2006 BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX PREVIEW
The 2006 FIA Formula One World Championship gets underway
this coming weekend at the Bahrain International Circuit.
Kimi Raikkonen and Juan Pablo Montoya will be racing the Team
McLaren Mercedes MP4-21 in the desert Kingdom, which is opening
the season as the Commonwealth Games is currently taking place
in the usual host city, Melbourne.
The Bahrain Grand Prix, which is being held for the third
time, heralds the start of what promises to be another competitive
and exciting year in the sport of Formula One, with 18 races
in five continents across the globe, ending in Brazil in eight
months.
2006 has seen the introduction of a raft of new technical
and sporting regulations. The change from V10 to V8 engines
is the most significant, and has dominated the design process
of the MP4-21. Fundamentally a new car to incorporate the
new Mercedes-Benz FO 108S V8, the basic concept of the MP4-21
is an evolution from 2005. Other technical changes include
the raising by 50mm of the forward deflector, and an increase
of 50 per cent of the crash test loads to the rear structure.
The MP4-21 hit the test track on Monday 23rd January, and
has completed over 8700 test km over the course of an intensive
programme of 28 days.
Sporting regulations will see the re-introduction of tyre
changes during pit stops and a new qualifying format. The
single lap system of 2005 has been replaced with a three part
knockout. Multiple cars are allowed on track throughout the
qualifying hour, which is split into two 15 minutes sessions
and a final 20 minute session. After the first 15 minutes,
the bottom six cars drop out of the running, assuming the
last six places on the grid. This is repeated for the second
session, leaving 10 cars to compete in a shootout for the
top ten grid positions.
KIMI RAIKKONEN
"It is great to be back racing in Bahrain this weekend.
It has been a busy winter season for us, with hard work taking
place in every part of the team. Since my first outing in
the MP4-21 at Barcelona on Thursday 26th January I have covered
more than 3200 km with the new car. The car has felt good
on track and is quick, which can be seen from the improvements
in lap times of more than 3 seconds. Of course I want to carry
on from our performance last year and be challenging for race
wins, however we will only see where we are in Bahrain after
qualifying. It is also going to be interesting this weekend
to go back to tyre changes in the pit stops, we had to adapt
driving styles slightly for last year as we didn't have tyre
changes, so it may mean people are more aggressive as it is
not so important to look after your tyres. Bahrain is a good
track, it always seems to have exciting races and I hope there
will be another one this year to start the 2006 season."
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA
"The start of the 2006 season will be even more exciting
than the previous years with all the changes of the technical
and sporting regulations. It is a bit different for me this
year as I now know the team and the car really well from the
very start of the season. We have completed some intensive
work on the test track. Since starting my test programme with
the MP4-21 on 24 January I have been at the wheel for 12 days
and covered more than 3500 km. In addition to this I have
spent 8 days at the McLaren Technology Centre with the engineers,
working on debriefs, seat-fitting and in the simulation department
and I feel well prepared for the long season ahead. But as
always there is a lot of work still to be done. The Bahrain
track hasn't been my most successful venue to date, and starting
there will be slightly tougher for me, as I didn’t race
there last season. However I qualified well in 2004 and I
always enjoy driving on tracks designed by Hermann Tilke.
It has a good mix of corners, turn 12 is pretty cool and quite
like Eau Rouge, so you are pushing it hard through the corner
as it sweeps you right up the hill. The track is quite tough
on the brakes though, as there are a number of long straights
and slow corners, and little chance for them to cool. However
it is not as bad as Canada, but we do need to make sure we
manage this through the race."
MARTIN WHITMARSH, CEO FORMULA ONE, TEAM McLAREN MERCEDES
"At the start of every season, Team McLaren Mercedes
sets out with the same expectations and aspirations: to win
races and the Formula 1 World Championships. The 2006 season
will be no different. With regulation changes, ranging from
the introduction of V8 engines to a new knockout qualifying
format and the reintroduction of tyre stops, dominating the
build-up to the 2006 season, Team McLaren Mercedes has been
working intensively on maximising the opportunities these
changes have provided back at base and with the test team
on track. This period has also seen significant work with
Michelin to adapt to the return to tyres that perform under
short stints rather than for full race distance. Despite initial
work beginning on MP4-21 in August 2004 and the car completing
around 8700 test km, as always, relative performances cannot
be truly judged until the first few races have been run. I
expect there will be a number of teams challenging for the
titles. Kimi and Juan Pablo alongside the entire Team McLaren
Mercedes and our Partners will battle hard and are looking
forward to the challenges ahead."
NORBERT HAUG, VICE PRESIDENT, MERCEDES-BENZ MOTORSPORT
"The 2006 Formula One season provides bigger challenges
for all teams than the previous one. The fundamentally new
engine regulations now specify eight instead of ten cylinders
and a displacement of 2.4 instead of three litres. New aerodynamic
limits in the rules and the shorter engine set an enormous
task for the chassis engineers – many small modifications
required big efforts and cost a lot of money. The start with
the new MP4-21 at Barcelona on 23rd January was not trouble
free and in the beginning we were not where we wanted. However,
in the following five and a half weeks or about 40 days until
the final test at Valencia on 1 March, our team showed what
it’s capable of, be it chassis or engine wise. During
28 test days, Kimi, Juan Pablo and Pedro covered a total of
8692 kilometres which is on average one Grand Prix distance
per day and therefore equates to a total of 28 Grand Prix
distances in preparation for the first races. The lap time
improved continuously throughout the tests and the long runs
were OK compared to the fastest. Several times, our new V8
engine stood the strain of two race weekends and up to 50
percent more, on the circuits of Barcelona and Valencia as
well as on the dynos at Brixworth and Stuttgart. Prior to
the start of the season this coming weekend, I want to thank
everybody in the team for their enormous efforts. During the
last six weeks they almost worked 24 hours a day, at the test
track and in Woking, Brixworth and Stuttgart. I know the best
reward for everybody working so hard, and I hope we will go
and get it as often as possible in the 2006 season’s
18 races.”
USEFUL STATISTICS
Bahrain Grand Prix McLaren Team McLaren Mercedes Kimi Juan
Pablo
Circuit length 5.412 km Race starts 596 186 87 85
3.366 miles Race wins 148 44 9 7
Race distance 308.238km Pole Positions 122 43 9 12
191.716miles Points 3041.5 1134 281 281
Laps 57 Podiums 384 131 30 27
Inaugural race 2004 Fastest Laps 127 57 16 12
TEAM McLAREN MERCEDES FACTS AND FIGURES
The following information has been compiled in response to
some of Team McLaren Mercedes' most frequently asked questions.
Team McLaren Mercedes…
- began development of MP4-21 with the V8 engine in October
2004.
- began initial wind tunnel work on MP4-21 in July 2005.
- ran the Mercedes-Benz FO 108S V8 engine on the dyno for
about three months before on-track testing commenced.
- sends between 95 (fly-away races) and 135 (European races)
personnel to each Grand Prix.
- has a race team which comprises: race team manager, senior
race engineer, chief mechanic, software engineer, race strategist,
two driver engineers, two assistant engineers, two system
engineers, two data analysts, 10 mechanics, two gearbox mechanics
two fabricator/carbon repairmen, engine dress, chief truckie,
two tyre men, electrician, two support crew, security, senior
fuel technician, fuel technician, spares co-ordinator, team
co-ordinator.
- has a test team which comprises: test team manager, test
team engineer, two driver engineers, two assistant engineers,
two system engineers, chief mechanic, 12 mechanics, two gearbox
technicians, data analyst, engine dress, two tyre men, spares
co-ordinator/chief truckie, three full-time truckies, fabricator/laminator/truckie,
part-time truckie.
- used a total of seven chassis throughout the 2005 season.
- transports approximately 30 tonnes of freight, including
three complete race cars at approximately 600kg each grands
prix.
- takes three spare gearboxes to each race, two built with
rear suspension and one loose unit.
- takes six engines to each race, one in each of the three
cars and three loose spares.
- Team Communications Centre, the team’s trackside hospitality
unit, travels to all European Grands Prix. It has two floors
and comprises offices, meeting rooms, kitchen and dining areas
and driver rooms.
- completed approximately 44,500 kilometres when testing during
2005.
- completed approximately 22,500 kilometres when racing in
2005, including Practice, Qualifying, and Races.
- drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Juan Pablo Montoya completed
32,094 kilometers in total during 2005. >From a total of
5785 racing kilometres Team McLaren Mercedes lead 2852 kilometers
which is 49% of the entire season.
- generated 40 gigabytes of data during all race meetings
and 75 gigabytes of data at all tests in the 2005 season.
- consumed 50,000 litres of Mobil Unleaded fuel for track
work during the 2005 season.
- competes with a car that typically handles 2,500 gearchanges
during a race. This figure varies from circuit to circuit.
- competes with a car that is typically capable of the following
performance:
0-60mph / 0 - 96kph 2.3 seconds.
0-100mph / 0 - 160kph 3.6 seconds.
0-100-0mph / 0 -160 - 0kph 6.6 seconds.
and can decelerate from 185mph to a standstill in 3.5 seconds.
- was supplied 2964 Michelin tyres in total for the 19 Grand
Prix weekends in 2005. (1368 dry-weather tyres and 1596 wet-weather
tyres).
- is supplied with 128 Enkei wheel rims per race.
- generate 4600 drawings to create the 11,000 components that
make up each car.
- drivers are subjected to forces of up to 5G under braking.
- stripped the cars down a total of 121 times throughout the
2005 season.
|
