Fernando Alonso: «We need to get the balance of performance and durability»

Fernando, tell us a little about your view of Hockenheim…Obviously it is now very different to how it used to be, and not quite the high speed circuit it was. But even so, we use quite a big part of the old track and there are some long straights, so it is still pretty fast. The other good thing is that it is one of the circuits in the championship where it is easier to overtake, because we have some long straights leading into slow corners that mean we can have a good fight. The set up is not easy to find, because you have to get a compromise between good top speed in the quick sections, and grip and high downforce levels in the slower parts.

Temperatures are often very high – what challenges can that bring?The race is held in the middle of July, which means that conditions are very hot, particularly on the asphalt. In the last two years, we had some problems with the rear tyres because of high temperatures and the traction demands in the corners, so it is something we need to analyse very carefully with Michelin to get the right balance between performance and durability. But the test team were working in Jerez last week in hot conditions, and they have done a fantastic job so far this year. I am sure we can be very competitive, just like we were earlier in the year in the hot races at Bahrain and Malaysia.

So what are your hopes for the race?Like every weekend, we will be aiming to finish with our cars on the podium – more than that is difficult to predict at this stage, until we have started running and seen how the balance of the car is. But my last two races were very strong, and I think that again in Hockenheim, the R25 will be very competitive. We have some new developments which will bring us a little more performance, and I think the characteristics of the circuit will suit us. Against that, McLaren will be very motivated to succeed at one of their home races, so we know it will be a big fight. We just need to do the maximum possible – from the start of Friday practice to end of the race; stay consistent; and take the biggest number of points that we can.

Giancarlo Fisichella: «I will have the chance to win more races this year»

Giancarlo, what are the main demands of the Hockenheim circuit?It is a very tough circuit for the tyres – you need a lot of traction out of the slow corners, and with the high temperatures, it puts a lot of load on the tyres. Also, we run with much more downforce than on the old circuit, and the grip levels on the new asphalt are higher, so it is very important to make the right tyre choice to keep good performance all the way through the race.

Monaco was also a circuit with high traction demands – and you had problems looking after the tyres there. Could that happen again?I don't think so, no. We understood what happened in Monaco and found the reasons for it, in areas like weight distribution and the traction control. Since then, we have raced in Canada where you also need very good traction, and we had no problems at all with how we used our tyres – in fact, we were the quickest cars that weekend. So I am confident the problems won't happen again.

Some sections of the media have suggested that you are not being treated equally with Fernando in the team – how do you respond to that?It is really frustrating for me to hear that, and for the whole team as well. I don't understand how people can think that when you are trying to win the Constructors' Championship, you would favour one car over another? People outside the team do not see what happens inside, how hard we all work together to improve the car, how we do 700km each day at the tests, the meetings at the factory, and the effort of all the designers, engineers, mechanics to score as many points as possible. I know they are supporting me 100% and we work as a team. In the end, that is what matters.

Looking ahead through the middle of the summer, what are your expectations for the team's performance?I think it looks very promising for us – we had a new engine spec in Silverstone, that we will be improving through the summer, and there are new developments on the car at every race, with parts coming for Germany as well. McLaren made a good step forward earlier in the season, but I think it is very close between us both now – maybe they are quicker, but not by much. Certainly we have a very good chance to fight for the win at every race we go to, so that will be my aim, to score a lot of points for the team, to keep Renault ahead in the Constructors' Championship. And, of course, to win some more races! I am certain I will have the chance to do that before the end of the year.

Bob Bell, Chassis Technical Director

Bob, we have passed the halfway mark of the season with the team leading both championships. What will the key to the second half?Consistency. Quite simply, finishing with both cars in the points is the bare minimum; but in reality, we have to get both cars on the podium. We need to keep Fernando winning races, and aim to do the same for Fisico – and if he can't, get him home in the top three. Certainly, we cannot expect McLaren to continue their recent unreliability, so it is imperative that we do not drop points at any race. Two cars on the podium must be our target every time out.

Speculation continues to surround how the team operates with its two drivers – what do you say to suggestions that Renault is favouring Fernando over Giancarlo?The answer is very clear: we do not give different equipment or treatment to our drivers. It is not in our interests to do so, and quite simply, we don't do it. Of course, at this stage in the year, we want to do everything we can to protect Fernando's position in the drivers' championship. But for the team – the 750 people working in Enstone and Viry – the constructors' championship is the more important of the two titles, both in terms of motivation but also the financial benefits it brings for the team. It is very important to win it, and to do so, you need two cars finishing well; it makes no sense to favour one driver over another. However, I am sure the fight in the constructors' title will go down to the last race – it is going to be very close.

Giancarlo has encountered some problems at pit-stops in recent races: how are you working to solve them?In the event of a problem, we always assume that we can improve the job we are doing, or the tool we have given our drivers, in order to ensure that an incident does not recur. We work to address every potential source of difficulty – be that training the driver better, or improving our systems to make them more robust. Fernando has come very close to having similar problems to Giancarlo in race conditions, and we have encountered the issue on other occasions, so we worked during testing last week to make the car and engine easier for the drivers to use reliably in these ‘critical' phases.

We are entering the summer test ban – what impact will it have on development of the R25?The test ban can be a hindrance to development because it limits the items you can safely introduce at race weekends, as they must be low-risk items in terms of reliability. Having said that, by this stage of the year, most of our development work is focused on aero parts rather than major mechanical projects, so we should be able to maintain our gains through the period of the summer break. We will have new wing packages, engine cover updates and new bodywork details throughout the coming races.

Rod Nelson, Chassis race engineer, Car n° 5

While we run much higher levels of downforce than we used to in Hockenheim, this by no means makes it a high downforce circuit. For ideal lap time, we would run medium downforce levels but the requirement to achieve competitive top speeds on the long straight and to be able to overtake or defend a position into Turn 6 means we in fact run medium-low downforce – similar to Canada levels. This slightly ‘compromised' set-up is reminiscent of Indianapolis, which also forces us towards a set-up favouring straight-line speed over grip through the tighter sections.

Mechanically, we are able to run the cars quite soft as there are no significant high speed changes of direction on the circuit. Front to rear, we run a forward mechanical bias ie: a stiffer front end, in order to get good traction out of the slow and medium speed corners and keep the rear stable under braking. Indeed, with the braking zone into turn 6 being the main passing opportunity, braking stability is something we work hard to get right. The track surface is generally quite smooth, and ride heights are only limited by the amount the car touches the ground into turn 6 at maximum speed.

Temperatures are usually very high which can potentially give a number of problems. Firstly, with the heavy traction demands it is very easy to blister the rear tyres as track temperatures are always high; and secondly, we must manage our cooling level carefully to avoid overheating, either running alone or in traffic. However, with the R25 this is unlikely to be a problem as it possesses particularly effective cooling.

The stadium section also gives both the drivers and engineers plenty to think about. With relatively low downforce levels, the drivers constantly complain of poor grip throughout the sessions, although the banking in T13 certainly helps this. T12, on the entry to the stadium, is probably one of the trickiest corners in Formula 1 – the circuit narrows significantly between entrance and exit, and the drivers always run quite wide to use the traction available on an uncovered access road that runs across the circuit. We often see cars in the grass or even gravel at this point of the circuit, and it is relatively easy to damage the car. Equally, the high number of corners in a short section of the circuit means brake, oil, water and gearbox temperatures can climb quite high.

Fabrice Lom, Engine race engineer, Car n° 6

Even in its revised configuration, Hockenheim is a serious test for a Formula 1 engine. Although it no longer features the long straights of years past, it is, on average, the most demanding of the season so far for the V10: the average engine speed around the lap is high, 62% of the lap is spent at full throttle and the single longest period spent at full throttle is exceeded only by Indianapolis.

These characteristics obviously demand a strong, powerful engine – but the nature of the circuit layout also imposes the additional requirement of having an engine that pulls well from very low revs, as the hairpins are some of the slowest corners of the entire season. Good torque is also an advantage under acceleration out of these slow and medium speed corners.

Conditions are often very hot in Hockenheim, and the result of high temperatures is a phenomenon known as ‘engine acoustic offset'. This means that the engine develops its peak power at higher revs, and obliges us to use as many revs as possible in order to achieve optimum performance – a difficult exercise in reliability terms on such a demanding circuit. However, this is where our new C spec engine – with its ability to maintain peak revs for longer in race conditions – will play to our advantage.

Of course, the engines will be the same units as used in Silverstone and, in spite of a hard race, both ran impeccably in the UK and are in good condition for the coming race. They can expect a hard weekend, but some respite may come in the closing stages of the Grand Prix – the race pace often drops in the final laps owing the circuit's severe demands on the tyres, and in fact the average race engine speed at Hockenheim is only the fifth highest of the season (compared to the second highest in qualifying trim).