Brazil Preview Quotes: Renault

Jarno Trulli

Q. Jarno, you ran very competitively last year in Brazil before retiring,and had a strong attacking race in Malaysia. How competitive do you expect to be at Interlagos?

JT:

I am feeling very confident for the next race. Although I was disappointed by the end result in Malaysia, we were very competitive all weekend and I had to work very hard to finish where I did. The whole package is doing extremely well at the moment, so I think for me, this could be a very good race.

Q. What are the major challenges of the Interlagos circuit from your point of view?

JT:

For me, it is a circuit that I enjoy driving on. To be honest, I like them all! It is especially the most technical circuits that I find satisfying, and in Brazil, we have a good mix of fast and slow corners as well as some other things that make it quite complicated. That's why I enjoy racing there.

Q. Before beginning the race weekend, you will be visiting the Ayrton Senna factory in Curitiba. For you, how important are these events: is it just promotional work, or perhaps something more?

JT:

I think these events are important for all of us who are part of Renault, and for the people we meet. The company is very international with factories throughout the world, and we represent it every time we race: that's a big responsibility, but also something to be proud of. It is good for us to take the time to meet the people who are supporting us each weekend, and to appreciate the work and dedication of the Renault employees. From my point of view, it is an important part of my job as an ambassador for Renault and, this factory is particularly special because it is named after Ayrton Senna, who was one of the drivers I most admired while I was growing up.

Fernando Alonso

Q. What do you think of the circuit in Interlagos?

FA:

For me, the circuit itself isn't one I particularly enjoy from a driving point of view, but Interlagos is one of the hardest physical races: that always makes it interesting when we go there, because it is a big advantage to be very fit. The bumps and the direction of the circuit means that after just a few laps, your neck gets very tired and we have been working on that for the past three or four weeks, training the left side of the neck a bit more in order to cope. For the drivers, it is a good feeling to be able to prove your fitness and to have to fight hard all the way through the race.

Q. Have you fully recovered from your fever in Malaysia?

FA:

Yes, I have recovered completely. I spent a few days with my family in Oviedo, and I feel fine for Brazil now.

Q. Has the reaction in Spain to your podium finish surprised you?

FA:

Yes. they have gone a little over the top. The result in Malaysia had a big impact: for two or three days, it was talked about more than the football! That's completely unheard of here, for football to come second to Formula One and it was definitely a nice surprise. Having said that, it doesn't mean it will always be this good but I hope the interest will stay high.

Q. How competitive do you expect to be in Brazil?

FA:

It's always difficult to say, because things change at every race, but I think we can be at the same level as in Malaysia. We have a very strong package, and we have had a definite advantage from the Friday morning session: we are ready to go earlier than the other teams, and it gives us drivers the chance to get settled into the race weekend sooner.

Allan McNish, Test Driver

Q. What challenges does the Interlagos circuit present the drivers with?

AM:

In terms of set-up, it is different to the first two circuits because we run less downforce: where the first two circuits demand high wing levels, Interlagos calls for a little less. We also have to take account of the bumpy track surface in the car's set-up, and the lower downforce can make the car trickier to handle over the bumps. Otherwise, the main characteristic is that the track runs anti-clockwise and, coming early in the season, it can be a tough physical challenge, especially for any rookie drivers. All the quick corners are left- handers, and that places a particular strain on the drivers' necks, especially coupled with the high ambient temperatures. Having said that, the track is something of a known quantity now, and every driver's training takes it into account.

Q. The HANS system, newly introduced for 2003, has caused a certain amount of controversy in recent weeks. Have you suffered from any problems?

AM:

In the first two races, we have been running with a Renault-spec HANS system, which is adapted to each of our drivers, and we are currently investigating the double belt system. When you are driving on an oval, the HANS just isn't an issue because you can't feel it at all. On a road circuit though, we are turning in both directions, often in very quick succession, and this means we need lateral movement for both our heads and also our shoulders. Because the belts need to be so tight, this can mean that when the HANS is worn, the shoulder movement becomes very restricted. As a result, because the system is so rigid, it is the driver's body that deforms under the loads, and that can cause discomfort. That seems to have been the problem for the other guys, but we haven't experienced any problems at all.

Q. As other teams' testing programmes get into full swing, will your work on a Friday morning shift to a more long-term focus?

AM:

In Brazil, I think we will continue working much as we have done in the first two races. Firstly, the programme is still in its infancy, but also, our work in Australia and Malaysia gave some very good results, so there's no point in trying to fix something that isn't broken. However, as the season progresses, we will certainly be venturing into some more long-term development during the sessions as well as the usual tyre and set-up work.

Mike Gascoyne, Technical Director:

Q. Mike, what do you think have been the key factors in the Team's success so far this season?

MG:

I think that's very simple: the overall competitiveness of our car. In Melbourne, we should have qualified better and the pace car hurt us, so it was pleasing to perform to our full potential in Malaysia. Without Jarno's incident and Fernando's gearbox problem, I am confident that our level of competitiveness could have brought an even stronger result.

Q. The other major teams were running at Barcelona last week. Do you feel the Renault F1 Team will have missed out through not testing?

MG:

No, I am confident we can maintain our level of performance. We will be running three cars on Friday morning before the other teams and we are managing our test resources very carefully. In fact, we tested the tyre compounds for Interlagos on Friday morning at Sepang, in much higher, more representative temperatures than would be possible in Europe at this time of year. The data from that session should be a real advantage in Brazil.

Q. What factors will enable the Team to maintain their level of competitiveness in Brazil?

MG:

Once again, Brazil is a handling circuit like in Malaysia, where we run mid-range wing levels, and the team has traditionally performed very well there. Equally, we will be using similar tyres to those we saw in Malaysia, where Michelin were extremely competitive. All in all, I would expect us to be at least as competitive as we were in Malaysia, if not more so.

Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering

Q. Interlagos is traditionally a circuit at which the Team performs well. What do you think are the key factors in that performance?

PS:

I think there are several reasons for our competitiveness in Brazil. Firstly, the circuit is quite bumpy, and the ride of our car over bumps on the track surface has always been pretty good, which allows us to maintain good mechanical grip around the lap. Secondly, relative to many circuits, there is not a huge power effect in Brazil, and extra horsepower actually makes less of a difference here than elsewhere. Most importantly, though, the circuit has a flat aero profile: what this means is that the penalty for running a lower drag set-up here is less than at many other circuits. Thus, if you need to gain an extra 5kph top speed to race properly, you can do that without seriously compromising the overall lap time.

Q. Will there be any new developments on the car for Brazil?

PS:

Unlike the first two races of the year, Brazil is the first of the medium-level downforce circuits. This means we will see some significantly new aerodynamic parts, as well as integrating some very recent developments we have found in the windtunnel. Mechanically, the focus of our development work at this stage of the season is primarily on problem-solving from the first two races, so while we will have a number of new parts on the car, they are aimed at reliability more than outright performance. On the tyre side, we will be running a new tyre construction which has shown quite a lot of promise in testing. We expect this to represent a good performance boost relative to our tyre rivals.

Q. Given the bumpy nature of the circuit, and the need for good straightline speed in race conditions, will we see more of a compromise on qualifying set-up in Brazil than we have so far this year?

PS:

No, I don't think so: if anything, we will expect the compromise to be slightly less than at the other two circuits. Obviously, the optimum set-up in terms of performance will have to be slightly compromised in order to protect the rear tyres over a race distance, but that is something we will have to manage at every circuit. Otherwise, even before the new regulations, Brazil was actually a circuit at which race set-ups were very close to those used in qualifying anyway.