Turkish GP 2006: (Bank Holiday) Monday Morning Debrief
The August Bank Holiday in the UK means the Monday Debrief
is arriving on Tuesday… but there's still plenty to
say!
Fernando-Michael, Part 4
Sunday afternoon's mano a mano duel between Fernando Alonso
and Michael Schumacher was Chapter Four in a story that is
being writ large across the 2006 season. Ever since 2003,
when Fernando put two wheels on the grass on the 300 kph run
to Silverstone's Stowe Corner to try and pass Michael, the
two men have raced with great respect – and iron determination.
Imola 2005 was the first time they truly battled on track,
and this season we have been treated to three fantastic demonstrations
of intense, error-free motor racing.
Up until Turkey, the score was one-one: Fernando had prevailed
in Bahrain going wheel to wheel into turn 1, whereas Michael
had bluffed his way to victory in Imola. As the number 5 Ferrari
emerged from the Istanbul pit-lane for the final time, and
the blue and yellow Renault swept past, everybody was primed
for something special. Fernando's race engineer Rod Nelson
takes up the story...
"Fernando knew that the only passing opportunities were
on the back of the circuit after turn 8, and he was saving
his high revs for the two straights between turns 8 and 12
– literally turning the engine up and back down around
the lap. His engine engineer (Remi Taffin) and I were discussing
what revs he had available to use, when we saw he was managing
the situation already. It was typical Fernando – always
thinking ahead, working his way around problems and delivering
the goods. He was calm in the car – but I was pretty
stressed on the pit-wall!"
For his part, Remi simply gave his usual, calm smile. "What
can you say? It was an ‘Alonsoesque' performance…"
So what was the championship analysis of the men closest
to the defending champion? Rod again: "Well, when we
arrived in Turkey, Michael needed to get two points more than
us at each race to win. Now he needs three points a race.
So we're 50% better off!" One got the impression, leaving
Istanbul, that we might have seen a decisive moment in this
world championship battle.
Testing Times…
So it's back to testing this week for all the teams in Formula
1 – and nowhere will it be more welcome than at Renault.
The three races since the testing ban came into force have
seen the engineers coming to terms with running the car without
the mass damper system, but Monza will mark the first chance
to full re-optimise the R26 away from the race track.
Not only that, but this is starting to look like one of the
key test sessions of 2006. The Renault drivers will be evaluating
the D spec engine developments that are scheduled to make
their debut with Fernando in the Monza race, while also getting
to grips with the low downforce Monza aero package.
And of course, Michelin are continuing to push 100% in their
bid to take a second consecutive world championship with their
partners at Renault. "We have got a very intensive week
of testing coming up with our partner teams," explained
Michelin's F1 Director Nick Shorrock. "We have been working
flat out since the start of the year, but over the last races
we have looked at the whole picture again – and come
up with plenty of new answers. We are testing compounds, lots
of constructions and looking at how our partner teams exploit
the tyres. Along with Renault, we have done our maximum with
Renault so far this year – and now we need to get to
the finish line in first position."
The Renault F1 Team will test for three days this
week at Monza on the following timetable:
Tuesday, Fisichella/Kovalainen
Wednesday, Alonso/Fisichella
Thursday, Alonso/Kovalainen
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