indian grand prix preview

7/27/2019 Indian Grand Prix preview

1/7

Race

Preview2013 INDIAN GRAND

2527 OCTOBER

If Japans Suzuka, scene of Sebastian Vettels strategically

astute ninth win of the season last time out, is regarded as

one of the greatest of Formula Ones classic circuits, this

weekend sees the championship move to a track that has

been widely praised as one the finest recent additions to the

calendarIndias 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 sports 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.

Vettels 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.

CIRCUIT DATA

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 there have

no changes of significance.

DRS ZONES

There are two DRS zones at the Buddh

International Circuit. The detection point of the

is 16m before Turn Three and its activation po

350m after Turn Three. The second zones

detection point is 10m after Turn 15, with the

activation point 36m after Turn 16.


2/7

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.


3/7

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 seasons 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 fiveraces 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 years F1

World Championship. To match Ascaris tally, Vettel

will need to win all the remaining rounds this season.

Vettels 2011 pole position gave Red Bull a record

16th in a single season. It was the 28th of Vettels

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

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 rack

up 31 points in total driving for Toro Rosso. Th

final four points of that tally came with eighth

place at the Buddh International Circuit in 201

This will be the first Indian GP without an

Indian driver involved. Narain Karthikeyan race

in 2011 and 2012 for HRT, while Karun

Chandhok participated in free practice for Tea

Lotus (now Caterham) in 2011.

To cope with the demands of the Buddh

International Circuit, F1 tyre supplier Pirelli is t

weekend bringing its Soft and Medium tyre

compounds. This is a change from the previou

two years, when the company brought its Soft

and Hard configurations. Soft and Medium tyr

have been used this season in China, German

and Hungary.

Despite being built on relatively flat land, thtrack has had plenty of undulations built in, wit

more than four million tonnes of earth moved

during the construction of the circuit. The track

rises 14 metres between Turns One and Thre

alone.


4/7

Indian GP

Race Stewards

Biographies

DR GERD ENNSER

MEMBER OF THE DMSBs EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE FOR AUTOMOBILE SPORT,

FORMULA ONE AND DTM STEWARD

Dr Gerd Ennser has successfully combined his formal education in law with his passion for

motor racing. While still active as a racing driver he began helping out with the

management of his local motor sport club and since 2006 has been a permanent steward

at every round of Germanys DTM championship. Since 2010 he has also been a Formula

One steward. Dr Ennser, who has worked as a judge, a prosecutor and in the legal

department of an automotive-industry company, has also acted as a member of the

steering committee of German motor sport body, the DMSB, since spring 2010, where he

is responsible for automobile sport. In addition, Dr Ennser is a board member of the South

Bavaria Section of ADAC, Germanys biggest auto club.

STEVE STRINGWELL

PERMANENT CHAIRMAN STEWARD FOR PORSCHE SUPERCUP, WORLD

SERIES BY RENAULT 3.5 SERIES, BRITISH TOURING CAR CHAMPIONSHIP

Englishman Steve Stringwell brings a wealth of experience to the F1 stewarding panel. He

began marshalling in 1967 before spending 15 years rallying. Since 1986 he has held a

series of posts within the UKs Motor Sports Association, first as a steward, then chairman

of the MSAs national court and latterly as chairman of the MSAs Judicial Advisory Panel.

Stringwell serves as permanent chairman steward for the Porsche Supercup, World Series

by Renault 3.5 and BTCC. He has been chairman of support race stewards at the British

Grand Prix since 2005 and was appointed steward to his first F1 race last year when he

officiated in Australia. At home in Yorkshire he is a Justice of the Peace and magistrate in

the city of Leeds.

TOM KRISTENSEN

NINE TIMES LE MANS WINNER, GERMAN F3 CHAMPION (1991), JAPANESE F3

CHAMPION (1993) ALMS CHAMPION (2001)

Denmarks Tom Kristensen is the most successful driver in the history of the Le Mans 24 -

Hour race. He has won the classic endurance event nine times, racing for Porsche, Audi

and Bentley. Kristensen, 46, has a broad racing CV, having competed in single-seaters,

touring cars and a range of sportscars. He has also tested in F1. A popular and respected

figure, he is this year again contesting the FIA World Endurance Championship, driving for

Audi Sport Team Joest. Along with team-mates Loc Duval and Allan McNish, Kristensen

has already helped Audi retain the WEC manufacturers title and he and his team-mates

currently lead the drivers title race, with two rounds of the championship remaining.


5/7

Indian GP

Championship Standings

(Drivers)


6/7

Indian GP

Championship Standings

(Constructors)

Indian GP

Formula One Timetable

& FIA Media Schedule

THURSDAY

Press Conference

FRIDAY

Practice Session 1

Practice Session 2

Press Conference

SATURDAY

Practice Session 3

Qualifying

Followed by unilateral and

press conference

SUNDAY

Drivers' Parade

Race

Followed by podium interviews and

press conference

15.00

10.00-11.30

14.00-15.30

16.00

11.00-12.00

14.00-15.00

13.30

15.00


7/7

indian grand prix preview

Documents