Singapore Grand Prix 19/20/21 September 2014 Marina Bay Street Circuit
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SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX 19/20/21 SEPTEMBER 2014 MARINA BAY STREET CIRCUIT www.lotusf1team.com Sing it loud! Deputy Team Principial Federico Gastaldi looks ahead to the Singapore Grand Prix How beneficial is it for Formula 1 to visit an Will there be more expectation for a stronger The flyaway schedule from now until the We want to be in the important business hub like Singapore? showing in Singapore? end of the season is challenging. How do you It is a very important market for us as a team. We Yes, Monza was always going to be very hard for us. prepare the team? best position to achieve have seen increasing attention and interest from Singapore should see an improvement in pace as the For sure it is a tough, tough schedule. The team are our goals and reap Singapore companies and have regular contact with track characteristics will suit us more. The drivers away from their families for a long time. But they are many of them. The business centre of Singapore are fighters and they really enjoy street circuits, so I highly professional people and experienced in this some rewards. is one of the best, influential and most active in think we have the potential to extract a good level of level of intensity in F1. It is my job to ensure that we the world so we undertake lots of meetings and performance from the E22 there. Pastor and Romain have a high level of morale in the team. This year has hospitality at the race. I must say the Singapore will have a stronger package relative to Monza, so I been a challenge on many fronts, but the Enstone people have embraced F1 completely. They are am sure they will grasp this and make the most of it. team is famous for being tough, highly-skilled and passionate about the sport and they are proud to have having the focused aim of making things better when a race right in the heart of their fantastic country. What is the latest on plans for next season? times are tough. We are collectively looking forward Firstly, there is a lot going on behind the scenes and to the rest of the season because we know that hard We knew Monza would be tough but Pastor’s a lot of positive plans being made to ensure we are work and application will put us in the best position to race in particular saw some positives? still pushing right to the end of this season. A lot of achieve our goals and reap some rewards. Pastor drove a very strong race at Monza. He had a technical and commercial work being undertaken great start and his pace was pretty good throughout. also for 2015, as you would expect. We are doing I thought he dealt with some difficult circumstances things step by step but at the moment but already very well during the whole event. He had the measure things look positive for next season. of the Saubers and brought the car home in a solid finishing position. It is also nice to get both of our cars to the finish line, especially after some technical issues in recent races. Romain had a few concerns, including other cars hitting him but we take some satisfaction in getting more data and ensuring we can go to Singapore hopeful of a much stronger overall weekend. FEDERICO GASTALDI DEPUTY TEAM PRINCIPAL Street entertainer Romain Grosjean looks forward to the 2014 Singapore Grand Prix Singapore has a completely unique vibe. How much do you enjoy the challenge of Marina What about the atmosphere of the place on Grand Can you see Singapore offering a better chance Bay? Prix weekend? of a result? The track is really impressive with some technical parts I really love racing at this track and in fact I love the Compared to Monza the answer is definitely yes. Last and some classic street circuit ‘ninety degree’ turns. country as a whole. The Singapore people are very weekend was a difficult one for us because the nature of There are a few decent straights but it is mainly busy, friendly and it is nice to see so many coming downtown the Monza track was like a penalty. Singapore offers less busy, busy for us, with corner after corner. Going over to the race. It has a completely unique vibe for the Grand in terms of compromising the downforce for straight- landmarks like the (Anderson) Bridge and down the Prix weekend and it takes on an ambience like nowhere line speed, so we should be able to fight higher up the Raffles Boulevard make for a fantastic sight from both else we go to. grid. We managed to get some points at Monaco, so I am the cockpit and also for the TV viewers. This year will hoping we can achieve something similar on this street be interesting with the new cars. As we saw at Monaco, What memories stand out for you at Marina Bay? circuit too. I am sure that the drivers will be working very hard in Qualifying in third place last year was nice, but then I the cockpit, especially getting the power down out of had to retire, so the memory is a little mixed. Actually, it What are your aims and objectives for the the tight turns. And if it is wet at any stage then it will be is still a good memory to have such a strong qualifying remainder of the 2014 season? particularly interesting. because I think that at a street circuit like Marina Bay, Just to do the best we possibly can. It has been a a driver always makes that little bit of difference to the tough season as we all know, but there are still some Any special preparations for the physical ultimate lap time, a little more so than permanent tracks. opportunities to get points. I will be racing as hard as ever demands? In 2012 I got points for seventh place, after some good to make sure we are in the best position we can be to The key elements are sleep and water! It is well known battles. So I have some nice recollections of racing here. achieve the maximum. I know this team well and they will that we stay on European time. Once you get used to be doing exactly the same. waking up in the afternoon and then going to bed early What were you able to take from Monza? morning, then it gets to be just routine. The race is long It was another difficult race after a bad start and then a and I ensure that plenty of liquids are taken on board few incidents. All in all it was important for the team to before the start of the race. It is crucial because if you get two cars to the end but we will be hoping for much get dehydrated then your thought process slows down better at Singapore and I think we can head in to it with and mistakes can easily be made. Like every Grand Prix I some renewed confidence. make sure that every last detail is in place before Sunday evening arrives. ROMAIN GROSJEAN RACE DRIVER #8 Marina Bay is a test but Pastor of his own destiny this is the reason we Pastor Maldonado looks forward to the 2014 Singapore Grand Prix love to be F1 drivers What do you think the key will be to a good lap at track with lots of different challenges. Of course the one Any issues with the body clock re-set? Marina Bay this year? big challenge is the race and most of the other running As everyone knows, we stay on European time. Although The traction will be fundamental at Singapore, a really big happens later in the day. some people say it is tough, I find it not to be too difficult. factor. This is because the corners are generally slow and Once you have experienced it you get used to this way of tight, so it means the way we exit them will be critical to Is Marina Bay a big physical challenge? living and it is only for a few days anyway. The physical ensure a good lap time. The 2014 spec cars will make it Yes it is. Overall it is a very demanding track where you get demands are much harder because of the extreme very interesting out there and I expect it to be very tricky, no rest at all really. You are constantly turning or braking humidity so I make sure I am very well hydrated in the especially the first and third sectors. This is where a lot of and there are only two short straights, not enough to really days leading up to the race and of course during time in time can be won or lost. have a proper rest. But I like it this way because you get the cockpit. It is probably the most important part of our a rhythm going quickly. Physically it is tough because the preparation. It will be tough to regulate the torque and the traction humidity is so high and the race so long, much longer than out of the slow speed corners. It will be a good challenge Monza for instance. Any stand-out moments for you in Singapore? but a tough one lap after lap. It should look good for the Probably qualifying second there in 2012. It’s a relentless spectators and TV viewers though.