Thank you for your support over the weekend. Having completed the Japanese Grand Prix, the F1 circus headed to Shanghai for a second race in as many weeks. Here is my report from the fifth Chinese Grand Prix.

The team brought the same aero package from Fuji to Shanghai; the tyres for the race were harder compounds than used in Japan. Tyre usage would be key in this race, but after the first day of practice, it didn’t appear that the tyres experienced the type of graining that the softer compounds used at Shanghai in years past displayed.

A complete suspension replacement for Timo’s car; how to best use a harder tyre compound than the at Japanese GP is key

We were very disappointed that we were unable to reach our goal of a podium finish in front of our home fans at our home Japanese grand prix last week. That Timo (Glock) was forced to retire in the early stages of the race with car trouble, preventing the team from having a double-points finish made the weekend all the more painful.

The trouble with Timo’s car was an issue with the bracket inside the monocoque that secures the driver’s seat. We thought that the monocoque itself might be damaged due to the trouble, but fortunately that was not the case. As such, Timo raced with the same chassis in this grand prix that he used at Fuji Speedway. We did, however change the front and rear suspensions, as the car experienced an excessive force when it went over the curbs on the Japanese circuit.

With only a short time between the Japanese and Chinese Grand Prix races, we basically used the same car specifications in China that we did at Fuji. The tyres prepared for the Chinese race were the harder medium and hard compounds, making the ability to get performance out of the tyres a key point to the race.

The team struggled to find the right setup for Timo on Day One of the weekend. But effective use of the harder tyres in Q1 helped Timo move on to the next qualifying session. Unfortunately, a change to the medium tyres in Q2 threw off the car’s balance, leaving Timo in the knockout zone.

Data collection for Friday morning; Jarno marks P4 on the afternoon time sheets

Since we started Friday morning practice with our drivers pushing hard at a time when the course had yet to “rubber in,” they both struggled with a lack of grip. But we planned to compare aerodynamic levels Friday morning, so we weren’t overly concerned with grip at that point.

Taking a good look at our data from Friday morning, we confirmed that the Shanghai International Circuit had characteristics very similar to Fuji Speedway, except for a slightly higher downforce. Timo marked the top time on the first day of practice at Fuji Speedway, but this time Jarno (Trulli) was clocked as high as P2 during the first day of the Chinese Grand Prix, ending the day at P4. The strong lap times were likely due to the fact that our car was performing roughly the same as last week. During the afternoon practice session, Timo battled with some balance issues, but not anything that appeared to present a major problem.

The biggest difference in comparison to Fuji Speedway was the tyres. At Fuji, we experienced some graining on the softer tyres, but we didns see any indication of graining on Friday in Shanghai, despite the slippery track, which alleviated our concerns about tyre usage.

Overall, we were able to have a strong first day at the Chinese Grand Prix, just like last week in Japan.

During qualifying, Jarno reported a sudden loss of grip in the tyres. Despite the difficulties, Jarno made it through to Q3, starting P7 (helped by grid penalties on other drivers) and looking good for championship points.

Sudden balance issues during Q2; a less–than–hoped–for qualifying result

Jarno continued to turn in strong laps on Saturday morning, clocking in at P5 on the time charts as we prepared for afternoon qualifying. Meanwhile, we were unable to find a satisfactory setup for Timo, who had been struggling with balance problems since the day before. In the end, we used the same settings that we had on Jarno’s car as we sent Timo out for qualifying. Our changes seemed to do the trick, with Timo turning in a very satisfactory initial time attack on the hard tyres during Q1. But the balance on the car changed when we put on the medium tyres, preventing Timo from driving as he would have liked.

The same phenomenon happened with Jarno. Once qualifying started, Jarno experienced understeer in his car, with the flap of the front wing rising in angle each time he attempted an attack lap. Despite the issues, both cars were able to progress to Q2, but the change in balance proved to have a significant effect on our times in this session where competition is much fiercer. In particular, both of our drivers were unable to improve during their second attack, where the other teams were able to turn in faster lap times. Timo qualified P13, while Jarno claimed P10 by only 1/100 of a second, moving on to Q3 and qualifying at P9 for the starting grid.

We seemed to be progressing smoothly on the first day of the weekend, and we honestly expected a higher qualifying result from ourselves. Saturday turned out to be a day where things just didn’t seem to go right.

The one–stop strategy adopted by the team worked perfectly, and Timo was able to capture two championship points in the race. It was a happy result, especially considering the setup struggles leading up to the race. Luck was against Jarno as his car was caught up in the confusion of turn one, forcing an early–stage retirement.

A one–stop strategy and courageous driving helps Timo pass five cars; Jarno knocked out just after the start in an unfortunate accident

According to regulations, Mark Webber (Red Bull), who had qualified P6, was assessed a 10–position penalty on the starting grid due to an engine change. Further, Nick Heidfeld (BMW Sauber), who qualified P7, was assessed a three–spot penalty for interfering with another car during its attack run. These penalties combined to move Jarno up to P7 on the grid, with Timo moving up to P12 for the start of the race.

Both Jarno and Timo had fine starts, but in the fight for position in the first corner, Jarno’s car was struck by Sebastien Bourdais (Toro Rosso), and forced off the course. Falling to last place, Jarno came back into the pits where we changed out the nose, checked the suspension for damage, and topped his fuel off before sending him back out. Unfortunately, the side pontoon was damaged more than was apparent at first, and we decided that it would be impossible for Jarno to keep racing. The result was very disappointing for us, since Jarno started in a strong position to win points.

This left Timo as the only Panasonic Toyota Racing driver on the course. Starting from P12, we gambled on a one–stop strategy for his race. Our strategy paid off, as Timo was able to reach P7 on the course before coming into the pits on lap 32. Timo fell to P10 coming out of the pits, but after the two-stop cars had made their final stops, Timo was back at P7, where he finished the race.

Unfortunately for us, Renault, our main rival in this year’s Constructors’ Championship, had both cars finish in the points. With Renault jumping ahead of us by 20 points in the team standings, we find ourselves in no position to be able to catch up in the last race of the season. While we missed our second–half season goal of finishing 4th in the Constructors’ Championship, we will put that out of our minds as we head to the Brazilian GP, giving 100% of our effort into finishing the season, strong, battling until the last. Please continue to cheer us on through the final lap!