Driver Database News

It was a weekend of mixed fortunes for the Carlin team in Nuburgring this weekend, as the team’s Formula Renault 3.5 drivers Oliver Turvey and Jaime Alguersuari enjoyed strong races on Saturday, but mixed results on Sunday. Turvey made the most of his sixth place grid slot in race one to finish fourth, while Alguersuari was on a charge to finsh in fifth. Race two however was a different story, with Turvey retiring due to a mechanic problem and Alguersuari managing to cling on to sixth place.

Both drivers maintained a 100 per success rate in making it through to the Super Pole session on Saturday. With only the top 12 drivers making it through to the 10 minute Super Pole session, Turvey continued his good form to qualify third, while Alguersuari battled with understeer to qualify tenth.

The first race of the weekend kicked off on Saturday and saw the top eight qualifiers from Super Pole reversed. Turvey therefore lined up sixth with Alguersuari tenth. Turvey made a fantastic start and did well to make it round after being squeezed at the first corner. Alguerusari meanwhile had made a lightning start and had catapulted up to fifth place.

The Carlin duo both saw some scrappy racing as the race continued and did well to avoid any accidents as they were passed by John Lancaster and Fairuz Fauzy which pushed them down the order. However, Lancaster was later handed a 10 second penalty, which moved the Carlin racers back up a place. As the race came to a close Turvey and Alguersuari were line astern, with Turvey crossing the line in fourth place, and Alguersuari fifth.

As the drivers lined up for race two, Turvey took his third place grid slot with Alguersuari once again lining up in tenth. While Alguersuari managed to keep his tenth place, Turvey dropped to seventh after losing out at the start. Having dropped down the order, Turvey found himself in stuck in traffic, prompting the team to pit Turvey early to give him space on track. Following quick in and out laps and a fast stop by the Carlin team, the Racing Steps Foundation driver had made up one place by the time he returned to the track. Turvey’s fortunes changed on lap 16 however, when a mechanical problem put him into retirement.

Alguersauri meanwhile was moving gradually up the order. Following a quick pit stop, the F1 racer was sixth, the position he would retain to the chequered flag.

Alguersuari said, “I don’t think this weekend was one of our strongest of the season; I was suffering from understeer in qualifying and again in the races. We made a lot of changes to the car before the second race, and I think the car we had at the end was probably the best it had been all weekend. I think we should be fairly happy with the results this weekend, you have to have some difficult races and some good races to keep learning. I think we have to look forward to the next race at Motorland which will be tough as no-one knows the track, but at the same time it will be exciting.”

Carlin’s Formula Renault 3.5 racer Jaime Alguersuari was announced as F1 driver for Scuderia Toro Rosso this week and will take up his F1 duties at the Hungarian Grand Prix this weekend – becoming the youngest ever driver to take part in an F1 event. The Spanish racer has spent nearly two seasons with the British Carlin Motorsport team in preparation for his F1 opportunity. Here we talk to him about how that experience has helped prepare for the highest echelon of single seater motorsport………

Do you feel your seasons in F3 and World Series have helped prepare you for F1?

British F3 is a really nice championship, you find really nice and difficult tracks, and of course the weather is sometimes a challenge! So you learn a lot. It’s a long championship with lots of testing, so there’s a lot of track experience. You also learn a lot about developing a car in F3, which I think will be helpful. British F3 has been very important in my career and I will never forget that.

I think World Series is completely different – some of the drivers have been in the championship for many more years than I have and I think that gives them an added benefit. In the end I am a young driver always in the top five and pushing hard so I think we are doing ok for our first year.

Do you intend to continue with your Formula Renault 3.5 programme at the same time as racing in Formula1?

I think that is the aim; I am a young driver, so I need to do as many races as possible. I need to experience as many situations as possible. For me, for sure it would be good because it would give me more experience and of course there are no clashes with Formula 1, so there is not really a reason not to do it. If it becomes an issue, then obviously we may have to reconsider.

Do you think it will be an issue switching from one car to another?

Usually it is better to stick with one car, but in this instance it may be best for me to be in two cars, learning as much as possible, and I know Red Bull will make the decision that is best for me. The main thing is to learn.

Obviously F1 should be and will be your priority now, but what are your aims for the remaining World Series races?

I am a very young driver at only 19, so I still need to do lots of races. I am really aiming to win in World Series. What I need is some more races and more experience. Every session we improve and get better. For sure after three more races I will be better and know more than I do now – that is surely good for my driving in F1.

Did you think 18 months ago when you testing an F3 car week after week in the rain in Britain that you might be making your F1 debut so soon?!

No never! It’s a dream come true. What I have to do now is just enjoy the moment and work as hard as possible. It’s a fantastic opportunity that I have been given, so I must enjoy it and reward the faith that Red Bull have shown in me.

Jake Rosenzweig joins Carlin’s British F3 racers for this weekend’s round of the 2009 Cooper Tires British F3 International Series in Spa. The American racer comes fresh from his first F3 Euro Series podium in Zandvoort last weekend and will be hoping for a repeat performance on his British F3 debut. Rosenzweig will be racing alongside championship leader Daniel Ricciardo, Max Chilton, Henry Arundel and Philip Major.

Last time out at Donington, Daniel Ricciardo took a podium in race one to boost his championship standing, but lost out in race two having been the innocent victim of an over ambitions overtaking manoeuvre by Renger van der Zande. Chilton meanwhile came home in a strong sixth place in race one, adding a seventh place to that in race two. Having struggled in qualifying and suffering a clutch problem on the grid for race one, Henry Arundel fought back with a 13th place and a solid sixth place finish in race two. The newest member of Carlin’s British F3 squad, Philip Major, finished 15th in race one but was unable to finish the second race of the day following an incident on lap three.

Meanwhile team mate Jake Rosenzweig made it three podiums in three different countries for Carlin last weekend, with a well fought third place in race two at the Zandvoort circuit in the Netherlands. The American racer finished seventh in the first race of the weekend; earning him a second place grid slot for the reverse grid race on Sunday. From there, Rosenzweig raced hard to hold off fourth place man Christian Vietoris and take his first ever podium in Formula 3. Rosenzweig’s podium in Zandvoort followed podiums for Oliver Turvey and Jaime Alguersuari in the Formula Renault 3.5 race in Le Mans and of course Ricciardo’s third place at Donington.

Speaking about joining his Carlin team mates in the British series, Rosenzweig said, “I’m really excited to racing in Spa this weekend, it’s always good to get as much race experience as possible and it will be a new challenge to compete in a new championship on different tyres. It was a good confidence boost to finish on the podium at the last Euro Series round at Zandvoort, so I’m hoping to make the most of this opportunity in the British Series this weekend.”

Team Principal Trevor Carlin added, “Spa is always a highlight on the British F3 calendar and is a particular favourite of the team having been the location for our first ever 1-2-3-4 finish last season. As other teams have become more competitive we’re not expecting the same result this year, but we’ll still be aiming for the top step. Spa is a great challenge for all the British F3 drivers; let’s hope they can just get on with racing, rather than playing the team orders game which may have been the case at previous events this year.”

Jaime Alguersuari and Oliver Turvey took a podium each for Carlin Motorsport this weekend, with two third places at the Le Mans round of the Formula Renault 3.5 championship. Alguersuari took third place in the second race today, while Turvey took his consecutive third place in race one yesterday. The Racing Steps Foundation driver had looked good for more solid points today, until a problem in his mandatory pit stop dropped him down the order.

With both Carlin drivers having made it through to Super Pole on Saturday, both Turvey and Alguersuari started in the top 12, Turvey qualifying third, with Alguersuari fifth.

With the top eight reversed for race one yesterday, Alguersuari lined up fourth, with Turvey sixth. Both drivers made a clean start despite a long wait for the lights to go out, although Alguersuari dropped to fourth, while Turvey moved up to fifth. Turvey stayed close to his Carlin team mate for duration of the race, keeping the Spanish racer under pressure until a locked brake on lap 23 caused Alguersuari to run wide, allowing Turvey to surge through to fourth. Unbeknown to Turvey, the British racer had just claimed the final podium spot, with second placed man Marco Barba having been handed a ten second time penalty for exceeding track limits, which also put Alguersuari fourth.

Lining up for race two today, Turvey was third with Alguersuari fifth. At the start Turvey dropped to sixth place, just behind team mate Alguersuari in fifth. With all drivers required to make a mandatory pit stop in today’s race, Alguersuari was the first Carlin driver to pit for new tyres on lap six, returning to the track following a quick stop by the Carlin crew. Team mate Turvey made his stop a few laps later, but a problem with the rear left wheel nut delayed his exit, meaning the British racer lost several places on track.

With all drivers having made their pit stop, Alguersuari had made up one place to lie third, while Turvey had dropped to 13th. Currently the top rookie in the series, Turvey pushed hard to make up for his misfortune in the pits and crossed the line in 11th place. Alguersuari meanwhile took his first Formula Renault 3.5 podium and finished as top rookie.

Commenting on his podium, Alguersuari said, “We had a good race, I think we are definitely making progress, so it was nice to see that rewarded with a third place today. For sure we still have a lot to do, in particular in improving front end grip. We need to focus now on raising our game and arriving at each race with the possibility to win.”

Speaking about his podium on Saturday Turvey said, “Qualifying went well, and we made a good improvement in Super Pole to qualify third. I got a good start and was able to overtake Charles Pic and got alongside Jaime but couldn’t get by. We had good pace and then Jaime made a mistake in turn four and I was able to get past him. I didn’t realise that we were competing for a podium, but it was great to finish third in the reverse grid race.”

Team principal added Trevor Carlin added, “With the quality of the drivers in the team this year, I’m not surprised to see both of them challenging for podiums and once again they have been consistently amongst the front runners all weekend. It’s a great shame that Oliver lost out on a probable fourth place today due to a problem in the pit stop, which wasn’t his fault at all, but he can be very proud of his pace and racing this weekend.”