Preview – Monaco Grand Prix
6th of 20 Rounds of the FIA Formula One World Championship, 25th to 27th May 2012
Hinwil, 18th May 2012 – Highly motivated and excited, the Sauber F1 Team heads to the most prestigious Grand Prix of the year. The Sauber C31-Ferrari’s performance has further improved since the introduction of the recent development package, and now it remains to be seen how this works on the narrow street circuit of Monaco. Kamui Kobayashi had a great race in the principality in 2011, and Sergio Pérez can’t wait to finally make it onto the grid at the Formula One race in Monte Carlo for the first time on May 27th.
Kamui Kobayashi (car number 14):
“I have good memories of Monaco. I finished fifth there last year, which was really great. Monaco is a very special track for the drivers. Our car seems to be strong on most of the tracks. Now it will be interesting to see how competitive it will be on a street circuit, but I’m quite confident it will be strong there as well. In Monaco a lot of things can happen, therefore it’s important to stay out of trouble and make it to the end. If we do that then I’m sure we will be able to fight for points.”
Sergio Pérez (car number 15):
“This Grand Prix is the most special one for me. I have been waiting to race in the Monaco Formula One Grand Prix all my life and, of course, after what happened last year I am looking forward to it even more. I strongly believe on this track the driver can make more of a difference than on any other track. As a team we are in good shape and I want to keep that momentum for Monaco. I also think our car can perform quite well on that unique city circuit. Of course I also think back to the accident I had in Q3 last year. To me it is like a watershed event in my career. There is a time before and a time after the accident. I learnt a lot from what I had to go through and I think it made me stronger. I really want to show what I can do in Monte Carlo.”
Matt Morris, Chief Designer:
“The Monaco track is probably the one where the driver has the most influence on the overall performance. Last year both our drivers were competitive – Sergio until his accident in Q3, and Kamui finished a strong fifth in the race. The main challenge for setting up the car will be to optimise the mechanical grip. I’m confident we will be able to handle this. The development package that we ran for the first time in Barcelona will also be used again in Monaco, so we will be able to carry over its performance gain. Pirelli will provide us with the soft and the super soft tyres. This is actually the first time this year that we will be using the super soft compound during a race weekend. We tested it briefly during winter testing in Barcelona, which is a track that’s not exactly suited to this tyre, but I don’t see us having any problems in managing this tyre compound. The track has been resurfaced in some areas, for example in the braking zone after the tunnel, so we have got rid of the bump there. That’s something the drivers have to get used to, but, if anything, it should be easier. One of the design considerations of the C31 was to improve it over the kerbs, so we should be stronger at kerbing compared to last year. We have been competitive so far this season, and I’m confident we can be very strong in Monaco as well.”
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Circuit
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Monaco / 3.340 km
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Race distance
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78 laps / 260.520 km
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Schedule
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Qualifying and Race 14:00 hrs local time (12:00 hrs UTC)
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Driver
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Kamui Kobayashi
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Sergio Pérez
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Born
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13.09.1986 Amagasaki (JP)
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26.01.1990 Guadalajara (MX)
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Marital status
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Single
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Single
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Height / Weight
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1.68 m / 62 kg
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1.73 m / 64 kg
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First GP
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Sao Paulo 2009 (9th)
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Melbourne 2011, (7th/disqualified)
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GP started
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45
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22
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Best race result
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5th (Monaco 2011, Barcelona 2012)
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2nd (Sepang 2012)
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Best qualifying
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4th (Shanghai 2012)
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6th (Barcelona 2012)
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Fastest lap
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1 (Shanghai 2012)
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-
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Points 2012
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19 (currently 11th)
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22 (currently 10th)
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Points in total
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84
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36
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The Sauber F1 Team is currently 7th in the Constructors’ Championship (41 points).
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Schedule for the group interview sessions during the weekend:
Wednesday:
13:30-13:40 – Sergio Pérez – TV (Spanish, then English)
13:40-13:50 – Sergio Pérez – written media (Spanish)
13:50-14:00 – Sergio Pérez – written media (English)
14:00-14:10 – Kamui Kobayashi – TV (Japanese, then English)
14:10-14:20 – Kamui Kobayashi – written media (Japanese)
14:20-14:30 – Kamui Kobayashi – written media (English)
17:00-17:20 – Peter Sauber and Monisha Kaltenborn (all media – German and English)
Thursday:
16:00 – Monisha Kaltenborn – FIA press conference and TV
16:45-16:55 – Kamui Kobayashi – TV
16:45-16:55 – Sergio Pérez – TV
Saturday:
16:45-16:55 – Kamui Kobayashi – TV (Japanese, then English)
16:55-17:05 – Kamui Kobayashi – written media (Japanese)
17:05-17:15 – Kamui Kobayashi – written media (English)
16:45-16:55 – Sergio Pérez – written media (Spanish)
16:55-17:05 – Sergio Pérez – written media (English)
17:05-17:15 – Sergio Pérez – TV (Spanish, then English)
Sunday:
After the race the drivers will be available in the mixed zone set up by the FIA.
Peter Sauber, Monisha Kaltenborn and Giampaolo Dall’Ara will be available in the team’s area.
Involvement in the FIA press conference means that the group interviews will be
cancelled on the relevant day.
