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The Lotus F1 Team has posted a very interesting blog about the crucial effect of temperature on the behaviour of the 2012 Pirelli tires.
Thanks to the efforts of Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean, Lotus has scored one podium, two fastest laps and twenty-seven points is not a bad a return from a single race - Sunday's Grand Prix of Spain in Barcelona - particularly in one of the most highly contested F1 seasons in recent memory.
The blog explains that Friday in Barcelona may not have seen either Lotus at the head of the times, but a string of simulation runs demonstrated the pace of the E20 over a race distance - of course the most important factor over the course of the weekend.
A similar pattern emerged through Raikkonen's running on Saturday morning, instilling a confidence that the race could provide a very strong result for the team. Despite the Finn pointing out understeer through certain sectors of the lap, the car appeared just as stable (if not more so) than any of its competitors, who were also experiencing the same hindrance.
Qualifying itself once again gave positive indications as to the performance of the Renault-powered E20. Although not threatening the ultimate pace of the Lewis Hamilton, both Raikkonen and Grosjean sailed through to the pole position shootout, with both admitting that minor mistakes (through turns eight and nine respectively) perhaps cost them even stronger starting slots than their eventual P5 / P4 positions (later upgraded to P4 / P3 after a penalty for the McLaren).
Sunday's race threw a familiar spanner in the works ; temperature variation. The team has found throughout the season that the E20 works best in warmer conditions ; a trend which was once again realised here (most prominently at the beginning of the Grand Prix).
With a significant temperature drop from the heat of Friday and Saturday, the drivers were unable to stay in touch with the leaders in the early stages.
However, as the race went on and rack temperatures rose the E20 began to come into its element, with Grosjean's fastest lap of the race standing at over a second quicker than the next non-Lotus F1 Team competitor - despite missing a significant portion of his front wing end plate.
In addition, the decision to run a second set of scrubbed soft tires during the second stints showed, somewhat surprisingly, that the hard rubber was in fact the faster option in Barcelona. While this may seem counter-intuitive, it provides another valuable piece of information for future races.
Thanks to the efforts of Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean, Lotus has scored one podium, two fastest laps and twenty-seven points is not a bad a return from a single race - Sunday's Grand Prix of Spain in Barcelona - particularly in one of the most highly contested F1 seasons in recent memory.
The blog explains that Friday in Barcelona may not have seen either Lotus at the head of the times, but a string of simulation runs demonstrated the pace of the E20 over a race distance - of course the most important factor over the course of the weekend.
 |
| Photo: Lotus F1 Team |
A similar pattern emerged through Raikkonen's running on Saturday morning, instilling a confidence that the race could provide a very strong result for the team. Despite the Finn pointing out understeer through certain sectors of the lap, the car appeared just as stable (if not more so) than any of its competitors, who were also experiencing the same hindrance.
Qualifying itself once again gave positive indications as to the performance of the Renault-powered E20. Although not threatening the ultimate pace of the Lewis Hamilton, both Raikkonen and Grosjean sailed through to the pole position shootout, with both admitting that minor mistakes (through turns eight and nine respectively) perhaps cost them even stronger starting slots than their eventual P5 / P4 positions (later upgraded to P4 / P3 after a penalty for the McLaren).
Sunday's race threw a familiar spanner in the works ; temperature variation. The team has found throughout the season that the E20 works best in warmer conditions ; a trend which was once again realised here (most prominently at the beginning of the Grand Prix).
 |
| Photo: Pirelli |
With a significant temperature drop from the heat of Friday and Saturday, the drivers were unable to stay in touch with the leaders in the early stages.
However, as the race went on and rack temperatures rose the E20 began to come into its element, with Grosjean's fastest lap of the race standing at over a second quicker than the next non-Lotus F1 Team competitor - despite missing a significant portion of his front wing end plate.
In addition, the decision to run a second set of scrubbed soft tires during the second stints showed, somewhat surprisingly, that the hard rubber was in fact the faster option in Barcelona. While this may seem counter-intuitive, it provides another valuable piece of information for future races.