DOWNFORCETHE OFFICIAL FORMULA 1 MAGAZINE

FEBRUARY 2012 ISSUE 1

START YOUR ENGINES

PLUS: 2011 IN PHOTOS • NEW SEASON PREVIEW • JAIME ALGUERSUARI • LEWIS HAMILTON

6 CHAMPIONS24 DRIVERS

THE 2 MOST IMPORTANT CARS TO BEAT

SECTOR 1: THE REGULARS04 SPEEDTRAP

KEY HIGHLIGHTS OF 2011.

SECTOR 2: THE FEATURES10 JAIME ALGUERSUARI: WHAT’S

NEXT?JAIME’S ACHIEVEMENTS SO FAR IN F1 AND WHAT LIES IN THE FUTURE.

13 LEWIS HAMILTON - A SEASON TO FORGETJUST HOW POOR WAS 2011 FOR LEWIS?

16 2011 IN 100 PHOTOSTHE 2011 F1 SEASON IN 100 IMPRESSIVE PHOTOGRAPHS.

24 THE CAR THEY ALL WANT TO BEAT - THE RED BULL RB8A TECHNICAL OVERVIEW OF RED BULL’S NEW MACHINE.

26 MCLAREN’S NEW CHALLENGER - THE MCLAREN MP4-27A TECHNICAL OVERVIEW OF THE CAR LEWIS HAMILTON AND JENSON BUTTON WILL CHALLENGE RED BULL WITH.

SECTOR 3: THE LAST FEW LAPS28 AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX

PREVIEWMELBOURNE HOSTS THE SEASON OPENER FOR THE 15TH TIME.

30 MALAYSIAN GRAND PRIX PREVIEWHEAT & HUMIDITY ARE JUST TWO OF MANY CHALLENGES DRIVERS FACE IN THE MALAYSIAN GRAND PRIX.

32 CHINESE GRAND PRIX PREVIEWWILL 2012 BE ANOTHER RACE TO ADD TO THE LIST OF CLASSIC CHINESE GRANS PRIX’S?

34 BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX PREVIEWBAHRAIN IS BACK FOR 2012 WITH ITS OLD LAYOUT AND HOPES TO LOSE THE “BORING” IMAGE

10 What lies ahead for Alguersuari?

13 Where did it go wrong for Lewis in 2011?

16 A Picture speaks a thousand words. Let These 100 photos tell the story of 2011

24 Adrian Newey’s new beast and McLaren’s answer to it

16 28 10 13

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CONTENTS - Q1 2012

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24

1013

16 Preview the first 4 races of 2012

Which is your highlight from 2011?

Find out what Red Bull and McLaren have been keeping under wraps

Jaime did everything he could in 2011 for a seat 2012 but was it enough?

The Story of how poor 2011 was for Lewis Hamilton

SPEEDTRAP

Good day at the officeJenson Button celebrates winning on his 200th grand prix outing and his second grand prix of the season after his team-mate blew his chance of victory with a couple of crucial errors

Where: Hungaroring, Hungary When: Sunday 31 July Photographer: ©HOCHZWEI/McLaren Details: Canon EOS-1D Mk IV, 600mm lens 1/800th at F7.1

SPEEDTRAP

Star of the worldSebastian Vettel of Germany and Red Bull Racing

celebrates with team mates in the pitlane after finishing third to secure his second F1 World Drivers Championship

during the Japanese Formula One Grand Prix

Where: Suzuka, Japan When: Sunday 9 October

Photographer: Clive Rose ©Red Bull Racing/Getty Images

Details: Canon EOS-1D Mk IV, 105mm lens 1/100th at

F3.5

SPEEDTRAP

Keeping the opposition at baySebastien Buemi defends from German Adrian Sutil on the way to his first and best result of 2011 in the autumn

sunshine in Australia

Where: Melbourne, Australia When: Sunday 27 March

Photographer: ©Robert Cianflone/Toro Rosso/Getty

Images Details: Canon EOS-1D Mk IV, 600mm lens

1/500th at F5.7

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Gossip spreads fast in the Formula One world, and late last year rumours gravi-

tated towards the Toro Rosso team. Being the junior team of front runners Red Bull, the majority of their drivers will aim to be sitting in that Red Bull Racing car in the not too distant future. So you would understand why Toro Rosso were facing a dilemma. With a number of drivers eager to take a seat in the team, Jaime Alguersuari’s role as an F1 driver was in jeopardy.

After being roped in to replace dwindling Se-bastien Bourdais half way through the 2009 season, he was thrust into the spotlight. After becoming the youngest driver to compete in a Grand Prix, at just 19 years 125 days old, and the Spaniard’s lack of running it was ob-vious that he would struggle at his first Grand

Prix, Hungary 2009. He started last, 20th, and raced to 15th. The rest of the season brought little success with a peak position of 14th in Brazil all he could take away from the year, as well as valuable experience.

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JAIME:WHAT’S NEXT?

WORDS: OLIVER QUEISSER

PICS: TORO ROSSO/GETTY IMAGES

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2010 was promising from the start, with immediate improvement being clear to see. He bettered his previous best finish in

the first 9 races, before

retiring in the British Grand Prix. In those 9 races he scored 3 points, with a 9th in Malaysia and 10th in his home

race in Spain. The season continued with consecutive top 15 finishes and

ended on a high, with a 9th place in Abu

Dhabi. It was impressive

for a

rookie, but he also showed flashes

of rookie errors. For example his retirement at the British Grand Prix was due to a spin with 8 laps remaining and Alguersuari colliding with his team mate at the German Grand Prix.

The season brought many positives, with valuable experi-ence and points

under his belt, and showing the public and F1 paddock flashes of speed.

But he was not secure within the team, with drivers such as Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne eager for a drive, as well as the many Red Bull protégé’s looking for a future seat, so his drive was not con-firmed for 2011 without significant thought.

He was confirmed as an F1 2011 Scude-ria Toro Rosso driver early in 2011, being retained along with Team Mate Sebastian Buemi. He had it all to prove this year, to keep his drive at the team for 2012. Alguersuari’s season got off decently, with 11th and 14th in the first two rounds be-fore retiring in China due to a team error at the pit stop. After two disappointing results in Turkey and Spain, 16th in both, it looked like he was struggling to keep up. Monaco showed he still had not ironed out the rookie errors seen before, after colliding with Lewis Hamilton as he slowed with a puncture. This difficult opening to a season

with such promise was turned around with 3 consecutive points’ finishes, 8th

in Canada and Valencia with 10th adding to the tally in England. Jaime’s qualifying pace had look worrying, with many races throughout the season seeing Alguersuari qualify outside the top 16. He turned this around however in the races, using the extra tyres to his advantage. His strong

season continued with a 10th in Hungary, and career best 7th in Italy and Korea while also finishing 8th in the inaugural

Indian Grand Prix. Belgium had seen promise, with a grid slot of 6th place; however this career best grid posi-tion was taken away after being hit by Bruno Senna at the first corner

He went into the remaining 2 rounds, des-perate to carry on his impressive form, but a disappointing 15th place in Abu Dhabi and a struggle with tyres slipping back from a points position to 11th place at the final round in Brazil, ended the season hav-ing not scored for 2 consecutive rounds.

Toro Rosso announced that they would be dropping both Jaime Alguersuari and his team-mate Sebastien Buemi for 2012 to be replaced by Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne. Jaime is currently on the hunt for a seat elsewhere for 2012 but with not many seat remaining, it looks doubtful that he will be driving.

If Jaime doesn’t find a seat for 2012 then

his second career will pass the time until 2013. Not only was he impressive on track, but off track his secondary career has blossomed. Being a keen DJ, he re-leased his debut album titles “organic life” and it topped the iTunes charts in Spain. He recorded the album under his DJ name of ‘Squire’. �

To say Lewis Hamilton has had his worst season in Formula

One since he began in 2007 would be a huge understatement.

His season has been tarnished by penalties, attitudes, rumours and quite often his inability to stop himself from saying the wrong thing (however amusing the fans may find it). Without reprimands

Hamilton five penalties, the same

as rookie Pastor Maldonado and only one more than rookie Sergio Perez. With three reprimand type

punishments also Hamilton has had a season to forget, and hope-fully improve on. Otherwise like many have said; Mclaren may start considering another team-mate for Jenson Button who has signed a new multi-year contract.

LEWISHAMILTONA SEASON TO

FORGET?WORDS: OLIVER

QUEISSER PICS: MCLAREN

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mind. Hamilton lost the lead early on de-fended well to keep second place second place. Hamilton qualified well again in India

with 2nd place but was given a 3 place penalty for ignoring flags in practice. This

left him 5th on the grid and next to his fa-vourite person - Felipe Massa. at the start Hamilton dropped behind Massa and the two battled for lap after lap. For the fifth

time in 2011 the two collided with Massa penalised for turning into Hamilton but both left with damage. Hamilton recovered to a disappointing 7th place and it looked as if his bad form was back again.

However, Sebastian Vettel’s shock punc-ture type incident at the Abu Dhabi grand prix on the first lap gave Hamilton his first

chance since Germany to win a race com-fortably, a chance he took firmly keeping

Fernando Alonso at bay to take the cheq-uered flag and top step on the podium. Is

Lewis Hamilton back on top?

It would be easy to say that Hamilton has

‘lost his form’ but then are we as the fans being too harsh on a man that has almost consistently been in the championship fight since the day he stepped into his

Mclaren... both are true to an extent.

Whilst his driving has always left something

to be desired for as he is often compared to the great Ayrton Senna, the stream of penalties he has acquired this year has led to his driving being criticised openly by

Hamilton showed glimpses of brilliance throughout the season with a great over-take for the lead with 4 laps to go in China got his season off to a good start. A great battle for the lead in Spain also showed what we all know he is great at. Then Lewis hit a dip in form. A race that Ham-ilton will want to erase from his memory in Monaco with penalties and contact with other drivers throughout the race. In

Canada, Lewis crashed out after going for a closing gap between his team mate Jenson Button and the wall. It looked like

Hamilton had come out of his poor spell with a dominant win in Germany and most of the Hungarian grand prix but a spin in damp conditions forcing Paul Di Resta to leave the track to avoid Lewis left Hamil-ton with another penalty. Lewis played it safe in Italy and looked as if he didnt want

to overtake purely to avoid any contact. Lewis went into the Singapore grand prix looking to bounce back again but yet more contact with Massa and another penalty put a stop to that. There was contact be-tween Hamilton and Massa once again in Japan as the two battled with Lewis saying he couldn’t see in his mirrors.

Hamilton looked to be on the way back to form in Korea, taking the only pole position of 2011 not set by a Red Bull driver. This Was definitely an achievement and some-thing to be happy about but he did not smile at all and tried to concentrate on the race. Something wasn’t right in Hamilton’s

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most of the F1 paddock. Not helped by the clean cut manner in which his team-mate Jenson Button drives, leaving him to frequently seem like top dog at Mclaren.

His clashes with Felipe Massa have opened him up to further criticism with a horrendous six incidents between the pair, with both being punished on various occasions for their on track behaviour. If

this wasn’t bad enough the clash has now flowed over into the pre and post race in-terviews feeding the disagreement further. Needless to say it would be easier if the two avoided each other or solved their disagreement between the two of them.

With his family in tow and on the weekend

of his mother’s birthday Hamilton was given an early Christmas present when Vettel was unable to finish not only the

first lap but also the race in Abu Dhabi.

With that in mind the race was not an easy

breeze, there was chances every lap that Fernando Alonso may have caught up, or if the pit stop had gone wrong, everything counted towards the win.

Not only this but in his current state of mind it was likely Hamilton would be his subdued self and get out the car with-

out celebrating again. Yet Hamilton fans worldwide surely replicated their driver’s grin when he got out the car, stood on it and bounced up and down in his usual manner. Big grin on his face and breaking rules yet again he jumped into his team and family (temporarily leaving parc ferme)

this was the Lewis Hamilton everyone had been waiting to see again.

Next up was Brazil, a circuit special to Hamilton who won his championship there, the home race of Massa, and the place he lost the title to Hamilton in 2008. It could have been likely that the two could

have connected yet again as Hamilton ap-proached Massa, but a gearbox problem and then failure put end to the chances of another battle. The result in Brazil looks like Lewis ends the season on a low but the win at Abu Dhabi and only finishing

poorly in Brazil due to a car issue seemed to have given Hamilton the confidence that

he is back to the way we all know him. Whether you like him or not, it’s great to

see a smile back on his face. �

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2011IN 100 PICTURES

Images © Ferrari spa/Ercole Co-lombo, Renault/LAT, Williams/LAT, McLaren, Getty Images/Red Bull,

Force India/Sutton, Sauber F1 Team, Team Lotus, Virgin Racing, Motion-

company, Pirelli, Korean GP/Sutton, Yas Marina

SIDEPODSRed Bull have chosen to stay with the normal tightly pack-aged sidepods which are heavily undercut to improve airflow to the rear of the car

FRONT WINGRed Bull have always had one of the most complex front wing designs in F1 and it’s just as complex this year. Red Bull are rumoured to be testing a front wing F-duct so keep an eye out for that once testing begins

NOSERed Bull have gone with the stepped nose as seen on every other car bar McLaren. Red Bull have included a vent in their step which they say is for driver cooling but knowing Red Bull it’s probably something else

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REAR ENDRed Bull are as secretive as ever about the rear of their car but from the few im-

ages available, there isn’t much of a change from last year.

EXHAUSTSThe exhausts have moved up the body back to where they can be seen. This new regual-tion prevents the blowing of exhaust gases on the diffuser to create more downforce

Technical Specifications

Chassis Carbon-fibre and honey-comb composite mono-coque, designed and built in-house, carrying engine as fully stressed member

Suspension (front)

Aluminium alloy uprights, carbon-composite double wishbones with springs and anti-roll bar, push rod-actuated Multimatic dampers

Suspension (rear)

as front, except pull rod-actuated rear dampers

Engine Renault RS27-2011 2,400 cc (146.5 cu in) 90° V8, limited to 18,000 RPM with KERS naturally aspirated mid-mounted

Transmis-sion

Seven-speed semi-au-tomatic gearbox with reverse gear Hydraulic system for power shift and clutch operation

Weight 640 kg (1,411 lb) (includ-ing driver)

Fuel Total

Tyres Pirelli P Zero

Wheels OZ (front and rear): 13”

HOW IT COMPARES WITH 20112012 2011

25

REAR ENDMcLaren have gone for the shorter chord DRS rear wing which was used at the end of last season. This provides a bigger difference between the wing when it’s open and when it’s closed.

AIR INTAKEMcLaren have scrapped the secondary air intake on the top of the car and have returned to the 2010 style rollhoop.

SIDEPODSMcLaren have chosen to revert to the standard shape sidepod inlets as opposed to the ‘L’ shaped ones. This is purely down to the way the elements inside such as the radiators are packaged

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EXHAUSTMcLaren have an interest-ing design on the exhaust pipes. The exhausts exit from bulges out of the back of the sidepods. All new exhaust designs you should keep an eye out for as some could be very controversial.

FRONT WINGMcLaren have launched their new car with last years front wing but expect McLaren to have a new variation at every race for the whole season

Technical Specifications

Chassis Moulded carbon fibre honey-comb composite incorporat-ing front and side impact structures and integral safety fuel cell

Suspension (front)

Inboard torsion bar / damper system operated by pushrod and bell crank with a double wishbone arrange-ment

Suspension (rear)

As front, except operated by pullrod and bell crank with a double wishbone ar-rangement

Engine Mercedes-Benz FO 108Y 2.4 L (146 cu in) V8 (90°). Naturally aspirated, 18,000 RPM limited with KERS, mid-mounted.

Transmis-sion

McLaren Seven-speed semi-automatic gearbox with reverse gear hand-operated, seamless shift

Weight 640 kg (1,411 lb) (including driver)

Fuel ExxonMobil High Perform-ance Unleaded (5.75% bio fuel)Mobil Synergy Fuel SystemMobil 1 lubrication

Tyres Pirelli P Zero

Wheels Enkei (front and rear): 13”

HOW IT COMPARES WITH 20112012 2011

NOSEMcLaren have opted to stay with the basic flat nose for 2012 as opposed to the stepped noses of everyone else. McLaren can have a lower nose all because the overall chassis height is lower comapred to the other teams.

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NOTABLE RACES AT ALBERT PARK2010 -

2009 -

2008 -

2002 -

1994 -

Button wins with clever tyre strategy in the wet whilst Vettel crashes out with a brake problem

Button leads Barrichello to a Brawn GP 1-2 and their first victory at their first race

Hamilton dominates the field as only 7 cars finish

Schumacher wins with Aussie Mark Webber taking an amazing 5th in the Minardi thanks to a 9 car pile-up

Schumacher crashes into Damon Hill taking both of them out of the race, denying Hill the championship and Schumacher winning the title himself

2011 FLASHBACKSebastian Vettel wins from Lewis Hamilton and Vitaly Petrov who takes the first ever podium for a Russian in F1. Alonso finished close behind petrov in 4th with Mark Webber equalling his best home grand prix result in 5th place. Jenson Button recovered to 6th place following a drive-through penalty for cutting a corner whilst overtaking Felipe Massa. Sergio Perez looked after his tyres well to earn a 7th place but was later disqualified for a technical infringement on his car.

©Red Bull/Getty Images

TOP OVERTAKING

SPOTTurn 3 is a good place to

overtake because you can carry be daring with turns 1 & 2 in how much speed you carry through the corners.

Carry as much speed through as possible

and you can catch and

©Virgin

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STATS & FACTS

Laps 58Circuit length

5.303 km (3.295 mi)

Race length 307.574 km (191.071 mi)

Lap Record 01:24.124 (Michael Schumacher, Ferrari, 2004)

Most Wins (Driver)

Michael Schumacher (4)

Most Wins (Construc-tor)

McLaren (11)

FullThrottle

69%

Downforce Level

High

Gear Changes Per Lap

56

TOP TIPS FOR ALBERT

PARKAttack turns 11 & 12 as

hard as you can. There’s a lot of time that can be gained here and if

you’re close enough to another car you can use

that advantage for an easy pass at turn

13.

©Sauber

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NOTABLE RACES AT SEPANG2009 -

2007 -

2001 -

1999 -

A Tropical storm interrupts and red flags the race after 31 laps leaving Button to win but to only receive half points

Fernando Alonso dominates to win his first race for McLaren ahead of rookie team-mate Lewis Hamilton

Heavy rain makes conditions difficult but Ferrari outclass everyone to get a 1-2 victory

Michael Schumacher returns to the sport after his absence due to a broken leg, dominating the race and handing the victory to title-hopeful team-mate Eddie Irvine, only for both Ferraris to be disqualified due to a technical irregularity

2011 FLASHBACKSebastian Vettel wins again from Jenson Button and Nick Heidfeld who makes it 2 consecutive podiums for Renault. Felipe Massa beat his senior team-mate Fernando Alonso to 5th place and Kamui Kobayashi made up the points he lost through disqualification in Australia with 7th place Lewis Hamilton drove to a frustrating 8th place after being awarded a penalty for weaving which he was warned about in 2010.

©Red Bull/Getty Images

TOP OVERTAKING

SPOTTurn 1 is the best place to

overtake because the previous hairpin is very slow. The track is

very wide so there’s room to get past and turn 1 allows many

different driving lines.

©Williams

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STATS & FACTS

Laps 56Circuit length

5.543km (3.444mi)

Race length 310.408km (192.879 mi)

Lap Record 01:34.223 (Juan Pablo Montoya, Williams. 2004)

Most Wins (Driver)

Michael Schumacher (3)

Most Wins (Construc-tor)

Ferrari (5)

FullThrottle

65%

Downforce Level

High

Gear Changes Per Lap

53

TOP TIPS FOR

SEPANGThe penultimate

corner is the hardest to get right. There are lots of different lines and you need to chose the line that gives you the best entry and the

fastest exit.©Ferrari

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2011 FLASHBACKLewis Hamilton wins after overtaking Sebastian Vettel with 4 laps to go. Mark Webber had an impressive drive from 18th on the grid to a third place podium. Jenson Button cost himself a podium and the chance of a win by accidentally driving into the Red Bull pit garage instead of McLaren. Everyone finished the race apart from Jaime Alguersuari whose rear wheel fell off due to a pit error on lap 9.

NOTABLE RACES IN SHANGHAI2010 -

2009 -

2008 -

2007 -

2006 -

2005 -

Button gives McLaren their first 1-2 win since 2007 with a clever tyre strategy in the wet

Sebastian Vettel gives Red Bull their first F1 victory in soaking wet conditions

Lewis Hamilton dominates to increase his title chances

Kimi Raikkonen wins after Lewis Hamilton spins out thanks to extremely worn tyres

Michael Schumacher wins his final race before retiring from F1

Fernando Alonso takes victory to become the youngest F1 world champion

©McLaren

TOP OVERTAKING

SPOTTurn 14 is the best

place to overtake in China all because

of the long straight. Even if you are a long way behind

the car in front you can get a good

slipstream and out-brake him into

the hairpin.

©Force India

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STATS & FACTS

Laps 59Circuit length

5.451 km (3.387 mi)

Race length 305.066 km (189.559 mi)

Lap Record 01:32.238 (Michael Schumacher, Ferrari, 2004)

Most Wins (Driver)

Lewis Hamilton (2)

Most Wins (Construc-tor)

McLaren (3)Ferrari (3)

FullThrottle

62%

Downforce Level

High

Gear Changes Per Lap

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TOP TIPS FOR

SHANGHAI

When overtaking at the hairpin, make sure you get the inside line because overtake is almost guaranteed. Put the car on the apex, make sure the

other car doesn’t get better traction

and there is nothing they can

do.

©Lotus

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2011 FLASHBACKThe race is cancelled after violence breaks out across the country and it is deemed too dangerous for the teams and personnel to travel there. There are doubts around this years race going ahead as the current situation in Bahrain is still bad and potentially too dangerous. FIA officials will visit the country to inspect the situation and will make a decision on whether the race goes ahead or not.

NOTABLE RACES IN BAHRAIN2010 -

2009 -

2008 -

Vettel leads for most of the race until an engine problem slows him down letting both Ferraris and Lewis Hamilton past. This misfortune gives Fernando Alonso his first win as a Ferrari driver

Jenson Button wins his third race of the season after jumping both Toyotas at the pit stops

Ferrari cruise to an easy 1-2 finish as Lewis Hamilton struggles to 12th place after a terrible start and a collision with former team-mate Fernando Alonso

TOP OVERTAKING SPOT

Turn 1 is the best and probably the only place to overtake in Bahrain.

The long straight beforehand means you can get a good slipstream

from the car in front. The track is really wide so

there lots of space to get past.

©Mercedes

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STATS & FACTS

Laps 57Circuit length

5.407 km (3.360 mi)

Race length 308.238 km (191.683 mi)

Lap Record 01:30.252 (Michael Schumacher, Ferrari, 2004)

Most Wins (Driver)

Fernando ALonso (3)

Most Wins (Construc-tor)

Ferrari (4)

FullThrottle

64%

Downforce Level

Mid-High

Gear Changes Per Lap

50

TOP TIPS FOR

BAHRAIN

Overtaking is difficult in Bahrain so the best thing you can do is get as close to the car

in front through turns 14 & 15 and

you should easily get past into

turn 1.

©Caterham

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Images © Ferrari spa/Ercole Colombo, Renault/LAT, Williams/LAT, McLaren, Getty Images/Red Bull,

Force India/Sutton, Sauber F1 Team, Team Lotus, Virgin

Racing, Motioncompany, Pirelli, Korean GP/Sutton,

Yas Marina

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