16 Apr 2012: Silverstone: Strong start on series debut
Daniel has welcomed a positive start to the racing season after he competed in the opening rounds of the 2012 Formula 2 championship at Silverstone this weekend.
4 Jun 2011: Monaco 2011
Racing at Monaco is something that not many people get the chance to do, so going to the circuit in a World Series car for the first time can only make you feel a bit tense! I dreamt of driving this circuit for many years and finally I got the opportunity to race there.
The circuit in general is a pretty slow-speed track due to the number of corners and small straights. At the beginning of every race meeting Monaco is always very dusty and dirty due to a year’s worth of casual everyday driving. Going into the practice session I was briefed on keeping the car out of the barriers and making sure I had maximum track time. I had to take a pretty strict mindset into practice so I made use of every minute at my disposal rather than pushing too early and having a shunt.
The format of the weekend is a bit unusual as we have one 45-minute practice followed by a 25-minute qualifying session then a 45-minute race, all of which is open downforce. The practice session for me went fairly steady and I was enjoying familiarising myself with the circuit. I didn’t use any new tyres as I didn’t think I would get the best out of them learning a new track in a limited amount of time. I kept out of the barriers (unlike a few) and ended up around 23rd. I am never worried about practice times as they don’t correlate to qualifying pace, also not running new tyres has meant that I can carry that set over to the next race meeting at Nurburgring.
The qualifying is set in a different format at Monaco as having 26 cars going for a qualifying time would be mayhem. So the groups were split in two, with the quickest time out of both sessions starting on pole followed by the other group’s quickest driver, and so on down the grid as the sessions were merged together. Qualifying went OK with steady improvements over the session but I did find it hard to get in a rhythm in the shorter amount of time. I ended up 13th in my group with a few tenths putting me a few places higher which was a good improvement over practice but not good enough in general. I needed a few more laps to find my groove but this was not going to be the case. I was quicker than a few in the other group which could have put me around the 10th spot which would have been around 20th on the grid if I was in group A but with group B being quicker this put me to the back of the grid.
So, after a disappointing qualifying, I was hopeful of making up some places up in the race. I knew that with 45 minutes of racing on one set of tyres (as there were no mandatory pitstops) mistakes would be made throughout the race. The start of the race went very well and I made about 3-4 places by the first corner but with various people cutting the corner I lost out on the hard work that was the start. For the most of the first lap I was side-by-side with my teammate fighting for position and was unlucky with another car going slightly wide and stopping me from accelerating out of the corner.
In the first part of the race I found myself getting up to speed and making good progress, improving on my lap time in qualifying, which was good on older tyres. The problem came when there was a hefty crash which brought out a safety car. I managed to get stuck behind it as it came out of the pits and I was not released until three-quarters of the way round the circuit. This lost me valuable time to the pack that I had to make up in a full-course yellow flag situation. I continued to follow my team-mate as we restarted and, after finding more pace throughout the race, I was hoping to push another place higher. I managed to get very near to my teammate which put him under pressure, forcing him into a mistake, and putting me a place up. The last part of the race brought out another safety car which gave me time to catch up to the group ahead. I managed on the restart to find some more pace which put me up a few more places due to the forced errors of drivers in front and while dodging various other incidents the chequered flag came out.
Overall, the entire race went well with few errors from me and chances to collect places from various other incidents and moves made by myself. I ended up 15th overall with a lot of people in front getting time penalties for cutting chicanes. I narrowly missed making up 3-4 places which could have put me very close to the 10th spot. I was also the 4th rookie in that race which is a decent effort – but still not the rookie podium.
I have to say the whole weekend was fantastic with such a great atmosphere. The public were great and I really enjoyed being there. Being a rookie in this championship is tough but having never raced on a circuit before is even tougher. A very hard challenge but I did made good progress over the weekend. I am looking forward to the next race at Nurburgring, a circuit I know and have raced on, with one of the longest circuits in the world only a matter of metres away. I have a three-week gap now during which a lot of gym work will be enjoyed.
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3 Jun 2011: Monza 2011
Monza is one of the oldest circuits still in use for racing. It has massive amounts of history and many famous corners that you will see featuring in some of the biggest crashes on YouTube. It is an extremely quick circuit to drive on, and one of the most challenging, as well as one of the most enjoyable.
The weather at Monza was very hot, averaging 34 degrees. This created a bit of an issue with the tyres overheating but we also saw quite high grip as a result. Due to the World Touring Car Championship and Auto GP being at Monza at the same time the pit garages were very tight and cramped. This meant no pit-stop race on the weekend and the downforce level was open to whatever was decided to be suitable.
First practice is an opportunity to to get familiar with the circuit and the car’s handling. I felt after practice one that we had a little bit of work to do set-up wise but it wasn’t a major issue. I ended up 25th and 1.9 seconds off the quickest car. In practice two I had a few issues with braking and I really didn’t feel comfortable in the car. This was something I had to look into overnight, but I had better knowledge of the lap, and was getting more used to a different technique. I had a similar difference in pace to the front runners after practice two and ended up in the same position.
I felt more confident in the car during first qualifying which meant I could find a lot of pace. I gained a decent chunk of laptime and climbed a few places higher to 23rd, 1.5 seconds off the pole time. It was a close session with 0.2 putting me inside the top 20.
The first race went pretty well after a decent start and clean first corner. I managed to find my way through a few cars until I struck a problem going through the first chicane. I had my pitlane speed limiter coming on, which restricted my speed massively, and while trying to sort the problem out I lost a few places. I kept going and found the problem recurred a couple of times in the next laps before stopping. I had lost a lot of time but I pushed hard to gain it back. I managed to get onto the back of the group ahead and, in the last lap, made a move to the finish line which gained me three places. I finished in 13th, and was the fourth-placed rookie, my best result. The pace was pretty good throughout the race but was plagued by the speed-limiter issue.
Second qualifying went better still but with a few mistakes on my quickest lap stopping me from springing further up the grid. The entire 26-car field was separated by 1.4 seconds which is the closest ever for a grid in World Series by Renault. I was placed 21st but, if I had managed to keep that lap clean, I could have put myself in the top 13. So, a decent effort, but I need to refine my qualifying pace.
The second race started off very well with me making up a few places at the start and again keeping out of the mayhem. However, after two laps, I managed to put a stop to my luck with another driver turning in across me at the first chicane corner. This took off most of my front wing and nose box off but I was OK to carry on. I dropped back a few places due to the poor handling of the car but managed to keep inside the top 18. My bag of luck fully depleted when the car’s hydraulics failed, preventing me from changing gear. I had to reboot the system while braking down from top speed many times before the problem got so bad that I was having to switch off the car several times a lap. This lost me so much time that I decided to pull into the pit to save the tyres for Monaco, as the issue was only getting worse.
So the weekend didn’t quite connect as well as it could have done but, with a 13th place, there was progression over the weekend and I felt I was getting more used to the series in general. Off to Monaco next where I will be in a support race for the F1.
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27 May 2011: Spa-Francorchamps 2011
Coming to Spa is always a great experience for me. It is hands-down the best circuit I have driven to date so I always look forward to this Belgium round.
The first practice session was about re-learning the circuit on a partially greasy and green surface so the main thing was just to get laps round the track. I had some work to do for the second session but had not used any new tyres yet, instead being on some old tyres that had been flat-spotted at the previous race meeting. In second practice I progressed and took some time off the fastest lap but, with the lap being as long as 2:04 with 17 corners, you can lose time very easily. The problems I had on my new tyres were various yellow flags at corners and not getting the free space I needed so, with plenty in reserve, I ended up around the 22nd mark after the first day.
Qualifying once again promised to be wet, with a very dull and grey outlook to the morning, but thanks to other cars going round the circuit there was barely any water on the track. Due to being 2.5 seconds off the pace on the first day I had some work cut out but knew where I could improve. I put in some decent times and improved my personal best by two seconds. This was great in itself but the rest of the field improved by as much as 1.5 seconds which put me 1.9 seconds off the quickest time. I ended up 24th overall with 0.4 putting me inside the top 20. I think it was an OK effort, but found that I got held up on my second set of tyres at the start of my best lap, and was therefore unable to progress any further.
As the first race drew near there were some sunny intervals which increased track temperature a little and helped with more rubber and grip being laid down. I had a decent start but was forced into a first-corner decision to take the outside route. This usually isn’t a problem but other cars seemed to come together, causing me to go even further off onto the artificial grass, and losing me valuable places. I kept on pushing throughout the race, picking up a few places here and there, some of which were due to the effects of collisions directly in front of me. I finished in 19th place, an improvement, but not as decent as I would have liked.
Second qualifying was on the Sunday morning and again a slightly gloomy outlook but still a dry track. This session was on the open downforce setting (compared to the low downforce setting in first qual and race one) and we used only one set of new tyres out of the three available for qualifying and racing. I had a nice run of laps and again made big improvements of one second over my previous best time. The rest of the field also improved, but not by as much, giving me a 1.5-second deficit to the quickest. I placed myself 24th with just 0.3 second putting me 13th. It was pretty close and again we had made good progress.
The last race incorporated mandatory pit-stops which are always very entertaining and can be great for making up a place or two. I had a decent start, avoiding a stalled car, but found that the first corner was a bit hectic. I had to avoid some cars touching wheels but still made a good exit. I made a few places up at the start and came in after six laps in the window for the pit-stop. I was following Oli Webb into the pit-lane and, after making time up on the entry, the team made a fantastic effort and got me out a split second before him for the gain of a place. The rest of the race was mainly about pushing on to catch the next group of cars while running in 17th. I caught up with the back of the group but ran out of laps. I think the race went quite well and I felt I made some good places up. The very positive thing to take from this is the great progression throughout the race weekend with my lap times in the race being only 0.2-0.4 off the quickest – proving my pace.
Off to Monza next reaching speeds of around 185 MPH! A great circuit and certainly one of the most difficult I will come across this year.
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10 May 2011: Motorland Aragon 2011
Opening the season at Motorland Aragon
Coming to the first race of the year is always a bit nerve-racking. I have tested at Motorland a fair bit so at least I was returning to a circuit that I knew for a baptism of fire in Formula Renault 3.5. Over the winter I had been testing at various circuits including Barcelona, Motorland and Paul Ricard to get me up to speed in the new car. I found it hard initially getting used to the power and size of the machine but, after many laps and sets of tyres, I had become quite used to it.
The weekend started off reasonably well with me 19th out of 26 cars in the first practice session. This was on the open downforce setting that is always used in the first of the two practice sessions. I found the car was a little bit tricky with a ‘green’ circuit – one without much rubber down on the tarmac. I made a bit of a mistake on my new set of tyres and locked up the wheels under heavy braking, causing heavy vibration and making the rest of the session a bit tricky.
Second practice was on the low downforce set-up which would prove more difficult, as there is less available grip, due to the lower angle on the rear and front wings. The idea behind the two settings is to make the races more interesting and to add another dimension of difficulty to the series. I ended up 20th overall which wasn’t quite as good as the first session. But, with the times being so close, just 0.1 second would have moved me up three places. I found the car had a bit of understeer which needed to be sorted out for the qualifying and race. This was mainly due to the circuit gripping up and, with more grip, the rear tyres picking more of that grip than the front due to the larger surface area of the tyre itself.
First qualifying was a bit of an eye-opener. Putting in a decent time with limited laps, and yellow flags due to various people spinning off, made the task of setting a fast time very tricky. I felt there was a lot more potential in the car to set a better time but these issues of traffic and yellow flags held me back. When a yellow flag is shown you must slow down and reduce speed or face a penalty for disobeying the rules. 24th was the position I would be starting in, which was quite disappointing, but at least I knew that I had a better car than the position I ended up in. Also again 0.1-0.2 of a second would have put me around 15th – so very close.
After qualifying on the low downforce set-up the race in the afternoon followed suit. The start was pretty decent but I found the first corner a little interesting with a massive bundle six cars across trying to get round all at once. I struggled a bit with the car throughout the race but after a few tussles with my own team mate I settled down in 18th place where I found a processional race to the finish flag. It was a good race in terms of getting the first hurdle out of the way but with definite room for improvement. This car is quite tricky to overtake in and without doing something very brave at this circuit you can end up following the person in front for a long time until a mistake is made.
Second qualifying was on the open downforce setting which generates more downforce and grip. This session was a lot better but still not quite there in set-up terms. I ended up in 18th with 0.2 of a second putting me ninth. This was very close and a good improvement on the previous day. However, I went from a race set-up on low downforce to a qualifying set-up on higher downforce, and the more experienced drivers will always benefit from having more knowledge of the car in circumstances like this.
The second race included a pitstop in which two tyres would have to be changed. I have never done a pitstop in a race with tyre changing involved but have had much practice during the winter. The start to the race was initially very good in making up about four places by the first corner. However, another driver decided it would be a good idea to drive over my front wheel, which bent the wheel, and pushed me slightly into the car ahead. The car did not feel very good after this collision but I decided to carry on in the race regardless; I was running in 14th place at this time.
After pushing hard in the first five laps of the race it was time to come in for a pit stop. I was quite excited about my first tyre change but, after stopping on the marks, it soon became apparent that the left wheel gun had malfunctioned and left me with only one front wheel on the car for about 10 seconds. On top of that mishap my front wing broke off after one more lap due to the collision in the first corner. The front jack must have damaged the wing in the pit-stop and this made me take another pit-stop to get a new wing. By this time I had lost a load of places and ended up 23rd overall. I managed to get myself amongst the top six to eight competitors in terms of lap times even with a slightly damaged car.
Not quite the result I wanted in my first race but there was some very good parts to the weekend which can be taken onboard for the next race at Spa Francorchamps.
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5 Aug 2010: Spa-Francorchamps Round 6
Ultimately, this is my favourite circuit of all time, nothing else comes close to it. I love the high-speed corners and the rapid chicanes. After my win at Rockingham I was looking forward to getting in another here.
The practice sessions were wet and dry – this made knowing your time in relation to others tricky on an ever-changing track. I went into qualifying not knowing fully how much pace I had but it became apparent that there certainly was a lot of pace in the Fortec car. I managed to get into third for the third race and sixth for the first. A decent result, but I knew there was more pace available.
The start to the first race was pretty tricky. I managed to get far too much wheel spin which did not help me into the first corner. I got into fifth place early on after battling hard but, after struggling with the car as it had very little rear-end grip, I lost the place to put me back in sixth – where I finished.
I started on the front row for the second race due to the reversed grid. I had another average start which put me into third straight away where I had to fend off James Calardo for five laps. Doing so, I secured a nice podium finish, behind Jean Eric Vergne and Felipe Nasr. A decent result as the car was really quite poor on traction and I was struggling with the balance.
In the final race I started from third place after a decent qualifying, directly behind my team mate Oli Webb. I made sure my tyres were very warm and sticky after getting far too much wheel spin in the last couple of races. The problem was that the track temperature had risen leaving me with four tyres practically glued to the tarmac. I didn’t think enough about the situation I was in and managed to stall on the grid. I was pretty annoyed, to say the least, but made a very good recovery drive coming back from 26th on the grid to 10th overall and eighth in the international class. The drive was very precise and aggressive in getting past many cars, and I learned a valuable lesson about starts.
The whole weekend was half-decent but could have been a lot more successful. I now need to make good use of a strong car and get some wins. My next race is at my home circuit of Thruxton, where I hope to make a good opportunity stick.
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4 Aug 2010: Rockingham Round 5
Pitstop
Rockingham has always had a low-grip surface which is very hard on tyres. I quite like this circuit with a mix of everything as well as being one of the only anti-clockwise circuits. I had a nice result at Hockenheim after which I hoped to progress further and get some more results here.
Practice went well and I put in some quick times to get into the top five. Qualifying turned out to be pretty disappointing as I managed to outbrake myself on the third flying lap of the session. When trying to turn around the engine stalled and I could not get restarted without ‘outside’ assistance. I was not allowed to continue with the rest of qualifying so ended up 14th and 12th for races one and three.
The first race was a good progression as I started 14th and got into the points with an 8th-place finish. I drove a decent race, getting past a few drivers early on, and making good use of the quick car that Fortec have provided me with.
For the pitstop race I was starting third on the grid. I made a pretty poor start, dropping down to fourth, but I made this place back after two laps. I pushed to get up to Adriano Buzaid and, after eight laps of following closely, I made my move just in the nick of time. Daisuke Nakajima in front of me came in for his pit stop which gave me the lead and a two-second gap to make up before I took my pitstop. I pushed like mad and, managing to get the fastest lap by 0.4 of a second, I took my pit stop on the last possible lap. After a good pit entry and a decent stop I managed to pip Nakajima and come out on top. I continued to push for the last two laps of the race and I brought home my first win of the season.
The second race was great and, still buzzing from the result, I made a good start to the final race which gave me a good run into the first corner. There was contact between Oli Webb and Jean-Eric Vergne which cased loads of problems; I got tangled up in amongst the other cars which put me way down the order. I had to push to get past the cars in front of me but Rockingham offers very limited overtaking. After a long 40 minutes racing, and my tyres being very used, I had to settle for 10th place and the final points position.
I thoroughly enjoyed Rockingham, with a great result, and am now really looking forward to my next outing at Spa – my favourite circuit of all time.
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4 Aug 2010: Hockenheim Round 4
Podium finish
After Magny-Cours I was pretty confident of my pace and looking forward to making up some lost ground. I have always liked the Hockenheim circuit with its relatively high-speed straights and fast, flowing corners. The last time I was here I won one race, and got punted off in the other, so I had mixed thoughts.
The first couple of practice sessions proved to be tricky with quite a bit of strange rubber laid on the circuit; this was mainly from drift series and trackdays that had used it previously. I struggled with the car a bit but put in the odd quick time so was not too disappointed with the first day.
Qualifying was a different ball game with the grip levels increasing as time went on. Getting a decent clear lap is crucial due to the high speed corners. I managed an average lap on my first set of tyres and was planning to make good ground on the second set. Unfortunately the oil cooler was leaking and had to be replaced, meaning that I missed out on track time, and did not go any faster. I was starting 10th for the first and third race.
So, after a disappointing qualifying, I was looking forward to making up good ground. I had a great start to the race, passing several cars on the first few laps, before settling down to a decent pace. I had pressure from previously-passed James Calardo but managed to fend him off with some consistent lap times. The first corner of this track has tarmac after the kerb, meaning that you can use it to your advantage, however due to this being a track limit it was illegal to do so. I made sure I did not pass this limit, unlike some others, who soon after got penalised for doing so. This bumped me up a couple of places and I managed to get my first podium of the year after finishing the race in third.
After a decent first race the reverse grid placed me in seventh for the second – which was going to make progress hard with a fair few quick drivers in front of me. After a normal start I managed to get tangled in a bit of a moment in front of me which pushed me back several places. I pushed hard with a car that didn’t quite suit the conditions and pulled back to finish 11th after what turned out to be a pretty eventful race.
I was also placed 10th for the start of the third race. I planned to make good progress but with over-eagerness I ran too wide into turn one and got penalised with a drive-through penalty. This pushed me far down the ranks to 17th place from which I fought back to get myself into 11th place and a position to bid for the last point given. I pushed hard and managed to get myself behind Alex Brundle before trying a move around the outside of the Mercedes complex corner. I was pushed slightly wide over a large sleeping-policeman kerb which sent me airborne and meant I lost many places. I also got a penalty at the end for going over the track limits regardless of the fact I was four feet in the air. I finished 16th in the final race.
Overall it was a good result to come on the podium that weekend and I wanted to progress from there and grab myself a few more podiums in the next race.
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- Podium finish
28 May 2010: Magny-Cours Round 3
I turned up to Magny-Cours to find the weather was like an English summer, really warm and very pleasant. Fresh from the last race at Silverstone, I had come armed with a few bits of important information that I hoped would help me out.
Walking around the circuit, a lot of memories came back to me from my time racing in Formula Renault Eurocup. I am pretty familiar with the track but some things do fade over time then come back to you very quickly after a few laps around the track. At the start of the weekend I hoped to finish on the podium as I think my time is more than overdue this year. The car has shown good pace in previous races and on a test day prior to Magny-Cours, I thought there was a real possibility of securing a very good result.
Practice on Friday afternoon came in a block of three hours without any breaks. The session went very well and I managed to put in the second-best time until the latter part when I struggled to find a lap without traffic on my second set of tyres. This put me back a few places and I ended day one in eighth position. But I knew I had a lot more pace than actually showed on the timesheets.
Qualifying was early in the morning when the air is denser, giving the engine more power and the car more downforce, which led to quick times. The idea in qualifying this year is to get two fast laps out of the car – your fastest time sets your grid position for the first race and your second-fastest your start in the third race. The second race is determined by the result of the first race.
On my first set of tyres I went second-quickest and on my second set of tyres I ended up with two third positions for the races, great progress from the previous races this year. I was very confident going into the first race as I knew now that I had very good pace.
The first race was in the afternoon after qualifying. I was slightly apprehensive as this was my best result in qualifying this year. Starting on third was always going to be tricky but, as I soon found out, it was going to be even harder than I expected. The race started very badly with Vergne in pole position almost stalling. I had to drive around him, creating a lot of wheelspin, losing out on one place. I thought I could recover but by the first harpin I had a shove from Rupert Svendsen-Cook that span me round and putting me back to last. I fought back with a poorly car and ended up in 13th place.
I was a bit annoyed, it was possibly my best potential race so far, but this is racing I guess. I started off from a half-decent grid slot hoping to make some decent moves and get up into the top 10. The race turned out to be very strange with the first red flag of the year. After a good start, and making up a couple of places, James Calardo rolled his car into the main harpin after the very long straight. The crash looked messy but turned out to be relatively slow-speed and he was alright. The restart went well and I made my way up to an eighth-place finish. The sprint race was very short due to the lost time on the red flag so it was all over before it really started.
The third race was a good opportunity to get my first podium finish of the year and, after a decent start and staying in third for the first two corners, this was very much a possibility. However, I outbraked myself in the 180-degree harpin corner, and Gabriel Dias managed to sneak one down the inside. I tried for quite a few laps to try and keep right up with him but found I could not push the car quite as hard as I would have liked. It was quite twitchy and, due to the high temperatures of the afternoon, it just got worse. I struggled to keep Calado behind me for more than three laps and afterwards I had a processional race to the finish with a car that wasn’t quite as quick as I would have liked. I came in fifth, my best finish of the year so far.
Magny-Cours proved to be eventful but also successful in some ways. I had my best finish but there was real unrealised potential for a podium finish. I hope to carry this on to Hockenhiem in Germany and get the results that I deserve. Overall it was a great weekend and one to remember.
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26 May 2010: Silverstone Arena Round 2
After Oulton Park I came away with decent points on the board following a hard first weekend. Silverstone was the first race for which I had the full updates available on the car and I was looking forward to scoring further points.
The weekend initially went well with a good start in first practice when I was third-quickest. The second session didn’t seem to go so well with various bits of bad luck during my new tyre run.
Qualifying was first thing on the Saturday and I thought I was in with a good shout. After nearly being pushed into the wall on my first set of tyres by an absent-minded driver I did not get a great time. So I had to try and get a better time on my second set of new tyres in the same session. This set did not go so well and I did not connect with the car leaving me back in 14th position for the first race and 14th for the third race.
I had to make up some ground to try and get some points for the championship. I made sure my tyres were well up to temperature for the start of the first race, and managed to get a clean getaway, which pushed me up a few places. The only issue was the battery shorting out directly underneath me which meant I had a lot of smoke in the cockpit. This was not helping me concentrate nor helping my lungs! I kept pushing throughout the race and managed to get into 12th place, a half-decent starting point for the sprint.
This turned out to be wet with limited visibility which mixed things up – it was always going to be a tricky race around a slippery circuit. I managed a good start and consistent pace, finishing 10th, following one mistake that put me down a few places.
In the final race I started from 13th position which meant a lot of work ahead. But, over a 40-minute race, I felt I could make up a big deficit if I drove the car sensibly but aggressively. The start was awful, the tyres were very sticky in the warm weather, and the previous races had created some good grip on the floor. I stalled on the grid which was my fault entirely after not realising how quickly the flywheel on the car stops if you don’t give the car enough revs. After a poor start to the race I pushed really hard to make up the lost time and produced some decent lap times. By the end I had the second-quickest lap time. I did manage to fight my way back up to 12th which was a strong effort from the back.
Overall the weekend was not very good but I did learn several important things for the next race in Magny-Cours. I am really looking forward to my first race of the year in Europe and I plan on marking my mark there. I think it’s time to get some very good results and make up the big points deficit that I currently have. The weekend was enjoyable on the new Silverstone Arena circuit and I have made a step forward in terms of pace.
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