First point for Bhai Tech at Portimao

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At Portimao, where the track is featured by a natural rise and fall, Bhai Tech Racing Team experienced a bittersweet racing weekend. The Team scored its first points of the season with the two McLaren MP4 12C, however the Mestrino-based staff is not satisfied with on track performances, so far, even because of many limitations due to turbo engines.

The four drivers, Giorgio Pantano/Rafael Suzuki and Chris Van der Drift/Luiz Razia managed to climb back up the race by chalking up 29 passes, finishing in the top 10 in both races and scoring the first points. The long weekend started on Thursday with a two-hour free practice session during which the staff, directed by the engineer Mr. Roberto Costa, shook down the #65 car which was seriously damaged at Le Castellet, then continued to develop the two McLaren in order to be well prepared for the second race of the International GT Open Championship.

On Saturday afternoon, after qualifying in the ninth and tenth row, the racer from Padua Giorgio Pantano along with the Brazilian driver Rafael Suzuki drove an exciting recovery manoeuvre, jumping up to tenth (seventh in class) and scoring one point, while the two classmates Van der Drift and Razia finished 13th . During Sunday’s race the New-Zealander and Brazilian racing crew jumped up to the ninth position overall, which is the fourth in class. Recovering 10 positions was not enough for the Italo-Brazilian duo, who finished just one step behind the score zone.

“We knew it wouldn’t have been easy, as it was our debut in the dry. Due to its features the track at Portimao was an important test bench, as it gave us the opportunity to have a complete picture of our development and the areas where corrective actions have to be performed” says the technical director Roberto Costa “We tested car set-up so many times, trying to get the best balance, making a step forward in the second race. Now we’ll have to make the most of the data gathered from the racing weekend in order to continue to develop the car over the next races, but, most of all, we’ll have to continue to work together with the series’ arrangers to try to solve issues related to car balance and turbo engine, in order to take an equal struggle against rivals”, finished the Brazilian enginee

The Bhai Tech Advanced Vehicle Science Centre- based Team left Algarve aware to be a valid and hard rival, to be able to progress and strive for top positions. Next racing weekend will be held on the German track at Nurburgring on 1st-2nd June 2013.

Spanish GP – THE POINT

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Ferrari and F1 made us live an extraordinary GP on Sunday afternoon. I experienced in person the first two days of the Spanish GP and I can say that the Scuderia showed to run very fast in the the long run since free practices. It showed to be comfortable on both rubbers.

No doubt the F138 has to improve on the single qualifying lap, which is its Achilles’ heel, but in this F.1 season we see many passes due to Kers, DRS and high tyres degradation. Most of the success achieved by the Italian team is due to Alonso, who made an excellent pass on the first corner. That manoeuvre will make the history of F.1; thanks to that kind of manoeuvres we have the opportunity to live an exciting season.

Today’s result is a clear proof that a team can easily shift from a disappointing race to an excellent one. The Spaniard scored a great success in his homeland, thanks to which he is only 17 points from the leader of the points table. In the next two races to be run in Canada and Monaco, the Spanish driver can make the difference again. Congratulations to Felipe Massa, who managed to recover. He was able to handle tyres’ issues in the best way, taking home a fantastic third place which moves the Ferrari team up to second in the constructors’ championship. The two drivers made also excellent pit-stops. That was an excellent birthday gift for Stefano Domenicali, I seize the chance to re-extend to him my best birthday wishes.

The Italian team’s excellent weekend was enriched by the second successful result achieved by Antonio Fuoco, a FDA driver, in the Formula Renault 2.0 Championship. On the track of Imola Fuoco replicated the success achieved in Vallelunga in the opening race. Even the FDA youngest drivers give their contribution to make the history of the Italian team even more interesting.

I was afraid of Raikkonen since free practices. If Lotus’ financial resources don’t drop down, the Finnish driver will be Fernando’s first rival. Kimi made an excellent start of season, as well as Force India; Paul Di Resta’s seventh place placed the Indian team ahead of McLaren, which finished in the points with both drivers. Once again Button made the difference on hard rubber.

Toro Rosso drove an excellent race, as well. The team form Faenza scored a point with Ricciardo, even in a hard-fought race such as the Spanish GP, where the track was full of debris and the risk to make a trivial mistake was high. The Italian team consolidates its seventh position.

Mercedes drove an excellent single qualifying lap, but the German car had many problems during the race. They weren’t the rivals to be afraid of, for sure, even if I’m so happy with Niko Rosberg’s qualifying performance, as the German driver drove an excellent lap and managed to keep Hamilton behind him. The German driver could hardly be overtaken and finished sixth, so that Mercedes could preserve the fourth position in the constructors’ championship. Their car wear out tyres too much, I think that they have a great margin of improvement over the next races.

Next race will be run in Montecarlo, where drivers will use soft and super-soft tyres. Even in this case, drivers will have to suffer so much. Despite drivers will have the chance to make several passes through the narrow streets of the circuit, qualifying still remains so important.

Spanish GP – Preview

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The first European GP has always been very interesting, because all teams bring to the race many technical upgrades. The Barcelona GP will be raced after a three-week-break, during which teams had time to analyze all data gained from the first four GP.
Pirelli will make the Spanish weekend even more interesting by bringing to track a new kind of hard compound, which will be so similar to the one used in the final part of the past racing season. Since it’s a brand new compound, teams didn’t have the chance to test it during winter testing, so suspense will increase. As an exception, teams will also have an extra super hard tyres set at their disposal during free practices, so they can run more laps and test new upgrades.
I’m expecting to see Red Bull-Ferrari and Lotus fighting for the win. If Alonso hadn’t had a drawback in the last race, he could have fought for the first or second position. Lotus has been handling Pirelli tyres in a very good way, the car is so competitive and the Finnish driver is very good at managing it. Much attention should be also focused on McLaren and Mercedes. The Walking- based team handled good races on hard tyres, especially Button. They are this start of season’s little disappointment and I think they worked hard over the last few weeks to try to sort out problems.
Force India, which is ahead of McLaren in the overall standing, shouldn’t be underrated, along with Toro Rosso. They’re surpassing Williams which is in trouble at the moment. Even the Faenza-based Team will bring several upgrades to the race.

Spanish GP Schedule
Friday May 10th
10:00 – 11:30 Free Practices 1; live on Sky Sport F1 and Rai Sport 1
14:00 – 15:30 Free Practices 2; live on Sky Sport F1 and Rai Sport 1
Saturday May 11th
11:00 – 12:00 Free Practices; live on Sky Sport F1 and Rai Sport 1
14:00 Qualifying; live on Sky Sport F1 (13:00) and Rai 2 (13:45)
Sunday May 2nd
14:00 – Spanish GP: live on Sky Sport F1 (12:30) and Rai 1 (13:10)

Bhai Tech Racing: Next stop Portimao

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Fifteen days after the opening race at Le Castellet, spotlights are focused on Bhai Tech Racing Team, again.  The Mestrino-based racing team is ready to get back on track to take part in the second racing weekend of the International GT Open Championship, to be raced at the Portuguese circuit of Portimao.

The cars are on the way to Algarve, but the staff directed by Mr. Roberto Costa, the engineer, had to work hard over the last days to fix the McLaren MP4 12C GT3 driven by Pantano/Suzuki, which was seriously damaged during the first race and get ready for the next challenge in Portugal, where 32 teams will take part in the racing event. The French weekend didn’t give the Italian team the chance to show all its potential, because of some rain tyres issues which affected the four drivers’ performances.

“It was a race against time, as we had to get spare parts directly from England and fix up both cars, which are now heading to Portugal” analyses the technical manager Mr. Costa “It was a long work and I want to thank all the guys. Given that we had such a short time at our disposal, we didn’t manage to shake down the two cars, which are planned to be shaken down during testing on Thursday. We also worked side by side with McLaren to try to solve Dunlop tyres issues, which affected our cars. In Portugal we’ll continue to develop our apprenticeship’s programme and drivers will get a better feeling with the car and the Championship.” After rain, fog and low temperatures at Paul Ricard, weather is expected to be sunny in Portugal “Weather should be mild, so it will be easier for us to continue our development programme. Cars showed to be competitive in the dry even at Le Castellet. We worked hard, only the track will tell us if we worked better than our rivals.”

The racing weekend will start on Thursday with a 2 hours testing’s session and will continue also on Friday morning (10.15 – 11.15), before the 60’ free practices’ double session and qualifying to be held on Saturday (9.30 and 11.50) to determine the starting grid of both races.  The 70’ first race will start at 16.00 and race-2 will start on Sunday at 12.00.

Apprenticeship week end for Bhai Tech Racing at Paul Ricard

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Spotlights were focused on the first season of the Padua-based team in the International GT open Championship, whose opening race was run on the transalpine track of Le Castellet, last weekend.

The opening race was featured by rough weather: rain, fog and low temperatures gave the team, who is directed by the engineer Mr. Roberto Costa, the chance to gain experience at the wheel of the two new McLaren MP4 12 C GT3, driven by the two couples of drivers Pantano/Suzuki and Van der Drift/Razia, who all made their debut in the International series.

Given the fact the Mestrino-based team was making an all-round debut in the series, it didn’t let anybody down, as it gained km, collected data and set encouraging split times since free practices, leading the two cars at the top of the standing. In qualifying 1, the four Formula car racers showcased all their talent by qualifying in the second row; the car #65 driven by the Italo-Brazilian couple Pantano/Suzuki qualified ahead of the team mates. During the race luck was not at the side of the Italian team, as Van der Drift’s race was ruined by a collision with the Aston Martin, because of which the driver from New Zealand had to quit the race in advance after a turnabout.

In the final stage even the second car, driven by Suzuki, exited the scene. The crash was violent and the damages caused by that couldn’t be fixed on time to take part in the second qualifying session, during which Luiz Razia cheered up by qualifying in the first row and setting the second best laptime. Once again the final verdict didn’t do justice to Van der Drift who, after taking control of the car and pitting for a long time to have some parts of the bodywork fixed, finished 15th  .

“We cannot be pleased with the final result, as we didn’t manage to solve few problems in the wet. Everything was new to us and we had never raced in such conditions before. The choices we made unfortunately didn’t pay off. Now we’ll work side by side with McLaren to analyze all data, even the ones concerning Dunlop rain tyres”, says the technical director Mr. Roberto Costa “The car was competitive in the dry. We don’t have to forget that we’re only at the first stage of the development. The team is so competitive and it’s composed by experts. We’re thinking about next race in Portimao.”

The staff is ready to go back to the cutting-edge Bhai Tech Advanced Vehicle Science Centre to analyze all data and get ready for the next challenge to be held on the track of Portimao (May 11th /12th).

Everything is ready at Bhai Tech home for the Paul Ricard

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The excellent drivers of Bhai Tech Racing are ready to make their debut in the 2013 GT Open Championship, to be held on the track of Le Castellet next weekend. The Paul Ricard race will be the first of the eight races which compose the Championship’s racing calendar and will be competed on the most famous tracks all around the world: Portimao (May 11th-12th), Nurburgring (June 1st-2nd), Jerez (June, 15th-16th), Silverstone (July 13th-14th), Spa-Francorchamps (September 7th-8th) and Monza (October 5th-6th), before the final racing event to be held on the track of Barcelona, Spain, in November 9th to 10th.

Under the technical management of Mr. Roberto Costa, the engineer, the Padova-based team, whose headquarter is located in the cutting-edge technological centre called Bhai Tech Advanced Vehicle Science, which is equipped with a 6-DOF state-of-the-art full-motion driving simulator, a simulation and modelling software, a gym which is fully- fitted with the latest equipment where drivers can physically and mentally relax after sessions in the simulator, will take part in the opening race of the championship with two GTS class McLaren MP4 12C GT3, driven by four formula car drivers.

The car #65 will be driven by the Venetian GP2/08 champion Giorgio Pantano, who took also part in the F1 World Championship, in the Superleague Championship and in the IRL Championship. The Italian driver will team up with the Brazilian driver Suzuky, who raced in the F.3 Championship in Japan and Europe. The second racing crew (#66) will be composed by the Newzealander driver Chris Van der Drift, who will run his second racing season with Bhai Tech Racing Team and previously took part in the World Series Renault Championship, in the A1 Grand Prix Championship and in the Auto GP Championship. The Newzealander will team up with the Brazilian driver Luiz Razia, who was 2012 GP2 deputy champion and will race in a GT Championship for the first time.

“It’s going to be an apprenticeship weekend, as we’ll make our debut in the Championship. We’ll have to check all the upgrades introduced by FIA with regards to the turbo and have a deep knowledge of the McLaren which will be so different if compared to the 2012 version. It will be so important to understand which our starting point is and, above all, to know how much we’ll manage to progress session after session,” says Mr. Costa, the technical director “We’ll rely on our drivers’ support, even if they’re making their debut in the Championship. Only Van der Drift is more experienced than the others, as he ran with us the last few races of the Italian GT Championship. We’ll have to work a lot, but the two races will last long, as much as the Championship,” ends up the Bhai Tech’s engineer.

GP Bahrein – UP & DOWN

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Besides my personal support, the GP in Bahrein was stunning and exciting in every way. It was featured by exciting battles, overtaking (even between drivers of the same team), punctures, recoveries, technical issues and a lonely win.

In other word, a bit of everything happened in a hot Sunday where Sebastian Vettel gained ground and Lotus achieved the second place in the constructors’ championship, thanks to its two drivers who finished second and third. It was also a revenge race for McLaren and Lotus’ second drivers and Di Rasta’s performance won the audience’s applause and pushed Force India to the fifth position, ahead of the Walking giant. It was also a race during which Fernando Alonso showed his great strength again, recovering several positions despite lacking the DRS.

Given this premise, let’s grade drivers:

Fernando Alonso – vote 9. The two laps he ran with the DRS open were excellent. Despite DRS malfunction, he drove an amazing race, as well. He could have fought for the victory against Vettel. Despite the issues, the Ferrari’s driver scored four more points in comparison with the past season; this makes us hope for the best.

Sebastian Vettel – vote 8. The German driver took an excellent start, getting the better over Alonso and Rosberg. He started driving a successful race since the first few laps. Then he drove a “lonely” race, not being disturbed by rivals.

Paul Di Resta – vote 8. He knew how to make the most of his Force India and he will be soon in the hunt for a podium. He’s helping his team to make step forward. Thanks to him Force India classified 5th in the overall standing and it is the first among secondary teams.

Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean – vote 8. They finished behind Vettel, taking home important points for the Championship, without making any mistake and making the most of the material made available. They are playing gooseberry in the hunt for the title.

Lewis Hamilton – vote 7.5. His teammate got the better over him in qualifying. He recovered during the race showing talent, determination and experience until the last lap. He finished fifth.

Nico Rosberg – vote 7.5. He drove a super qualifying lap. His Mercedes continued to wear out tyres, this doesn’t support his on-track determination, causing long run issues.

Sergio Perez – vote 6. Surely we had fun seeing his shootout against Button, but in the next races he will have to calm down and clarify with Jenson. Some actions were on the edge of the fair play.

Mark Webber – vote 5. He was not determined on track and seeing what his teammate is able to do, finishing seventh is not so much.

Felipe Massa – NC. Two tyres’ punctures are too many. Punctures’ causes should be analyzed  and so much work still has to be done for the future.

GP Bahrein – THE POINT

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In the most exciting GP since the beginning of the 2013 F1 Championship, one of the main protagonists, Fernando Alonso, didn’t manage to achieve a good position because of a technical issue. The GP was featured by battles, overtaking on the borderline of regulations.

Perez’s behaviour towards Button was really uncontrollable. Button didn’t want to lose his leadership inside McLaren team and Rosberg was unfortunately penalised by tyres degradation. His qualifying lap was almost perfect, running ahead of two world champions such as Vettel and Alonso. The team was aware that the situation would have been upside down during the race, because of rear-tyres over degradation. The battle at the beginning of the race didn’t help him. On the contrary, Lewis Hamilton delivered an excellent race performance; the Englishman managed to jump up to the fifth place, as he made the most of Pirelli tyres. Running 2/3 more laps before pitting in the last phase of the race allowed him to finish the race on less consumed rubber, managing to get the better over Webber and Perez.

It was a lively weekend since Saturday; all top drivers crossed the line within few tenths. Unfortunately it was a bitter race for the Italian team, as Alonso was slowed down by a DRS failure and Massa was penalised by two tyres punctures which have to be deeply analyzed. The Spaniard delivered an excellent performance: despite pitting in advance and lacking the DRS, he ran an extraordinary race being only 37’’ behind Vettel.  He scored 3 points, which is a very good result considering the unlucky start, even if I think the Italian team would have deserved more than it achieved. Besides an excellent performance and the win scored, I find it hard to consider Vettel as the author of a “lonely” and smooth race, after Alonso and Rosberg’s overtaking. Anyway I think he still has room for improvement, despite his team suggests him not to push on track and the lap times set during the race. On the contrary Webber didn’t rise to the occasion. It’s difficult to judge his performance, as he had tyres issues. Unfortunately he was involved in several on-track battles which caused quicker tyre degradation.

Raikkonen and a recovered Grosjean complete the podium. Lotus scored precious points and preserves top positions, showing to be the third team in the constructors and drivers’ standings. After suffering a very performing Kimi, who always makes the most of an excellent car, Grosjean got back to the right direction, thanks also to chassis change. The E21 racing car delivered excellent performances on these tyres and scored much more points than in the past season.

We have to clap our hands to Force India and Di Resta who finished at the foot of the podium. He’s always in Q3 and he’s entering the struggle to get the sixth place. If Sutil hadn’t had a clash in the first phase of the race, he would have taken home important points. It’s good that he’s able to struggle against top drivers.

Now, we’ll have three weeks before the world championship will be raced in Europe. At this point of the season teams and drivers have a complete picture of tyres behaviour, since they test them under different weather conditions. Next race will be held on a well known track such as the Barcelona circuit, where pre-season tests took place. Red Bull remains the reference car, even though Ferrari is closer to it also in qualifying. There are also many outsiders striving for the title: Mercedes, which is usually so fast on a single qualifying lap and Lotus, always at the top of the standing. According to performance equalization, every single mistake will be paid off twice. So much attention should be paid. There are still 15 GP to be raced, so everything could happen. In Spain we’ll see several upgrades.

Bhai Tech Racing in action with Pantano, Suzuki, Van Der Drift and Razia

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Uninterrupted training for Bhai Tech Racing before making the debut in the 2013 GT open Championship, whose first race will be held on the 27th of April at Paul Ricard circuit.

The Padua-based Team took a two-day private testing session on the well known track of Adria with its two McLaren MP4 12C GT3 racing cars, driven by the two racing crews composed by Giorgio Pantano – Rafael Suzuki and Chris Van der Drift – Luiz Razia.

Under the technical management of Mr. Roberto Costa, drivers and staff focused on refining FIA new regulations regarding electronic controls “We worked hard during the two-day testing session, we mainly focused on the last technical upgrades introduced by the Federation in the area of electronic controls linked to the turbo operating system. Since it’s a last minute upgrade, much attention should be paid on it. We’re working side by side with McLaren to develop every single aspect.”

It was also a good chance for Brazilian driver Razia to test the McLaren MP4 12C GT3 car company for the first time, in preparation for the opening race to take place at the French Circuit.

 

GP Bahrein – Preview

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Chinese GP – UP & DOWN

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The Chinese GP in Shanghai was featured by overtaking, battles, car collisions between drivers and several mistakes made especially by Red Bull. Ferrari and Fernando Alonso scored the first win of the season, recovering from the Malaysian weekend; Lotus and Mercedes finished on the podium thanks to Raikkonen and Hamilton.

FERRARI – Alonso: vote 10. The weekend was flawless in all respects. A concentrated Fernando Alonso delivered an excellent strategy and pit-stop performance, as usual. He was calm and didn’t give anything to anyone. He put pressure on Hamilton since the beginning and overtook the Englishman on the fourth lap, delivering an offensive strategy. Massa: grade 6. This is a consolation mark for the performance delivered during free practices. The Brazilian driver tries to imitate his team mate but he always finish behind him. He only managed to finish sixth on 40 seconds. He has to do more than he did.

MERCEDES – Vote 8: last season the German team scored its unique win at Shanghai Circuit. After finishing third in Malaysia, Hamilton scored a podium finish again. Vote 8 to the English driver who is in a very good shape. He started from the front row and delivered an excellent performance during the race. The car is extremely performing on a single qualifying lap, but has to improve in the long run and has to improve tyres’ handling, as well.

MCLAREN – Vote 7 to the team and Jenson Button. The Englishman said that the Chinese GP would have felt like something of a reboot of the start for the team. He finished fifth which is a good start of season. He couldn’t do anything more. He has to take on the responsibility of the Team’s development. Vote 4 to his team mate Perez. Besides being in troubles with the car, his on-track behaviour was extremely incorrect. Especially with regards to Kimi; the Mexican driver should have been penalized by FIA commissioners.

RED BULL – Vote 5 to the team: weekend full of mistakes maybe caused by the diatribe aroused after the Malaysian GP. Vettel made strategy mistakes in qualifying. Vote 6 to the German driver. Gasoline mistakes for Webber. This is the second time. This is totally unacceptable for a team who won 3 constructors’ championships. The Australian driver lost a wheel, so he was penalized at the pit-stop. Vote 7 to him because he managed to handle such a negative situation in a good way. Unfortunately I think hard times are not over and it will take so much time before harmony will be restored inside the team (if it will ever be restored).

LOTUS – Vote 8. After scoring a win in the first GP, the team scored a podium finish again thanks to Raikkonen. Vote 9 to the Finnish driver. He was stunning. Despite car issues caused by a car collision with Perez, the Finnish man was able to hold his ground against Fernando. He will be a troublesome driver for his rivals and an aspirant to the world title. Grosjean scored two points, vote 6 to the Frenchman who helped the team to preserve the third position in the overall standing. He although suffer a very fast Kimi.

TORO ROSSO – Vote 8: the Italian team is the Chinese weekend’s big surprise. Q3 in qualifying, Ricciardo finished 7th and the team classified 7th in the overall standing. Let’s go on like this. The team can also strive for the 7th place in the constructors’ championship which I think is the aim of the Team from Faenza.

FORCE INDIA – Vote 7. The Team has the same points of McLaren, but the budget available to the Indian team is lower than the one made available to the English Team…The season started in a good way. This bodes well for the future. Sutil was unlucky throughout the weekend, but Di Resta didn’t give up and managed to take home some points. Vote 6.5 to the Scotsman who was a bit too much aggressive towards his team mate.

SAUBER – Vote 6. The team managed to take home one point, but the team still has to work hard if they want to revert to the level of the past season. Hulkenberg is alone, as Gutierrez still has to work hard if he wants to help the team. Vote 4 to him.

WILLIAMS – Vote 5: the team is going lower and lower. It doesn’t work like this. Expectations were different at the beginning of the year. Drivers and team are not able to move up the standing. Three races, no points scored; they still have to work hard to improve performance and reliability. Vote 6 to drivers as a consolation mark.

As far as MARUSSIA and CATERHAM are concerned, they progressed, but they still have so much work to do. Jules Bianchi tries to perform miracles with the car. He‘s gaining experience for the future.

Chinese GP – Gian Carlo Minardi’s point of view

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Before starting to comment the Chinese GP, I would point out something that made me laugh. Andrea Stella’s comment on Fernando Alonso’s performance and the Spaniard’s answer (the former told to the latter that he didn’t need to push hard, so the Spaniard answered: “I’m not pushing at all”) on the last few laps of the Chinese GP reminded me of 1999, the year Nando tested the F1 Minardi in the wet at Jerez. On that occasion, just after three laps, he set the fastest lap time, running 1 sec. faster than any other tester.  At that point we told him not to push, as it was only a test, and, even at the time, Alonso answered he wasn’t doing anything particular and could improve his performance……

The Chinese GP was full of suspense, overtaking, collisions and pit-stop mistakes (sometimes heavy). Strategies and tyres were the real protagonists of the third GP. 5 world champions finished in the first five places; each driver belongs to a different team. A perfect Fernando Alonso finished on the top step of the podium. The Spaniard undertook an offensive strategy form the beginning to the end, scoring the first win of the season. The car, along with the pit lane staff and the pit-stop staff, undertook a flawless strategy and delivered good performances.

On the contrary, it wasn’t a perfect weekend for Red Bull because of Vettel’s strategy and a gasoline mistake regarding Webber’s car. This is the second time within two years that such a mistake is made by the team, but I think the most suspicious thing is that this was the third time Webber’s race was affected by trivial mistakes made just after some problems between the team and the Australian driver had occurred in the previous race……

The Malaysian episode could have been the cause of those mistakes, which are so heavy if made by a team which won the last three constructors’ championships.

Lotus and Mercedes delivered excellent performances. The two teams and their two drivers Raikkonen and Hamilton will be the protagonists of the next race to be held in two weeks time. Jenson Button undertook an excellent defensive strategy, as well, and finished fifth behind Vettel, driving an even more performing McLaren. Grosjean and Massa’s races were less exciting, but, thanks to the position achieved, Lotus and Ferrari ranked second and third in the Championship.

Daniel Ricciardo and Toro Rosso were stunning. After the Q3, the Italian team finished seventh and scored new points which led it to the seventh place ahead of Sauber, who finished tenth thanks to his driver Hulkenberg.

With the fourth race of the F1 Championship to be held in one week time, we’ll have a complete picture of the 2013 Pirelli compounds. On that occasion teams and drivers can use the P Zero Yellow (soft tyres) and the P Zero Orange (hard tyres).