Ask Tim: The three keys to success in Austria

Ahead of the long-awaited resumption of Formula 1 this weekend, Autosport's technical expert Tim Wright answers questions from readers.

A former race engineer for McLaren who ran Alain Prost to back-to-back world championships in 1985 and '86 before winning the Le Mans 24 Hours with Peugeot in 1992, Wright will be lending his insights with Autosport on the Tuesday before and after every Grand Prix weekend this year.

In the first instalment of the series, exclusively for Autosport Plus subscribers, Tim explains the set-up priorities engineers will face at the Red Bull Ring, recalls the nightmare weekend suffered by Stefan Johansson at the 1987 Austrian Grand Prix and shares what it was really like to work with four-time world champion Prost.

What are the most important set-up considerations for a fast lap at the Red Bull Ring? How similar are these to the old Osterreichring?

Bruce Frost, via email

Even though we're talking about the 1980s to now and the old circuit was much longer with more high-speed corners, the new circuit is pretty similar in terms of its set-up demands. Because the track is 677 metres above sea-level, the air is thinner and therefore engine power is slightly reduced. The main things you need are downforce, balance and good braking, especially going up the hill into the second corner where a lot of the action seems to happen.

The Osterreichring was a lovely old circuit. There used to be a chicane up the top of the hill and then it went out into the countryside before rejoining the current track where Turn 2 (officially, Turn 3) is now. McLaren was always good there in those days and we won the Austrian Grand Prix with Prost in 1985 and '86. It's still a good track today, I've had good success there engineering BMW GT3 cars and I'd say it's definitely one of the nicer circuits to go to.

There's nothing really trick about it, but you do have to find good balance because there are still some high-speed corners there. It's a very short lap, so you don't want a tail-happy car because you're going to lose a lot of time and don't have much of a chance to make it back again. Compared to Albert Park where the season would have ordinarily started, it's a fairly predictable track to come back to and I would have thought most people would be quite happy to be starting in Austria.

In a way, I suppose it's an easier circuit to set-up for because you do need the downforce and the straights aren't so long that you need to create a compromise. It would certainly favour the teams that have a good balance from the start.

Red Bull normally has a well-balanced car and obviously won the race last year, so we can expect that Max Verstappen should go well again this weekend. We could see a surprise from Renault because it has actually tested there, albeit with an older car, but I don't think not being able to test with an older car will hurt McLaren all that much. They've all got data from the year before, so they will all have a good idea from last year of what the balance needs to be.

There's a famous story about Stefan Johansson's run-in with a deer at the Osterreichring in 1987. What do you remember of that weekend?

Gary Phillips, via email

The 1987 season was a difficult one, as John Barnard had left for Ferrari and Ron Dennis decided to mix things up a bit with the engineers. Steve Nicholls headed up the design team, Neil Oatley took over running Alain Prost and I was asked to look after Stefan, who was Keke Rosberg's replacement. That year's Austrian GP was the last race at the old Osterreichring and it was an extraordinary weekend, not only because there were three race starts, but also because Stefan did indeed use three MP4/3 chassis during the weekend.

Obviously, the scariest moment was during practice when he came across a deer trying to cross the circuit. Stefan tried to avoid the animal, but took a hit on the left-hand side of the car which then pitched him into the barriers. The thing I remember most was the smell and the poor mechanics having to clean up the mess. The car was a write-off and a spare had to be hurriedly driven out from the UK.

The mechanics did a great job to get the car ready for practice and qualifying, but we couldn't get a decent balance in the dry and Stefan ended up in 14th place, which turned out to be critical at the start.

At the first start, the track was blocked by some of the tail-enders when Martin Brundle in the Zakspeed ended up in the barriers and others drove into each other trying to avoid him, so out came the red flag.

On the second start, there was again carnage when Nigel Mansell's Williams had a terrible start from second and triggered a huge crash that took out most of the middle of the grid, including Stefan, who was sandwiched against the pit wall.

Prost had not been involved so we hurriedly changed his T-car to suit Stefan to allow him take the second restart.

At the third time of asking, the race got underway, but again for Stefan things did not go smoothly. He picked up a puncture early on and pitted for a fresh set but unfortunately Ron, who was in charge of the lollypop, released Stefan before the mechanic on the right-hand front wheel had finished and the wheel-nut flew off as he accelerated out.

Luckily I was able to tell him on the radio to take it easy and he managed to get back to the pits again. Once underway, he drove a great race and was lapping faster than Prost, but only managed 7th place.

Should F1 cars have a halo with frontal glass like Red Bull Technologies' design for IndyCar?

aston_martin_polska, via Instagram

Some of the Formula 1 drivers did test a screen in 2017 when the FIA was researching solutions for the halo, and as I remember, the biggest problem then was distortion in the screen which made the drivers feel disoriented. Sebastian Vettel reported feeling dizzy having driven with it at Silverstone.

It's the age-old problem that you get when bending plastic, so I think initially it was disregarded because a halo was a much easier solution and they didn't want to get into too much investigation how to get rid of this distortion in a short time when there was pressure to find a solution.

I think it's going to be difficult to change away from the halo now that it is established and has proven its worth. The screen actually looks a little more racey, and I think it could be an improvement on the halo, aesthetically if nothing else. I would have nothing against having a screen there, they would need to look at how it would work if it were really wet. Screens can be heated and wouldn't necessarily need wipers or anything. I'm sure if they were designed properly, they would deflect the water enough that it wouldn't be a problem.

There's always room for an improvement on what we've already got, but we've yet to see whether they actually help in what they're supposed to do. The proof has got to be in the pudding rather than just being aesthetically-pleasing before the FIA takes another route, especially now that everybody is used to it and the system has gone down to the lower formulas.

I noticed that Mercedes and Racing Point have what looks like shards of glass just behind the steering wheel. What are they and wouldn't they cause undesirable turbulent air?

rishabhsuri_, via Instagram

I'm assuming that this is referring to the windscreen, which is there precisely to sort out the turbulent air. Some teams use a small plastic windscreen on the edge of the cockpit to stop buffeting for the drivers' head.

We've seen this before where they have like a saw-tooth effect, it just breaks up the air a little bit better and helps to deflect it around the driver's head. It certainly doesn't cause undesirable turbulent air, it's exactly the opposite - it's trying to clean up the air so the driver doesn't get buffeted.

There are different ways of doing it, and we used to play around with those all the time, but it's all very simple stuff.

Does altitude affect slipstream?

Zigzagzulu, via Instagram

I don't think that it makes any difference. The air is thinner at altitude, but the leading car is always going to produce turbulence so it won't have any different effect.

If you watch the races from Mexico, they still have problems following another car, the air is less dense but it's still turbulent. The way the cars are designed at the moment, they're always going to have trouble following, it doesn't matter how high up you are.

What was it like to work with Alain Prost?

Ralph Smith, via email

I had the pleasure of working with Alain over a five-year period, and I like to think that we had a mutual trust and understanding. This was during the days when drivers were so much more approachable, often to be seen sitting under a motorhome awning playing cards with his French journalist and photographer friends.

For two years, during 1985 and '86 I was his race engineer, and this proved to be a privilege as well as a steep learning curve. It was John Barnard who convinced me to become a race engineer, as before this I had spent several years as a design engineer and draughtsman.

Alain was very easy to work with as he knew what he wanted from the car and as we didn't have computer readouts to show what was going on, it was a matter of discussion between us to decide what changes were possible and necessary. He often appeared to be worrying about things, as he was constantly chewing his fingernails, but in fact this was his way of concentrating when thinking through particular problems.

His great friend at the time was Jacques Laffite and the two of them would wind each other up, and this was a great way for them to relieve the tension over a race weekend. He would also on occasions wind me up, arguing that he wanted to use a different type of tyre, or one time saying he wanted to use the T-car, even though he hadn't driven it at that race!

He and Jacques were both very keen golfers and used this often to forget the stresses of racing. They invested in a joint venture, buying a golf course on the outskirts of Dijon, which at the time was a nine-hole course, but by acquiring adjoining land they turned it into an attractive 18-hole course. They held several pro-am tournaments during the '80s, two of which I was lucky to be invited to.

It is well documented that Alain's nickname was 'The Professor' and this was earned by the way he approached a race. It wasn't always the case that the car was easy to drive, but we set it up so that it was easy on its tyres and he would then be able to pace himself, pushing when necessary or taking it easy depending on the way the race was unfolding.

I think he was comfortable within the McLaren team because of the way it was structured. Each driver had his own engineer and we reported to JB and meetings were always conducted with both drivers, engineers, chief mechanic, JB and RD. Prost once told me that what he hated about the Renault team was that there were too many engineers, all plugged into the car and they would argue amongst themselves before making a decision.

His biggest weakness was driving in the wet: he was never comfortable especially if there was a lot of water on the track. Monaco in '84, Portugal in '85 and Silverstone in '88, they all had differing outcomes due to the weather. His other weakness in my eyes was the fact that he became too political, especially during the reign of Jean-Marie Balestre who was then head of the FIA. This was sometimes to his advantage, as happened at Suzuka in 1990 when Senna wanted the pole position moved to the racing line. This was rejected and it was Prost in second place who took advantage, although in this case it didn't work out for him...

Despite all the stresses and travelling, Alain was always keen to keep his family life separate. On occasions, he did bring his son Nicolas along and the excitement of the racing must have rubbed off as he has followed in his father's footsteps and became a race-winner in Formula E.

Do you have a question for Tim Wright? Send it to asktim@autosport.com, use #askTimF1 on Twitter or look out for our posts on Facebook and Instagram giving you the chance to have your question answered