Tag Archives: Valtteri Bottas

Melbourne post race: Williams

15/03/2015 By in Formula One Tags: , , , , , , Leave a comment

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Williams’ Felipe Massa finished fourth in today’s Australian Grand Prix. Starting in third and opting for a one-stop strategy, Massa lost a place to the Ferrari of Vettel after being jumped at the first pitstop, but after that showed consistent pace to bring the car home with 12 points to start the 2015 season. Valtteri Bottas was unable to race following a lower back injury sustained during qualifying. Following an evaluation by the FIA’s medical team and following a series of tests the FIA Medical Delegate deemed him unfit to take part in today’s race.

Rob Smedley, Head of Performance Engineering: “It’s always difficult to compete with only 50 per cent of your armoury with Valtteri having to miss the race, so today was about damage limitation in the Constructors’ Championship and we have managed to come away only a few points behind Ferrari which is a decent result. The team worked very well as a unit all weekend; the pitstop was good and so was the work on the pitwall. We made a decision to pit early because Vettel was a bit quicker behind us, but unfortunately this didn’t pay off for us. We are in a really competitive battle with the teams around us so this race is a marker for the rest of the season. We need to continue improving the car and getting maximum performance from what is a strong package.”

Felipe Massa: “The aim of today was to start the season with a solid points haul and demonstrate that we have a competitive car. We have managed to achieve much of what we wanted so this has been a positive start. The only disappointing part of the race was that I was jumped at the first pitstop by Vettel after losing a second and a half behind Ricciardo on my out-lap which was enough to lose the position. I have faith in the team and the car and we head to Malaysia knowing we are very much in the fight.”

Valtteri Bottas: “I have done a lot of work since the issue with my back came in qualifying to get myself ready, starting treatment immediately, so the news that I couldn’t race today was obviously disappointing but I respect the decision. I now have two weeks until the next race to receive further treatment to ensure I will be back to full fitness and even stronger in Malaysia. I’m very eager to get back in the car and race because the FW37 is looking competitive and I’m confident we can fight for podiums.”

 

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Pre-season test: Day 2

28/02/2015 By in Formula One Tags: , , , , , , Leave a comment

Motor Racing - Formula One Testing - Test Three - Day 2 - Barcelona, Spain

 

The new Sahara Force India VJM08 made its bow at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, with Nico Hülkenberg completing a total of 77 laps.

Nico Hülkenberg #27
Chassis: VJM08-01
Laps: 77 laps
Mileage: 358km
Fastest lap: 1:28.412
Classification: P9 of 9

Nico Hülkenberg: “It was a very good day, at least in terms of the running we managed to do. We were able to run reliably straight out of the box and that is very encouraging. The boys and girls at the factory and here at the track have been pushing really hard in the last couple of weeks and to do 77 laps in little more than one afternoon is a remarkable job by the team. Obviously we still have a big task ahead of us and we are playing catch-up in certain aspects, but I am quite satisfied so far. The car feels pretty good, although making a direct comparison with our 2014 car is not easy as the conditions in winter testing are always very particular. One of our team’s strengths is to learn about the car quickly, so we will need to get as much data as possible to get in a good position for Melbourne.”

Tom McCullough, Chief Race Engineer: “It has been a real big effort from all the staff back at the factory to get the car ready and out here for this test. Managing to run our installation laps before the lunch break was very useful and helped us achieve a solid first day with the VJM08. These are the very early stages of the VJM08’s running and it is encouraging to get 77 laps on the board: we could have got even more mileage had it not been for the red flags at the end of the day. Today was all about achieving a first understanding of the new car and to run this long allowed us to collect a sizeable amount of very valuable data.”

 

Motor Racing - Formula One Testing - Test Three - Day 2 - Barcelona, Spain

 

 

Williams

Driver: Valtteri Bottas
Chassis/Engine: FW37-01/PU106B hybrid
Location: Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, 4.655km
Objectives: Aero work and race procedure
Weather: Warm and Dry
Air and track temps: 8 – 17ºC / 11 – 26ºC

Rod Nelson, Chief Test and Support Engineer: “We started the day doing some aero work comparing data and driver feel. We then moved on to a few performance based runs. Later in the day we worked on race procedure including some longer runs and grid simulations. We have had some new components that have performed as expected which has been productive. We have a busy final two days of the test as we optimise the time left until the first race.”

Valtteri Bottas: “It was nice to focus on performance today and work to get the lap times lower. We are working hard and still have two days left of the test so there is more still to do. The day was busy and we know there is still more to come, I feel positive and the balance was good. We still need to make sure we look at the longer runs and not just the one lap qualifying pace.”

 

Lotus

Pastor Maldonado completed a tally of 140 laps – more than 650km or the distance of two Grand Prix – as he resumed test duties in the E23 hybrid at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya today. Pastor ran an extensive programme including a race simulation, clocking a best lap time of 1min 26.705secs.

Track: Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Spain, 4.7km
Chassis: E23-02
Weather: Blue skies with picturesque clouds. Ambient 9°C – 17°C Track 13°C – 24°C
Programme: Front suspension geometry evaluation, race simulation, aero assessments
Laps Completed: 140
Classification: P6, 1:26.705
Interruptions: None

Pastor Maldonado: “We ran the car for a long time today which has been a good endorsement of my winter training programme as I still feel fresh after 140 laps. We did a lot of different assessments so I had plenty to think about and it was good to do the race simulation as we’ll soon be heading to Melbourne. There’s a lot of information to digest from today and I can’t wait to get back in the car on Sunday.”

Nick Chester, Technical Director: “We’ve completed a high tally of laps today and the E23 has run reliably throughout. This is great for us as we’ve been able to try a number of different set-up and aero configurations to enable us to get as much data as possible to make further progress in our understanding of our new car. Pastor did a great job despite driving the equivalent distance of more than two Grand Prix and we’re looking forward to Romain jumping back into the car tomorrow.”

 

Motor Racing - Formula One Testing - Test Three - Day 2 - Barcelona, Spain Motor Racing - Formula One Testing - Test Three - Day 2 - Barcelona, Spain Motor Racing - Formula One Testing - Test Three - Day 2 - Barcelona, Spain

Jerez test – Day 2: Williams

02/02/2015 By in Formula One Tags: , , , Leave a comment

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At work… today

Driver: Valtteri Bottas

Chassis/Engine: FW37-01/PU106B hybrid
Location: Jerez de la Frontera 4.428km
Objectives: Aero work, systems and reliability checks
Weather: Cold and dry, rain at the end of the session
Air and track temps: 4 – 14ºC / 5 – 15ºC

Rod Nelson, Chief Test and Support Engineer:

“We learnt a lot yesterday and have continued to build on that today. We started aero performance based work today, continuing to move through the test schedule we have set ourselves. We have had no issues with the car today, so have made good progress.”

Valtteri Bottas:

“We have had another good day. We managed to get through all of our programme and it was only the final run that we were compromised due to the rain. The morning was dedicated to obtaining aero data, then this afternoon we focused on the longer runs, making set-up changes and analysing the results. We are learning all the time and at the moment I am really pleased with what I have felt when in the car.”

 

And at play… earlier

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Jerez tests: Lotus and Williams

01/02/2015 By in Formula One Tags: , , , Leave a comment

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Lotus F1’s 2015 challenger, the E23 hybrid (new image above), arrived in Jerez today after firing-up for the first time at the team’s Enstone base on Saturday 31 January. The car is now undergoing its build programme overnight and throughout Monday, with the first significant running expected for Tuesday 3 February.

Here’s a little piece of info the team came up with in an idle moment and felt it had to share – what it calls its ‘E23 numbers’:

0 – the time taken in seconds for the gearbox of the E23 to change gear (drive is never lost during the gearshift)
0.04 – how much faster in seconds the E23 goes each lap due to the reducing weight as the car burns fuel (not accounting for tyre degradation)
1.6 – the time in seconds for the E23 to decelerate from 100 km/h to a standstill
4 – the number of power units allocated to each driver in 2015
4.9 – how many seconds it takes for the E23 to reach 200 km/h from a standstill
6 – the number of consecutive races each gearbox must survive before it can be changed without suffering a five-place grid penalty
8 forward and 1 reverse – the number of gears in the E23’s gearbox
15 – how many hours it takes for a complete rebuild of the car at the track with 12 mechanics
87.75 – the impact energy in kilojoules that must be withstood by the nose of the car when it is crash tested by the FIA; the same amount of energy as would be required to stop a 4 tonne elephant moving towards you at 24km/h
102 – the weight in Kg subjected to the end of the front wing by the FIA; it cannot move more than 10mm
220 – the pressure in Bar the cars hydraulic system works at; a road car tyre is about 1.8 Bar
702 – the minimum dry weight of the car in kilograms
1,100 – the temperature in degrees Celsius of the exhaust gases when the car is at full throttle
1,200 – in degrees Celsius, this is the temperature a brake disc can reach during the race
2,500 – the number of gear changes the drivers have to make during an average Grand Prix
12,500 – the number of technical drawings produced by the time of the E23 car build (more than any other car from Enstone)
30,000 – the number of individual parts that make up each E23
125,000 – the max rotational speed in RPM of the MGU-H
250,000 – the amount of man hours that have gone into the design of the E23.

Meanwhile, the other teams have been hard at it on track, with Vettel (now at Ferrari) and Ericsson (Sauber) topping the lap times, although these are pretty meaningless.

 

Here are Williams’ results from day one:

Driver: Valtteri Bottas
Chassis / Engine: FW37-01/PU106B Hybrid
Location: Jerez de la Frontera 4.428km
Objectives: New component, systems and reliability checks
Weather: Dry and sunny
Air and track temps: 7 – 14ºC / 9 – 20ºC

Rod Nelson, Chief Test and Support Engineer:

“We have gone through our normal winter test programmes today and have solved any issues that have arisen. We lost a bit of time this morning but once on track, Valtteri clocked up 73 laps. We have new hardware on the car and there is a new power unit, and all of these have to be checked and tested whilst we are running before we can start looking at performance. Jerez isn’t too representative as a circuit as the surface is so abrasive, this limits the amount of useful performance work we can carry out. We are very satisfied with the first day and are looking forward to tomorrow.”

And driver, Valtteri Bottas:

“The day started off a bit slow, but it turned out to be a really good one. After that initial set-back we didn’t have a single issue with the FW37, which is impressive for the first day with a new car. We started off on shorter runs before longer runs later this afternoon, including one run that was significant considering again that it’s only the first day. The car was consistent, so it’s a really good start to the week and we are pleased that it’s still a step up from the car we had at the end of last season. We know we have a lot to learn and improve, but we also know where these gains can come from, and have work to do with the car performance and the power unit. There are a lot of strengths in this car and we’ve made good progress in just one day, so I am very pleased.”

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Chinese GP – Williams

21/04/2014 By in Formula One Tags: , , , , , Leave a comment

Valtteri Bottas finished seventh and Felipe Massa 15th in the Chinese Grand Prix.

Valterri Bottas

Valterri Bottas

Felipe had a great start but then made contact with a defending Fernando Alonso, whilst Valtteri was hit by Nico Rosberg who was braking hard in response to the action ahead. Felipe recovered to sixth with Valtteri in eighth before the first round of pitstops but a problem in Felipe’s first pitstop then dropped him to the back of the field. Valtteri meanwhile chased the Force India of Nico Hulkenberg eventually finishing just half a second behind, as Felipe fought hard to gain positions back to 15th.

Rob Smedley, Head of Vehicle Performance:

“It’s bittersweet really as the car was quick. We had a good strategy and the team worked well together. It’s a real shame for Felipe and the whole team about the pitstop and it is something that we need to investigate to ensure it doesn’t happen again, as it cost us points today. To have one car in the top ten shows that we have the pace and that gives us continued optimism, so we will take the positives forward to Spain.”

Rob Smedley

Rob Smedley

Valtteri Bottas:

“It was a good race for me despite some hard contact at the start which cost me a few positions. I also had to drive the whole race without telemetry which isn’t the easiest thing to do. We made progress over the whole weekend which is good. It’s great to make steps forward and we are looking to do the same in Spain in a three weeks’ time.”

Felipe Massa:

“I had another great start today and we were fighting at the top. I felt some contact with Fernando but luckily the car wasn’t damaged so I could carry on. There was a mistake at the first pitstop and that effectively lost me the race as I came back out on track in last position. It is a frustrating situation and something we need to work on to make sure that it doesn’t happen again. We have time now to work hard and improve the car for Spain.”

Felipe Massa

Felipe Massa