end, but also good traction, to get the best from those corners. It’s a place where the grip levels can be quite hard to anticipate, and where the wind direction can play quite an important part in determining the car’s balance. The wind can affect top speed and cornering performance, so practice will be more important than ever in enabling us to take the best overall package into qualifying and the race.”
Sergio Perez, McLaren
2012 Qualifying - 8th, 2012 Race - 11th
“The Bahrain Grand Prix circuit has plenty of run-off and a good combination of high- and low-speed corners. The challenge for the drivers comes from the constantly evolving nature of the corners, and dealing with the sand – which gets blown onto different areas of the track from the surrounding desert. With two DRS zones, I think we should see some decent racing: the two best overtaking opportunities are into the Turn One and Turn Four hairpins. They’re both good places to attack – you can force another driver onto the inside line and then attack on the exit, when they’re more vulnerable. The second DRS zone will mainly be used to close the gap down to the car in front, before attacking again along the pits straight.”
Nico Rosberg, Mercedes
2012 Qualifying - 5th, 2012 Race - 5th
“I'll be really happy to get back in the car again on Friday after a tough weekend in Shanghai. The first three races haven't quite worked out as we had hoped on my side but the positive is that we have a car that we can really work with. So I'm looking forward to getting on with this weekend and the circuit at Sakhir is one that I like very much. It's going to be very tough on the rear tyres and our biggest challenge will be to make the most out of the situation. We're better prepared than we were last year and we have shown that the car is much stronger so I really hope that we can achieve a great result in Bahrain.”
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
2012 Qualifying - 2nd, 2012 Race - 8th
“The weekend in China was really positive for both me and the team. With each race, I am becoming more settled in the team and more comfortable in my car, and we were very happy with the pole and podium finish. There are some areas where we need to improve to close that gap to the fastest cars and we're working hard to identify and develop those. There's a limit to what we can do before Bahrain but I'll be talking to my engineers before we arrive at the circuit and seeing where we can improve in the short term. The Bahrain circuit is a real challenge, particularly for the tyres with overheating and also the sand on the track, but this helps to make it unique. The layout has a great combination of fast, slow and medium corners which make it tough for the drivers and the car, so it will be a true test for us. I can't wait to get back in the car and see what we can do."

Volkswagen: heading for the title double?

Victory in Portugal for Volkswagen Motorsport and its star driver Sebastien Ogier has put the squad on course for a sensational double WRC title win in its debut season.
Despite declaring modest expectations before its first appearance on Rallye Monte-Carlo, Ogier’s third win of the season helped move Volkswagen top of the FIA Manufacturers’ standings, 14 points clear of defending champions Citroen.
Ogier now has a comfortable 54-point lead over Mikko Hirvonen in the Drivers’ title race.
After the podium celebrations, Volkswagen’s motorsport director Jost Capito revealed that the team’s earlier target for the year - of learning and building experience - was under review.
“In terms of pace, we are among the front-runners and appear to be able to force our rivals to make mistakes, without making any ourselves. With that in mind, we might just have to change our goals for the season,” he said.
Ogier meanwhile denied that his commanding lead in the Drivers’ standings meant he could relax on the remaining nine rounds.
“Maybe it looks easy for me, but Mads [Ostberg] and Dani [Sordo] were very, very fast before the mistakes. It will be a big fight to keep this kind of result all the year,” he said.
“Now we have the good advantage. Now we don’t need to win the rallies, but this is not my plan: I am a competitor and I like the taste of victory. But I know I have to be clever for the rest of season.”

China Analysis - Alonso’s ‘Grande Weekend’

 

It was always clear the 2013 Formula 1 UBS Chinese Grand Prix was going to be as much about strategy as speed, and the man who found the optimum combination was Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso. As a fascinating race developed, one by one the Spaniard dropped his main challengers to win by a comfortable 10 seconds. And as Lotus and Mercedes maintained their strong form, defending champions Red Bull were left rueing a weekend when for once they couldn’t seem to get anything right. We take a team-by-team look at Sunday's Shanghai formbook…

Ferrari
Fernando Alonso, P1
Felipe Massa, P6
Ferrari greeted their winner with the words ‘Grande weekend’, and that perfectly summarised Alonso’s time in China. The F138 qualified well and had great long-run pace, and the Spaniard was relatively unchallenged on his way to his 31st victory. The timely success made up for the disappointment in Malaysia and put him up to third in the points table. Massa was less fortunate. He ran second early on, but once he fell into the midfield he was unable to claw his way back out.

Lotus
Kimi Raikkonen, P2
Romain Grosjean, P9
Raikkonen made a terrible start but fought back and survived a clash with Sergio Perez which damaged the nose of his Lotus. The E21 is a tough car, however, and though the result was more understeer and subsequent tyre damage, he still had the pace to finish a convincing second. Grosjean looked strong early on but, like Massa, suffered once he fell into the upper midfield traffic and could not better ninth.

Mercedes
Lewis Hamilton, P3
Nico Rosberg, Retired lap 22, broken anti-rollbar
It was a good and bad story for Mercedes. The good was another great performance from Hamilton, who led initially from pole position, and was strong enough to finish on the podium for the second race in succession. The bad was an anti-rollbar failure for Rosberg, which one again denied him the chance of points after a promising start.

Red Bull
Sebastian Vettel, P4
Mark Webber, Retired lap 16, lost wheel
It was a similar story at Red Bull, where the tyre strategy chosen in qualifying - running the mediums - compromised Vettel’s race. He defended that on the basis that the RB9 lacked sheer performance, and did his best to make things work. He had a spell in the lead, and was charging in the closing stages after a very late switch to soft rubber. He failed to catch Hamilton for the final podium slot by two-tenths of a second. Webber had a terrible time. He started from the pit lane in an optimised car, and was making progress until he collided with Vergne and damaged his front wing. After the stop to fix that he lost his right-rear wheel, thus failing to finish. Compounding Webber’s miserable day, he gets a three-place grid penalty for Bahrain for his driving misdemeanour and the team were fined 5000 euros for the problem with his wheel.

McLaren
Jenson Button, P5
Sergio Perez, P11
Button had a great run in the revised McLaren MP4-28, and even had a spell in the lead. Like Vettel, he was out of kilter with the others after starting on medium Pirellis. He made them last 23 laps in his first stint, and the next set last 26, before switching to the soft rubber for the final one. Fifth place was a solid result that shows McLaren are making progress. Perez survived the clash with Raikkonen, but his handling was compromised and that prevented him getting involved in the battle for the final points.

Ogier wins in Portugal

 
Sebastien Ogier has claimed his third win of the World Rally Championship season on Rally de Portugal, which ended in the Algarve this afternoon.

The Frenchman overcame a final day technical scare with his Volkswagen Polo R to complete the rally 58.2sec ahead of Mikko Hirvonen in a Citroen DS3.
Ogier’s Volkswagen Motorsport team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala finished third, 3m06.3s behind Hirvonen.
Ogier collected an extra three drivers’ points by also winning the SS15 Power Stage, which brought the action on round four of the World Rally Championship to a close.
Mads Ostberg scored two bonus points in his Ford Fiesta RS with Latvala claiming the final point with the third best run in his Polo R.

Race - Alonso storms to superb China victory

 

Fernando Alonso delivered the perfect race for Ferrari in China on Sunday afternoon, to catapult himself back into the title hunt on a day when points-leader Sebastian Vettel could only manage fourth for Red Bull behind runner-up Kimi Raikkonen in the Lotus and third-placed Lewis Hamilton.

Hamilton led from the start for Mercedes, but could not contain Alonso’s challenge by the fifth lap as first the Spaniard's red car swept by on the left-hand side and then his team mate Felipe Massa's F138 snatched second place on the right-hand side.

The leaders quickly ditched their fragile soft-compound Pirelli tyres - Hamilton and Nico Rosberg on the fifth lap, Alonso and Raikkonen on the sixth, Massa on the seventh. That left all of them to run to the flag on varying sets of mediums, whereas Vettel, McLaren’s Jenson Button and Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg were amongst those to start on mediums and would thus have to make very late stops to switch to softs.

These out-of-kilter circumstances put Hulkenberg into the lead from laps seven to 14, but when he encountered a delay with the right-rear tyre at his pit stop it put him behind Vettel, who had been chasing the Sauber and had stopped at the same time.

By the 15th lap Button, yet to stop, led Alonso and Sergio Perez in the second McLaren, who also had yet to pit. Hamilton at that stage was fourth under pressure from Raikkonen, with Vettel sixth.

Alonso, however, caught and passed Button on the 21st lap, before pitting again on the 23rd. That temporarily put Vettel back into the lead from Hulkenberg between laps 24 and 28, when Alonso sliced confidently back in front of Vettel to set up his 31st career triumph. As Vettel stopped for more medium tyres on the 31st lap, Hamilton and Raikkonen moved back into second and third. The Finn had collided with Perez on the 16th lap, sustaining some damage to his front wing, but over the remainder of the race the Lotus had the edge over the Mercedes despite increased understeer, and after Hamilton’s final pit stop on the 37th lap Raikkonen had the advantage. Out front, Alonso was never really troubled, nursing his tyres yet maintaining a fierce pace. Raikkonen and Hamilton battled to keep Vettel and Button in sight, and moved ahead of them when they duly pitted for their soft tyres. Button did so first, on lap 49, followed by Vettel on 51. The German was ever so slightly delayed, and that cost him his podium chance.

Raikkonen clearly wasn’t going to catch Alonso, but he still had to keep an eye on Hamilton who was still pushing hard even though his tyres were all but finished. But it was Vettel who was really on the move as he slashed the gap mercilessly to Hamilton. It didn’t help that the Mercedes driver came across Caterham backmarker Giedo van der Garde on the last lap, and that enabled Vettel to get right on to the Mercedes’s tail. Hamilton finally sliced by the Dutchman, but as Vettel also lunged aggressively by he ran wide in the next corner, and that was enough to save Hamilton’s podium position. By the flag he was still just two-tenths of a second ahead of Vettel as Alonso led Raikkonen home by 10.1s with Hamilton a further 2.1s adrift.

Button kept going to take a respectable fifth for McLaren ahead of Massa, who lost his early pace when he got stuck in the midfield after having to make his first stop a lap later than Alonso. Daniel Ricciardo was in the fight for points right from the start, and took his Toro Rosso to an excellent seventh, ahead of a battle between Paul di Resta’s Force India (another to stop late for softs), Romain Grosjean’s Lotus and Hulkenberg. Di Resta was lucky to survive a brush at the end of the first lap with team mate Adrian Sutil, which momentarily pushed him off the track. Perez was 11th, leading home Jean-Eric Vergne’s Toro Rosso and the Williams’ of Valtteri Bottas and Pastor Maldonado. Jules Bianchi took 15th for Marussia after a race-long fight with Charles Pic, which saw the red and black car finish just two seconds ahead of the Caterham. Further back, Max Chilton beat Van der Garde for 17th.

Sutil was one of four drivers to retire from the race after his Force India was assaulted by Esteban Gutierrez’s Sauber under braking for Turn 14 early on, an incident that will see the Mexican rookie drop five places on the grid in Bahrain as a penalty. Mercedes’ Rosberg retired with a broken rear anti-roll bar, and Mark Webber retired when his Red Bull lost its right-rear wheel as he tried to creep back to the pits - an incident for which Red Bull were fined 5000 Euros. Webber had started from the pit lane with a heavily readjusted car after his fuelling problem in qualifying, but after a strong showing in the opening laps he was delayed in a clash with Vergne which damaged his front wing. The stewards investigated several drivers after the race for possible use of DRS under yellow flags - notably Vettel, Webber, Raikkonen, Bottas, Ricciardo and Chilton - but decided not to issue any penalties.
After three rounds, Vettel still leads the title chase with 52 points, from Raikkonen on 49, Alonso on 43, Hamilton on 40, Massa on 30 and Webber on 26. In the constructors’ stakes, Red Bull have 78, Ferrari 73, Lotus 60, Mercedes 52, and McLaren and Force India 14.