[Official] 2013 Formula 1 Airtel Indian Grand Prix (Preview)

[321Go]

Race Preview

2013 INDIAN GRAND PRIX
25-27 OCTOBER 2013

If Japan’s Suzuka, scene of Sebastian Vettel’s strategically astute ninth win of the season last time out, is regarded as one of the greatest of Formula One’s ‘classic’ circuits, this weekend sees the championship move to a track that has been widely praised as one the finest recent additions to the calendar – India’s Buddh International Circuit.

The location for round 16 of the 2013 F1 World Championship features good changes of elevation, two long, fast straights and a technically challenging middle sector that features the tricky multiple apex Turn 10. The circuit has quickly proved popular with the sport’s drivers, who appreciate it having the second highest average speed of the year after Monza, but also the skill required to hook up a good lap around its 5.125km length.

Getting that perfect lap requires a car that treads a very fine line in balancing the speed needed to get the best from the long straights and good aerodynamic grip and balance for the middle sector.

Vettel’s victory in Japan, his fifth win in a row this year, has given him a 90-point advantage over Fernando Alonso in the Drivers’ Championship and with the Ferrari driver all but conceding defeat in the wake of the race at Suzuka, this weekend could see Vettel crowned champion. The Red Bull driver needs fifth place or better here to become just the fourth driver in F1 history to win four titles and only the third to win four in a row – alongside Juan Manuel Fangio and Michael Schumacher.

Meanwhile, in the Constructors’ Championship, Red Bull Racing have 445 points, compared with 297 for nearest rival Ferrari, so the Milton Keynes-based team can this weekend also conceivably wrap up the manufacturers’ title.




BUDDH INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT

Length of lap: 5.125km
Lap record:
1:27.249
(Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull Racing, 2011)
Start/finish line offset: 0.251km
Total number of race laps: 60
Total race distance: 307.249km
Pitlane speed limits:
80km/h throughout the weekend.

CHANGES TO THE CIRCUIT SINCE 2012
Other than routine maintenance (grass cut, dust and cobwebs cleaned), there have been no changes of significance.

DRS ZONES
There are two DRS zones at the Buddh International Circuit. The detection point of the first is 16m before Turn Three and its activation point is 350m after Turn Three. The second zone’s detection point is 10m after Turn 15, with the activation point 36m after Turn 16.


Indian GP Fast Facts

• This will be just the third running of the Indian Grand Prix. The race joined the F1 calendar in 2011.
• Sebastian Vettel has not only taken pole position and victory in the two Indian GPs staged so far, he has also led every lap of each race. Last year he also finished in P1 in every practice session. Red Bull Racing have locked-out the front row at both grand prix, with Mark Webber second on the grid in 2011 and 2012.
• At this season’s most recent race, in Japan, Vettel recorded his fifth victory in a row this season. The last time a driver recorded five or more successive wins was in 2004, when Michael Schumacher won the opening five races of the season. The Ferrari driver then went on to win seven in a row between the European and Hungarian GPs that year, so Vettel will need to win here and in Abu Dhabi to match that feat.
• Depending on your view, the outright record for consecutive wins belongs to Alberto Ascari, who recorded nine in a row between the Belgian Grand Prix of 1952, the third of eight races that season, and the same event the following year, when it was fourth on a calendar of nine races. On the way to that tally, however, he did not compete in the 1953 Indianapolis 500, which formed part of that year’s F1 World Championship. To match Ascari’s tally, Vettel will need to win all the remaining rounds this season.
• Vettel’s 2011 pole position gave Red Bull a record 16th in a single season. It was the 28th of Vettel’s career. Since then he has been on pole a further 14 times.
• Apart from Vettel, the only other driver to feature on both Indian GP podiums is Fernando Alonso. The Ferrari driver was third in the inaugural race and second last year.
• Jaime Alguersuari scored the last points of his F1 career to date in the first grand prix here. Over a 46-race career, beginning at the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix, the Spanish driver racked up 31 points in total driving for Toro Rosso. The final four points of that tally came with eighth place at the Buddh International Circuit in 2011.
• This will be the first Indian GP without an Indian driver involved. Narain Karthikeyan raced in 2011 and 2012 for HRT, while Karun Chandhok participated in free practice for Team Lotus (now Caterham) in 2011.
• To cope with the demands of the Buddh International Circuit, F1 tyre supplier Pirelli is this weekend bringing its Soft and Medium tyre compounds. This is a change from the previous two years, when the company brought its Soft and Hard configurations. Soft and Medium tyres have been used this season in China, Germany and Hungary.
• Despite being built on relatively flat land, the track has had plenty of undulations built in, with more than four million tonnes of earth moved during the construction of the circuit. The track rises 14 metres between Turns One and Three alone.

[321Go]

FP1 results. Oh.., him again.



FP1 review:
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/110839

[321Go]

FP2 just concluded. Oh.., there he is again.



FP2 review:
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/110844

[bella]

the gaps between cars are looking quite big - the top 7 or 8 being covered by a second isn't a particularly close field. is that normal at this circuit?

[Bononi]

Worlds apart, going for his 4th WDC.

[Biscuits In A Red Bull]

Vettel-Webber-Grosjean will be the podium barring any issues.

Interesting to note the JB is the only person to prevent a total walkover for Vettel here, having claimed fastest lap on both races. He has also finished the closest to Vettel in an Indian GP, at about 8.4s behind at the flag.

[wolfhound]

Thanks for the intro 321go.

It appears that Red Bull may not have things all their own way in India. According to Autosport they have graining issues and the option tyres are only lasting about 3 or 4 laps where as Ferrari are able to stretch to 14. However the Bulls are fast on both prime or option tyres.
It appears rtat in race trim Mercedes, Lotus, Ferrari and RB are all in the mix.

http://plus.autosport.com/premium/fe...tyre-graining/

[321Go]

Williams get's another €60,000 fine for the same incident, second race in a row! And it would have been a much bigger sum if the wheel had come off.

http://www.f1times.co.uk/news/display/08151

[321Go]

FP3 results. And... once again.



FP3 review:
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/110878

[321Go]

Cars running with all four wheels off the track! Cannot believe how this "rule" keeps changing depending what colour jocks Charlie has got on!?? Why can't it be put in stone once and for all that you cannot have all four wheels on the other side of the track?? At every race??

[321Go]

Wow!! Grosjean out in Q1!!
That probably made tomorrow's race even more of a bore. He was probably the only one that could have put up any sort of a fight with the Bulls.

Out of Q2: GRO, MAL, BIA, VDG, PIC, CH.

[321Go]

Out of Q3: RIC, DIR, SUT, VER, BOT, GUT.

[Biscuits In A Red Bull]

Vettel on pole for the 3rd time out of 3.

I think Grosjean starting 17th could make the race far more fun...

[321Go]

And... there he is again! Surprised??

India GP top ten: VET, ROS, HAM, WEB, MAS, RAI, HUL, ALO, PER, BUT.

[Beryl]

I'm very curious to see what he [Grosjean] can do from there. Hopefully a Rubens-esque charge is in store for us.

[wolfhound]

I wonder how Webber will go from 4th on the prime could he go all the way or will Seb just dissapear over the Horizon?

[321Go]

He wasn't the only one to do it, but during Vettel's pole lap he had all four wheels beyond the track limits five times!! How can this be legal considering what has happened in prior GP's??

[wolfhound]

Charlie gave them the all clear to do it so they can go 26 cars wide into the first corner.

Oh and the armco is now the track boundry!

[Beryl]

It was deemed the curbs and artificial grass are slippery enough to prevent time being gained by running wide. I understand where they are coming from, but it did make for some hairy looking (and questionable) quali laps.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Thanks for the intro 321go.

I can't say I'm really looking forward to this race, especially since the last few GPs Spa, Monza, Singapore and Korea were such disappointments. The Indian GP doesn't cut it for me and thankfully it will be off the calendar next year, hopefully never to return.

Vettel's on pole yet again but I was pleasantly surprised to see Massa 5th and Alonso 8th but I wonder how long that will last, once the race get going.

[Last2LiftOff]

I really like this track, several great corners and lots of elevation changes, as you-know-who's circuits go, this is a good one.

But outside New Delhi? Must've seemed like a good idea at the time.

[321Go]

Originally Posted by Last2LiftOff

I really like this track, several great corners and lots of elevation changes, as you-know-who's circuits go, this is a good one.

Agree. This circuit is one of my favourites. Top three IMO. And by far the best circuit you-know-who has come up with.

Only bad being the run-off areas. There's too much room to 'play with'.

[Mekola]

I will be surprised if Vettel doesn't win this one. He has the title in his hands.

[Beetle]

Originally Posted by 321Go

Agree. This circuit is one of my favourites. Top three IMO. And by far the best circuit you-know-who has come up with.

Only bad being the run-off areas. There's too much room to 'play with'.

Personally, I don't like the circuit very much. But, as I've said before, it's all a matter of opinion. There are no "universal" aesthetics... just ones that are more common than others.

I have a feeling this is going to be just another one of "those races"...

[321Go]

Red Bull have had to apply to the FIA to change the fifth and seventh gear dog rings in Vettel's gearbox.

Hoping this results in a grid drop for Vettel.