Arai Report - Rd.14 Singapore Grand Prix
Singapore Grand Prix - Arai Report
30.09.2009
Thank you, as always, for your support over the weekend. The European Round of the 17-race 2009 F1 World Championship is over. Now we move on to the Asian Round, beginning with two races in as many weeks. The first of these is the Singapore Grand Prix, site of the tremendously successful first-ever F1 night race last year. Without further ado, here is my report from the Singapore Grand Prix in its second year.
Bringing our heavily modified Japanese GP spec to the Singapore GP to try under real-race conditions
Looking forward to the Japanese GP, the TF109 received a major upgrade—the last of the season. Two new parts were added to the center of the rear wing to adjust the aerodynamics at the rear of the car.
With the Japanese GP on the heels of this race, we decided to bring some of the parts we have been preparing for Suzuka with us to Singapore. We made changes to both front and rear wings, as well as the floor (including diffuser) and the engine cowl. We also modified our rear suspension and introduced some new parts to the rear of the car to improve aero performance in that area.
Since the aerodynamic characteristics of the Singapore street circuit and Suzuka are different, the wing angles will vary by quite a bit, but overall, the aero package features a lot of new parts as we prepare for the race at Suzuka. This is probably the biggest set of changes we have made at one time this year, so we came into Singapore with a degree of anticipation.
Working our setup using two different programs on Day One; Timo finds a groove
The team started serious setup work during Friday afternoon practice, confirming that the new parts were functioning as intended. While a good direction was found for Timo’s car, Jarno struggled with lack of grip and oversteer.
We struggled with the bumpiness of the track surface at last year’s Singapore GP, but the newly resurfaced road helped us move through our setup on the first day of the weekend. Wanting to run some comparisons using our new aero parts—combined with the fact that a red flag interrupted the practice session for 11 minutes—meant that we focused more on our parts than actual setup during Friday morning free practice. We didn’t do any serious setup work until Friday afternoon, leaving our mechanical settings unchanged.
During Friday afternoon free practice, Timo (Glock) seemed to find a groove, recording P8 on the time charts. Timo recorded the time while fighting traffic all the way, so we felt that we were definitely going in the right direction with his car for Saturday. Meanwhile, we had Jarno (Trulli) run a different program for his setup work. This took some extra time to find the right combination, and as a result, Timo’s car was P13 on the time charts Friday. Still, with Timo finishing in strong form Friday, we believed we would be able to use his data to turn around the performance of Jarno’s car.
Last year we only had one car (Timo) make it to Q3. This year, we were dead set on making the most of our data to make sure that both cars made it through to the final qualifying period.
Timo advances to Q3; a P7 result despite a red-flag interruption
Very strong on the Singapore track, Timo improved his Q1 time by a full second in Q2. The red flag came out just as Timo was taking his Q3 hot lap on a fresh set of super-soft tyres. The session ended without Timo being able to make a final attack run within the time limit, leaving him to start from P7 on the grid.
With the red flag coming out during Q3 on Saturday, Timo wasn’t able to finish his final attack run, which left a somewhat bitter taste in our mouths. Without that red flag, I think Timo would have qualified at least one position higher, if not two. With the on-course congestion during Singapore GP qualifying, I think the conditions were actually much more difficult than they appeared.
Stuck in traffic during his second attack lap in Q1, Timo barely made it into Q2 by finishing P15. The congestion prevented Jarno from getting enough heat into his tyres, keeping him from his usual sharp qualifying performance and unable to advance beyond Q2.
Timo’s tyres came alive during Q2, with his Q2 hot lap a full second faster than Q1. But with perhaps a bit too much grip, Timo’s time in the last sector didn’t improve, costing the chance to post a quicker time. Even so, Timo was fourth fastest after the first round of hot laps, and he was able to hang on and advance to Q3 with the fifth-fastest time overall in the session.
Despite never having a completely unimpeded avenue for a hot lap, Timo still qualified P7 for the race. After the end of qualifying, we learned that Rubens Barrichello (Brawn GP) was assessed a five-spot penalty for changing his gear box. This put Timo in place for a P6 start to Sunday’s race. We were excited that we had a genuine shot at a podium finish for the first time in quite a while.
A P2 finish using the “Suzuka Special” setup; linking this result to the Japanese GP
With six other cars retiring early, Timo drove a calm, precise race, capturing his second P2 podium finish since last year’s Hungarian GP. Struggling with sickness, Jarno nevertheless completed the race two spots ahead of his original starting position.
Before the start of the race, P8 qualifier Nick Heidfeld (BMW Sauber) changed his engine and gear box. His team took the option to start from the pit lane, so Timo and Jarno lined up to start the race from P6 and P14, respectively. Handicapped by starting on the inside lane (off-line), Timo was nevertheless able to hold off Robert Kubica (BMW Sauber), who had made a good break from the clean side of the track. Timo protected his spot for the first three turns of the first lap. On Turn 7, Timo took advantage when Fernando Alonso (Renault) and Mark Webber (Red Bull) fought for position and went off course. Timo shot by Alonso, moving up to P5. Looking back, this development was probably the most critical part of the race for Timo. Webber had won position by short-cutting a section of the circuit, and was instructed by the race stewards to allow Alonso to pass ahead. This automatically placed Timo (who was ahead of Alonso) into P4.
Under instructions by his race engineer to control brake and tyre heating, Timo drove a steady, clinical race. Nico Rosberg (Williams) and Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) both lost position due to penalties, which moved Timo up to P2.
Jarno was feeling even more under the weather on Sunday, and the race was very difficult for him. Displaying his characteristic professionalism, Jarno stayed in the race through the checkered flag. While Jarno wasn’t happy with a P12 finish, our number one priority is for him to get well and be back in top form for Suzuka.
We raced the Singapore GP using some of our “Suzuka Special” parts earlier than originally planned. Timo drove the car to a P2 podium finish, which has given Panasonic Toyota Racing tremendous confidence and momentum. Cheer us on, as we’ll be shooting for another podium finish at next week’s Japanese GP.
Noritoshi Arai at Singapore (Marina Bay). Introducing some of the “Suzuka Special” parts earlier than originally planned turned out to be a successful strategy, as Timo captured a P2 podium finish in the second-ever F1 night race. Without a doubt, Panasonic Toyota Racing will be shooting for another podium at next week’s Japanese Grand Prix!
