02/04/2015
NEWS STORY
Lotus F1 Team Deputy Principal Federico Gastaldi looks to China and the economic and sporting potential it has for Formula 1, as well as the state of play for Lotus F1 Team and as the sport after the first two races of 2015.
How much does the team look forward to racing in China?
Federico Gastaldi: The Chinese Grand Prix is an exciting event in a country which holds tremendous potential now and for the future. Looking at the automotive manufacture, China leads the way in terms of volume by a considerable degree so it's reasonable to expect that interest will continue to grow in the world's premier racing series. Certainly as a team we are receiving increased interest from China. We have a new development driver, Adderly Fong, who has Chinese heritage and we are also involved with a number of other initiatives with Chinese companies. China is obviously a huge market to explore commercially so it's very important for the business side of Formula 1 to be there. We've seen a growing fan base in China over the years and we have a lot of younger fans there which illustrates a great future for the sport.
What can you tell us about Adderly Fong's role with the team?
FG: Adderly joins us as a Development Driver and has a structured programme with the team over the course of the season. His programme is slightly different to that we're running with Carmen to reflect that Adderly will also be racing over the course of the year in the GP3 Series and GT Asia. We'll see Adderly at some Grands Prix and in Enstone where he will undertake simulator work to help him progress his racing as well as us develop the E23.
In China we will see Jolyon Palmer take to the wheel of the E23 in FP1, how important is this for the team? Jolyon is a crucial part of the team for this season so it was important for us to see him in the car over the course of a Grand Prix early in the season. For the first two races, it made sense for our race drivers to get as much time as possible in the car, but now we can start exercising some of Jolyon's talents in the FP1 session and we'll see him out in action quite a few times over the course of the year.
How do you feel about the competitive nature of Formula 1 in 2015?
FG: The Malaysian Grand Prix was a great race in terms of the spectacle on track and if we have races like that for the rest of the season we're in for a pretty good time! Just like any year, we're sure to have some races which have people on the edges of their seats as well as some which are far more tactical and appeal more to the connoisseur. That's the nature of Formula 1. And, just as we see a variety of different natured racing over the course of a season, it's also often the case that we hear lots of opinions about the sport as we have done already this year. No matter what people's opinion, it's great that people are talking about Formula 1.
What are your feelings on the calls to influence the competitive performance of teams such as pegging back performance?
FG: We heard these calls after the first race of the season which was maybe a little early to be making such noise. Now after two races there have been two different teams who have taken race wins, so the idea that Mercedes will have it all their own way this year was a little premature. Formula 1 is always very competitive and it doesn't matter which year you're in or the circumstances of a team in any given year: we all want to win and will do everything we can to become as competitive as possible. Of course, we have a promoter and a regulatory body which are both very attuned to the various needs of the sport, so every aspect is always very closely scrutinised.
What's the wish list for the team from the next races?
FG: At the top of the list is, of course, points. We have the pace so we just need to be there in the correct position when the chequered flag falls. Both Pastor and Romain are operating at the top of their games so it's just a question of having a race without any issues or contact from other cars. We've had a couple of reliability issues which we're addressing so we expect to be out there and scoring very soon.
Technical Director Nick Chester dissects the sweet and sour from the season so far and outlines the team's hopes for something satisfying to take away from the Chinese Grand Prix.
What are the primary performance considerations for the Shanghai International Circuit?
Nick Chester: It's an interesting venue. The circuit has a mix of sectors: a very long straight in the final sector and some high speed corners in the second sector. It's a balance between setting the downforce level so that you can be fast through the turns without compromising your pace on the huge back straight. It is a technical track for the drivers and hard work physically for them, particularly in turn one as it is is very fast before it tightens up in turns two and three.
What upgrades are planned for Shanghai?
NC: We have bodywork upgrades at the front and rear of the car. In combination, we have a reasonable upgrade package for Shanghai which mainly focusses on improving our downforce.
It could be quite a relatively chilly weekend – does this hold any fears?
NC: The range of ambient temperatures can vary significantly in Shanghai from around 10 to 30 degrees Celsius so that's quite significant. We can't know for sure in advance what the weather will be like but yes it will certainly be cooler than the last race! We will put emphasis towards generating the right tyre temperatures. And we'll certainly pack our fleeces.
Jolyon Palmer will drive in FP1 – what type of to-do list will he have for that session?
It will be good to have Jolyon out in action in FP1. His to-do list will be the same as the race drivers', so aero evaluation work, some set-up runs and then longer runs towards the end of the session. It will help with our weekend preparations as we always look at FP1 as being the development session.
How would you evaluate the E23 Hybrid's performance in Malaysia?
NC: We were quite pleased with the pace of the E23 in Malaysia. The car ran well on the Friday with Romain being well up on the timesheets and our qualifying performance was pretty reasonable on Saturday. Looking at the tyre performance, I think that it was tricky for everybody in Kuala Lumpur: we had never seen track temperatures that high as they were over 60°C! This meant that it was difficult to keep the tyre surface temperatures under control however we did a reasonable job of this. In the race, balance and the handling of the car were promising and already a step forward from the first race of the season. We were compromised by traffic but that's the nature of racing as it's seldom you have a clear track in front of you. The E23 coped well in the extreme heat and it was the first time that it ran in the wet. Again, the handling was pretty decent in those conditions so we continue to see the potential of this package.
It wasn't perfect running in Sepang, what's been done to put the early-season niggles to bed?
NC: Pastor had a puncture right at the start of the race after contact with Valtteri Bottas and then later an issue with his brakes. We are still thoroughly investigating the matter and a solution will be in place by the time the car runs in FP1 in China. There was also a quite minor issue with Romain's car which unfortunately affected the power unit. It was a small bit of sensor mis-information which meant Romain wasn't getting absolute maximum power. Not a big issue, but it was something which meant Romain had to fight a little harder for his overtaking moves.
Does a win from a team other than Mercedes give faith to all the other teams that they can be beaten again?
NC: It's a long season ahead and we're all trying to do exactly that. We've seen in this year that Ferrari have improved significantly over the winter months and it seemed that the hot track in Sepang suited them well. They had an improving car, a good strategy and they put it all together to take the win. It shows that with enough development Mercedes can indeed be beaten which is good for the sport. Rest assured, we're doing everything we can at Lotus F1 Team to challenge Mercedes, Ferrari and every other team as best we can over the course of the year.