2011 German Grand Prix Preview

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2011 FORMULA1 GERMAN GRAND PRIX NURBURGRING, 22 ND – 24 TH JULY 2011 NICK: “I’m pRoUd to Be RepReseNtING LotUs ReNaULt Gp oN the GRId” VItaLY: “as UsUaL, aeRodYNamIC effICIeNCY wILL Be the KeY” eRIC BoULLIeR: “mY JoB Is to Keep spIRIts hIGh” James aLLIsoN: “I woULd pRefeR to Let the CaR do the taLKING”

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2011 German Grand Prix Preview

Transcript of 2011 German Grand Prix Preview

2011 FORMULA1 GERMAN GRAND PRIX

• NURBURGRING, 22ND – 24TH JULY 2011 • • NICK: “I’m pRoUd to Be RepReseNtING LotUs ReNaULt Gp oN the GRId” •

• VItaLY: “as UsUaL, aeRodYNamIC effICIeNCY wILL Be the KeY” • • eRIC BoULLIeR: “mY JoB Is to Keep spIRIts hIGh” •

• James aLLIsoN: “I woULd pRefeR to Let the CaR do the taLKING” •

LRGP_Preview_Ger11_Eng_covers only.indd 1-2 14/07/2011 11:44

THE NURBURGRING IS A TRACK NICK KNOWS WELL HAVING CYCLED, SLEDGED IN THE SNOW AND ACHIEVED HIS FIRST AND ONLY POLE POSITION AT THE VENUE. AS HE EXPLAINS, IT IS THIS FAMILIARITY THAT HE HOPES WILL LEAD TO MORE POINTS AT THE WEEKEND

I’M PROUd TO BE REPRESENTING LOTUS RENAULT GP ON THE GRId”

Q&A: Nick HeidfeldLOTUS RENAULT GP • RACE DRIVER • CAR 9

You scored four points for the team at Silverstone, a reasonable result considering it was a difficult weekend for the team?It is defi nitely not what we were hoping for, but if you look at the problems we faced on Friday and then Saturday when I qualifi ed 16th, I managed to fi nish 8th on Sunday which is I think the best I could have done. It was actually a fun race, with some nice battles out there, and we faced some interesting weather conditions going from a wet part of the track to a dry part. But, four points is not what we’re aiming for – we need more, deserve more and we must be proactive in making that happen. I really believe that we will be able to score a greater number of points over the next few races as we have some more interesting developments to bolt onto the car. At the Nürburgring you will be in front of your home crowd - is it always special for you to race in Germany?Yes, it is always special to be in Germany, there’s no doubt about that. There are obviously

a lot more fans supporting me there, and especially at the Nürburgring - I have so many nice memories from racing at the track. Learning how to ride a bike, driving a go kart and sledging in the snow are all things I did at the Nürburgring. I also won some races in junior categories there, and of course got my fi rst pole position in Formula One at the track, so coming back is like a trip down memory lane.How enthusiastic are the German fans?They are very enthusiastic and they have every reason to be because fi rstly Sebastian (Vettel) is leading and fi ghting for the championship, and secondly we have a number of German drivers in the championship giving it their best shot. I’m proud to be one of those drivers and proud to be representing Lotus Renault GP on the grid. What do you expect from the car at this race?I know, as James Allison has confi rmed, that there are some bigger developments coming than we had at the last couple of races. There has been a tremendous amount of work

going on in the wind tunnel so I am very hopeful that we will take a signifi cant step forward. We have had to demonstrate our patience during what were a couple of challenging races recently (Valencia and Silverstone), but now is the time for us to take that step forward and compete with the top teams again, which is where we belong.What are your targets for this race?Well, my objective is always to perform the very best that I can. I hope that the car is strong, so that we can go back to qualifying in the top 10 (which is exactly where we should be) and then get even stronger in the constructors’ championship; we will need to take the fi ght to Mercedes who just overtook us but we know we are more than capable of a fourth placed fi nish this season.

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“ IT IS ALWAYS SPEcIAL TO BE IN GERMANY, THERE’S NO dOUBT ABOUT THAT. THERE ARE OBVIOUSLY A LOT MORE fANS SUPPORTING ME THERE.”

Q&A: Vitaly PetrovLOTUS RENAULT GP • RACE DRIVER • CAR 10

AS USUAL,AERODYNAMIC EFFICIENCY WILLBE THE KEY”THE RUSSIAN EXPERIENCED A TOUGH WEEKEND AT SILVERSTONE BUT, WITH SIGNIFICANT UPGRADES TO COME FOR GERMANY, HE IS CONVINCED THE TEAM WILL BE BACK ON THE WAY UP

Vitaly, how would you summarise your British GP weekend?Honestly the experience of the venue was fantastic because the British Grand Prix has so many fans, there are just so many passionate people and it was our home race too. Unfortunately our on-track performance was not great over the three days. We had a very poor qualifying which left us in P14 and P16 – well below where we should be qualifying. The wet weather didn’t help us, and the rule changes (mapping) clearly had an impact. During the race, I got an ok start but we really struggled with the tyres and I found the car pretty undriveable in the wet conditions. I was unable to get to grips with the inter tyres, which affected us badly and we were just unable to protect ourselves from the other drivers such as Michael (Schumacher). When the conditions dried, we picked up our pace but it was not enough because we needed the car to be stronger than it was, so generally I was

disappointed because I thought the high speed corners would suit us well. However since then, I think that we as a team have understood what went wrong and will move on from it in Germany. You are at the Formula Sochi Festival in Russia this weekend. Does it make you proud to be able to bring F1 to the attention of your own fans?I think it’s been very important to come to Sochi and demonstrate all the sport has to offer. Formula One is getting more popular in my country, and we have a Russian Grand Prix in a few years (2014) so now is a good time to say ‘look, this is what F1 is all about!’What are your expectations for the German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring?Well, last year the race took place at Hockenheim, but of course this year driving at the Nürburgring will be different. The weather can be quite changeable there, which will again have an impact but the main thing we need is a strong

set-up for the car, as usual, aerodynamic effi ciency will be the key. It (the car) hasn’t performed at the level we know it can, and it has been off the pace for a few races now so we must get it right quickly to turn our season around. Additionally, it’s very important we reach Q3 in qualifying so that we can score more points come Sunday afternoon. What’s the minimum you expect from the next two races?Once again, we will be aiming for the maximum number of points, but we need to look at the whole weekend and get our performance up immediately from P1 right through until the race. Since Silverstone, we have been putting in the work to ensure we give ourselves the best possible chance at the Nürburgring. The speed with which we introduce our new upgrades is the critical factor in our success and I’m convinced that having these upgrades in place for Germany will give us more of a chance.

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“THERE IS NO DOUBT THAT THE GUYS AT THE FACTORY ARE PUTTING IN THE EFFORT TO TRY AND PRODUCE THE UPGRADES WE NEED TO BRING US BACK UP TO WHERE WE SHOULD BE”

A WORdWITHTHE BOSS

Eric BoullierTEAM PRINCIPAL AND MANAGING DIRECTOR

AS THE TEAM PREPARES FOR ONE OF THE F1 CALENDAR’S BIGGEST RACES, THE TEAM PRINCIPAL AND MD DISCUSSES LRGP’S UNIQUE SPIRIT, AND HIS HOPES THAT IT WILL HELP RAISE THE TEAM’S PERFORMANCE AT THE WEEKEND

Eric, it was a tough weekend for the team at the home race…Yes, it was and there was a general feeling of disappointment within the team. That said, it was good for Nick to recover from 16th on the grid to 8th position when he crossed the line – it was a positive and determined drive from him. At Silverstone, we were unable to recover from the tricky period the team has been going through, however since then we have continued to work really hard in the factory to improve the situation. We have some good developments coming, which unfortunately were not available for Silverstone but will be ready in Nürburgring. I am very confi dent these will take our performance forwards, closer to where it needs to be.Nick managed to put in one of his trademark performances to work his way through the order...Yes he did, Nick’s good at those kinds of performances. He did well to work his way up the grid, and we were relieved to score some points even if we did lose our fourth position in the Constructors’ Championship to Mercedes GP. We will be looking to claim that back at the Nürburgring.

How difficult has it been to keep team morale high recently?It’s always a challenge, especially if the results are not forthcoming. But, I enjoy this side of things; my job as a Team Principal is to reassure people, keep spirits high and give people targets that we can reach. It is one of the most challenging aspects of the job because you are dealing with human relationships, sporting and political issues, and there will always be good and bad times. However, the main thing is to stick together and make sure we reach the heights that we know we can.In Germany, can we expect some improvements to the car?Yes, we most certainly can. There will be some upgrades on the car which will help

considerably. Also, on the race team side, we must not miss any opportunity that we are provided with. We know we haven’t been fast enough recently, but with the hard work we are all putting in, it will get better. It has to get better.Two races remain until the August break- what can we expect from the team?We defi nitely need to catch up with Mercedes GP, who has overtaken us into fourth spot in the Constructors’ Championship which, with our pace, is the target this year. We can make some considerable technical changes, and we may also use a reverse exhaust system; this is something we still have to evaluate. There is a lot to look at, but we must make some positive steps in the next two races.

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“THERE WILL BE SOME UPGRAdES ON THE cAR WHIcH WILL HELP cONSIdERABLY. ALSO, ON THE RAcE TEAM SIdE, WE MUST NOT MISS ANY OPPORTUNITY THAT WE ARE PROVIdEd WITH”

Overall, what can be learnt from the British Grand Prix?Sadly, just the simple fact that although we redeemed ourselves to a degree in the race, we are not fast enough at the moment.What can we expect in Germany?I hope that it will see the start of us clawing our way back to respectability with a reasonable series of upgrades to the car.The Nürburgring – what challenges does it present?Nürburgring does not have any particular outstanding features, but it provides a fair all round test of the performance of a car. Probably the most unusual aspect of Nürburgring is that we only go there every two years.It is standard practice to consult the notes from the previous year prior to going to each circuit and, in Nürburgring’s case, these notes are two years out of date and therefore less helpful in offering pre-event guidance. For example: last time we were at Nürburgring not a single car on the grid had a blown diffuser.After a strong start to the year, the performance in terms of pace has fallen back relative to other teams - how can you explain this and what is in place to rectify the situation?It is easy to explain, less easy

to correct. F1 is a notoriously tough sport where the teams are both highly competent and also straining every fi bre to try to improve. Improving slowly is the same as going backwards and we have improved too slowly. While the analysis is facile, fi nding the gains to remedy the shortfall is not. I am confi dent that we will shortly deliver these gains, but I would prefer to let the car do the talking in the coming races rather than to give chapter and verse on what we intend to bring to the track.can you explain the wind tunnel upgrade and its impact on development progress?Our upgrade has allowed us to switch from a 50% model to a 60% model. It doesn’t sound like a big thing when you say it like that, but any F1 aerodynamicist would nod in agreement at the huge workload involved.

Although we call them “models”, the word does not do them justice as it conjures up images of a toy. F1 wind tunnel models are nearly as complicated and almost as expensive as their full size counterparts. They are beautiful pieces of engineering and it asks a lot of the aero department to generate the headroom to take on such an upgrade whilst not letting up on

the development of the car. In addition to the model,

there are changes to the tunnel infrastructure that need to be put in place: We had to modify the mounting system for the model and the wheels to cope with the new design. We had to develop new electronic measuring systems to cope with the higher loads. As each part is 20% longer, has 44% more surface area and 73% more volume, we had to upgrade our manufacturing systems to ensure that we could still cope with the throughput of making all of the thousands of wind tunnel test components at the same rate as their much smaller 50% counterparts.

Finally, we had to modify the tunnel working section to accommodate the larger model. This involved stopping the tunnel for 12 days, stripping the entire working section back to its bare skeleton and then building it back up for the new model. This is a huge budget of work, but I am proud that we have achieved it without impact on the programme other than 12 days of lost development. I am also happy that the weeks that have followed its installation have justifi ed the investment as they have been very rich in terms of downforce gained. Our challenge now is to get these gains to the track.

James AllisonTECHNICAL DIRECTOR

I WOULd PREfER TO LET THE cAR dO THE TALKING”

RATHER THAN GIVE CHAPTER AND VERSE ON WHAT THE TEAM INTENDS TO BRING TO THE NURBURGRING, JAMES IS CONFIDENT THE R31 WILL BE DOING ALL THE TALKING COME THE WEEKEND

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“f1 IS A NOTORIOUSLY TOUGH SPORT WHERE THE TEAMS ARE BOTH HIGHLY cOMPETENT ANd ALSO STRAINING EVERY fIBRE TO TRY TO IMPROVE”

1. ENGINEThere are no engine requirements which are specifi c to the Nürburgring, so we are looking for good mid-range torque, for exiting the medium speed corners and good all round driveability.

3. SUSPENSIONWe need to concentrate on a set-up for high speed change of direction corners, so it’s somewhere you’d have the car set up a little stiffer than the general baseline. Also, there is not much use of the kerbs so you don’t need to factor this into the equation.

4. REAR WINGThe downforce level very similar to that used for Silverstone, which is on the high side relative to the other circuits used over the season.

5. TYRESThe medium and soft Pirelli P-Zeros are allocated, which is the same tyres as used in Valencia. Data suggests that they will be a little bit better suited to Nürburgring as it’s a more severe on tyres than Valencia.

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6. fRONT WINGFor the Nürburgring you need a car which carries a reasonable amount of front wing to balance the car for the longish medium-speed corners.

2. BRAKESYou need good brakes which can be modulated well to attack the chicane before the last corner which is a good overtaking opportunity.

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GermanyTECH TALK

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TURNS 8 + 9A high speed section of the circuit with turns 8 and 9 taken at over 250 kph.

TURNS 10 + 11Good mid range pickup required from the engine exiting turns 10 and 11, both of which are taken between 160-170 kph.

TURN 12Taken fl at at around 280 kph.

TURNS 13 + 14The chicane is the only corner on the circuit where the kerbs are used, the left is taken at under 100 kph, the right slightly faster.

TURNS 5 + 6Good high speed turn in and balance required here as turn 5 is approached at around 270 kph, and taken at just over 200 kph, before braking to c 130 kph for turn 6.

TURN 7Strong braking with good modulation required into the hairpin which is a good overtaking opportunity. The hairpin is approached at 280 kph, with the slowest speed around it of 100 kph.

TURN 15Turn 15 is vital to get a good speed on the following main straight. You need to shed 100 kph coming into the corner, and ensure a clean exit on to the power.

TURNS 1 – 4There’s a quite technical low speed complex T1 – T4, mechanical grip and suspension settings have greater importance here than other sections of the circuit where downforce and the aero package have greater infl uence.

NURBURGRINGA SET-UP GUIdE

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GERMAN GRAND PRIXTHE REST OF THE NEWS

How does it feel at the mid-season mark?It was obviously a big challenge for us coming into a sport with only eight months preparation time, and only limited opportunity to go testing in what is the most demanding motorsport category there is, so from that point of view this year has been a major challenge. But, having said that, we’ve had a good run so far on mixed types of circuits. We’ve had street circuits, faster, more abrasive circuits, we’ve had a bit of heat and we’ve had plenty of rain recently too so it’s been quite a tough induction to the world of Formula 1. Everything considered, I have to say we’re quite happy with progress so far.How difficult was the challenge of developing the tyres?It is a challenge. The test season is in February and it’s not the best time of the season to be tyre testing as the surfaces are too cold and the cars are at their early stages of development. We’ve seen already just from these nine races that the cars are going through evolution and changing quite rapidly in the season and unfortunately we’re not able to go testing with that so we’re actually learning in race conditions. These are obviously the real conditions, and we have a lot of data which is provided to us at the end of each round, which we use to analyse our

Looking to the rest of the season what can we expect from Pirelli?We might bring compound choices closer together, we might make bigger jumps, we might turn around the allocations so that the harder tyre is not actually the one that teams have more of – they may have less of that one.

We don’t want to see patterns emerging where the race strategy becomes the same for everybody as we want different ideas from all of the teams as that is great from our point of view and hopefully it translates into interesting races for the public. How has it been learning all of the tracks? Our work is keeping the car in contact with the road and so the tarmac condition is fundamental to our work and that has been the biggest challenge for us as whilst we do have some indicative ideas, getting to a track with your own product and running on the surface – with a variety of temperatures of course - is the only means to get real data.

It’s tough. The teams have given us some indicative ideas but that is not a substitute for actually being there. For India, for example, we wanted to go and do some mapping of the surface but apparently the tarmac hasn’t been laid yet so we’re struggling a bit with that one at the moment!

product performance, but maybe if we had a dream list it would be that there was at least one week of in-season testing. That would be ideal for us. How can you keep all of the teams happy? You probably can’t keep all of them happy but you try to be neutral to have the same data at the same time in the same format. The objective is that nobody gains an advantage – by maybe being a friend of a friend or maybe pushing somebody harder than the other. You have to be fair to everybody otherwise they will always wonder if everyone is getting the same treatment. What are the highlights of the season so far?To be honest, almost every race is a highlight, as each race has its specifi c characteristics. Melbourne, being the fi rst one, was splendid. Then there was Turkey which was a home race for the factory, then Silverstone, near to our facility in Didcot. Of course Monza’s going to be a big race for us as an Italian company. Each race has held its own fascination and I think we’re all looking forward to Brazil as then we’ll look back and see if we really have done a good job or if we could have done better in some areas.

How have you found the f1 politics and level of media scrutiny?We try to keep out of the politics as we’re just trying to do our job of keeping the fans happy and keeping the FIA happy and the teams happy. In terms of the media interest, well that’s why you come into Formula 1; you come into the sport to stand up to the highest scrutiny and having the whole world looking at you is part of that.What’s the longer term view for Pirelli?We have some ideas we’d like to discuss with the teams. We’d like to stay in the sport and would like a longer contract than the three years we have currently. We have some yet to be announced ideas going forwards; we’re looking at new technologies using Formula 1 as a showcase for safety and technologies and also we have some performance ideas as well and we’ll be looking at the regulations to keep the racing interesting.

What has been the feedback from the rest of Pirelli as a company?Our participation has lit up Pirelli as the company as a whole has been so supportive and it is so exciting to be part of this. The team behind the Formula 1 programme is bigger than you see at the track - there are 250 people at the motorsport factory - so it’s a big team effort and judging by the smiles on everyone’s faces when we get back from an event, it’s clearly worth the effort.How big a part of the package do the tyres play in the excitement of the 2011 season?The simple change of a new tyre supplier was one aspect which created some variation as everyone had something new to learn. As regards tyre allocations, we have made the choices quite extreme in some respects, so that the driver input and the chassis design has had an impact on the tyre performance.

I don’t know how you proportion what bit we’ve played, but we feel we’ve played our part. This is what we were asked to do and judging by the feedback when we do sit down with the team principals, they’re very happy with our work.

What have been the main benefits and rewards from Pirelli’s f1 return?Everyone comes in to Formula 1 with the idea of gaining international exposure and F1 is the only sport which is a true world sport that happens over 19 weekends of the year going to all continents. We’ve seen a huge increase in our brand recognition, and the feedback from our customers is that our level of brand recognition has gone up signifi cantly inside their commercial operations. What have the fans liked about Pirelli’s involvement?We’ve found that the public seem to like the colourings on the tyres. We still need to improve these, and we’re working on new technologies to make them even brighter and more evident but we’ve found that the public have enjoyed seeing the coloured sidewalls. Who knows, there could even be a P-Zero with gold markings.

PIRELLI CAME INTO FORMULA ONE AT THE START OF THIS SEASON AFTER BEING OUT OF THE SPORT FOR TWO DECADES. NOW THE 2011 SEASON HAS PASSED THE HALF-WAY MARK, THE MAN IN CHARGE OF PIRELLI’S FORMULA 1 PROGRAMME, PAUL HEMBERY, TALKS ABOUT THE YEAR SO FARwww.pirelli.com

Q&Awith

Pirelli’sPaul Hembery

“OUR PARTIcIPATION HAS LIT UP PIRELLI AS THE cOMPANY AS A WHOLE HAS BEEN SO SUPPORTIVE ANd IT IS SO EXcITING TO BE PART Of THIS”

GERMAN GRAND PRIXTHE REST OF THE NEWS

This is the highest g-force the drivers experience in the lap at T8 and T9

This is the number ofgear changes per lap

In km/h this is the lowest apex speed at T1

In km/h this is the top speed, just before T1

3.55070

300

The percentage of the lap spent braking

The percentage of thelap spent at full throttle

In km/h this is the highest apex speed at T8

This is the longest distance, in metres, on full throttle on the start/fi nish straight

1864.3250700

NURBURGRINGIN NUMBERS

ROBERT GETSBAcK IN TOUcH

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WHERE CAN YOU FOLLOW US?On our website, to start with:

www.lotusrenaultgp.com(English, French, German, Russianand Polish versions)

On Twitter: twitter.com/Offi cialLRGPOn Facebook: Lotus-Renault-GP-The-Offi cialVitaly on Twitter: twitter.com/vitalypetrov10Nick on Twitter: twitter.com/NickHeidfeldBruno on Twitter: twitter.com/BSennaRomain on Twitter: twitter.com/Rgrosjean

WHO’S WHO AT LRGP ?• Gerard Lopez Chairman• Eric Boullier Team Principal and

Managing Director• Patrick Louis Chief Operating Offi cer• James Allison Technical Director• Naoki Tokunaga Deputy Technical Director• Martin Tolliday Chief Designer• Dirk de Beer Head of Aerodynamics• Steve Nielsen Sporting Director• Alan Permane Chief Race Engineer• Gavin Hudson Chief Mechanic• Jean-Marc Bories Chief Marketing Offi cer• Stephen Curnow Chief Commercial Offi cer• Stephane Samson Head of Communications

TRACKSIDE HOSPITALITY• The girls in our hospitality who will look after

our guests are Simona, Adriana and Daniela• Catering: Massimilian, Riccardo and Simoneto

Leo: How do you feel physically and mentally? Mentally, no problem at all. Physically, I am still a bit weak but my general condition is quite good. My weight has now returned to its normal level and for a few weeks I’ve been able to walk without help. All in all I feel pretty well.

Marcin: (dear Robert, I have a question about your feelings after the crash, and also during your return to health.) do you think that this crash has changed something in your racing driver’s mind? I don’t think so - I don’t have any memory of the accident, and I am just aware of the consequences it had. So, to me, it’s as if it never happened.do you think it helps you to be an even better driver? Let’s hope so! But in reality I don’t see why, because I think I will be back exactly the way I was.

Adi95lbnn: Which team will you come back to next year? I’m a Lotus Renault GP driver. Of course, I’m missing not being able to drive this season but I feel that my job in Enstone isn’t fi nished yet.

Jagodziewski36: When will you do a TV interview for us? I don’t know yet - as soon as I have time for media activities. Now I must concentrate on my rehabilitation and training programs.

Sebo: What is your opinion on the change to V6 in 2014? I will be able to tell you when I’ve tested it, especially because, by being turbocharged, I think the drivability will be different from the current one.

cichy1986: do you think dRS was a good idea? Yes, there is more action on track and the “one second gap” rule creates more challenging situations.

PITER12: How is your rehabilitation going? As I said before, I am satisfi ed with how things are proceeding. The improvement is in line with the expectations, and luckily there are no complications that could affect the recovery time. It is still too early to have a clear picture for the timing of my return but the important thing is the fi nal outcome not the hurry.

Adam T. Szczurowski: What do you do to keep your mind sharp when you’re unable to use the simulator? Are you doing any visualisation training? What is your way to preserve all the instincts of a racing driver while in recovery? You never forget how to ride a bicycle. There is nothing I need in that sense, I enjoy playing videogames as I always did and that’s it.

Kajetanlewicki: (Hey Robert, hope your recovery is going as well as planned!) Are you going to be ready to rock the grid next year and fight for the championship? Yes to the fi rst question. For your second question, we will have to wait until the fi rst test in 2012!

Mohamed Abdi: (Wishing you a speedy recovery, can’t wait to see you back on the grid!) What do you think of the team’s performance this year? Quite good, although it has been decreasing a bit, especially during qualifying sessions. I know there are some good updates to come in the forthcoming races and that should help to regain what we had in the initial stages of the season. Besides, in Silverstone, the “off throttle” issue clearly affected the competitiveness which we will defi nitely recovered in Germany next week.

Kamil_42k: Robert when you do come back to racing what will be the first thing you will do? I will relax with my race engineers in the briefi ng room for a while and then start to work.

NICK AND VITALY’S GUIDE TO NURBURGRING dEScRIBE NURBURGRING IN THREE WORdSNick: Many nice memories!Vitaly: Changeable weather, forest!

fAVOURITE RESTAURANTS ANd BARS?Nick: At the Nürburgring it’s all about racing, racing and more racing!Vitaly: I do have lots of places I like to eat whilst in Germany, but for me this weekend, it’s work, work and work!

WHAT dO YOU THINK Of THE TRAcK?Nick: I like the new circuit a lot but of course the old circuit is even more special, the old Nordschleife. Vitaly: Very technical and challenging, but I like to race there.

BEST MEMORY Of THE NURBURGRING?Nick: My pole position and a second place in the same race.Vitaly: Racing in GP2 there.

During the British Grand Prix weekend, we asked fans to send in their questions to Robert, who promised to look at each and every one of them!

The response was overwhelming with more than 1,300 questions received over the course of three days and, while Robert was unable to answer all of them, he did pick out a selection.

Here are just a few of those he chose…

Gallery

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More images available online: www.lotusrenaultgp.com

Media ContactsTeam Principal and Managing Director

And Finally…Cirebox

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LOTUS RENAULT GP PRESS OffIcEAddress Lotus Renault GP Whiteways Technical Centre Enstone Oxfordshire OX7 4EE

UK

Telephone +44 (0) 1608 678 000

Facsimile +44 (0) 1608 678 609

Email [email protected]

MEdIA cONTAcTS Stephane Samson, Head of Communications

+44 (0) 7827 307 185

[email protected]

Ben Nichols, Press Officer

+44 (0) 7748 920 072

[email protected]

Andy Stobart, Press Officer

+44 (0) 7703 366 151

[email protected]

Website lotusrenaultgp.com

Facebook facebook.com/pages/Lotus-Renault-GP-The-Official

Twitter twitter.com/OfficialLRGP