Italy Preview Quotes: Renault

Jarno Trulli

Q. Jarno, you had a very difficult race in Spa: how do you bounce back from that?

JT:

I am sure things will go much better in Monza. When you have a result like Spa, you need to have the confidence in yourself to bounce back, and I do. This is my home race, so I will have a lot of supporters and that brings added motivation, not pressure. The team have responded brilliantly to build a completely new car for this race, so I just hope I can get back to a normal level of performance at this race.

Q. When you are working on the set-up, what are the important areas?

JT:

The car is very light to drive: the downforce levels are extremely low, and that has an effect under braking and acceleration, not just in the corners. You have to brake very early compared to any other circuit, and the car is more nervous as well. We also have to get the right tyre choice, and find the right combination of consistency and performance. But overall, whatever areas we focus on, our aim is the same as at any other circuit: the find a good balance which gives the driver the confidence to push the car to the limit.

Q. Finally, how competitive can the R24 be?

JT:

The circuit has a lot of similarities to Montreal, where the team was very quick. We have focused on obtaining a good car set-up during testing so that on the race weekend itself, we are ready to attack and run an aggressive weekend. Over the past two years, our car has suited Monza well, and we should have the baseline performance to fight for the podium. If we can put ourselves in that position, then anything can happen in the race, especially with the heavy braking into the chicanes and the potential for incidents.

Fernando Alonso

Q. Fernando, what are your feelings as we approach the Italian Grand Prix?

FA:

I am feeling strong and confident for this race. In Spa, I had a reliability problem that prevented me from finishing the race, but things were looking very good until then: I had started pulling away from Raikkonen's McLaren, and we were running similar fuel loads. In terms of racing in Italy, this will be a little bit like having another home race for me - I have spent a lot of time in Italy, and feel like I am at home whenever I come here. Monza is a unique place, a special place, to race, and the fans are always passionate. I am looking forward to the challenge.

Q. How do you approach the circuit from a driver's point of view?

FA:

We run the lowest downforce levels of the year at Monza, and you need to be very precise with the car. You can't make any mistakes under braking or in the corners, and if you do, it could give your competitors the opportunity to overtake as you lose speed down the straights. We worked hard during the test last week to get the car balanced properly, and we have found a set-up that we are happy with, so hopefully I can feel comfortable with the car straight away.

Q. Finally, what are your hopes in terms of the results of this race?

FA:

We always say that we want to wait and see, but obviously after the Monza test, we have a better idea than usual of where we are compared to the competition. Overall, that the car should suit this circuit, and we were competitive in terms of straightline speed during testing. It is always hard to make predictions, but we should certainly be fighting for the podium. It won't be easy and there will still be work to do on Friday to adapt the car to the conditions, and get the tyres working correctly. If we can do that, then we should be very strong in the race.

Bob Bell, Technical Director

Q. Bob, Spa demonstrated that the R24 is an extremely competitive package: what does that mean for the end of the season?

BB:

In spite of the end result, I think we can be very encouraged by our performance in Spa. From the standpoint of basic speed, the car was extremely quick, and certainly good enough for Fernando to get on the podium, if not win the race. That is the first reason for encouragement. Secondly, although our qualifying positions on Saturday owed a lot to good fortune, we also made the right decisions and exploited that situation. That indicates we are operating very well as a team. But we will not be able to exploit these assets unless we get the cars to the finish. We will redouble our efforts on reliability to ensure we can capitalise on the innate speed of the R24 in the final races of the season.

Q. Jarno will have a completely different chassis for this race: what is the thinking behind that decision?

BB:

Jarno clearly struggled during the race in Belgium. He is a very technically sensitive driver, and can often detect problems with a car that cannot always be seen on the data. However, it is equally fair to say that when he detects a problem, he struggles to extract maximum performance from the car. In giving him a different chassis, built with completely different parts, we want to eliminate the possibility that some hidden problem in the car is affecting his performance. Although we have dismantled his race car from Belgium and found no problems at all, we are all wise enough to know that there are some subtleties even our data logging cannot detect. Our approach to the forthcoming Grand Prix is a reflection of our total commitment to supporting equally both drivers. From the team's perspective, it is vitally important to extract maximum performance from both cars and drivers until the end of the season.

Q. What are your expectations for the Italian Grand Prix?

BB:

The circuit demands strong performance on the brakes and under acceleration, which we know are strengths of the R24. It also requires a set-up with roughly twenty percent less drag than at Monaco, and we have worked hard in the wind tunnel to achieve optimum efficiency at the necessary drag level, which is reflected in our aero package for Monza. Equally, we have improved the car throughout the season, and I feel we are competitive in most types of corner, in most conditions, on every type of circuit. We expect Monza to be no exception, and approach the race with our usual high expectations.

Rob White, Engine Technical Director

Q. Can you explain the source of Fernando's problem in Spa?

RW:

Fernando's retirement in Spa was the result of a failed O-ring between the oil pump and crankcase, which allowed engine oil to escape onto the rear tyres. The failure was similar to that experienced by Jarno in Hungary, and although we introduced revised parts between these races, they were not sufficiently robust - indeed, the rigours of Eau Rouge were the cause of the failure. Since then, further modification have been approved on the dyno, and run successfully for more than 2000 km in the car at Monza. Clearly, our aim will be to complete the Monza weekend without any repetition of the problem.

Q. Are you confident the team can regain its strong level of reliability before the end of the season?

RW:

Reliability must be our top priority, and is the pre-requisite for championship success. We have addressed the specific problems that led to our recent failures, but have also used the experience to improve our processes for the future. The objective of zero failures for the final four races is a realistic one, and our efforts to ensure this reliability are on-going. However, we are motivated to succeed in this aim by the desire to win more races and defend our second place in the championship.

Q. Finally, what does Monza herald for the engine-builder?

RW:

Monza is an emotionally captivating circuit, and of course, the fastest of the current tracks. It imposes one of the most punishing duty cycles of the year, and presents an enormous challenge in terms of mechanical and thermal loads. The basic demands are simple: raw performance and faultless reliability. However, other parameters such as aero efficiency, braking performance and the tyres also have an important role to play in this race. It always produces a very tight grid, and we will hope to be fighting with our immediate championship rivals for the points positions come raceday.

Denis Chevrier

Monza is perhaps the definitive test of a Formula One engine. Although the single longest period spent at full throttle is not the highest of the year, the circuit offers an engine no respite, as it features no sequences of slow corners taken at low throttle openings. The duty cycle of the engine is the most severe of the year, with the drivers spending 70.7% of the lap at full throttle, and this produces the highest average speed of the year at around 260 kph, compared to an average of 220 kph and the slowest value of 160 kph, which is encountered at Monaco.

Indeed, this is the circuit where pure engine power has the biggest influence. The engine's maximum power is required for the longest period of any track we visit, with the driver demanding this level of performance from the engine for nearly 71% of the lap, as mentioned above. This high percentage of the lap spent at full throttle means that power has a proportionately greater role to play than on a circuit such as Monaco where the drivers use full throttle for just 40% of the lap. Conversely, though, this same nature of the circuit layout also means that the fuel effect here is relatively low, at 0.31s per ten kilos of fuel in the car.

However, Monza is not a completely one-dimensional challenge for the engine builder. The low-speed chicanes demand good driveability from the engine, and the ability to control power delivery as well as possible in order to let the drivers take the optimum line through the tight corners at Retifilo and Roggia.

Equally, the chicanes pose reliability risks in the form of the cars' passage over the severe kerbs. This subjects the entire car to sudden spikes in vertical acceleration and often sees the rear wheels lose contact with the ground. This has potential implications for engine over-revving, or hitting the limiter, and also transmission reliability. Equally, the suspension is highly loaded, and accessory components to the engine may undergo movement that can be harmful to their performance (the oil and water pumps, or the alternator, for example).

Testing last week allowed us to begin determining a number of key elements of how we will approach the race weekend, in terms of determining gearbox ratios and cooling needs. We were able to answer some of the questions usually reserved for our programmes on Friday, and Saturday morning and this may mean we make several runs fewer than is usual during these sessions. However, this does not mean we can in any sense build a 'Monza special' low mileage engine, as we need to have in hand the ability to complete these runs if necessary: a change in ambient or track conditions could lead us to run a completely normal programme, or indeed run more than usual, as we did in Spa. The only changes to the engine will be several different components in the build specification, which have been optimised firstly for reliability, but also performance.

Pat Symonds

Monza has always been known as the power circuit par excellence, and the engine is undoubtedly an extremely important element here, as the drivers spend near 71% of the lap at full throttle. But what is it about an F1 engine that makes it so special, and how does it compare to a "normal" road engine?

It goes without saying that power is all-important, and the astronomical outputs we see in F1 require the engine to turn very fast. This is because higher speeds mean the engine can ingest more air, which is vital to supporting the combustion process that produces the power. Modern F1 engines rev to approximately 19,000 rpm, while an average road engine will attain just over 6,000 rpm. The reason for these much lower speeds is that the loads imposed in the moving parts of the engine are approximately proportional to the square of its speed: for example, a piston moving at full speed would be propelled 100 metres into the air if it was unrestrained. Thus, increasing engine speed from 6,000 rpm to 19,000 rpm means loads actually increase by a factor of ten - while this is tolerable for a 750 km racing engine, it is not acceptable for a road engine which is expected to last 300,000 km.

However, when it comes to power figures, they will often be quoted without a proper understanding of their significance. Firstly, the power an engine produces is not constant, varying with ambient temperature, pressure and humidity. On a hot day, not only does the engine produce less power, but it also does so at higher rpm. This can make the testing of engines on the dyno a complex exercise, as even in an environmentally controlled chamber, the conditions are not always the same. Therefore, it becomes necessary to correct the measured power to a defined set of conditions. In road car engines, these standards are well-defined - although not the same worldwide. However, different F1 engine manufacturers use different standards, and it is therefore irrelevant, even if one knows the numbers, to quote the power of one F1 engine against another.

Indeed, while peak bhp is easy to understand and can be expressed as a single number, the true performance of the car is dependent on many other factors, not least of which is the area under the power curve. If for example an engine produced 900 bhp at 19,000 rpm but only 800 bhp at 18,000 rpm, it would be described as peaky and difficult to drive. The on-track performance would be nowhere near as good as an engine with a lower peak power of 875 bhp at 19,000 rpm, but which still produced 850 bhp 1,000 rpm below the maximum. Indeed, torque is equally important as the power of the engine, as torque is what provides the acceleration. A good racing engine, much like a road car unit, requires a generous, smooth torque curve.

The physical attributes of an F1 engine also have a role to play. Like any component on a racing car, the engine must be as light as possible, and we employ advanced materials that are both light and capable of withstanding extreme stresses. Furthermore, each component is designed for a finite life, much shorter than that of components in road car engines, and this strict lifing, as well as the well-defined usage pattern of the engine, allows the reserve factors to be much smaller as well. When a racing engine designer conceives his engine, not only does he know exactly how it will be driven, he can also guarantee that the level of maintenance will be exceptionally high - something that a road car engine designer cannot assume.

Indeed, continuing the theme of mass, it maybe surprising for some people that good fuel consumption is as important in a racing engine as a road engine. On the road, fuel consumption has a direct impact on running costs, and hence is high on the list of desirables for a prospective owner. With a racing engine, we try and carry as little fuel in the car as possible, as each litre weighs approximately 0.75 kg, and weight is the enemy of performance. Of course, the fuel consumption of an F1 car varies according to the conditions: a wet race will see lower fuel consumption than running in dry conditions. It is also dependent on factors such as the amount of rear wing being used (more wing means more drag, and higher consumption) or the grip of the tyres. While an F1 car consumes significantly more fuel per 100 km than a road engine (65l/100km compared to 8l/100 km in a road car), such a measure fails to take into account the disparity in power outputs. The specific fuel consumption, which measures the engine's efficiency in producing power, is actually very similar: 200 grammes/horsepower/hour, against 175 g/bhp/hour for a road car engine.