Qualifying: P12, 1:22.284, 14 laps

Nick Heidfeld, R31-04

Qualifying: P14, 1:22.470, 14 laps

Vitaly Petrov was the fastest LRGP driver in a difficult qualifying session for the Hungarian Grand Prix where both cars narrowly missed out on a Q3 qualifying run.

Vitaly will line up on the grid for tomorrow's race in 12^th position with Nick Heidfeld directly behind him in 14^th with under two tenths of a second separating both drivers' best times, set using Pirelli's super soft compound P-Zero.

Variable weather conditions with relatively brisk winds did not assist finding a good set-up for the R31 in a session where Sebastian Vettel took pole position with a time of 1min 19.815secs.

http://www.lotusrena...YING-LOTUS.html

P9, 1:23.175, 19 laps

Nick Heidfeld, R31-04

P11, 1:23.281, 13 laps

Vitaly Petrov and Nick Heidfeld completed their preparations for the Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungaroring at a bright, sunny but windy third practice session ahead of this afternoon's hour of qualifying.

Both drivers ran with the soft compound for the majority of the 60 minutes running before switching to the super soft compound late on.

Vitaly set the session's ninth fastest with a 1min 23.175secs, using the super soft tyres. Nick meanwhile lost a reasonable amount of time sat in the garage waiting for a fuel issue to be rectified, before taking to the track to set the eleventh fastest time, a 1min 23.281secs, using the super soft tyre.

Both drivers reported improved balance and performance from yesterday.

Sebastian Vettel topped the times with a 1m 21.168s to head Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button.

http://www.lotusrena...CE-3-LOTUS.html

P14, 1:23.861, 28 laps

Vitaly Petrov, R31-05 Free Practice 2:

P17, 1:24.546, 21 laps

In the second practice session of Eastern Europe's showcase motorsport event, Nick returned to the R31 alongside Vitaly as Lotus Renault GP returned to its usual line-up.

As the sun began to break through in Budapest, Nick led the way for LRGP, after posting a best time on the Pirelli supersoft tyres of 1min 23.861secs. This left him 14^th quickest in the session.

The German completed a total of 28 laps using both Pirelli's soft and supersoft compounds in the process.

Teammate Vitaly finished three places below with a time of 1min 24.546secs, more than six tenths behind Nick, again trialing both compounds on the Hungaroring track.

Fastest in FP2 was McLaren's Lewis Hamilton with a time of 1min 21.018secs.

http://www.lotusrena...ce-2-Lotus.html

P10, 1:25.093, 22 laps

Bruno Senna, R31-04 Free Practice 1:

P15, 1:25.855, 25 laps

Bruno Senna had his first taste of Grand Prix weekend R31 track action today as he completed a trouble-free FP1 session in Nick Heidfeld's R31-04.

Bruno completed 25 laps using one set of Pirelli's soft compound P-Zeros to set a time of 1min 25.855secs, the 15^th fastest time of the session.

Vitaly Petrov led the way for Lotus Renault GP with a 1min 25.093secs lap, the tenth fastest in the session. He also used just one set of the soft tyre.

Fastest in FP1 McLaren's Lewis Hamilton with a time of 1m 23.350secs.

http://www.lotusrena...ce-1-Lotus.html

Engine

We are looking for non-peaky power delivery to facilitate traction out of the low-speed corners as well as good all round driveability.

Brakes

There are relatively heavy braking demands heading into turn one as it is at the end of a comparatively long straight. From turns four to turn 10 the braking demands are very light, so drivers need good confidence in their braking systems as heavy use is relatively seldom over the course of a lap.

Suspension

The circuit layout promotes understeer so you need a strong front end to prevent this. The car needs to ride the kerbs a lot at this track so a soft front end can assist.

Rear Wing

The rear wing configuration runs to maximum downforce levels.

Tyres

The soft and supersoft Pirelli P-Zeros are allocated. The circuit surface and layout is relatively kind to the tyres, however the high temperatures frequently experienced can cause the rubber other issues, such as blistering.

Front Wing

Maximum downforce for the circuit layout and also designed to help counter understeer; we will run a new specification front wing to assist with this.

Track Annotations - Hungaroring

• Turn 1 - Heavy braking from almost 300 kph to under 100 kph. The most likely overtaking opportunity on the circuit.
• The track is downhill into turn two so there is potential for drivers to outbrake themselves into this corner.
• Turns four to eleven very much lead into each other so there's little braking here. You need a well-balanced car with good change of direction capabilities.
• Turn 13 - The second slowest corner on the circuit taken at around 100 kph.
• It's crucial to get a good exit from the 3^rd gear turn 14 as it leads onto the only straight, which, in turn, heads into the best overtaking opportunity into turn one.
• The Hungoraring is a circuit where the surface grip level improves a lot over the course of a race weekend, which makes finding the correct set-up a challenge – has a lap time improvement come from a change to the car, or from the track surface improvement?

http://www.lotusrena...Grand-Prix.html

No, it wasn't the result we were looking for. We came to the Nürburgring with some developments to the car, which gave us higher hopes going into the weekend. Vitaly put in a determined drive, while lady luck did not favour Nick when we was working his way back up the field after falling back to 22^nd position. It was another point gained for us, but really we were well below par, and it was not the weekend we expected it to be. It was not good enough, and at the Hungarian GP we will try and get back on track, although there will be no significant revisions to the car until after the summer break.

We now move to Hungary, a race that was introduced back in 1986 – how important is this fixture to the F1 calendar?

Yes, Hungary has been a big part of Formula One for 25 years now. It was a completely groundbreaking move to make it a race venue back in the mid-1980s, and I think the decision to do so has been vindicated. It put F1 on the map, and behind the Iron Curtain for the first time; it has helped raise its profile in a part of Europe where the sport had not travelled. We know that when we get to Hungary there will be fans everywhere; the Hungarian people love their motorsport and we're really looking forward to getting our campaign back on-track in front of a motor racing-mad crowd. Make no mistake, we will try to give the LRGP fans in Budapest something to cheer about this weekend, even if the podium looks a bit far from us at the moment.

It's the final Grand Prix before the summer break – what are your expectations?

I've expected improvement from our car for a number of races now, and we are making improvement, but we have got to get our heads down and make bigger strides. It's a competitive field out there, with Force India and Sauber also competing in higher positions, so we've got to raise our game starting in Hungary.

We're halfway through the season – what have you made of it, and what's to come?

Well, I've made no secret of the fact that I'm not satisfied with where we are, no one in the team is. We started the season well, but that feels like a while ago now and we have to face the facts, which are that we've been off the pace and we are trying hard to put that right. We brought some developments to the car in Germany, which didn't produce nearly enough so we are now all eyes forward to Hungary to ensure we have the opportunity to head on our summer breaks on a high.

http://www.lotusrena...ngarian-GP.html

What are the challenges of the Hungaroring?

Like Monaco, the Hungaroring is all about qualifying. DRS will skew things a little, but it will remain very tough to overtake. Getting a good qualifying lap will involve having a car which has a good high downforce setup and is able to cope with some of the bumps around the track.

Should this be a circuit which suits the R31?

We were not too special at Monaco this year, another high downforce track, but I think we have resolved some of the issues that bedevilled us there and we are hopeful of a better outing in Hungary.

This is a track which traditionally sees a lot of surface evolution – how difficult is it working with a moving target?

It is tough for race engineers and drivers alike. Setup changes normally yield results which are of the order of 0.1sec/lap, but the track evolution can be over 1sec/lap. The challenge is the same for all teams however.

We're now in the second half of the season - what's the development plan and how much resource and attention is paid to the R32?

We have quite lot of improvements to deliver over the next five races. These developments are largely as a result of research work that is already complete, leaving us with the task of designing and manufacturing them for use in the races. By the time the summer break is complete, most of our factory research resource and around half of our manufacturing capacity will have transferred to next year's car.

The August break is soon upon us - how frustrating is it locking up the factory and will you be musing concepts and solutions in the bath during the break?

The rules regarding not working during the FOTA shutdown are quite strict, but they have not closed off the bath musing loophole - two weeks of continuous bathing may be called for! The shutdown is a little frustrating in one sense, but it is a settled part of the sport now, and it allows the teams to take a well-earned break.

http://www.lotusrena...Monaco-the.html

• Nick started on scrubbed softs and was caught in an incident at the start which dropped him to the back of the field.

• Nick was making strong progress back through the order before being forced off track on lap ten, sustaining damage which put him out of the race.

• Vitaly started on scrubbed soft tyres before changing to another set of scrubbed softs on lap 23. He made his final stop for new mediums on lap 46.

• Vitaly set his best lap time, 1min 36.186secs, on lap 50 using the medium tyres.

Vitaly Petrov, P10, R31-05

"Well, it's another point gained today, but really we need to analyse exactly why we lost positions out there, and why we didn't come in to the pits earlier to fight with the group in front. The start was good and I had some decent battles, including with Jenson (Button) and Michael (Schumacher), but the main thing is we need to look at why the likes of Sauber and Force India are finishing higher than us, and correct it as soon as possible. We must now concentrate on Hungary and getting some good points there before the summer break."

Nick Heidfeld, DNF, R31-04,

"I was squeezed at the start and sandwiched in the second corner. Heading into the third corner Paul di Resta was on the outside. I locked up my front wheels and tried to avoid him but just slid into him as there was nowhere to go. After that I was trying very hard to make up positions and I overtook some cars before I was behind Sébastien Buemi. He blocked the left hand side, as he is allowed to do, but when I went to his right hand side he just moved over on me. He must have known I was there. I had a lot more speed than him and was on my way to pass. He just didn't give me any room and pushed me on to the grass and after that there was nothing I could do. It was an accident which couldn't be avoided. It's never nice being up in the air in one of these cars and it could have been dangerous."

Eric Boullier, Team Principal and Managing Director

"Obviously this is a disappointing day for us. We had a reasonable qualifying yesterday, which was definitely a step forward from Silverstone, and we were looking to launch a strong assault on the points today from P9 and P11. Firstly, Nick was unlucky; after falling back to 22^nd position he was ploughing his way through the field and, by the time he moved into 16^th place, he was trying to overtake Sebastien (Buemi) but ran out of room and went off-track which cut his race short. Vitaly also had a tough race but stuck it out with a determined drive to come home in P10. We are looking to finish much stronger than we did today but, having said that, one point is better than none and we must now look at how we improve in time for Budapest."

James Allison, Technical Director

"A disappointing race with Nick out early after a start which meant a very difficult race in any case and Vitaly scoring a point but achieving less than we thought possible and hoped for. It was not really where we hoped to be at the end of the weekend so we have to keep our noses to the grindstone and make the car quicker as that's what will bring the points. There are a couple of minor revisions to the R31 for Budapest but we have greater changes for the races which follow."

Ricardo Penteado, LRGP Engine Support Leader, Renault Sport F1

"Getting the right engine settings for the Nürburgring can be tricky on account of the changeable track and ambient conditions. We got a decent balance today and Vitaly drove a good race to score another point, which is very important to keep us in touch with Mercedes in the constructors' championship. Nick could have scored a good amount of points as well so the accident with Buemi was really unfortunate. We've got the Hungaroring in just a week though, which places very different demands on the engine, so we're going to put all our efforts into this to finish the first part of the season on a high."

• Did you know? LRGP have scored points in every race so far this season.

http://www.lotusrena...-GP-Report.html

Qualifying: P9, 1:32.187, 16 laps

Nick Heidfeld, R31-04

Qualifying: P11, 1:32.215, 16 laps

Vitaly Petrov led the charge for LRGP in qualifying for the German Grand Prix by getting through to the final Q3 session and setting the ninth fastest time for tomorrow's race at the Nürburgring.

Vitaly's earlier Q2 lap displaced Nick from then tenth place, meaning that no further time remaining in that session the German was unable to put in another time so will start from P11 for his home Grand Prix.

Grey clouds above made strong suggestions of precipitation potential but never delivered on their threats as both of LRGP's drivers set their fastest laps today using Pirelli's soft compound yellow-marked P-Zero tyres.

Mark Webber set pole position with a time of 1min 30.079secs and will be joined on tomorrow's front row by Lewis Hamilton.

http://www.lotusrena...us-Renault.html

P11, 1:32.777, 18 laps

Nick Heidfeld, R31-04

P13, 1:33.072, 18 laps

Vitaly Petrov and Nick Heidfeld completed their preparations for the German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring in a cold and grey skied dry third session of free practice ahead of this afternoon's hour of qualifying.

Both drivers ran with the medium compound for the majority of the 60 minutes running before switching to the soft compound late on.

Vitaly was just shy of setting a top ten time with a 1min 32.777secs giving him eleventh position on the monitors whilst Nick's 1m 33.072secs was left him 13^th quickest.

After yesterday experimenting with a rearward direction exhaust experimental system on Nick's car, today both R31s ran with the forward facing system which has been used all season.

Sebastian Vettel topped the times with a 1m 30.916s to head Mark Webber and Fernando Alonso.

http://www.lotusrena...us-Renault.html

P8, 1:33.098, 17 laps

Vitaly Petrov, R31-05 Free Practice 2:

P9, 1:33.128, 22 laps

Driving at his home Grand Prix, Nick reversed the trend of the first practice session by finishing the fastest of the two LRGP drivers, as the team returned to the track for the second practice session at the Nurburgring.

The German, who continued to use a different exhaust set-up, was eighth fastest in the session, posting a best time of 1min 33.098secs on Pirelli's soft tyre compound.

During the ninety-minute spell, Nick managed some lap time on the soft compounds, unlike this morning when he drove only on the medium tyres.

Vitaly, meanwhile, set a time of 1min 33.138secs, which brought him home one place behind his teammate in ninth position. He ran on both the soft and medium compounds during the session.

Fastest in FP2 was Red Bull's Mark Webber with a time of 1min 31.711secs.

http://www.lotusrena...us-Renault.html

P11, 1:34.094, 22 laps

Nick Heidfeld, R31-04 Free Practice 1:

P15, 1:35.444, 22 laps

Vitaly Petrov led the way for Lotus Renault GP at a chilly and cloudy Nürburgring for the first practice session of the German Grand Prix.

Using chassis R31-05, Vitaly set the eleventh fastest time of the session with a lap of 1min 34.094secs. During the course of the ninety-minute session he used both of Pirelli's white-marked medium and yellow-marked soft tyres. Late in the session, Vitaly changed front wing.

Nick, who in chassis R31-04 was running a different exhaust system from Vitaly, set the fifteenth fastest time of the morning. He used only Pirelli's white-marked medium specification tyre.

Fastest in FP1 was Ferrari's Fernando Alonso with a time of 1m 31.894secs.

http://www.lotusrena...us-Renault.html

NH: Yes, definitely, it's a special circuit for me not just because it's in Germany but it's an hour away from my home town. I've got a lot of memories from here, not just from Formula One; I had some nice races in other categories, I had my first pole position in F1 and I got second place in the race. Also learnt how to ride a bike here, the first time I drove a go kart was here and, well, it's a very special place for me.

You've driven at a number of German GPs before – does it excite you to race in front of your home fans?

NH: Definitely. When you're driving you always push as best you can, but everything around that is busy but it's more enjoyable because there are more fans cheering you on and it's just more fun because you see that the people enjoy it.

The team's bringing a number of developments to the car this weekend – what do you think we can expect?

NH: It's going to be a very interesting weekend for us because we are going to bring some new, major developments to the car whereas at the last couple of races we only had minor changes. It's a little bit of a step into the unknown because it could go very well, or it could throw up some issues, in which case we'd need to go back into the factory and look at them. It is going to be a very exciting weekend, though.

How important are the next two races in terms of giving LRGP a lift going into the second half of the season?

NH: Yes, that's exactly why I think it's important. WE are definitely, as every team is, pushing as hard as we can to be successful, but the summer break is long and it's important we build up a good atmosphere. We still have it (a good atmosphere) despite a couple of difficult races recently. WE know where we have to improve, we still scored some points and we want to fight with the top teams so hopefully the next two races will be good.

http://www.lotusrena...f-memories.html

I am feeling pretty good. Obviously we didn't have a fantastic weekend in Silverstone. Anyway we have analysed things to look at what went wrong. Now we are happy that we came back on the normal throttle map, so we are looking forward and, with some small updates, I am confident we will have a good weekend.

Since we last saw you, you've been in Sochi, Russia promoting Formula One. Tell us about your experience there?

Oh it was really great fun, a lot of fans followed me and they really like motorsports (over there). They really enjoyed that weekend and what we did there. It was very hot and sunny, we burned a lot of tyres! So I hope the fans stay positive and were happy with what we did last weekend.

As you said, there were a lot of fans for you there in Sochi - is there a particular interest of yours to be able to show your sport to your own compatriots?

Of course I love coming to Russia to show the people what Formula One is. A lot of people don't have the opportunity to go to a Formula One event because it is quite expensive, and now finally Formula One will be coming to Russia in 2014. With the one-off event at the weekend, it showed the crowd what a real Formula One car is.

And focusing on this weekend, how do you expect the car to perform?

We hope it will be much better than it was at Silverstone. The forecast said the weather conditions will be tricky, but anyway this time I think we are better prepared than we were at Silverstone.

Does the German Grand Prix present different challenges because one year it's in Hockenheim and next year it's Nurburgring. Is it difficult to get used to this track?

Absolutely no, for me I did some races here in GP2. I have a quite good results so I am looking forward to with a Formula One car here.

http://www.lotusrena...nfident-we.html

You scored four points for the team at Silverstone, a reasonable result considering it was a difficult weekend for the team?

It is definitely not what we were hoping for, but if you look at the problems we faced on Friday and then Saturday when I qualified 16^th, I managed to finish 8^th on Sunday which is I think the best I could have done. It was actually a fun race, with some nice battles out there, and we faced some interesting weather conditions going from a wet part of the track to a dry part. But, four points is not what we're aiming for – we need more, deserve more and we must be proactive in making that happen. I really believe that we will be able to score a greater number of points over the next few races as we have some more interesting developments to bolt onto the car.

At the Nürburgring you will be in front of your home crowd - is it always special for you to race in Germany?

Yes, it is always special to be in Germany, there's no doubt about that. There are obviously a lot more fans supporting me there, and especially at the Nürburgring - I have so many nice memories from racing at this track. Learning how to ride a bike, driving a go kart and sledging in the snow are all things I did at the Nürburgring. I also won some races in junior categories there, and of course got my first pole position in Formula One at the track, so coming back is like a trip down memory lane.

How enthusiastic are the German fans?

They are very enthusiastic and they have every reason to be because firstly Sebastian (Vettel) is leading and fighting for the championship, and secondly we have a number of German drivers in the championship giving it their best shot. I'm proud to be one of those drivers and proud to be representing Lotus Renault GP on the grid.

What do you expect from the car at this race?

I know, as James Allison has confirmed, that there are some bigger developments coming than we had at the last couple of races. There has been a tremendous amount of work going on in the wind tunnel so I am very hopeful that we will take a significant step forward. We have had to demonstrate our patience during what were a couple of challenging races recently (Valencia and Silverstone), but now is the time for us to take that step forward and compete with the top teams again, which is where we belong.

What are your targets for this race?

Well, my objective is always to perform the very best that I can. I hope that the car is strong, so that we can go back to qualifying in the top 10 (which is exactly where we should be) and then get even stronger in the constructors' championship; we will need to take the fight to Mercedes who just overtook us but we know we are more than capable of a fourth placed finish this season.

http://www.lotusrena...rman-Grand.html

Engine

There are no engine requirements which are specific to the Nürburgring, so we are looking for good mid-range torque, for exiting the medium speed corners and good all round driveability.

Brakes

There is a need for good brakes, which can be modulated well to attack the chicane before the last corner.

Suspension

There will be a focus on a set-up for high speed change of direction corners – the Nürburgring is somewhere where the car is set up a little stiffer than the general baseline. Additionally, there is not much use of the kerbs so this does not need to be factored into the equation.

Rear Wing

A downforce level very similar to that used in Silverstone, which is on the high side in comparison with the other circuits this season.

Tyres

The medium and soft Pirelli P-Zeros have been allocated, which is the same combination as seen at the European GP. Data suggests that they will be slightly better suited to the Nürburgring as it's more severe on tyres than Valencia.

Front Wing

For the Nürburgring you need a car which carries a reasonable amount of front wing to balance the car for the longish medium-speed corners.

Track annotations:

• Good midrange pick-up required from the engine exiting turns 10 and 11, both of which are taken between 160-170 kph
• A high speed section of the circuit with turns 8 and 9 taken at over 250kph
• Strong braking with good modulation required into the hairpin which is a good overtaking opportunity. The hairpin is approached at 280kph with the slowest speed around it of 100kph
• Good high speed turn in balance required here as turn 5 is approached at around 270kph and taken at just over 200 kph before braking to about 130 kph for turn 6.
• There's a quite technical low speed complex T1 – T4, mechanical grip and suspension settings have greater importance here than other sections of the circuit where downforce and the aero package have greater influence
• Braking here from around 300kph to under 80kph
• Turn 15 is vital to get a good speed on the following straight. You need to shed 100kph coming into the corner, and ensure a clean exit onto the power.

http://www.lotusrena...rgring-set.html

JA: It feels rather daunting. The previous occupants of the Chair have set a high standard and it is important to do the job properly.

What will your role entail?

JA: The TRWG applies the technical expertise of the Teams to contribute to the successful future of F1 over the medium and longer term. As Chairman it is my job to conduct the meetings of the TRWG in a well organised manner. I will also hope to continue the work of my predecessors in promoting a constructive relationship with the body that forms the Technical Regulations of F1, the FIA Technical Working Group.

How will you balance this alongside your main position of LRGP Technical Director?

JA: FOTA is a body that always tries to act constructively in the best interest of the sport. Contributing to its operation does take some time and effort, but most would agree that it has been a very worthwhile investment. Also, taking on the Chair does not really change the level of required commitment greatly. All of the Technical Directors are representatives within the TRWG. We all have to find the time to prepare for and to attend the TRWG meetings. In the meetings themselves, it is routine for individual Technical Directors to volunteer either their own time or the resources of their Team to allow technical studies to be performed. This work is fairly well shared out, but I have the advantage as Chairman of having the help of the very efficient FOTA Secretary - Simone Perillo – when preparing for the meetings.

http://www.lotusrena...d-Chairman.html

Overall, what can be learnt from the British Grand Prix?

JA: Sadly, just the simple fact that although we redeemed ourselves to a degree in the race, we are not fast enough at the moment.

What can we expect in Germany?

JA: I hope that it will see the start of us clawing our way back to respectability with a reasonable series of upgrades to the car.

The Nürburgring – what challenges does it present?

JA: Nürburgring does not have any particular outstanding features, but it provides a fair all round test of the performance of a car. Probably the most unusual aspect of Nürburgring is that we only go there every two years. It is standard practice to consult the notes from the previous year prior to going to each circuit and, in Nürburgring's case, these notes are two years out of date and therefore less helpful in offering pre-event guidance. For example: last time we were at Nürburgring not a single car on the grid had a blown diffuser.

After a strong start to the year, the performance in terms of pace has fallen back relative to other teams - how can you explain this and what is in place to rectify the situation?

JA: It is easy to explain, less easy to correct. F1 is a notoriously tough sport where the teams are both highly competent and also straining every fibre to try to improve. Improving slowly is the same as going backwards and we have improved too slowly. While the analysis is facile, finding the gains to remedy the shortfall is not. I am confident that we will shortly deliver these gains, but I would prefer to let the car do the talking in the coming races rather than to give chapter and verse on what we intend to bring to the track.

Can you explain the wind tunnel upgrade and its impact on development progress?

JA: Our upgrade has allowed us to switch from a 50% model to a 60% model. It doesn't sound like a big thing when you say it like that, but any F1 aerodynamicist would nod in agreement at the huge workload involved. Although we call them "models", the word does not do them justice as it conjures up images of a toy. F1 wind tunnel models are nearly as complicated and almost as expensive as their full size counterparts. They are beautiful pieces of engineering and it asks a lot of the aero department to generate the headroom to take on such an upgrade whilst not letting up on the development of the car.

In addition to the model, there are changes to the tunnel infrastructure that need to be put in place: We had to modify the mounting system for the model and the wheels to cope with the new design. We had to develop new electronic measuring systems to cope with the higher loads. As each part is 20% longer, has 44% more surface area and 73% more volume, we had to upgrade our manufacturing systems to ensure that we could still cope with the throughput of making all of the thousands of wind tunnel test components at the same rate as their much smaller 50% counterparts.

Finally, we had to modify the tunnel working section to accommodate the larger model. This involved stopping the tunnel for 12 days, stripping the entire working section back to its bare skeleton and then building it back up for the new model. This is a huge budget of work, but I am proud that we have achieved it without impact on the programme other than 12 days of lost development. I am also happy that the weeks that have followed its installation have justified the investment as they have been very rich in terms of downforce gained. Our challenge now is to get these gains to the track.

http://www.lotusrena...to-let-the.html

Qualifying: P14, 1:32.734, 14 laps

Nick Heidfeld, R31-04

Qualifying: P16, 1:33.805, 15 laps

It was a disappointing qualifying session for Lotus Renault GP, with both drivers unable to qualify inside the top ten during difficult conditions again today at Silverstone.

Rain showers on certain parts of the track made judging the grip levels available a tough challenge for both drivers. Vitaly set the better time with a 1min 32.734secs to Nick's 1min 33.805secs.

Both drivers set their best times using Pirelli's yellow-marked soft compound P-Zero tyre. By not going through to the final qualifying session, both drivers have an extra unused set of soft tyres for tomorrow's race.

Mark Webber set pole position with a time of 1min 30.399secs and will be joined on tomorrow's front row by his team-mate Sebastian Vettel.

P15, 1:34.042, 22 laps

Nick Heidfeld, R31-04

P18, 1:34.822, 21 laps

Nick Heidfeld and Vitaly Petrov completed their preparations for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone in a predominantly dry third session of free practice ahead of this afternoon's hour of qualifying.

Both drivers ran with the hard and soft compound Pirelli tyres during the course of the hour session with Vitaly ending the session having done a best lap of 1min 34.402s, and Nick posting a 1min 34.822s.

The windy weather blew over a couple of light showers, however only dry tyres were used in contrast to yesterday's very wet weather.

Sebastian Vettel topped the times with a 1m 31.401s to head Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber.

http://www.lotusrena...ce-3-Lotus.html

LRGP's Technical Director James Allison explains the concept of the blown floor and its advantages:

"In the same way as an aeroplane generates lift as air passes over the curved surfaces of its wings, so does an F1 car create downforce by using similar shapes mounted upside down. The faster the air passes over its downforce generating surfaces, the more downforce it will create.

One of the most important parts of the car for generating downforce is the floor. Its curved edges and ramped rear surface account for around 40% of the downforce of the whole car. F1 designers spend a lot of time tweaking the detail design of the shape of the floor to extract the last drop of available performance.

On average, in the corners, the speed of the exhaust gasses is around 6 times the speed of the car. If this high speed gas can be directed at the underside of the floor, then as far as the part of the floor that is in contact with the exhaust is concerned, it will produce downforce just as if it was going 6 times as fast. The extra downforce that is produced is substantial and can improve the laptime of the car by around 1sec/lap. "

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P11, 1:52.198, 9 laps

Nick Heidfeld, R31-04 Free Practice 2:

P16, 1:54.023, 8 laps

The English weather was ever-present this afternoon, as Vitaly and Nick only managed to total 17 laps between them.

In a washed out second practice session at Silverstone, both drivers had to wait until 14.06 (66 minutes into the session) before they got out on track to test the extreme wet Pirelli tyres.

Vitaly managed to post the best time of the two drivers, with a 1min 55.874secs. Nick, meanwhile, clocked in with a 1min 56.848secs before the drying weather allowed the team to contemplate the use of the inters.

It was on the intermediate tyres that Vitaly secured his P11 with a timed lap of 1min 52.198secs. His counterpart, Nick, meanwhile posted a 1min 54.848secs, allowing him to clinch P16.

It was Ferrari's Felipe (Massa) who finished ahead of the field with a 1min 49.967secs lap, ahead of Nico (Rosberg) in second and Sauber's Kamui (Kobayashi) in third.

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P16, 1:48.941, 20 laps

Vitaly Petrov, R31-05 Free Practice 1:

P17, 1:49.603, 15 laps

Nick Heidfeld led the way for Lotus Renault GP in at a mixed weather conditions wet Silverstone for the first practice session of the British Grand Prix.

Using chassis R31-04, Nick set the sixteenth fastest time of the session using Pirelli's blue marked intermediate tyres with a lap of 1min 48.941secs.

Vitaly was just below Nick on the timing monitors with the seventeenth fastest time in the session, also using the intermediate tyres, using chassis R31-05.

The rear wings on both cars were changed during the course of the 90 minute session – Vitaly's after his installation lap, and Nick's in the latter part of practice.

Fastest today was Red Bull Racing's Mark Webber with a time of 1m 46.603s.

The wet conditions meant there was a variety of tyres used, with both LRGP drivers starting on the full wet before using the intermediate for the majority of the session. There were dry tyres used elsewhere in the field.

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What do you think of Silverstone?

NH: I enjoyed the old track for the same reasons I'll enjoy the new one – it has a lot of high speed corners. Turn one is quite straightforward but after that there are lots of interesting parts of the track, not least The Complex which includes a number of quick corners following each other closely. It's a very unique place to drive.

We will need to see how Pirelli's choice of tyres (soft and hard) will affect the race - so that's going to be an interesting aspect. I've not actually driven the new track here yet, so that will be exciting for me. I've driven at Silverstone plenty of times before but last year I didn't, and I know that since then they have changed the layout. I think Silverstone will suit our car a lot better because at the other high speed circuits this year we have been relatively strong. And, with the new regulation changes it's going to be exciting too.

VP: Silverstone is an interesting track and it has a new pitlane which we will use for the first time. The circuit has good high speed corners, and it's the first GP of the season where we'll have high speed corners like these, so we'll have to see how the tyres will behave. It's always nice to drive at a new track but, on the other hand, if you look at the layout of the old track it was a great track to drive at. On the old circuit there was Bridge Corner, which was quite special; a lot of people involved in racing would say this was quite a unique section but it has gone now. I'm not sure what the new circuit will be like, the first part is the same with a lot of high speed corners such as Stowe. Silverstone is very different to a lot of other places - it's a unique place that's for sure.

What are your hopes for this weekend?

NH: Everyone is working very hard in the factory but the question on all our minds is what's going to happen with the change in regulations from Silverstone. We will wait to see if that changes the pecking order or the gap between the teams, and then go from there.

VP: We need to concentrate on making fewer mistakes and to try to continue to work hard to improve our performance and our strategies. Of course, as it is our home Grand Prix and I would love us to have a good result but we have to work towards giving ourselves the best chances to do so.

What is your best memory of Silverstone?

NH: My second place there in 2008.

VP: I won a Euroseries 3000 race at Silverstone in 2006, in the wet.

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Set-up Guide of Silverstone

Engine

The layout of Silverstone is reasonably hard on the engine due to a high average rpm over the course of a lap. It has an impact on fuel consumption but the Renault V8 engine is very good in this area.

Brakes

In complete contrast to places like Canada or Valencia, where we battle to keep the brakes cool, here we battle to keep them hot enough. Silverstone is very easy on the brakes, as there is relatively little brake usage because so many of the corners are high speed. When you do actually need the brakes they can be quite cold so you have to ensure they stay warm enough to function correctly.

Suspension

We've got a new geometry front suspension to try, which we will evaluate on one of the cars on Friday. There isn't a great deal of kerb usage or anything in particular which relies on any particular aspect of the suspension, as this is more of an aerodynamic efficiency type of circuit. You need a stable car through the high speed corners like Copse, Maggots, Becketts and Chapel, and this achieved through a combination of the aerodynamic balance and suspension settings.

Rear Wing

After three street courses, Silverstone is a return to a slightly lower level of downforce and aerodynamic efficiency, which is king. Our new DRS rear wing worked well at Valencia so we are hoping that this carries true for Silverstone too.

Tyres

Silverstone is quite hard on tyres because of the high speed corners and it's not dissimilar to Barcelona in this respect. There has been some resurfacing to Copse, the highest speed sections of the track which could have an impact on tyre wear. Pirelli decided to bring their soft and hard compound.

Front Wing

You may carry a little bit more front wing than at other places in order to balance the car in the high speed corners. This also helps minimise understeer through Brooklands and Luffield, which is vital for a good entry speed to the following straight and on through Copse and into the Becketts complex.

Track annotations

• New pit complex so a new environment for the team
• Vale is one of the slowest corners, taken at 100km/h
• Stowe is approached at over 300kph
• The bump at Abbey has been 'addressed'
• The new section of the circuit for last year has been well received
• It's essential to minimise oversteer through Lufield to ensure good speed onto the straight, through Copse and into Becketts complex, and onto Stowe
• Drivers will have to remember not to look for the pit boards here!
• Taken almost flat out, Copse is one of the mose daunting corners of the season.
• It's resurfaced this year
• Overall car balance is essential through the Becketts complex which is entered at over 300kph

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