Parc FerméIssue #137 - Valencia & Silverstone 2012.

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Hey all!

What a whirwind first seven rounds of this years championship we have had. In absolute contrast to last season we’ve seen enthralling racing and several different winners. Seven different winners from the first seven races in fact! After a brief stint in North America for the Canadian Grand Prix we are back in Europe, starting with the European Grand Prix in Valencia. In this edition we have previews to both the European and British Grand Prix, we wrap up the events that unfolded in French Canada, and we take a look back at the first six rounds of this history making championship. We have our regular segments of Forum and Paddock, and we profile Daniel Ricciardo. This is finished off with plenty of photos, showing you the best tweets from our drivers, rate each driver on their performance so far this season, and in Pit Wall we break down and explain the different tyre compounds and DRS. Enjoy!

Adrian.

Letter from the Editor.

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ContentsEditors Letter Forum Post Race ReviewPhotoPre-RacePhoto SpreadPaddockDriver ProfileDriver RatingsPhoto SpreadParade LapPit Wall

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Forum We get our readers views on the Canadian GP. Hamilton finally breaking through for his first win of the season, sensational drives from Grosjean and Perez, and botches strategies from Red Bull and Ferrari

Congrats to Lewis. Long overdue this season. Kept his cool and kept pushing just the right amount. Good drive for Grosjean and Perez – I don’t know how the heck the managed 40 laps or so on option tires!!

- LeoEpic win for Lewis! This could open the floodgates for him. Bring on Valencia!! - Richard DGreat drive by Hamilton and strategy from McLaren, despite the pitstops still not being great. Diasterous strategy from Ferrari. I can understand going for the win, but they threw away an almost sure 2nd place, on a strategy that I could never see working, especially around a track like this where overtaking is not hard. - Ross

I can’t understand Ferrari’s decision to leave Alonso battling to the end when Vettel pitted… regardless, as it turned out the strategy to “not pit” the second time in the same window as Lewis was a big mistake from both Ferrari and Red Bull. And Roman Grosjean and Sergio Perez did really well to highlight that.

- DmitryMassa was doing really well at the beginning and I was just saying to my friend how impressed and happy I was for him. Then he had that spin. And I can’t help that it was pretty much a career-defining spin: I think it’ll put a halt to the resurgence in form we’ve seen since Monaco; he was nowhere after that spin.

- James Clayton

The conspiracy in the Merc team against MSC continues.The knives may run out of their sharpness before long, and then the truth will come out..Michael,kick them in to touch,they are a disgrace to F1. - Duke

I have to say that race was reviting in the second half. I never saw renault or sauber coming up so quickly. Many congratulations to Lewis and a little relieved that their tyres strategy was predicted correctly. A lot to learn from this race about tyres especially with Lewis mclaren and renault and sauber making it a 1 stopper. don’t understand how they did it and others like fernando and vettel did not.

- Mohamed Chadra

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This whirlwind season continued across the Atlantic during the round seven of this years championship held in Montreal.Celebrating the 30th anniversary of the passing of Gilles Villeneuve, the circuits namesake, the mood was one reminiscent of Grand Prix held in Montreal of late. Always known for a high overtake count (79 last during last years race), it was Sebastian Vettel starting on pole. He slowly began to creaet a gap between him and the two chasing cars of Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso, but slowly and steadily, Hamilton reeled Vettel back in, managing to pass him during the first round of stops. Following the first round

of stops the race plateaued as cars began to come to terms with the tyres and the pace of the cars around them, but it was during the final ten laps when things heated up. Hamilton pitted a second time for new tyres and this proved the decisive factor, easily overtaking Alonso and Vettel to take the victory. Romain Grosjean in the Lotus and Sergio Perez both arguably put in the drives of the day, managing a one stop strategy to come home second and third respectively. Grosjean nursed home a set of tyres for the last fifty laps of the race. And another outstanding tyre management performance by Perez who started 15th on the grid.

Post-Race

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Review

Malaysia

AustraliaThe season got off to a flyer in Melbourne at the Albert Park Circuit. Pre Race favourites McLaren dominated all the practice and qualifying sessions, with the Red Bull cars surprisingly far off the pace. Pre season rumours about a very slow Ferrari came true as both drivers for the Maranello outfit failed to impress in qualifying.

Going into the race on sunday, Bruno Senna recieved some significant damaged when he was hit by a Torro Rosso going into the first corner of the race.

Vitaly Petrov was struck with an engine failure and parked his car on pit straight. This resulted in a chance for Vettel to leapfrog Lewis Hamilton under the safety car. This was done successfully. The end of the race saw Button take victory, with Vettel second and Hamilton third. The race only saw thirteen fininshers, with solid performances by both the Saubers, Daniel Ricciardo scoring his first Formula One points and Kimi Raikkonen finishing seventh in his first race back.

The Malaysian Grand Prix was another wet weather affair with the race suspended temporarily under red flags due to the track conditions being un-driveable. Jenson Button was heard saying over the team radio that “turn five is a lake.”

Thanks to some brilliant tyre strategy from the Sauber team, Sergio Perez flew through the field upon the restart, and was hunting down Fernando Alonso in the Ferrari, gaining on him by around two to three seconds a lap. This reached a climax with a few laps to go when Perez ran wide going into the second last corner of the lap when he was less than two seconds behind the spanish driver. He remained in second, but five seconds adrif of first place, however still managed to eat into Alonso’s lead finishing just two and a half seconds behind.

Other solid drives came from Mark Webber who scored his second lot of twelve points by finishing fourth for the second race running and Kimi Raikkonen for finishing fifth. But nobody could deny Perez the driver of the day award.

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China

Bahrain

Pre race favourites Mercedes were certainly on target following qualifying at the Shanghai International Circuit. Locking out the front row of the grid, thanks to their vastly superior straight line speed the Mer-cedes cars were tipped to go on and take victory, but it didnt all go to plan for the team.

Michael Schumacher was an early retirement with a wheel nut issue following a botched pit stop, and Jen-son Button was challenging leading Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg. Following several errors in the second round of pit stops, Button fell behind and allowed Rosberg plenty of breathing space as he pulled away and scored his first career victory, and Mercedes first team win since 1955.

It was another consistant performance by Mark Web-ber who finished fourth once again, passing his much favoured team mate Sebastian Vettel during the last few laps. Other strong performances were by Romain Grosjean and the Williams cars of Bruno Senna and Pastor Maldonado both finishing in the points.

There were doubts that the race in Bahrain would even go ahead following violent clashes on the streets of the capital city Manama. After being cancelled last year due to the “Arab Spring” that took place across North Africa and the Middle East, the track returned to the calendar once more.

Red Bull had finally found their pace back after a dissapoint and somewhat uncharacteristic first two rounds, and Sebastian Vettel controlled the race from start to finish, despite coming under some heavy pressure from Kimi Raikkonen. The finnish driver had a chance to take the lead during the second half of the race, but chose to back off and change lines half way through an overtaking move into the first corner. Following that attempt, Raikkonen’s tyres began to slowly lose grip, and he settled back to finish second in front of his team mate Romain Grosjean.

Other strong drives came from Paul di Resta who made a one stop strategy work for him and finish in the points, and Mark Webber who once again scored valuable points to finish fourth. Nico Rosberg came under fire post race for several outlandish blocking manouvres that raised some eyebrows up and down

pit lane. With Vettel taking victory things surely look on the improve for the Red Bull team.

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Spain

Monaco

There were surprises left right and centre during qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix in Catalunya. A track that took time to offer high level of grip caught out several drivers in Q2, with Mark Webber being knocked out and starting the race in fourteenth. But there were no surprises bigger than that of Williams driver Pastor Maldonado who would start the race on pole after Lewis Hamilton got relegated to the back of the field due to a fuel irregularity.

As predicted, Fernando Alonso who was starting second took the lead heading into the first corner, but was unable to shake off the chasing Williams. Maldonado kept in touch with the Ferrari being steered by Spains favourite son, and as a result, he took the lead after the last round of pit stops thanks to some excellent out laps and Marrusia driver Charles Pic offering a hand by slowing down Fernando Alonso on his in lap. The Venezuelan soaked up the pressure that Alonso threw down following his pit stop, and during the last few laps stretched his lead out to three seconds to take a memorable victory, the first for Williams since 2004. Other drivers who performed well were Raikkonen to finish third, Grosjean in fourth and Kamui Kobayashi in fifth.

The principality of Monaco played host to yet another glamorous Grand Prix. Michael Schumacher took pole position during qualifying much to the delight of many fans, however this was short lived as thanks to a 5 place grid penalty he recieved after the Spanish Grand Prix, he started from sixth and Mark Webber was promoted to pole position.

The race had an eventful beginning, with Romain Grosjean and Michael Schumacer colliding into the first corner, spinning Grosjean around into the path of several oncoming cars. Kamui Kobayashi and Jenson Button also collided, with Kobayashi’s car being flung into the air.

Following the first corner incidents, Mark Webber controlled the pace of the field, nursing the tyres through the first stint. He came under threat following his first pit stop, but after Vettel slotted back in behind Rosberg the race was a procession till the end with Webber taking the win in the closest race in history with the first six cars seperated by just six seconds. Heikki Kovalainen put in arguably the drive of the day in his Caterham, finishing thirteenth and holding off Jenson Button in the stronger McLaren for most of the race. Felipe Massa also saw a return to form finishing fourth.

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Jenson Button of team Vodafone McLaren Mercedes pilots his MP4-27 around the tight streets of Monte Carlo. Here he is just about to enter the famous tunnel section of the circuit. Photo taken atop the Fairmont Hotel.

PHOTO

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Pre-RaceValencia

Track InfoLocation: Valencia, SpainOpened: 2008Corners: 25Laps: 57Distance: 5.419kmArchitect: Hermann TilkeLap Record: Timo Glock, 1:38.683Previous Winner: Sebastian Vettel

First opened in 2008, the Valencian Street Circuit is a semi permanent street circuit that winds around the marina complex and the surrounding areas of the Spanish city and was designed by the well reknowned Hermann Tilke. As rules state that a country may only host one grand prix, the Valencian Street Circuit hosts the European Grand Prix, with the Spanish Grand Prix remaining at Catalunya. The track is notoriously difficult for overtaking moves, so qualifying well up the grid is paramount for a points scoring finish. The race has a high chance of a safety car, with such little run off area, and crashes are frequent, the most memorable in 2010 involving Mark Webber and Heikki Kovalainen.

DRIVERS TO WATCHMany teams are going into this years European Grand Prix not knowing what to expect following the first rounds of the championship. The Red Bull cars are always strong during the race, especially where high downforce comes into play. Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso are also certainly drivers to watch. Hamilton due to his performances in qualifying throughout the year, and Alonso for his incredible knack to get absolutely everything out of his dogged Ferrari. Also keep an eye out for the Mercedes, Lotus and even Pastor Maldonado in the Williams stealing points this weekend.

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Pre-Race

Silverstone

Track InfoLocation: Silverstone, EnglandOpened: 1948Corners: 18Distance: 5.901kmLaps: 52Architect: PopulousLap Record: Fernando Alonso 1:30.874Previous Winner: Fernando Alonso

Considered the home grand prix for a large majority of the Formula 1 grid due to team headquarters being located close by, the British Grand Prix is rich with history. Located at the Silverstone Circuit in Northamptonshire in England, the historictrack is situated on a former World War II airbase, and first held a race in 1948 before holding a race in the official Formula One World Championship during its first season in 1950. The race came under threat in 2004 when the race was called to be scrapped from the calendar, however this decision was overturned. As a result Silverstone Circuit has since seen numerous redevelopments, the most recent being in 2010, in which Silverstone was re shaped and extended, turning the classic circuit into a more modern race track.

DRIVERS TO WATCHAll the British based teams will be out to win or score points in front of their bosses and sponsors. McLaren have always been strong at the circuit, and their two British drivers Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton would be relishing the opportunity of victory in front of several thousand adoring British fans. The Red Bull’s have also been strong, filling the bottom two podium spots last season. Fernando Alonso is in excellent form and will always be looming for a podium finish, especially after victory at Silverstone last year. With Williams rise in form, is a win at home on the cards for the team from Grove?

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Its been a regular occurance recently, Mark Webber celebrates his second victory in three years and the Red Bull team celebrate three straight wins at the principality with the traditional post Monaco Grand Prix pool party.

PHOTO SPREAD

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PaddockThe Williams F1 team were rocked by a garage fire following Pastor Maldonado’s triumph at Catalunya during the spanish round of the championship. The first victory for Sir Frank Williams beloved team was overshadowed by the blaze, which began as the team was celebrating their victory in pit lane. Members from other teams quickly came to assist the Williams team in putting out the fire, which engulfed Bruno Senna’s car, and destroyed thousands of dollars worth of equipment. Several people were hospitalised with smoke inhalation. Here are some photos we found on twitter posted by journalists and garage members during the fire.

THE BESTOF...

“Now im getting worried! Couldn’t find mobile for 30 minutes. Found it inside my fridge. Put it there to open a bottle and forgot.”

@nico_rosberg

“Some f*ckr bumped my car in the car park while I was away, luckily I got numberplate from eyewitness, watch out! I’m coming to get ya!”

@H_Kovalainen

“My job today is to barbecue for the family.”

@rubarrichello

“On the roof of the hotel Hilton. Going to go fly a helicopter (:”

@vitalypetrov10

Fernando Alonso recently got himself an instagram account and has since earnt himself a cult following on the mobile app. Here is a photo he posted mid week, followed by him saying that he should probably take his mums advice and shave and get a hair cut.

“Shit I need a drink that was hard work!!” @AussieGrit

(Mark Webber)

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PaddockWe saw a few of the guys over the Monaco GP weekend show off some limited edition helmets. Sergio Perez on the right sported a homage to Latin American writer and actor Roberto Gómez Bolaños, an idol of his who is currently very ill. Sauber released a statement saying that there are two helmets of that design, one will be handed to Bolaños, with the other getting auctioned off with proceeds going to help orphans in Perez home country Mexico. Other design that could be seen during the weekend was Fernando Alonso’s gold “Monaco themed” helmet, with proceeds also going to charity. Kimi Raikkonen was also paying respect to James Hunt with a modern take on the flamboyant, party boy nature of the british driver from the 1980’s.

Quote, unquote.It was the place of my first win and to win here today brought back a lot of fantastic memories. And believe me, today it felt just as good as back in 2007.

A honey badger. It is a very aggressive animal and of course quite cute…

Rumours - nothing more. I believe that Felipe will bounce back and do a good job. He is a strong driver and he has a great team behind him. Once he’s bounced back all these stories will die at once.

Sometimes, some comments really got to me. But at the same time I knew better and was sure that by giving my best I would prove all the false comments were wrong. I knew it would just be a matter of time. Good results - and winning - are the best way to stop such nonsense.

Lewis Hamilton (right) on winning this years Canadian Grand Prix, the same place he took his first win in Formula 1.

If Dan Ricciardo wasnt flying around the track in his Torro Rosso, he would be a Honey Badger.

Sergio Perez dismissing rumours he might be taking Felipe Massa’s seat at Ferrari.

Williams driver Pastor Maldonado (right) on what it felt like to be labelled a pay driver. He went on to emphatically answer his critics at Catalunya.

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Driver Profile

DanRicciardoAfter making his debut last season in the HRT, Daniel Ricciardo has made the successful move into the number one driver position in the Toro Rosso team. has already begun to show his worth with a stellar qualifying performance in Bahrain where he managed to get into Q3 and start from sixth. With his first points finish in Formula 1 coming in the Australian Grand Prix, it is tipped that further success is just around the corner for the 22 year old from Perth.

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Driver Ratings We rate each drivers performance over the first seven rounds of the season.

SEBASTIAN VETTELHas been constantly complaining about lack of grip during qualifying. Straight line speed or lack of has killed him during races, has done well to be towards the top of the drivers table.

MARK WEBBERHad a very consistent start to the season, slight set back in Catalunya but bounced back for a brilliant victory in Monte Carlo. Would be dissapointed with his result in Canada but points nonetheless.

LEWIS HAMILTONWas unlucky during the first race of the year but still managed third. Has been consistently scoring points this season and a win in Canada will give him a boatload of confidence.

JENSON BUTTONExcellent start to the season and challenged for the win in China but has since drifted back. His current situation highlighted by a 17th in Montreal.

ROMAIN GROSJEANHas had a brilliant return to Formula 1, when he doesnt get tangled up with another car he brings it home in style. Will be unlucky to not take a victory this season.

KIMI RAIKKONENThe ice man has had a surprisingly solid return after a short absense. Challenged for the victory in Bahrain, with a car like the Lotus in his hands he will be a threat come the end of the season.

FERNANDO ALONSOHas easily been the driver of the season thus far, had performed above and beyond at each race.

FELIPE MASSAHas had a shocking start to the season, highlighted by Alonso’s stellar driving. Has bounced back somewhat in the last two races to score points.

NICO ROSBERGHas had a season similar to last, has been mixing it up throughout the middle of the points scoring positions, finally had a breakthrough victory in China.

MICHAEL SCHUMACHERMust have used all his luck during the first part of his career, could almost be leading the championship if not for retirements in almost every race.

SERGIO PEREZHas had two solid performances in both Malaysia and Canada scoring podiums. Is building into a real talent.

KAMUI KOBAYASHIHas entertained with some superb overtaking moves this season, needs that breakthrough like his team mate has achieved.

PASTOR MALDONADOWas terribly unlucky in Melbourne on the last lap, made up for it and silenced his critics on his way to victory in Spain.

BRUNO SENNAHas not had the impact that was expected of the Brazilian. Has scored points this season but a lot of room for improvement.

DAN RICCIARDOHas driven well thus far, scored points and a solid qualifying performance in Bahrain. Well ahead of his team mate.

JEAN ERIC VERGNEThe frenchman has underperformed during qualifying and that has hurt him terribly when it comes to the race.

NICO HULKENBERGHas driven well, but the Force India is off the pace compared to its rivals, room for improvement for the second half of the season.

PAUL DI RESTAThe brit has driven some solid races for the team, particularly in Bahrain. A solid defender, needs to cash in on some heavy points like the other midfield runners.

HEIKKI KOVALAINENExceeded expectations and bridged the gap to the midfield runners. Excellent display at Monaco to keep Button behind him for so long.

VITALY PETROVNeeds to show some of the form during his first season, and join his team mate further up the grid.

CHARLES PICPic in the Marrusia is struggling, needs to lift his game with the HRT’s hot on their heels.

TIMO GLOCKIs a much better driver than recent form suggests, cant see him closing the gap to the Caterhams however.

PEDRO DE LA ROSAIsn’t performing well at all, lets just hope that he is doing what HRT are paying him to do and that is help with research.

NARAIN KARTHIKEYANHas been involved in many on track incidents this season including collisions and ignoring blue flags. Give the seat to someone more capable.

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The lone figure of Williams Driver Pastor Maldonado walking back to the pit lane following colliding with the infmaous “Wall of Champions” during qualifying at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal.

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Spotted in Spain. Even with six world champions competing in this years championship, a large contingent of fans want to see exciting Polish driver Robert Kubica return to the grid following his accident early last year.

What is considered as the greatest Formula 1 photo of all time. This was submitted by a reader from Britain who has a print of this photograph in his loungeroom wall. We would love to see it!

Looking at the lighter side of Formula One through the lenses and minds of photographers and fans.

Parade LapF1 turned National Geographic photographer Darren Heath captures a pigeon in mid flight during the Monaco GP. Unfourtunately Kimi Raikkonen’s Lotus snuck into the background.

Both the Lotus cars had angry birds liverys on them for the Monaco GP. They sure would have been angry birds following the race, Grosjean crashing out in the first corner and Raikkonen finishing ninth.

Kamui Kobayashi gets some air after contact with Jenson Button going into the first turn of the Monaco Grand Prix.

One of our readers may have come up with the answer to Jenson Button’s recent form slump.

The love sure is out there for Kimi Rakkonen in his comeback season. Thanks for all the submissions!

One of our wonderful readers got the honour of designing the oscar winning movie (ha ha) The Magician starring Fernando Alonso. And by the looks of things, after driving himself to a podium finish in Monaco he went and worked his magic at the famous Casino located at turn four.

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Pit WallIn this edition of pit wall we take a look at the different tyre compounds used in F1 and simplify DRS.

YELLOW: The yellow marked tyres are the soft compound. They offer a high level of grip but minimal durability.

WHITE: The white marked tyres are known as the medium compound. They are the most versatile tyre out of all the compounds offering a reasonable level of grip whilst having the ability to be used for longer stints due to good durability.SILVER: The silver tyres are the hard compound tyres. These offer the lowest level of grip in dry weather, but can last very long periods during a race. often used by drivers attempting a one stop strategy.

ORANGE: The orange marked tyres are the full wet weather tyres. These tyres would be used when there is heavy rain on the track.

LIGHT BLUE: The tyres with the light blue markings on the sidewall are known as intermediate tyres. They are used during light to moderate rain, or as a track dries following heavy rain.RED: The red compound tyres are known as supersofts. These tyres are the sofest compound and as a result offer the highest level of grip and speed. Of course this means that the supersoft has very minimal durability.

There are six different kinds of tyre compounds used in F1. Each weekend a team is assigned a certain amount of set of four different compounds as determined prior to the race by Pirelli. The four compounds that are chosen are the wet weather tyres, intermediates, and two of the dry weather compounds. Of the dry weather compounds, the softer compound is known as the option, and the harder is known as the prime.

DRSDRS, or as it is technically called, Drag Reduction System, is a system on the back wing of a formula one car. As seen in the photograph below, when DRS is activated, a small flap in the rear wing of the car opens. This eliminated drag against the rear wing, and as a result it gives the car less downforce and a higher top speed. During a race DRS may only be enabled in certain areas, and it is a requirement that to use DRS you must be less than one second behind a car in front. In qualifying however, drivers are free to use DRS at any time, although it is primarily used on the straights, as using DRS around corners would result in a massive loss of grip and possibly a spin out. DRS gives a car approximately 10-12 kmph more towards their top speed, which makes it a very effective tool in overtaking. It is only allowed during dry weather, as using DRS in the rain is a safety hazard.

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WHO WILLWIN?