Australia: Figures and Technical Data

Here we go again for a new Formula 1 season, and it’s in Australia that the 2013 season will start, as it has since 1996, except in 2006 and 2010 when the season began in Bahrain.

Who says new season, says transfers and new drivers. This year, there are 5 rookies, Max Chilton and Jules Bianchi at Marussia, Giedo Van der Garde at Caterham, Esteban Gutiérrez at Sauber, and Valtteri Bottas at Williams. There are also four drivers making their official Grand Prix debuts with new teams: Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes, Sergio Pérez at McLaren, Nico Hülkenberg at Sauber, and Charles Pic at Caterham. Also noteworthy is the return of Adrian Sutil at Sahara Force India.

As for the track, the Albert Park circuit, which hosts the Australian Formula 1 round, is a semi-urban circuit, with most of it made up of roads that are open to traffic for the rest of the year. This means that grip is rather low at the start of the weekend and the track continually improves from Friday to Sunday.

Melbourne chassis side

Tom McCullough, Head of Track Engineering at Sauber F1 Team:

Melbourne is a typical city circuit with constant track evolution. It is very important to have good stability under braking and a car that performs well in slow and medium-speed corners. The track layout also requires the car to easily handle changes in direction. It will be interesting to see how the new generation of Pirelli Mediums and Super-Softs will perform on the track with fewer high-speed corners compared to the last two test circuits [Jerez and Barcelona, editor’s note].

Melbourne engine side

Rémi Taffin, Track Performance Director at Renault Sport F1:

Australia will be a severe test. The average speed of this circuit is among the highest of the season and the fast section requires very good top speed. The corners are negotiated at medium speed, which means that the track characteristics and engine requirements are similar to those of Valencia: combining smooth driving with responsiveness across the entire operating range is necessary. These successions of accelerations significantly increase fuel consumption while severely testing the internal components. The Albert Park circuit is characterized by one of the highest fuel consumptions per kilometer, and the amount of fuel loaded at the start is therefore very important. With the low grip of the track, it’s a real challenge to satisfactorily provide both stability and response time. But that can make a difference in lap time.

The short off-season has been one of the busiest we’ve had in a long time. This is the last season of the V8s and we are gradually shifting our resources towards the development of the V6 power unit. Naturally, we still have the responsibility to provide a ‘turnkey’ service for the V8, whether on the tracks or at the factory. Keeping this in mind, we have worked very hard to optimize everything that can be, from procedures to reliability. What we will see in 2013 is an optimized evolution of the structure put in place last year. This will allow us to be reactive enough to integrate and influence developments during the season. Even though this is the last year with this engine, there are still details to explore, and we aim to take advantage of every opportunity. We are confident at the dawn of the kickoff: we have covered significant mileage with all our partner teams, and we believe it will be a successful season for everyone.

Melbourne from the tires side

The tires available for the drivers in Melbourne are as follows:

– Mediums **(white sidewalls)**;
– Super-Soft **(red sidewalls)**;
– Intermediates **(green sidewalls)**;
– Wet **(blue sidewalls)**.

Paul Hembery’s opinion, Pirelli Motorsport Director:

« After 12 days of winter testing, we are finally ready to race with the 2013 compounds! These were developed over the last season during private testing, and they are the most targeted and performance-oriented tires we have ever produced. Due to the cool conditions of pre-season testing, we haven’t seen the best of their capabilities, but we expect a different story at Albert Park, with two to three stops per car.

The start of a season is always a very exciting moment, and the grid seems to be tighter than ever, judging by our observations during testing. This is all the more impressive given that there were seven different winners in the first seven races last year! All compounds and structures have changed in 2013. Drivers should notice a wider operating window at peak performance. The performance gaps between the compounds are also larger, so teams will have more opportunities to use strategy to their advantage by exploiting the resulting speed differences.

Opinion of Jean Alesi, Pirelli ambassador:

« I am delighted to become a brand ambassador for Pirelli as the season begins. This one promises to be extremely exciting, especially if we keep in mind the previous season!

Albert Park is a circuit that I loved as a driver – I have raced there since its first year, following its change from Adelaide – but it really doesn’t resemble any other street circuit. Some sections are similar to a road course like Monaco, and others are more reminiscent of a permanent track like Barcelona. Therefore, I won’t draw too many conclusions from the results in Melbourne, as the circuit is so atypical, and because the teams are still learning a lot about their new cars and tires at the start of the season.

This year, the Pirellis seem very interesting, and I think aggressive drivers will be able to do something surprising, especially in qualifying. I would have definitely liked to race with these tires back when I was driving!

Melbourne in Numbers

The 2012 Australian Grand Prix

Pole position:

Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) in 1:24.922

Podium:

1 – Jenson Button (McLaren)

2 – Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull)

3 – Lewis Hamilton (McLaren)

Fastest lap in the race:

Jenson Button (McLaren) in 1:29.187

[From the press releases published by the FIA, Pirelli, Renault Sport F1, and Sauber F1]