PETRONAS, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, PETRONAS Lubricants International (PLI) recently announced a global search for a Trackside Fluid Engineer. What in the name of Karl Benz is a Trackside Fluid Engineer you might ask? Well, this is the engineer that will be hired by PETRONAS Lubricants International to provide onsite technical support on the performance of PETRONAS Fluid Technology

MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS secured second place in the Constructors´ Championship today after a thrilling final race of the season.

• The team finished the 2013 season with a total of 360 points - 218 more than in 2012

• The season saw a total of three wins, six further podiums and eight pole positions

• Nico finished P5 this afternoon on a two-stop strategy, running option/prime/prime with stops on laps 22 and 44

• Lewis finished P9 after making two pit stops (laps 21, 47) and serving a drive-through penalty on lap 52

• Lewis also ran a tyre strategy of option/prime/prime and completed his 18th finish in 19 races in the 2013 season

Drivers - Car No. - Chassis No. - Race Result / Fastest Lap
Nico Rosberg - 9 - F1 W04 / 03 - P5, 1:16.442
Lewis Hamilton - 10 - F1 W04 / 04 - P9, 1:16.692

Weather - Dry with slight showers
Temperatures - Air: 18-20°C / Track: 22-26°C

Nico Rosberg
“Today is a great day for the team and to finish in second place in the Constructors´ Championship is a huge step forward for us. My thanks to everyone who made our success possible and congratulations to the team here at the track and back at our factories. It was certainly an interesting race today; I had a perfect start but then I struggled a lot with my rear tyres in the opening stint and lost a few positions. We could have cleared Jenson in the pits but it was better for us to be conservative and focus on our battle with Ferrari. I´m so happy that we have achieved our aim and now everyone can look forward to a break and the new challenge of 2014. It´s a huge project and there´s a lot of work ahead over the winter. I´m very much looking forward to working with the team to put us in the best possible position for next season.”

Lewis Hamilton
“Firstly, congratulations to the team today for achieving second place in the Constructors´ Championship. That result means so much to everyone and I´m so grateful to have been a part of it this year. From my side, it was a tough race today. I don´t know what happened exactly with Valtteri and will have to have a look at the replay. I thought that I had moved to the left, he outbraked me and then we touched but it happened so quickly and it was obviously judged that I did something wrong. I was having a good race until that point in fourth place and a podium might have been possible as I was closing on Fernando. That´s why I´m so disappointed with my own race but of course I´m delighted for the team. They have done an incredible job this year and really deserve this result. It´s the reward for what I know has been many years of hard work and my thoughts are with everyone here at the track and back at our factories at Brackley and Brixworth. We´ve got so much to look forward to next season so I´ll put today behind me quickly and focus on what should be a great year in 2014.”

Ross Brawn
“Well, I´ve certainly got a few more grey hairs after that race! Both cars made fantastic starts but it was soon clear that we hadn´t found the sweet spot with the car balance for Nico and he was struggling for rear-end grip. Lewis was stronger in the opening stint and showed good pace before and after his first stop. Our race obviously turned on the two drive-through penalties for Felipe and Lewis. Our drivers had been reporting that Felipe was consistently crossing the white line at pit entry with all four wheels and when the FIA eventually took action, that obviously helped us. Then we had Lewis´ unfortunate incident with Bottas and we have to take that one on the chin as we should have kept Lewis better informed of just how quickly the Williams was closing, even though he was a lap down. He then drove strongly after the penalty, especially considering his floor was damaged by the flailing tyre. But the key thing today is that the team secured second position in the Constructors´ Championship, even though we made rather hard work of it. That was done on the basis of a very good step forwards and one we made for good reasons. My thanks and congratulations to everyone at our team for all of their hard work, dedication and commitment. Red Bull have been extremely dominant in 2013, and congratulations to them. But our progress is the first fruits of the technical team we began building two years ago and I am optimistic that the trend of progress will continue in 2014.”

Toto Wolff
“Our target today was to secure second position in the Constructors´ Championship; we achieved that target and that´s what counts. Ferrari, and Fernando in particular, made life extremely hard for us in the first half of the race and that kept us on our toes and gave us some nervous moments. Lewis´ incident with Valtteri was unfortunate; we must be glad that it did not ultimately cost us any positions in the standings and learn our lessons from it. Thank you to everyone at the team, both at the track and at our factories, for their efforts and please keep up the hard work! Congratulations also to Red Bull, who once again showed incredible pace and have set the standard this season. From tomorrow, our attention will be fully focused on 2014 and taking another significant step forward in performance.”























~ Official photos and report courtesy of MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS ~

Copyright © 2013, Mercedes-Benz-Blog. All rights reserved.

I. Brazilian F1 Grand Prix 2013 Preview

The final race of the 2013 Formula One World Championship takes place at Interlagos in Sao Paulo on Sunday 24 November.

• At 4.309 km, the Interlagos circuit is the second shortest track of the season after Monaco

• The historical probability of Safety Car deployment is 70%, with four of the last five Grands Prix featuring the Safety Car

• Only twice in the past ten years has the Brazilian Grand Prix been won by the driver starting from pole position

Nico Rosberg
“The weather forecast for Interlagos looks interesting this weekend and if it does rain, that would be a good opportunity for us as our car is generally quick in the wet. I´m really looking forward to the weekend and everyone at the team is hoping for a great result to end the season on a high. It would be fantastic to achieve second place in the Constructors´ Championship to give all of the team here and back at the factories in Brackley and Brixworth an early Christmas present!”

Lewis Hamilton
“It´s difficult to believe that the final race of my first season with MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS has come round already as this year seems to have flown by. We know what we have to achieve this weekend in Sao Paulo and everyone is so fired up to have a good weekend and to be in that second place in the Championship on Sunday afternoon. I had a good race in Austin and it felt great to get that under my belt before the end of the season and I´m really looking forward to Brazil. Interlagos is such a unique track in its location and layout, and I have some great memories from previous races there. The passion of the Brazilian fans is amazing and it´s fantastic to see their support over the weekend. We´ll be hoping for a smooth weekend but it´ll be interesting to see how the predicted weather develops.”

Ross Brawn
“Sao Paulo is always a very special place to bring the Formula One season to a conclusion. The passionate Brazilian fans at Interlagos make for a wonderful atmosphere and the races can certainly be entertaining. The early forecast looks for a mixed set of weather conditions for the weekend which will make our job tougher but that´s the challenge we all thrive on. Our team had a solid rather than spectacular weekend in Austin which nonetheless improved our position relative to our competitors in the fight for second place in the Constructors´ Championship. Our aim for this weekend is to maintain that second place with a strong showing from Nico and Lewis, and it goes without saying that we would all be delighted if that goal could be achieved.”

Toto Wolff
“We know that races in Interlagos can be unpredictable, both because of the circuit layout and also the weather conditions. So there is no question of complacency or thinking the job is already done. We will work in our usual calm, efficient way to deliver the potential of both cars and secure second place in the Championship. Like always, we will be racing hard to score the maximum number of points possible and end our season on a high.”

II. Friday's Free Practice Report: The Silver Arrows on top after first day at Interlagos

Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton finished today´s practice sessions at a wet Interlagos circuit in P1 and P5 respectively.

• The drivers completed a total of just 48 laps today, just over half a race distance, in wet conditions at Interlagos.

• With further rain forecast, the priority was to save sets of fresh wet tyres for sessions later in the weekend.

• Both drivers were able to set competitive times in the wet conditions on both types of wet tyre.

Drivers - Car No. - Chassis No. - Practice One - Practice Two
Nico Rosberg - 9 - F1 W04 / 03 - 14 laps, 1:24.781, P1 - 12 laps, 1:27.306, P1
Lewis Hamilton - 10 - F1 W04 / 04 - 13 laps, 1:25.230, P2 - 9 laps, 1:28.147, P5

Weather - Wet
Temperatures - Air: 19-21°C / Track: 20-24°C

Nico Rosberg
“Today I had a good start into the weekend, and I was very quick in the rain even though we don´t really know about the fuel levels of the other teams. Therefore we need to read the time sheets with some caution. But generally I have higher hopes now that perhaps we can give Red Bull a hard time this weekend. We all know that the weather plays always a big role here at Interlagos and can catch you out. We were not able to run that much but the track feels really great and it was great fun to be out there and find the limit in these difficult conditions.”

Lewis Hamilton
“The conditions were tricky out there today and it´s a real shame for the fans that they didn´t get to see more action on track. Of course, it´s frustrating for us drivers to be sitting in the garage for so long but I really feel for everyone who has made the effort to come here to the track. We were able to get some running during the two sessions and that will be useful as the conditions for the rest of the weekend look pretty much the same. I´m struggling a little to get the feel of the car in the wet, and that´s really been the same for me with our car all season, so we have some work to do overnight to see where we can make improvements. I´d really prefer a dry weekend but that´s out of our hands.”

Ross Brawn
“That was an interesting day which could well be relevant for the rest of the weekend - certainly for tomorrow and perhaps even for Sunday. The balance of the car wasn´t too bad on either the intermediate or the full wet tyres but, in common with our rivals, we don´t have any data on how it will be in dry conditions. Overall, it was a useful and straightforward day in the context of preparations for the possibility of a wet qualifying session or race.”

Toto Wolff
“We had two decent sessions today, which further confirmed the tendency already seen this season that our car performs well in mixed conditions. However, the forecast is so inconsistent that we need to ensure we have the right compromise for both wet and dry as we cannot assume it will be a wet race. So we will be working hard overnight to make sure we are in good shape whatever the weather.”

III. Saturday's Qualifying Report: Downpour affects performance as Nico Rosberg comes P2 and Lewis Hamilton finishes 5th

Nico Rosberg will start from the front row for the Brazilian Grand Prix tomorrow with Lewis Hamilton qualifying in fifth place.

• Nico´s second place starting position marks the team´s 16th front row of the season and Nico´s seventh in total

• Nico ran the following tyre strategy: Q1, new inter; Q2, new inter/new inter; Q3, new x-wet/new inter

• Lewis qualified in the top five for the 17th time in 19 races this season

• He ran the same tyre strategy as Nico during the three wet parts of qualifying

Drivers - Car No. - Chassis No. - Practice - Qualifying 1 - Qualifying 2 - Qualifying 3
Nico Rosberg - 9 - F1 W04 / 03 - P19 - P3 1:25.556 - P4 1:26.626 - P2 1:27.102
Lewis Hamilton - 10 - F1 W04 / 04 - P11 - P1 1:25.342 - P5 1:26.698 - P5 1:27.677

Weather - Wet
Temperatures - Air: 18-19°C / Track: 19-21°C

Nico Rosberg
“That was a very demanding qualifying session today with really tricky conditions and a long break before the final session. I´m really pleased to have achieved second place on the grid and a big thank you to the team for their work; we did everything right today. My target was to give Sebastian a hard time so I was surprised that the gap was so big in these conditions. I lost time in the last sector compared to him which was down to a lack of KERS power when you do two consecutive quick laps. Being on the front row gives us a great opportunity in the race but the most important thing is to stay in front of the Ferraris.”

Lewis Hamilton
“Naturally I´m a little disappointed with fifth place as Nico´s position shows there was clearly potential for more today. Wet sessions haven´t been too good for me this year and, although we made some changes going into qualifying, I´m struggling to get to grips with how the car works in these conditions. It´s getting better but there is still so much to learn. However we´ve got everything to play for in the race tomorrow and I hope to have a good fight out there and make some progress forward. Our aim of course is to finish ahead of the Ferraris and hopefully score enough points to secure our second place finish.”

Ross Brawn
“Qualifying sessions like that always offer plenty of potential to trip over and the team did a very good job today. To have both our cars in the top five is a good overall result after such an unusual afternoon. Nico has managed to get the car exactly where he wants it in terms of wet set-up this weekend and was very comfortable out there; Lewis hasn´t quite found the same sweet spot but still delivered a strong lap to get into the top five. None of us have done any running in dry conditions this weekend so, if it does dry out tomorrow, it will be an interesting experience for all of us. That brings the potential for surprises and we will handle them as they come and seize every opportunity that comes our way.”

Toto Wolff
“A wet qualifying session is one where it´s far easier to get things wrong than to get them right so it´s pleasing that we managed to get things pretty much right this afternoon. It was a very tricky session and the team did a good job to deliver second and fifth places, although we must analyse why Lewis did not manage to put his second lap together and if, perhaps, we were a little too conservative with our timings. But it´s always easy to be smart in hindsight and the important thing is that we will start from strong grid positions tomorrow. So overall we can be happy with a good team performance.”



























































































~ Official photos and reports courtesy of MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS ~

Copyright © 2013, Mercedes-Benz-Blog. All rights reserved.