Arai Report - Rd.17 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Arai Report
03.11.2009
Thank you, as always, for your support over the weekend. Just like that, the 2009 F1 World Championship that started in March has now concluded the final race of the season. The final race of the year took place in Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates. Without further ado, here is my report from the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the second GP of the year to take place in the Middle East after Bahrain.
The new Yas Marina Circuit presents aerodynamic challenges; long straights and ultra-low-speed corners
The Abu Dhabi course appeared to be quite compatible with the aerodynamics of the TF109. With both qualifying and race scheduled for the evening hours, the team decided to conduct setup work during Friday’s second practice session, which was also conducted during the evening.
After the Brazilian GP, we spoke with Panasonic Toyota Racing driver Timo Glock and his manager about the results of Timo’s second spinal cord examination. Based on that discussion, we decided to hold Timo out of the race at Abu Dhabi. The entire team was crestfallen at not being able to fight the last race of the season together with Timo, but we had to make a difficult decision, especially considering the risks of Timo being involved in another accident before fully recovering.
So—as with the Brazilian GP—the lineup of Jarno Trulli and Kamui Kobayashi were set to drive the Abu Dhabi GP to conclude the 2009 F1 season. My first impression upon arriving at the Yas Marina Circuit was that it was a breathtaking, state-of-the-art facility. Having just been paved, the track was smooth as silk. It seemed to me that every last detail was considered, including the installation of gutters for water drainage along the borders between the on/off areas of the course.
With a long straight of nearly 1,200 m following an ultra-low-speed hairpin Corner 7 (about 60 km/h maximum), we knew that aerodynamic and other setup work would not be easy. But the required downforce level was not as high as we expected, which led us to believe that our car might be suited more to the circuit characteristics than we originally thought.
Our ultimate goal for 2009 was to win a spot front and center on the podium. We still hadn’t achieved that goal, and the team was completely unified to do everything in our power to win the last race of the year.
Practice session one dedicated to aero parts comparisons; Kamui proves his speed in his second outing
Jarno commented that finding grip was difficult for the first several laps, but that conditions improved over time. The team focused on data collection, mainly aerodynamic comparisons, during the first practice session on Friday.
The schedule for Friday free practice at the Abu Dhabi GP called for practice session one being conducted prior to sundown, with practice session two coming after sundown. This meant that we could expect a different kind of grand prix, where the conditions for the two practice sessions would vary by a significant degree.
In contrast to the Brazilian GP, we didn’t experience bouts of rain in Abu Dhabi, and we successfully accomplished our planned program in dry conditions. However, given that we were at a brand-new circuit surrounded by the desert—not to mention construction taking place around the circuit—the track was quite dusty, and in poor, slippery condition for the first practice session. Because of that, we gave up on attempting to work car setup during practice session one, and instead conducted comparison tests of the aero parts we brought to the race.
Friday’s second free practice session was timed to mirror the 5:00 pm qualifying and race start times. Sundown in Abu Dhabi was around 6:00 pm, offering the drivers a different visual than they experienced at the Australian and Malaysian races, which were conducted under the same schedule. Despite the difficult conditions, Kamui scored P5 on the time sheets. Having proved himself in both wet (Friday and Saturday at the Brazilian GP) and now dry conditions only strengthened our confidence in his abilities.
Jarno was P14 on the time sheets, but his result was more due to testing a different setup than Kamui and the fact that he ran into traffic during his attack lap, so we weren’t concerned.
A circuit where the medium tire compound demonstrates more speed; Jarno qualifies P6
Jarno easily advanced through Q1 and Q2, and fought for P3 during most of Q3. Despite falling back in the final few seconds of the session, Jarno reported that things went well in all sessions, and he was satisfied with qualifying P6.
Looking solely at the qualifying results, we were disappointed in that we hoped for a higher position. But considering the difficult conditions during qualifying, I think both drivers did an excellent job for us.
Different than most other circuits, we found at the Yas Marina Circuit that the harder medium tire compound tended to produce faster times than the soft tire compound. But since the medium tires took two or three laps to come up to temperature, many of the cars took several consecutive attack runs. This resulted in a rare circumstance in which the cars clustered in regular intervals on the course.
I think both Jarno and Kamui performed very well under the conditions. Kamui, in particular, was driving in an F1 qualifying under dry conditions for the first time in his career. Making it to Q2 for the second consecutive grand prix was another testament to his abilities behind the
wheel.
Jarno was among the top five cars in both Q1 and Q2. We looked for the same result in Q3, but the smallest of mistakes in Turn 1 kept him from improving his best time in the first sector, and we decided to have him abandon his attack run in order to save fuel. Without that hiccup, Jarno surely would have qualified ahead of the Brawn GP cars.
In any event, Sunday’s race would be the last of the season. We all wanted to leave the circuit with no regrets.
Kamui scores P6 points with a one-stop strategy; a double-points finish in the last race of the 2009 season
Kamui had a heavy fuel load supporting a one-stop strategy for the race, eventually overtaking the newly crowned world champion during the second stint. “I want to thank everyone on the team for the strategy and great work in the pits,” said a happy Kamui, who scored his first-ever points in F1 competition.
The Abu Dhabi GP was a wonderful, white-knuckle race from start to finish. Unfortunately, we didn’t find ourselves on the podium, but I think we turned in a satisfactory performance in the last race of the season.
I think that Kamui’s passing Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) at the start was a key factor in his finishing P6 in the second F1 grand prix of his career. Raikkonen, who had a KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) device in his car, had trouble on Friday and Saturday with getting heat into his tires. We expected a difficult race if Kamui ended up stuck behind Raikkonen. Being able to overtake Raikkonen immediately after the start, and then driving his own pace on a relatively open track made the rest of the race comparatively easier for Kamui.
The second key to Kamui’s race was being able to overtake Jenson Button (Brawn GP) when the latter driver came onto the course after his first pit stop. Button was on a two-stop strategy, and Kamui took advantage of the fact that Button’s tires weren’t up to temperature. With Kamui overtaking Button without a pause, finishing in the points was almost a foregone conclusion.
Jarno’s start was decent compared to the cars around him, but his tires wouldn’t come up to temperature properly. The car had some trouble coming out of Turn 1, forcing Jarno back by one spot. Despite the difficulties, Jarno turned in a very strong performance in the last GP of the season, finishing one position behind Kamui at P7. This marked the sixth double-points finish for the team this year, and the first since Hungarian GP.
The 2009 season was tighter than any season in recent memory. We are proud that we were able to finish 2009 with more constructors’ points than last year. To my mind, this is proof that we have not been wrong in the direction we have taken. Having said that, not being able to accomplish our goal of winning a race this year remains a disappointment. We sincerely appreciate the many fans who stayed faithful throughout the year. Thank you so very much.
Noritoshi Arai at Yas Marina. With Kamui finishing P6 in his second-ever F1 race, and Jarno finishing a close P7, Panasonic Toyota Racing was able to capture its sixth double-points finish of the year in the season-concluding race. The team ended the 2009 campaign with more constructors’ points than in the prior season.
