Race Preview

2013 2527 INDIAN OCTOBER GRAND PRIX 2013

If Japans Suzuka, scene of Sebastian Vettels strategically astute ninth win of the season last time out, is regarded as one of the greatest of Formula Ones classic circuits, this weekend sees the championship move to a track that has been widely praised as one the finest recent additions to the calendar Indias Buddh International Circuit. The location for round 16 of the 2013 F1 World Championship features good changes of elevation, two long, fast straights and a technically challenging middle sector that features the tricky multiple apex Turn 10. The circuit has quickly proved popular with the sports drivers, who appreciate it having the second highest average speed of the year after Monza, but also the skill required to hook up a good lap around its 5.125km length. Getting that perfect lap requires a car that treads a very fine line in balancing the speed needed to get the best from the long straights and good aerodynamic grip and balance for the middle sector. Vettels victory in Japan, his fifth win in a row this year, has given him a 90-point advantage over Fernando Alonso in the Drivers Championship and with the Ferrari driver all but conceding defeat in the wake of the race at Suzuka, this weekend could see Vettel crowned champion. The Red Bull driver needs fifth place or better here to become just the fourth driver in F1 history to win four titles and only the third to win four in a row alongside Juan Manuel Fangio and Michael Schumacher.

CIRCUIT DATA BUDDH INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT Length of lap: 5.125km Lap record: 1:27.249 (Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull Racing, 2011) Start/finish line offset: 0.251km Total number of race laps: 60 Total race distance: 307.249km Pitlane speed limits: 80km/h throughout the weekend. CHANGES TO THE CIRCUIT SINCE 2012 Other than routine maintenance there have been no changes of significance. DRS ZONES There are two DRS zones at the Buddh International Circuit. The detection point of the first is 16m before Turn Three and its activation point is 350m after Turn Three. The second zones detection point is 10m after Turn 15, with the activation point 36m after Turn 16.

Meanwhile, in the Constructors Championship, Red Bull Racing have 445 points, compared with 297 for nearest rival Ferrari, so the Milton Keynes-based team can this weekend also conceivably wrap up the manufacturers title.

Indian GP Fast Facts

This will be just the third running of the Indian Grand Prix. The race joined the F1 calendar in 2011. Sebastian Vettel has not only taken pole position and victory in the two Indian GPs staged so far, he has also led every lap of each race. Last year he also finished in P1 in every practice session. Red Bull Racing have locked-out the front row at both grand prix, with Mark Webber second on the grid in 2011 and 2012. At this seasons most recent race, in Japan, Vettel recorded his fifth victory in a row this season. The last time a driver recorded five or more successive wins was in 2004, when Michael Schumacher won the opening five races of the season. The Ferrari driver then went on to win seven in a row between the European and Hungarian GPs that year, so Vettel will need to win here and in Abu Dhabi to match that feat. Depending on your view, the outright record for consecutive wins belongs to Alberto Ascari, who recorded nine in a row between the Belgian Grand Prix of 1952, the third of eight races that season, and the same event the following year, when it was fourth on a calendar of nine races. On the way to that tally, however, he did not compete in the 1953 Indianapolis 500, which formed part of that years F1 World Championship. To match Ascaris tally, Vettel will need to win all the remaining rounds this season. Vettels 2011 pole position gave Red Bull a record 16th in a single season. It was the 28th of Vettels career. Since then he has been on pole a further 14 times. Apart from Vettel, the only other driver to feature on both Indian GP podiums is Fernando Alonso. The Ferrari driver was third in the inaugural race and second last year. Jaime Alguersuari scored the last points of his F1 career to date in the first grand prix here. Over a 46-race career, beginning at the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix, the Spanish driver racked up 31 points in total driving for Toro Rosso. The final four points of that tally came with eighth place at the Buddh International Circuit in 2011. This will be the first Indian GP without an Indian driver involved. Narain Karthikeyan raced in 2011 and 2012 for HRT, while Karun Chandhok participated in free practice for Team Lotus (now Caterham) in 2011. To cope with the demands of the Buddh International Circuit, F1 tyre supplier Pirelli is this weekend bringing its Soft and Medium tyre compounds. This is a change from the previous two years, when the company brought its Soft and Hard configurations. Soft and Medium tyres have been used this season in China, Germany and Hungary. Despite being built on relatively flat land, the track has had plenty of undulations built in, with more than four million tonnes of earth moved during the construction of the circuit. The track rises 14 metres between Turns One and Three alone.

Indian GP Race Stewards Biographies

DR GERD ENNSER MEMBER OF THE DMSBs EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE FOR AUTOMOBILE SPORT, FORMULA ONE AND DTM STEWARD
Dr Gerd Ennser has successfully combined his formal education in law with his passion for motor racing. While still active as a racing driver he began helping out with the management of his local motor sport club and since 2006 has been a permanent steward at every round of Germanys DTM championship. Since 2010 he has also been a Formula One steward. Dr Ennser, who has worked as a judge, a prosecutor and in the legal department of an automotive-industry company, has also acted as a member of the steering committee of German motor sport body, the DMSB, since spring 2010, where he is responsible for automobile sport. In addition, Dr Ennser is a board member of the South Bavaria Section of ADAC, Germanys biggest auto club.

STEVE STRINGWELL PERMANENT CHAIRMAN STEWARD FOR PORSCHE SUPERCUP, WORLD SERIES BY RENAULT 3.5 SERIES, BRITISH TOURING CAR CHAMPIONSHIP
Englishman Steve Stringwell brings a wealth of experience to the F1 stewarding panel. He began marshalling in 1967 before spending 15 years rallying. Since 1986 he has held a series of posts within the UKs Motor Sports Association, first as a steward, then chairman of the MSAs national court and latterly as chairman of the MSAs Judicial Advisory Panel. Stringwell serves as permanent chairman steward for the Porsche Supercup, World Series by Renault 3.5 and BTCC. He has been chairman of support race stewards at the British Grand Prix since 2005 and was appointed steward to his first F1 race last year when he officiated in Australia. At home in Yorkshire he is a Justice of the Peace and magistrate in the city of Leeds.

TOM KRISTENSEN NINE TIMES LE MANS WINNER, GERMAN F3 CHAMPION (1991), JAPANESE F3 CHAMPION (1993) ALMS CHAMPION (2001)
Denmarks Tom Kristensen is the most successful driver in the history of the Le Mans 24 Hour race. He has won the classic endurance event nine times, racing for Porsche, Audi and Bentley. Kristensen, 46, has a broad racing CV, having competed in single-seaters, touring cars and a range of sportscars. He has also tested in F1. A popular and respected figure, he is this year again contesting the FIA World Endurance Championship, driving for Audi Sport Team Joest. Along with team-mates Loc Duval and Allan McNish, Kristensen has already helped Audi retain the WEC manufacturers title and he and his team -mates currently lead the drivers title race, with two rounds of the championship remaining.

Indian GP Championship Standings (Drivers)

Indian GP Championship Standings (Constructors)

Indian GP Formula One Timetable & FIA Media Schedule

THURSDAY Press Conference FRIDAY Practice Session 1 Practice Session 2 Press Conference SATURDAY Practice Session 3 Qualifying Followed by unilateral and press conference SUNDAY Drivers' Parade Race Followed by podium interviews and press conference

15.00

10.00-11.30 14.00-15.30 16.00

11.00-12.00 14.00-15.00

13.30 15.00