Renault: damper row slowed us down

The mass damper system, which had been fitted to the Renaults since the 2005 Brazilian Grand Prix, was outlawed after the French Grand Prix when the FIA ruled it to be a moveable aerodynamic device.

Renault tried to get the ban overturned but failed in that quest - and their director of engineering Pat Symonds has confessed that it was that effort that would have been better spent in dealing with Ferrari.

"During a fortnight in August, I focused almost exclusively on preparing documents for the FIA hearing," said Symonds, whose team still went on to win both championships at the final round in Brazil.

"Other engineers worked on the subject too, when they could have been working in different areas - performance development, for example. The whole affair used up resources that could have been exploited elsewhere, and also brought a major performance penalty on track.

"We re-optimised the car for the final races, of course, but the R26 would have been a quicker car at Interlagos with the system fitted."

Symonds is convinced that the mass damper ban led to a performance drop from the R26, at the same time that Ferrari and Bridgestone made a big step forward.

"We never fully returned to the level of performance we had achieved beforehand," he explained. "What's more, it was at that point that Bridgestone made some major performance gains that helped Ferrari."

The mass damper affair, allied to other controversial elements to the season, have left Symonds in no doubt that 2006 was one of his hardest seasons ever.

"First of all, the battle on track was tough," he said. "Really tough. Our rivals didn't seem to have any weaknesses, or almost none. We had to seize every little opportunity. And it was a difficult season politically as well.

"It was hard to come to terms with events like the mass damper affair and Fernando's penalty in Monza."