INDIAN Grand Prix 25/26/27 OCTOBER 2013 NEW DELHI
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INDIAN GRAND PRIX 25/26/27 OCTOBER 2013 NEW DELHI lotusf1team.com 2013 FIA FORMULA ROUND 1 ROUND 2 ROUND 3 AUSTRALIAN MALAYSIAN GRAND PRIX GRAND PRIX CHINESE 15/16/17 MaRCH 2013 22/23/24 MaRCH 2013 GRAND PRIX ONE 12/13/14 APRIL 2013 WORLD MELBOURNE SEPANG SHANGHAI CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 4 ROUND 5 ROUND 6 ROUND 7 BAHRAIN SPANISH MONACO CANADIAN GRAND PRIX GRAND PRIX GRAND PRIX GRAND PRIX 19/20/21 APRIL 2013 10/11/12 MAY 2013 23/25/26 MAY 2013 7/8/9 JUNE 2013 SAKHIR BARCELONA MONTE CARLO MONTREAL PREVIEW 2013 ROUND 8 ROUND 9 ROUND 10 ROUND 11 HUNGARIAN BRITISH GERMAN GRAND PRIX BELGIAN GRAND PRIX GRAND PRIX 26/27/28 JULY 2013 GRAND PRIX 28/29/30 JUNE 2013 5/6/7 JULY 2013 23/24/25 AUGUST 2013 SILVERSTONE NURBURGRING BUDAPEST SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS ROUND 12 ROUND 13 ROUND 14 ROUND 15 SINGAPORE JAPANESE ITALIAN GRAND PRIX KOREAN GRAND PRIX GRAND PRIX 20/21/22 SEPTEMBER 2013 GRAND PRIX 6/7/8 SEPTEMBER 2013 4/5/6 OCTOBER 2013 11/12/13 OCTOBER 2013 MONZA YEONGAM SUZUKA 2 Keep Pushing 10 Deli Delight Kimi Räikkönen Q&A Tech Talk: An Engineer’s Guide to the Buddh International Circuit 4 On a Roll Romain Grosjean Q&A 14 Inside Line Facts, Figures and all the Bridging the Gap Latest from Enstone 6 Eric Boullier Q&A ROUND 16 ROUND 17 ROUND 18 ROUND 19 16 Look Who’s Talking UNITED STATES Top of the Stops Social Media Activation ABU DHABI BRAZILIAN 8 Alan Permane Q&A INDIAN GRAND PRIX GRAND PRIX GRAND PRIX 17 GRAND PRIX 1/2/3 NOVEMBER 2013 15/16/17 NOVEMBER 2013 22/23/24 NOVEMBER 2013 Reporting for Duty 25/26/27 OCTOBER 2013 NEW DELHI YAS MARINA AUSTIN INTERLAGOS Media Contacts KIMI RÄIKKÖNEN RAC Drivers’ Championship E DRIVER #7 Position P3 (177 points) • Closest Championship Gap to Championship Leader 120 points (S. Rivals F.Alonso, P2 (207 points); Vettel) L. Hamilton, P4 (161 points) G WE’LL KEEP PUSHIN Our Finn heads to India looking forward to the cuisine and hoping for a stronger qualifying position than of late What do you think of the Buddh International You spoke over the weekend of the car feeling Circuit? more to your liking, which much be a positive It’s quite an interesting track; one of the better ones looking to the remaining races of the season? from the modern circuits. It’s quite similar to Korea; The car felt pretty strong all weekend and we’ve made long straights, not terribly challenging corners and hard good progress with it recently. It’s still not exactly as I braking. It’s not as technical as Korea which was another want it and we’re trying to get rid of some understeer new track for me last year, but it’s good. It’s always nice which is something I don’t like. In Japan it was hard to to go to a new place like India. It’s certainly a good track to show our real pace at the beginning of the race as I was go fast with a strong car in front of all the others! stuck behind slower cars for quite a long time. After the final pit stop when I got a bit of free air the car was H ow was your first – and only – race at the track working much better. It ran well in the last half of the race so far? and I was very happy with it. It was okay but it could have been better. We struggled for grip over the weekend last year and we made life difficult W e saw some more great overtaking moves from with the change of setup before qualifying. After that there you… Y A GOOD was nothing really to do on Sunday. In the race itself we had Unfortunately when you don’t have an ideal qualifying it TH enough speed to challenge for the top positions, but we got makes life a bit harder on Sunday. It’s not easy to overtake It’s certaINLAST WI stuck behind slower cars and overtaking was impossible. I at Suzuka and we weren’t so fast in a straight line which TRACK TO GO F T can remember spending a lot of the race trying to get past made it more tricky, but I got past a few people which was AR IN FRON Felipe [Massa] so that wasn’t ideal. important after the slow start. With Nico [Hulkenberg] A STRONG C I managed to get a good run on him leading up to the HE OTHERS! Did you get to see much of India? chicane which is what made the difference. We did what OF ALL T No, it was my first visit and I spent my time in the paddock we could. and the hotel. We only come to race and India is a very big country! The thing I like is eating Indian food, which I really What’s the target for India? enjoy . Hopefully we finally get it right in qualifying as the last five qualifying sessions have not been that great for me. Japan was quite a straightforward race for you? If we don’t, it’s going to be a difficult Sunday afternoon, It was a pretty normal race I would say and it’s good that although of course we’ll keep pushing. If we do get it right, we got some points. I had a very poor start where I left then we can really go for it! the line with a lot of wheelspin and lost a few places. This wasn’t ideal and it meant I got stuck in traffic, but I managed to gain some places back later on. 42 3 ROMAIN GROSJEAN RAC Drivers’ Championship E DRIVER #8 Position P8 (87 points) • Closest Championship Rivals F. Massa, P7 (90 points); J. Button, P9 (60 points) • Gap to Championship Leader 210 points (S. Vettel) GHT NOW… ROLL RI I M’ ON A After a Japanese Grand Prix where he led for almost half of the race, Romain Grosjean heads into the remaining four rounds of the season determined to let the good times roll… Your performance in Japan was pretty fantastic; a good thing. There are some decent straights with how are you feeling heading into the remaining wide corners at the end of them to help with overtaking, four races of the season? although it’s still not the easiest place in the world to I’m feeling really good with the car, my confidence is pass somebody. Then there’s the linked Turn 10 / 11 getting higher with every race and I’m very happy with the combination, which is a bit like Turn 8 in Turkey in that it team, so I’ll keep working hard to improve the areas that seems to go on forever. It’s quite a fun track to drive. need improving and we’ll keep pushing for top results right to the end of the season. What are your expectations for the Indian Grand Prix? H ow good was that race start in Japan? Our car is really performing well at the moment so I think The start was fantastic; the clutch kicked in, I put my foot we could be strong again. It’s fair to say we struggled down and whoosh! It was superb to go past both the Red there a little last year with finding grip and getting the Bulls like that and it’ll be one of my best memories of right setup for the cars, so hopefully we can perform the year. I saw Mark [Webber] in my mirrors and started better this time. The tyre allocation was quite hard for the to pull away which was a big surprise in itself, so I was track in 2012, but this year it’s softer which should help us screaming “come on baby, let’s go!” in the cockpit. After and make for better racing. the first lap I honestly thought it was going to be my day, but that first win will come soon… What do you think of India as a country? It’s certainly a different experience from a lot of the places H ow wide were you driving your car to try to we visit and it’s great to see a different culture. keep the Red Bulls behind you? You never want to concede a place, but when you’re Aside from racing what will you be interested in? leading the race or fighting for a podium position you can I have a great love for cuisine so I’m always interested find ways to make your car very wide! Sebastian [Vettel] in local food, and there are so many interesting dishes, had a lot more pace than me but we were able to fight a spices and ingredients in India. bit more in the battle with Mark [Webber]. It’s a shame we OUR CAR IS REALLY caught the back markers when we did as I think we’d have H ow much are you looking ahead to 2014? HE had an even stronger fight if it wasn’t for them. Right now I’m working on doing the very best I can at PERFORMING WELL at T each remaining race in 2013 and I think that’s the best HINK WE What are your thoughts on the Buddh approach for now. As soon as the season’s over I’ll get a MOMENT SO I T International Circuit? little rest and recharge my batteries, then we’re back to TRONG agaIN I like it.