2006 French GP Technical Review

After racing in Indianapolis, with its unusual layout and Michelin's conservative tyres, the return to Europe was expected to tip the balance back in Renault's favour. But the French Grand Prix proved to be another race in favour of Bridgestone.

Magny Cours is not a classic track, but it provides a real test for the teams. Its layout provides a good mix of overtaking opportunities through its chicanes and fast main straight, as well as a challenge for the chassis, with the long Estoril corner. But, overall, it's the track's surface that challenges to the teams, as it places a heavy demand on tyre performance.

Bridgestone's advantage over the weekend could be seen in two ways: either the Japanese tyres were again suited to this specific track, or Bridgestone has found a tyre that really works.

If the latter is the case, then Renault will be challenged for the balance of the championship, unless Michelin has a response. Although, realistically, the one-off track surface in France would explain the shift in advantage.

We are now well into the second half of the season, and the remaining tracks are nearly all classics. The majority of these tracks (Hungary and Monza apart) are proper circuits with medium to high downforce.

Having come away from the two flyaway North American races, the teams have a tough schedule ahead, with five European races and the summer test ban, before cars get packed up at the end of September and freighted off to the final three races.

As the French circuit is about average in its need for power, downforce and drag, it's fairly representative of the remaining races. Therefore, teams often use France as a venue to release new aero packages.

This year, several teams brought new parts along, and this included some unusual solutions. Moreover, the opening lap incidents at the United States GP provided many teams the chance to switch engines, and only eight cars arrived in France with old engines, two of which were changed before the race. This leaves most teams with the same spec engine for both drivers.

Exclusive: Ferrari ballast

Earlier this season, rumours spread that some teams were using a sliding ballast system in the nose-cone to improve handling. Initially rumours suggested this was adopted by Renault, who have not made any comment on the existence of the such a system. Equally, others teams were rumoured to have - or planning to have - just such systems.

A strict interpretation of the FIA rules governing ballast means this system could be legal, as the regulations only state that ballast must be fixed rigidly to the chassis and removed with tools. If the movable ballast and its sprung mechanism are considered as an assembly, then it can meet the wording of the rules, even if an internal part of the assembly is moving.

Following the French GP, autosport.com has learned that a letter from the FIA will be circulated regarding this alleged system, clarifying what is acceptable under the current technical rules.

Proving the system exists is difficult, as the teams rarely allow photographers behind the nose-cone on their racks in the pit-garages. However, autosport.com has obtained exclusive images, which support the theory that Ferrari are running just such a system.

In this picture, taken at Indianapolis, there is clearly a panel hiding something inside the nose-cone. It is believed that this is just such a system - the fairing covers what appears to be a vertical cylindrical object. Also, a peg protrudes through an extended slot in the cover, suggesting the internals experience some vertical movement.

One other explanation could be that the cover only hides a sensor, as the teams often run extra sensors in Friday practice. However, these sensors tend to be small, and Ferrari traditionally mount their tyre sensors on to the keel and not inside the nose.

Tyres, track surface and strategy

The Magny Cours tarmac is smooth and grip-less, plus it has some unusual cambers around the slow corners. When the sun is out, the track temperature rises and the tyres get an even harder time delivering grip.

This lack of grip affects the cars in three ways: in the fast corners it overheats the tyres, which in turn degrades the tyre, making it deliver less grip even if it's not worn out.

Secondly, in the slower, off-camber corners, the inside front tyre is very lightly loaded, which lets the tyre scrub over the track, and this grains the tyre.

Lastly, the overall lack of grip prevents the rear tyres from accelerating the car without spin, which also degrades the tyres, and the excess of traction control puts a strain on the engine.

Teams are split in how they manage their tyres, depending on whether they are seeking more grip or simply longevity from a set of tyres. They also have a different race strategy to call - three pitstops is the optimum on paper, with the new tyres at each stop adding some extra pace until the degradation sets in. Teams with poor grid positions but with enough balance and grip in their chassis could opt for the riskier two stop strategy.

Several among the midfield cars opted for two stops, as did Toyota with some success and Renault, Giancarlo Fisichella starting on a two stop strategy. His teammate Fernando Alonso switched to this strategy mid-race, figuring that the lack of pace compared to Ferrari's Felipe Massa was more than offset by the gain in not having to stop twice.

Car modifications

BMW Sauber

With some teams still upset about BMW's rear wing support, the devices brought to the Jerez test were expected to generate just as much fuss. It turned out both the other teams and the FIA were happy with the dramatic looking twin nose wings.

With BMW's finance and support, the aerodynamic facilities at the Sauber factory in Switzerland are now starting to produce a constant stream of developments. Most people see the extended operation of the wind tunnel to near 24/7 shifts as the sole reason. But, Sauber had already invested heavily in CFD analysis with "Albert", their super computer. This pair of resources has allowed BMW-Sauber to investigate some very different paths to other teams.

That is not to say BMW have the perfect aerodynamic set-up. Recent developments were aimed at improving stability, and the taller engine cover is a classic example of this. Equally, this solution has been used by Sauber in previous seasons.

The twin nose wings and the McLaren-like Viking horn wings are all aimed at improving flow to the rear of the car. This maintains rear downforce, which is critical for stability under braking and at high speed.

The pair front wings are vertical; they act like turning vanes, curving the flow around the interruption created by the cockpit and roll structure. Then, the Viking wings also aid the curve of the coke bottle-shaped flow over the centre of the car (yellow), just as the chimneys and winglets shape the outer edge of the flow.

Although not reported by the team, the devices could also aid the car's straight-line stability, as they both provide more surface area to the airflow should the car go out of line (yaw). The reaction of the airflow hitting the sides of these devices would push the car back into a straight line.

The recent increase in aerodynamic testing of the cars in yaw was aimed at preventing the loss of downforce when the car is at an angle to the airflow. However, this benefit is offset if the car is too willing to rotate about its centre of gravity. These wings could therefore see several teams adding vertical surfaces to aid the car's stability.

One of the most obvious concerns with the nose wings was the visibility and safety of the driver. However, all three BMW-Sauber drivers declared that visibility was not suffering with the two fins just a metre ahead of them, and the fins' height and placing meant there was no worry of the fin entering the cockpit during a crash. It was this latter issue that in the past led the FIA to ban similar wings (such as the famous Arrows 'X-Wings') placed near the cockpit.

Renault

Having announced they have a major aero and engine upgrade for the next race, Renault appeared in a familiar guide at Magny Cours. Alonso had a new C-spec engine, and even though this will be a race old for the next round in Germany, it will benefit from revised tuning to allow it to match the specification fitted to Fisichella's car.

McLaren

The latest specification Mercedes engine fitted to Kimi Raikkonen's car was able to rev to 20,000 rpm in qualifying, which is a major milestone in the team's V8 development.

Ferrari

At Jerez the week before France, Ferrari began testing their new aerodynamic and engine package. Both packages were reputed to produce significant lap time improvements. However, the car's specification in France was somewhat different, with subtly revised wings and slimmer engine cover, as well as bargeboard and floor alterations.

The Jerez bargeboards did not make a debut in France. These had a distinctive stepped upper edge (shown yellow), which breaks up the flow passing over the outer surface into several small vortexes rather than a single, more powerful one.

The related revision to the bargeboards is actually on the floor behind them. Ferrari have added a serrated lip to the floor (circled yellow), again to break up the flow passing over the lip.

Due to the rush to get the new parts to France, they weren't fully tested. The new engine cover has a much slimmer coke bottle shape and now requires bulges to clear the exhaust pipes (yellow). This necessitated revised heat shields with the engine bay; it was these parts that caught fire on Schumacher's car in Saturday practice.

In fact, such was the heat in France that Ferrari ran unusually open engine cover, with two sets of louvers on top to exit the flow from radiators, opening sunder the chimneys and also enlarged exhaust fairings.

Williams

Williams brought the expected revised aerodynamics and engine specification for Magny Cours. The aero included new wings; with the front wings receiving larger cascades (yellow) and a small horizontal fin (red) on the endplate, similar to Ferrari's set-up.

Williams featured a revised engine cover, with an extra turning vane between the floor and flip-up, but again without the extra pair of flip-ups behind the chimney. Overall, Williams have been chasing efficiency, which is less drag for the same downforce, as the team have been able to run enough downforce all season.

On the engine side, Cosworth produced their latest engine upgrade. Again Cosworth's aggressive approach to their F1 V8 programme now sees the engine aiming for more power, rather simply extending the duty cycle of the engine (that is, the amount of time it can be run on full power). This development has been assisted by a new blend of Petrobas fuel.

In the race, Williams suffered a tyre failure for Mark Webber, and then a wheel failure. It appears both cars were suffering from the inside shoulder of the tyre overheating, leading to the failure.

Although Williams and Bridgestone are still investigating the problem, it seems the issue was not the bodywork interfering with the tyre, as happened to the team last year.

Honda

Although Honda were reported to be bringing a new major aero package to France, the result were less noticeable than expected. Most obvious was the new front wing, with cascades rather than the bi-plane arrangement used in previous races.

The cascades themselves are intricately curved and attached to the inside of the endplates. The cascade may possibly benefit over the bi-plane arrangement, as its shape can be more complex while the upper bi-plane element was always a simpler shape, which may have found good results quickly in the wind tunnel. But with more time to develop its geometry, the cascade could well work much better.

The Honda engine cover was also revised, but probably more for cooling, than a permanent alteration. The louvered panels added behind the chimneys were opened up, exposing the radiator through the slits. Also, the exhaust fairing allowed more outlet area to improve cooling.

Red Bull Racing

Red Bull reported they tested a new aerodynamic cooling package to replace the version rushed in pre-season. However, the sidepods in France seemed very similar to those seen all season, so it's unclear if the changes were understated or not yet race ready.

One alteration to the car was the third iteration of nose fin this year, going from nothing to simple flat plates, then curved fins. The new versions are much larger - with endplates - and sport two elements, like Renault's Canadian fins.

Midland

Having been testing at Silverstone away from the main teams, Midland brought some useful developments, including a revised front suspension set-up, aimed at improving corner entry and braking, as well as some small aerodynamic developments.

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- The Autosport.com Team

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