HAVE YOU GOT WHAT IT TAKES TO DRIVE AN AT&T WILLIAMS FORMULA ONE – win the chance

Philips Consumer Lifestyle, Official Partner of the AT&T Williams team, is again giving away the chance to drive a recent AT&T Williams Formula One car in 2009.
Through the online Philips Driving Academy, one lucky winner will get to drive a Williams FW29 for five laps on a Grand Prix circuit following intensive training from the AT&T Williams team.
Following on from the success of last year’s competition, Philips is committed to getting people closer to Formula One and putting them in the driving seat – literally in this case. Competition details are as follows:
1. Entry:
• Enter the Philips Driving Academy at www.philips.com/attwilliams
• Register your details and set your own ‘hotlap’ on the specifically designed Philips test
track
• The closing date for the competition is 20th September 2009
2. The prize:
• The ten fastest entrants globally will win an expenses paid trip to the UK to compete in
an assessment day
• The third placed finalist will get to drive a sports car around the circuit with instruction
from Kazuki Nakajima
• The second placed finalist will practice the track in a sports car (as above) and then get
to drive an F2 car for five laps of the circuit
• The overall winner will practice the circuit in both the sports car and F2 car, receive a
one-to-one briefing from Kazuki Nakajima and then drive a Williams FW29 for five laps
of the track Patrick Overwijk, F1 Sponsorship Manager, Philips Consumer Lifestyle, said: “Last season
we found fourteen very talented drivers who demonstrated a perfect combination of skill,
track awareness, consistency and a willingness to learn. In 2009, we’re hoping that the
Philips Driving Academy will unearth a number of men and women who also have what it
takes to drive the AT&T Williams car. Good luck!”

Force India Post Chinese Grand Prix Press Conference

Adrian Sutil Q&A: ‘We should all be very proud of this race’

Adrian Sutil put in another brilliant wet weather performance for Force India in China, running as high as sixth – ahead of Lewis Hamilton – before aquaplaning caught him out and pitched him into the tyre wall with less than six laps to go. Adrian had started with a light fuel load, but the team changed strategy in the early laps behind the safety car by bringing him in and giving him more fuel. Once the race finally got going he pitted again on lap 19 and filled up to run to the flag in what was in effect a one-stop strategy. Running a very heavy car and keeping his extreme wet tyres alive for such a long stint was a huge challenge. We asked him for his thoughts on the race.

Q: You had a fantastic race in the wet in Monaco last year, and another one here, but sadly both ended in retirement. What are your feelings about today?
‘Our performance was really very good and we should all be very proud of this race. It was a risk to go on one-stop, because I stopped very early. I was very light at the beginning and then under the safety car we went into the pits and just filled it up. We knew it would have been tight on the tyres, but the grip in the corners was enough to stay in a good position, but with the aquaplaning on the straights it was sometimes hard to keep it on the circuit. You never knew what was going to happen because the car went to the left or the right. With six laps to go I hit another patch of water and ended up in the wall. It was very disappointing.’

Q: That set of tyres had to do a lot of laps. How did they look when you stopped?
‘They were still OK, but the profile goes down and down. We’re talking about a few millimetres, but it is still enough to cause a lot of problems with the water. I got a lot of understeer, and the traction went down of course, but after 30 laps that’s how it is.’

Q: Was it fun taking on the McLarens in an equal fight?
‘Yes it was good! I made a good pass on Kovalainen when he went out of the pits, so I could take his position. Then I was behind Lewis, and in the end he was behind me. It was nice to just race the guys in the front there. We had really good pace, so that was promising.’

Q: In Monaco you had the reigning World Champion behind you when you retired, and you did this time as well!
‘That’s true. Maybe it’s a little bit of bad luck then! It’s just a little co-incidence, but it’s nice to race the World Champions of course, when we don’t have the fastest car in the field right now.’

Q: Since Monaco there have been several wet races and potential opportunities, but luck hasn’t been on your side. Was it good to finally have another chance to show what you can do?
‘This was very nice, I’m pleased that it happened like this. We could have done a safe run, changed tyres, and maybe we would have been in the back. But that’s not the way we want it to go, we had to take a risk because we know that we’re good in the wet. Of course we were unlucky and it wasn’t possible to bring it home, but sometimes it’s just bad luck if you hit a patch of water. We couldn’t do anything about it.’

Q: You filled up quite early. How close was it going to be on fuel?
‘We were on the limit, but it was definitely enough, we just checked it. I tried to save a lot of fuel during the race. I knew it was going to be a long way to the end. In the last 10 laps I was attacking again, because we didn’t need to save the fuel anymore.’

Q: We’re unlikely to have a wet race in Bahrain next week. Any thoughts on going there?
‘I think there we’ll have seriously dry conditions! We’ll get a few updates on the car which will help us get a better performance in qualifying. But again it’s going to be difficult. We’re at the back of the field right now, and we have to take our chances, like we did here, and try to move on. Development is going on, and we’re getting new upgrades for the next few races, hopefully it’s enough to progress.’

AT&T Williams Quotes and News After Chinese Qualifying

In another fiercely fought qualifying battle, AT&T Williams team drivers Nico Rosberg and Kazuki
Nakajima both eased into Q2, Nico entering in P5 and Kazuki in P15. Kazuki, however, was unable to
progress past Q2 and was left in P15 at the flag. Glock’s five place penalty promotes Kazuki to
fourteenth on the grid for tomorrow’s race. Nico fared somewhat better making it into the final round of
qualifying, therefore maintaining his unblemished record this season, and ended the deciding session
with the seventh fastest time of the day.

Nico Rosberg:
This is where we are at the moment. We are the fourth best team out there so seventh place is more
or less where we expected to be. We struggled slightly in warming up the tyres, but otherwise I am
quite pleased. Strategy-wise, we are looking good and I’m not worried about our race pace. If you
look at Malaysia we were pretty strong in the race even though the tyres are a challenge, both hard
and soft. We’ll have to see how everyone around us looks in terms of fuel. It would be good if, after
Australia and Malaysia, things would go a bit more our way tomorrow. I must say that, for me, today’s
surprise was Alonso.

Kazuki Nakajima:
The car is as competitive as it was in Malaysia and we’re still making progress, so this result is a
shame. I really hope I can do better in the race, but we first need to look at our data and see what was
going on with the car and try to resolve it. We’ll do our best to get a good strategy in place as you
never know what can happen in a Grand Prix.

Sam Michael, Technical Director:
It’s disappointing that Kazuki wasn’t higher today. With Nico, we could have done better in managing
his run in Q3, but it didn’t work out as planned today. We should have a more competitive race pace,
so we’re looking forward to a good performance tomorrow.

Force India Post Qualifying News

18 April 2009 – The Force India Formula One Team had a tougher day today as preparations for tomorrow’s Chinese Grand Prix continued. Adrian Sutil and Giancarlo Fisichella got a solid performance from the VJM02 in free practice and qualifying for the race at the Shanghai International Circuit, however will line up in 19th and 20th positions respectively after yet another ultra competitive session. The pair will now be looking to have a stronger race tomorrow and consolidate the team’s perfect finishing record so far this year.

Adrian Sutil (car 20)
‘We knew it was going to be difficult here today. We couldn’t find a balance as we don’t have enough downforce just yet. This is our main issue and why it is very difficult to drive right now. Although today was tough, we should be more competitive in the race as the pace on Friday over longer runs was better. Our goal now is to finish without any incidents. We know our car is reliable so maybe we can pick up some places like this.’

Giancarlo Fisichella (car 21)
‘Today it felt better than yesterday but it was still tough. We are lacking grip aerodynamically, particularly in the slow speed corners. This race might be tough but we know there is another step to come in Bahrain so the aim here is to get to the finish. We need to have a good strategy and try to do what we can.’

Dominic Harlow, chief race engineer
‘Both drivers found low grip and a difficult balance today. The one lap performance just wasn’t there and that is reflected in our start positions. We had a good race car on Friday over longer runs and, combined with some interesting opportunities in the race, we are looking for a solid finish.’

Force India Post Practice Chinese Grand Prix

17 April 2009 – The third event of the 2009 FIA Formula One World Championship got underway today at the modern Shanghai International Circuit, China, with two 90 minute free practice sessions. As the track is unused for racing activities for the greater part of the year it typically takes some time for a layer of rubber to be laid down and, with this in mind, Force India adjusted its programme to conduct the bulk of the running in the afternoon’s session.

Both Adrian Sutil and Giancarlo Fisichella completed their programmes of set-up optimisation and comparing the tyre compounds available this weekend. Adrian enjoyed a strong day as he set the 14th quickest time in the morning and the 11th in the afternoon, just over one second from the pace-setting Brawn GP. Team-mate Giancarlo had a tougher day as he struggled to find a good balance on the VJM02, but with 50 laps over the day he gathered lots of information to improve overnight.

Adrian Sutil (car 20)
‘It is a change to be here at this time of year. We are used to having around 30 degrees here so with the cooler temperatures it’s much easier to drive although the tyres take a bit longer to warm up. The medium tyres are OK over the longer run, but very hard over a single lap. The supersoft on the other hand is fine for one lap but not as bad as we expected over the longer runs. Overall it went OK, we completed our work and the general balance is good. I’m pleased with the position so I think it was a good start.’

Giancarlo Fisichella (car 21)

‘I’m not particularly happy with how today went. I am struggling with the car balance at the moment. It’s not consistent just yet and I don’t feel entirely comfortable. At the moment we don’t have a problem with the tyres – in these temperatures we are pretty much OK. We have some ideas of what we can do so I think we will improve for tomorrow.’

Dominic Harlow, chief race engineer
‘This weekend is going to be all about how we use the dry tyres and our Friday programme reflected this. We tried a lot of different things in a structured test and the VJM02 has been reliable and responsive to changes so far. The track was quite green today and hence low grip but it will evolve over the next two days and that will be something we have to account for as we approach qualifying and the race. It will be another tight qualifying session tomorrow.’

Force India Pre Chinese Grand Pre Press Release

This years Chinese Grand Prix will be third race of the 2009 championship, a change from recent years when it has featured towards the end of the season. However the addition of Abu Dhabi as the season finale means that Shanghai has been moved to April to help ensure a balance of flyaways and China will now form a double header race with Bahrain.

Following a strong double finish in Australia and improved pace in Malaysia, the Force India Formula One Team will go to the Chinese race with the aim of translating its early-season promise into results.
Details and data on the Shanghai International Circuit, the weekends schedule and a lap of the track with Adrian Sutil are available in the attached pdf document.

Team Q&A

Dr Vijay Mallya, chairman and team principal
Did the first two races of the 2009 season pan out as you expected?
Before the start of the season, we said that the first four flyaway races would be somewhat of an extended test session for the team due to the lack of test mileage over the winter. However when we got to Australia and Adrian and Giancarlo were able to convincingly stay with the pack and so nearly got into the points, we were forced to re-evaluate our expectations. We know we still have some work to do, but I think we can be very encouraged by the speed, reliability and performance of the team.

The team made a lot of changes over the winter both technically and on an operations level. How do you now review them now, two races into the year?
2008 was very much a learning year for the team and, on the basis of these lessons, I made some changes over the winter. I am pleased to see the switch to a McLaren-Mercedes drivetrain has been very reliable and the drivers say the mechanical balance and grip has to date been very good. Nobody would count us out for points so I think this says we have made a good decision. Secondly, we made some changes on the management front. The team is now a much more cohesive outfits all pulling in the same direction and this is entirely positive. So yes, I feel our decisions have been vindicated by the improvements this year.

Have you been surprised by the field this year?
After winter testing, everyone expected the Brawn GP cars to be very quick and this has proved to be the case. Although the team started its 2009 preparations very early on last year and has significant resources, it is now effectively an independent team and I am very pleased that the team can operate at such a high level. It certainly gives us all some lessons. What we have seen further down however is that the field is still very close and we cannot predict the outcome. Under these circumstances I think we have reasons to be very positive about our own situation.

Driver Q&A
Adrian Sutil (car 20, VJM02/03)

What have you learned about how competitive the car is this year from these two races?
We are closer this year and in general the VJM02 is an improvement from last seasons car. The balance and mechanical grip is good and it is very fast in a straight line, but at the moment we don¡¦t have enough downforce. We do have a much clearer direction though this year,  last year we were struggling everywhere, but this year it’s just downforce. We need more grip in the corners. I know we have some developments in the pipeline so at this point in the season I am hopeful. The car has potential, definitely.

Are you enjoying driving the 2009-style cars?
I think we didn’t really lose performance as everyone expected. The cars are quicker than last year, so with less downforce and slick tyres, you don’t really feel any difference in speed. It’s a bit different driving them, but I really like it. It’s very good for F1 to be back on slick tyres.

What will your aims be for Shanghai?
The aims, as for the previous races, is to be reliable and get to the finish. This year I’ve got a 100% finish record so far, and I want to keep this up. We’ve seen that some of the other teams are having problems with KERS and the order is not so fixed at the moment so if you get to the finish theres a good chance you could do well. I think this should be our goal for now, but when we get back to Europe I want to be racing on merit, not just waiting for something to happen to another driver.

Giancarlo Fisichella (car 21, VJM02/01)

What have been your thoughts on the opening two races of the 2009 season?
We are definitely closer than we were last year. For sure qualifying is still a bit of a problem for us, but in Australia we were only a couple of tenths from the World Champion so we can’t be too disappointed. In the race it’s not looking too bad. The balance is good and I have had some nice fights with other cars. Unfortunately in Malaysia we made the wrong call with the tyres so we couldn’t show our real performance there, but in Australia it was not too bad. We are racing and that’s a step forward. We need more downforce now, but we have a clear direction to improve and I think this is really positive.

Is the field more competitive this year?
I think it is even tighter than it was last year and a lot more unpredictable too. Some teams you would expect to be up there at the front are midfield, and we’ve seen that if you get the strategy right or wrong it can make a really big difference. You just can’t afford to slip up, even more so than last year.

Looking forward to Shanghai, what are your goals?
The main goal this weekend is to have a clean event without any mistakes, qualify well and to finish the race. I think it’s too early to start hoping for points yet, but we need to keep the momentum going and get as much information as possible so when we introduce new parts we can really see an improvement.

Force India Press Release Post Qualifying Malaysia

The Force India Formula One Team will start tomorrow’s Malaysian Grand Prix, the second race of the 2009 F1 season, with Giancarlo Fisichella and Adrian Sutil in 18th and 19th positions respectively. The duo were evenly matched over the day, also posting the two fastest speeds down the straight, and were just tenths from making the cut into Q2.
For the second consecutive event qualifying produced a very close and relatively surprising grid, and Giancarlo will start just behind the Ferrari of Felipe Massa and the Renault of Nelson Piquet.
The 56 lap race will start at 17:00hrs local time tomorrow.
Adrian Sutil (car 20)
‘We did a good job today, we had no problems and this was our pace – we couldn’t really have done better. We just need to find some downforce. For tomorrow, I want to have a good race and to get to the finish. We are very quick down the straights and there is some potential for overtaking so let’s see – we had an exciting race in Melbourne and anything can happen. I am still positive.’
Giancarlo Fisichella (car 21)
‘I had a problem with the throttle pedal on the first run so we changed it and I lost the chance to do three runs, which was very important. The lap I did was clean and the car is well balanced. Again the field is very mixed and with the chance of some rain we should look to keep up with the field and take any chance we can.’
Dominic Harlow, chief race engineer
‘It was a tense session today with a constant threat of heavy showers, but they didn’t materialise. Giancarlo lost some track time with a throttle pedal problem, but recovered well to place a time just 0.05s faster than Adrian. We’re expecting an interesting race tomorrow and we know from last weekend that our race pace coupled with strong straightline speed and a creative strategy could be good enough to score points.’