San Marino Preview Quotes: Renault

Jarno Trulli

Q. Jarno, how does it feel to be back in Europe after the first three races of the season?

JT:

It feels good. It is nice to get some time back at home and to be able to start training properly again. In terms of results, too, it's good: although I was disappointed with my positions in Malaysia and Brazil, I have scored points in every race so far, compared to last year when I hadn't finished a race by this stage of the season.

Q. What are the challenges of the Imola circuit for a driver?

JT:

In terms of set-up, the key things are good speed down the straights and getting a good balance under braking: the car has been good in that area so far this season. From a driver's point of view, the circuit isn't very exciting, but it's always a long, hard race.

Q. This is your first home race of the year: does that make a difference to you?

JT:

In terms of driving, no: my approach is the same for every race. Obviously, though, I will have more supporters A lot of people come from my fan club, so we have a fun weekend meeting everybody. Imola will also be special because, although Interlagos was technically my 100th race, that figure includes Malaysia in 1999 when I didn't actually start, so for me, I consider that this weekend will be my hundredth race in Formula 1: I hope we can get a good result to celebrate!

Fernando Alonso

Q. Fernando, how happy were you with the performance of the HANS device in your accident in Brazil?

FA:

It's quite hard to say, because the accident was the biggest one of my career, but I am obviously pleased with how it performed. For me, the system isn't at all uncomfortable in the car, and it was definitely an advantage at that moment. With that kind of crash, you usually suffer from neck pains afterwards, and I have had no problems at all. I think that HANS device helped in that, and did a very good job in that particular crash.

Q. Do you enjoy racing at Imola?

FA:

I always enjoy coming back to Europe: even though we have had good results so far, I always feel that this is when the Championship really begins, when you see the motorhomes in the paddock and go to circuits where we have raced more. I know Imola very well because I raced there in F3000, and tested there for Minardi. The drivers need to be aggressive and that suits my style: I usually use the kerbs even when I don't have to, so it won't be a problem. I enjoy racing there, and I think we can get a very good result.

Q. What's the most challenging part of the circuit?

FA:

There are no particular parts of the track which are difficult. The biggest challenge is setting the car up, because we have to use a lot of the kerbs and it can be hard to get the suspension to cope with that. We have a good opportunity though, because the car seems very good in those circumstances.

Allan McNish, Test Driver

Q. A frustrating weekend for you in Brazil, Allan?

AM:

Certainly, yes. with the problem, we missed out on an extra 45 minutes. running on a dry circuit so that obviously restricted our programme. Even so, we managed to get a good feeling for a couple of parts of the programme, and some indications of tyre choice, which was something Jarno and Fernando then pursued. The mechanics did an excellent job just to get the car back out so I could do the installation lap before practice. Relatively, I don't think it had a negative effect overall, because it then rained during the afternoon, and we will be back on a good footing in Imola.

Q. What do you need out of the car to run competitively at Imola?

AM:

The track is basically a lot of chicanes with long straights in between: the key things are being good over the kerbs and getting good traction. Pretty much everything there is part of the race track, and how you attack it crucial to a good lap time. Suspension set-up is obviously very important and we will look to fine-tune that on Friday; the circuit is also quite undulating, which makes power important for getting up the hills! So far, we have performed at a good level, and Michelin have seemed to have an advantage: there's no reason why we shouldn't be strong, but we'll have to wait and see.

Q. And what does a driver bring to a good lap in San Marino?

AM:

For the drivers, aggression is always important, but you also need to be extremely precise with your driving over the kerbs. The driver needs to feel confident about how the car's going to react, and especially needs to know what it will do when it lands off the kerbs: it's a bit like a jockey taking a racehorse over jumps. A good lap will find the right balance between aggression and precision.

Mike Gascoyne, Technical Director

Q. Mike, Brazil saw the Team's first reliability problems during a race weekend this year. What were they, and are you happy they have been solved?

MG:

The problem we suffered was linked to the gearbox on Allan's car, and it was something we experienced in pre-season testing for which fixes are in progress. It's worth pointing out that Allan is effectively driving a test car on Friday, which means he is using higher mileage components and also some other development parts. In spite of that, though, the race also saw another faultless performance in terms of race reliability.

Q. Imola has similar characteristics to Melbourne, with lots of hard acceleration and heavy braking for chicanes. After a strong performance in Australia, how well do you hope to perform this weekend?

MG:

On paper, I don't think Imola is our strongest circuit of the year. However, the layout demands very heavy braking, the most severe we have seen so far this season, and the drivers have been very comfortable with the car on the brakes. I think we can expect to be as competitive as we were in Melbourne, and we were happy with our performance there. Tyres will obviously be an issue though, and the colder track and air temperatures may even out the field in terms of performance.

Q. Do you think that the Team can hold on to their championship position in San Marino?

MG:

So far this season, I think the most pleasing thing is to have had a 100% finishing record and to be confident that if both cars finish, they will score points. We are obviously very pleased to be second, but if we look at things realistically in terms of pure speed, then even if we hold on to our position in Imola, I'm not sure we can expect that throughout the season. Our goal for this season, though, is to race with the top pack, and if we can maintain our finishing record, then we can compete as strongly as we have done at the first three races.

Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering

Q. Pat, how did the HANS device perform in Fernando's accident in Sao Paulo?

PS:

Overall, I think the device worked extremely well. The facts of the accident were that after a relatively light impact with the wheel on the circuit, of around 4.5g, the accident data recorder indicated the first impact with the wall was a 35g lateral and 35g longitudinal impact, followed by a second side impact of 60g. When you consider that our tests are conducted at 40g, that shows these were very big impacts. However, Fernando has suffered absolutely no problems with his neck, which is unusual in an accident of this magnitude. I think we can judge that the device did prevent him from a degree of injury, and we are very pleased with its performance.

Q. Brazil is known as one of the bumpiest circuits of the year, and Imola has the same characteristic, with the need to ride the kerbs. Can they be compared?

PS:

Although ride can be a problem in Brazil, the surface is actually not as bad as it once was, and the bumps are all on the circuit. At Imola, though, the drivers need to use the kerbs a lot and we need a car that will ride them well: when the car strikes a kerb, damper velocities can rise as high as 300mm/second, which is double what we would normally see with bumps on the race track. However, we have been studying this phenomenon over the last few months, both on our seven-post rig and with some practical experiments.

Q. We saw heavy rain during much of the race weekend last year at Imola. How do you think we are equipped to cope with that?

PS:

Weather conditions can be unpredictable in Imola and the events of Brazil may have led people to question the wisdom of the 2003 tyre regulations. Of course, by being restricted to a single tyre, competitive instincts ensure that people look to be fast under drying conditions in the hope that the FIA's safety car policy will handle the very wet conditions, but the reality of this is that performance considerations are prioritised ahead of safety. On the surface, it may seem better to revert to the old rules, but at a time when we are trying to save money, the direct costs to the tyre manufacturers of adding an extra tyre, plus the costs to the teams for testing these tyres, mean this is not logical. Rather than introducing a second wet tyre, therefore, a better solution would be to produce a tyre more capable of coping with extreme conditions, even if that means we have to change tyres at a different point and run them further in drying conditions. If the tyre is well-enough specified for all conditions, then the effect will be the same for all the teams, regardless of manufacturer.