THE SPANISH Grand Prix was supposed to be litmus test for the new Formula1 rules as the circuit is heavily dependent on aerodynamic downforce. The paddock wondered if the ARW would aid overtaking at all and come Race Day, there were not as many DRS moves as we saw in Turkey. In fact, it was the Pirelli tyre that added to the excitement in the GP.
Talking about aerodynamic grip, there were initial fears that Narain Karthikeyan’s HRT car, F111, might be unable to break into the 107% target lap time leading to non-participation at the GP. The HRT F111 isn’t the most aerodynamically efficient car and hence was expected to suffer (and make Narain suffer) in Barcelona, their home race. Across the three practice sessions held between Friday and Saturday, Narain Karthikeyan was on an average 7 seconds off the leader’s pace.
Come qualifying, Narain managed to clock his fastest ever lap all weekend (1:27.908) that saw him not only beat the 107% lap time, but also saw him only a tenth off his team-mate Vitantonio Liuzzi. This was Narain’s closest qualifying performance yet in the 2011 F1 season. Narain’s P22 start would mean that he started ahead of HRT’s nearest rival and competitor team, Virgin Racing. In the race, Narain brought the car home in 21st place, while Tonio had to retire due to mechanical problems. Narain’s race pace (1:32.848) was a full second faster than Tonio’s (1:33.884).
As expected, Narain has picked up pace as the season has progressed and he is much closer to Tonio than he was at the start. The challenge still remains in beating Tonio out-and-out on pace and performance every weekend.
The Force India Formula1 Team brought upgrades to their front nose in Barcelona. These updates were first introduced during the Turkish GP weekend, but weren’t put to use in the race then. In Barcelona, the team also tested a new exhaust solution on Friday, but went back to the original configuration on Saturday and Sunday. The updates were to aid the car’s aero performance over the weekend of the Spanish GP.
Come qualifying, the Force India cars easily made it through the Q1 segment of qualifying. While the cars couldn’t progress through the Q2 segment, the team used a different tyre strategy as compared to the others. Paul di Resta qualified 16th, 4 tenths ahead of his team-mate Adrian Sutil who managed only a lowly 17th. The team’s tyre strategy saw them use hard compounds during qualifying, saving an extra set of soft tyres for the race. This was a smart move since the car didn’t have the pace to challenge position in the top ten; hence, saving an extra set of soft tyres, that was worth over 2 seconds a lap, for the race made more sense.
For a change, the Force India cars were beaten in qualifying by the Lotus Racing car of Heikki Kovalainen. This was not due to the pace of the cars, but more due to the selection of tyre compounds. While the Force India cars used the hard compound, Heikki clocked his fastest lap on the softer compound, thus giving him grid position ahead of the Force India drivers.
During the race, rookie Paul di Resta made a few appearances in the top ten and showed consistent pace to finish 12th, one spot ahead of Adrian Sutil, who also managed to clock the 10th fastest lap of the race (1:28.791), which was 7 tenths quicker than Paul’s. However, this was Force India’s second race on the trot where they failed to score championship points. Car development in Formula1 is critical and it is upon the team to bring updates, develop the car and make it go faster.
Performances aside, commercially there have been movements about F1 and its entry in India. There are unconfirmed reports that Airtel has joined hands with the Indian Grand Prix as its title sponsor. Also, the Indian Grand Prix might be rescheduled to first week of December to accommodate the Bahrain GP, should the Bahrain organizers decide to host the F1 circus in October. Additionally, the Force India – Mobil1 promoted ‘One from a Billion Hunt’ has successfully finished its regional selection rounds in Mumbai, Goa, Kolhapur and Bangalore in its attempt to find India’s next F1 driver!
The first free practice session of the Monaco GP is only 4 days away and it waits to be seen if there is a change in fortune for Narain Karthikeyan and Force India at one of F1’s most challenging street circuits.
