Preview, 2006 San Marino GP
Fernando Alonso
Fernando, it's been a great start to the season…
Yes, a fantastic start. The R26 performed really well, we
had no mechanical problems, and it is always important to
score a lot of points at the start of the year. We know Renault
is the team to beat at the moment, the reference. I am really
happy with our position, and very confident for the coming
races.
So where has the advantage come from?
The package altogether is competitive. There are no particular
problems with the car, you can feel everything works well
together. The driveability of car will probably be the strongest
point of the season, and fingers crossed we can finish all
the races with no reliability problems.
You said in March that there were four teams fighting
at the top – is that still the case?
Yes, we have very strong opposition this year. Ferrari, McLaren
and Honda are all good enough to win races, and we need to
work hard if we want to beat them.
What will be the key factor in the coming races?
The development of the cars. We are in a strong situation,
and we know that the team that develops most, with a strong
finish to the year, will probably be champions. The drivers
have a role too, because we need to tell the engineers where
the car has to improve, which is what we are doing at the
moment.
Tell us about Imola – it was a famous win for
you in 2005…
It became maybe the most talked-about win of my career so
far I think. For me, it was a win like the others –
a special achievement. But when you are fighting with Michael,
then I think the media talk about it in a special way, and
make it something bigger. I enjoyed the final laps of the
race last year, and it was an important race to win. But if
I can do it again this year, on my own, a long way in front,
then that's even better!
It's a tough track though…
It is very difficult for the drivers, with the chicanes and
the kerbs, and the car bumping over them. That makes it hard
for us to take the same line twice in any corner, and every
lap you have to feel things a little bit differently. It is
tough physically, but also for the car because there is a
lot of stress over the kerbs. This is a hard race to finish.
You have said Renault is the team to beat. Who will
be the competition?
Ferrari and McLaren will be our main opponents. Ferrari dropped
down in the last two races, but I think they will be back.
Their tyres work well at this circuit, and it is their home
Grand Prix, so I expect them to be extremely competitive.
Giancarlo Fisichella
You arrive in Imola second in the championship. You
must be feeling optimistic?
For sure! It is nice to be racing back in Europe, and to be
in my home country as well, with all the Italian fans. Physically,
I am fitter than ever before, and feeling really good at the
moment. And compared to last year, I am in a much better position
in the championship: more points, and closer to the lead.
So yes, things are looking very good right now.
Looking back at the last race, what is your assessment?
It was a difficult afternoon for all the drivers I think –
and an exciting race for the spectators! I had some problems
during the race, but managed to overcome them and score some
good points. I have tested two times since then, we have worked
through some answers to those problems, and the new B spec
engine feels like a good step in performance. We are moving
forward all the time.
What challenges will the circuit bring?
You need to be good in every area to be quick there, you must
have a complete car. The drivers need to have confidence in
the handling and the reactions, the right tyres and a strong
engine. We have a mix of slow and fast corners, plus of course
you need to attack the kerbs very aggressively – and
the car needs to cope with that. The R25 was quick there last
year, so there's no reason to think the R26 will not be this
year.
What are your hopes for the race?
I am going to every race this year looking to score maximum
points. I think Renault has an edge at the moment, so we have
to aim for the victory at every Grand Prix. I have a fresh
engine, and a bit more power from the new specification, so
that gives me a fantastic chance for this race. We are not
underestimating our rivals, because we know that the level
of competition is very close the front. But I believe we have
the package to win in Imola.
Denis Chevrier, Head of Trackside Engine Operations
Denis, we are three races into the V8 era. What have
been the lessons so far?
I think that reliable engines were something we had taken
for granted until the end of last year. With the move to the
V8, we have seen many enforced engine changes, and failures
in the race – including with Giancarlo in Bahrain. Few
teams have avoided this, and that reflects how much effort
is involved in developing the V8. Certainly, the engine's
strategic importance has been greater during these opening
races than ever before.
Why have there been so many problems?
The V8s are still young engines, and I don't think any team
was 100% ready for the start of the season. At Renault, we
had done a lot of mileage in the winter, encountered problems
that we had worked hard to resolve, and started the season
in a stronger position than some of our rivals. But every
manufacturer is still working through the challenges encountered
early in the life of a new engine, and nobody can yet say
they have solved them all.
In terms of performance, how does the Renault engine
compare to the competition?
The conclusions we can draw show that engine performance is
very similar from team to team. There are some small differences
in peak revs, for example, but there are no bad V8 engines
out there. Now, the challenge is to add performance to what
is still a young engine, without compromising reliability.
It is not an easy job.
What are the challenges with developing the V8 engines?
Simply, it is harder to find performance than it was with
the V10, especially this early in the engine's development.
But on the other hand, the competition is closer-matched than
last year, which makes development even more important. Several
teams are at an equal level on ultimate performance, and the
first one to gain the upper hand could take a decisive advantage.
So nobody can afford to relax, and we are putting the same
resources and effort into our development as in previous years.
What has been the secret to Renault's success in
the opening races?
I think we have seen that our project was a little better
prepared than some of our competitors, and we are very proud
to have won the final race of the V10 era, and the opening
races of the V8 period. It has been interesting to compare
our performance, because we have learned that pure performance
on a single lap is not necessarily our strongest suit at the
moment. In qualifying conditions, we are very close to a number
of teams. But we seem to have an advantage over a full race
distance.
Where does the advantage come from?
We have designed the car and engine to win races – not
just to get pole positions. From an engine point of view,
that may mean we are able to run higher revs for longer, but
overall, we have a car that gives the drivers the confidence
to attack from the first lap to the last. We know that it
is hard to gain a significant advantage in single lap performance
under these regulations. On the other hand, the ability to
run the car in a competitive configuration from the first
laps to the last can be decisive.
The RS26B arrives in Imola. What are the differences?
It is a normal evolutionary step early in the development
cycle: we have looked to gain performance by increasing the
peak revs, and improving areas like cylinder filling and combustion.
In qualifying trim, we expect a gain of several tenths of
a second and the final dyno tests before the Grand Prix will
allow us to determine exactly how much additional performance
is available during the race.
Will both drivers use the engine at Imola?
No, it will only be available for Giancarlo to use. His retirement
in Bahrain put him ‘out of cycle' relative to our development
schedule, and we had to take a decision on whether to accelerate
the introduction of the B spec, which had been planned for
race 5. We decided it was important to do so, and have pushed
our processes to make it happen. However, this early debut
may lead us to use to conserve some of the engine's potential
performance during the race in order to not compromise reliability.
Fernando will receive the B spec engine at the Nürburgring,
as per our original schedule.
San Marino Tech File
The Imola circuit that hosts the San Marino Grand Prix, presents
the teams with unique challenges in order to maximise their
performance over the race weekend. There are few quick corners,
many short straights, a relatively smooth track surface and,
of course, the famous kerbs that are an integral part of the
racing line. Here's how the R26 will be prepared to cope with
the challenge.
Chassis
Suspension: Imola is famous for its kerbs,
and particularly the challenges of the Variante Alta and Variante
Bassa chicanes. We must find the right compromise between
the optimum soft suspension settings for riding the kerbs,
and the stiffer set-up we naturally want to ensure the car
has a good change of direction in these chicanes. Some bodywork
elements such as the diffuser and front wing, can be damaged
by running over the kerbs, and we have to carefully monitor
their condition throughout the weekend.
Aerodynamics: We use relatively high levels
of downforce, in order to give the drivers as much confidence
as possible in the car. The short straights mean overtaking
is difficult, so a top speed deficit is not a significant
penalty if we decide to add more downforce.
Tyres: The circuit includes numerous phases
of hard acceleration from low speed, which means traction
is at a premium and we need to monitor carefully rear tyre
wear. However, Imola is not a particularly abrasive circuit,
meaning the levels of degradation are generally lower than
those encountered at many other circuits.
Reliability: The violent use of the kerbs
around the lap puts the cars under particular strain, and
Imola often sees a high retirement rate. As well as the vibrations
generated by using the kerbs so aggressively, the transmission
experiences significant ‘shock loads' when the cars
land with their wheels spinning, which can often lead to failures.
Engine
Performance: The engine is put under particular
strain at Imola. We need good torque to launch out of the
slow corners, and the hard acceleration phases mean that the
engine's outright power is an important factor. 73% of the
lap is spent at full throttle, which is among the highest
values of the season. However, the longest period spent at
full throttle is relatively short, which relieves the pressure
on moving parts such as pistons; counter-balancing this, though,
is the fact that the generally cool temperatures equate to
high air density, meaning the engine develops more power and
is under greater strain.
Revs: The average engine speed at this circuit
is relatively high, but the main danger for the engine comes
from potentially over-revving when the car is launched over
the kerbs and the driven wheels lose contact with the ground.
We need to manage the risk of over-revving as well as possible,
by judicious use of the rev limiter, without sacrificing performance
over a flying lap. However, in race conditions, excessive
use of the limiter can generate potentially harmful vibrations
for the engine, so we may ask the driver to modify his shift
points or adjust his line to adapt to this constraint.
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