The ING Renault F1 Team previews round five of the 2007 Formula 1 World Championship.

You personally had a tough race in Spain, but we also saw suggestions that the team's overall level of performance had improved. Do you think that can be sustained in Monaco?My race in Barcelona was a tough one, because of the refuelling problems, but I think our level of performance during the weekend was better. Hopefully, we can carry on moving in the same direction. We are not on the pace of the leaders yet, and we are honest about it, but we are moving forward, and that's important for the motivation and for the team. We are determined to bounce back, and everybody is working flat out to make sure that happens as soon as possible. Monaco is the next challenge for us, and we will be aiming to give our best.

You have always been reputed as something of a Monaco specialist. Can you explain why? I can't really put it into words. I like the circuit a lot, I usually have a good feeling straight away, and it is one of the unmissable events in motor racing. The races are full of incidents in Monaco: you have to be ready to take every opportunity, and push all the way while staying at maximum concentration to avoid making mistakes. It's a pretty fun challenge to be honest, and I can't wait to get out on the track on Thursday.

Monaco is the most glamorous race of the year. Does that make it extra-special to drive in? There is a really special atmosphere in Monte-Carlo, for sure. The paddock is in the middle of the city, plus the circuit is fun for the drivers and the engineers because it's so different to a normal track… You feel much closer to the people and, at the same time, you can sense this is a place full of history, one of the legendary places in motor sport. It is a Grand Prix unlike any other, and that makes it really interesting.

Heikki Kovalainen: "Looking forward to a fantastic challenge"

Heikki, you raced in Monaco in GP2. Are you looking forward to racing on the streets in an F1 car? I can't wait! This is one of the most interesting races of the whole year because the circuit is so unusual. On a street circuit, you simply cannot afford to make mistakes. If you brake a bit too late, you are in the wall, and that's game over. You have to concentrate for every instant. I have good memories of my GP2 race in Monaco, when I set pole, led most of the race and, in spite of pit-stop problems, I finished fifth. I am really looking forward to seeing what the circuit is like to drive in an F1 car!

It is a very narrow circuit. Do you feel that at the wheel? To be honest, I think it is tighter and even more narrow than what you see on television! The corners are tighter, the walls are always too close… It is almost impossible to pass unless you are much faster – or your competitor makes a mistake. You are so close to the buildings that the sound is bouncing off them, and that means you hear your engine much louder – and the engines of the cars around you… it's a really strange feeling in the opening laps! Monaco is a spectacular Grand Prix, and it will be an interesting race.  What are the main factors to take into account when you are setting up the car?Downforce is important, and I think everybody will race with their maximum levels. But in my opinion the crucial things are mechanical grip and the suspension, because they are what help you be quick through the slow corners. You also need to have good braking stability, because the driver needs to feel confident to be able to attack the big braking zones. Those are the areas we will concentrate on in practice on Thursday.

Bob Bell: "A racing heart at Renault"

Bob, the team appeared to make a small step forward in competitiveness in Barcelona, although that was masked by problems during the race. Is that a fair assessment?BB: Yes, I think so. We certainly saw a small improvement during the weekend in Barcelona. Our new suspension and aerodynamic developments were clearly working well, and the drivers both felt more confident with the car than they had done at recent races. They were ultimately hindered by the refuelling problems we experienced, but I think it is fair to say that we managed to unlock a little more of the potential that we know is in the car. We hope to see the trend continue again this weekend in Monaco.

Results during the first races of the season have clearly not met expectations, yet there doesn't seem to be any panic at ING Renault F1 Team. Why is that? BB: I think it comes down to honesty and discipline. We have completed a lot of detailed, targeted analysis to understand our problems. That has been an extensive programme, but it is well mapped-out, and we are making good progress. In difficult times, you have to go about you work in a logical manner, and adopt a very disciplined approach. When you have a nasty surprise with car performance, it is very easy to head off in many directions at once without a clear strategy. In contrast, we have taken our time and resisted the temptation to react in a knee-jerk manner. It is beginning to bear fruit.

That must make you proud of the team that you are leading… BB: It certainly does. We have a racing heart at Renault, and even though we are not fighting at the front right now, the competitiveness and hunger of the team are constants. When we were leading during the last two years, we never coasted, never let up and never thought things were easy. This year demands even more of those same characteristics: we are fighting hard to understand the problems, and working to unlock the potential we know is in the car. The circumstances may be different, but there is the same deep drive pushing us forward.

Does the team have the resources to cope with the problem-solving, as well as continuing development of the car? BB: Absolutely. It is no secret that we achieve very good results with sensible budgets at Renault F1 Team, and that is a genuine source of pride. But we are lacking nothing in our efforts to rebound. Development is on-going, our problem-solving is progressing well, and as at this time every year, work is beginning on 2008. Does that mean we are giving up on 2007? Certainly not. But it also shows that we are staying disciplined, and determined not to let our current situation affect work on next year's car.

How do you expect the car to perform in Monaco? BB: It is often said that Monaco is a lottery. While it is true to say the circuit is unlike any other we race on, it is nevertheless easy to underestimate how important a role the car plays. There is no magic wand in Monte-Carlo: a bad car doesn't suddenly become a good one. You need plenty of downforce but, more than anything, the drivers need to be able to trust the car. At the moment, the R27 is not the easiest car to take to the limit with confidence, so that may make life more difficult for Giancarlo and Heikki. As always, we will be going to the next race with our heads held high – and determined to take everything we can from the weekend.

Monaco Tech File

Monaco may be the most unusual, most unique race on the Formula 1 calendar, but for the engineers the challenge remains the same: fine-tuning their car to achieve maximum performance around the circuit. Monaco is the most unforgiving circuit on the calendar, and getting the most out of the R27 around the twisty streets will require some rather unusual measures…

Chassis

Ride heights: The roads in the Principality may feel billiard-smooth at the wheel of a road car, but they are the equivalent of cobbles for the rock-hard suspension of a Formula 1 car. The public roads are not only bumpy, but sharply cambered and very slippery – especially on the traffic markings that are dotted around the circuit. The track surface is particularly low grip in the early part of the weekend, and it continues rubbering-in until the final lap of the Grand Prix on Sunday. To cope with the variations in track surface, ride heights are raised between 5 and 7mm relative to the norm.

Suspension: In order to maximise the car's grip, we use softer suspension settings than normal. They help the car to ride the bumps and changes of camber. The surface also means that the wheels must be able to move independently to cope with the bumps, and we soften the anti-roll bars to achieve this. Special attention is paid to suspension camber angles too. We run fairly high negative camber, but not so much as to make the car unstable at the rear in the bumpy, high-speed braking zones. The key objective is to give the driver a neutral, driveable car that he can have confidence in around the circuit.

Aerodynamics: Monaco demands the highest downforce levels of the season. Contrary to popular belief, the primary benefit does not come in the corners, as many of them are taken at such low speeds that mechanical grip is of greater importance. Rather, the gains from high downforce come under braking and acceleration, keeping the car stable into the corners – and ensuring optimum traction on the exit.

Steering angle: The famous hairpin at the Grand Hotel is the tightest of the year – along with the sharp turn at Rascasse. This demands the highest steering angle of the season, some two times greater than anything required in Barcelona. Traction control and the differential are tuned to help the car turn on the throttle, while special notches are usually cut in the top wishbones to ensure the necessary steering lock can be applied.

Tyres: The two types of Bridgestone Potenza tyre used during the weekend will be the ‘soft' and ‘super-soft' compounds. While the ‘soft' compound was used as the softer tyre during the Australian GP weekend, it will be the harder compound during this weekend's race. The ‘super-soft' has not yet been raced, but was tested extensively at Paul Ricard HTTT last week with good results. The same two tyre types will also be used at the next race in Montreal.

Engine

Performance: Superficially, Monaco may seem the least demanding circuit of the year, with just 46.6% of the lap spent at full throttle. Appearances, though, do not reflect reality. The bumpy surface means the engine can easily over-rev if the wheels leave contact with the ground – and special attention will be paid to tuning the control systems to stay within the 19,000 rpm limit. A driveable engine and good torque from very low revs are extremely important, and both are strengths of the RS27.

Gearbox: Closely-spaced gear ratios are used at this circuit in order to optimise acceleration, and get the most from the engine at slow speeds. The gearbox will have to cope with 53 gearchanges per lap – a total of nearly 4150 per lap.

Cooling: With the engine running at full throttle for so little of the time, you might think cooling is not a problem – but you'd be wrong. The engine is only cooled by the car's movement through the air, and the absence of long straights coupled with the slow average lap speed makes cooling tricky. This is exacerbated by the fact that the short gear ratios mean the engine is often running at high revs. Bodywork is therefore sometimes opened up to ensure the engine stays within its operating temperature limits.

Over at Red Bull Racing… with Fabrice Lom, Principal Engineer, Red Bull Racing Trackside Engine Support

Before each Grand Prix, we will bring you an update of progress at Red Bull Racing, to whom Renault supplies identical specification RS27 V8 engines to those used by the works team. Since 1983 when Renault began its tradition of equitable F1 engine supply, customer Renault engines have won a total of 80 Grands Prix.

Fabrice, what is your assessment of the start to the season made by Renault's partner team Red Bull Racing? I am feeling very optimistic about our partnership. I think it has been an intense start to the season for all the team: everything is brand new, and needs to be put into place. That has required Herculean efforts from the team, but the start to the season has been positive, and our results are encouraging. We know we have a promising package, and even though there are still areas that need working on, we can see we are making progress all the time – and we believe the package has real potential.

You are preparing for the most unusual race on the entire calendar: Monaco. What demands does this place on the engine? Monaco isn't generally known as an engine circuit, but there are still some important factors to take into account when tuning the V8's behaviour. It must be as smooth as possible; there are a lot of bumps, which means a real risk of over-revving, so everything must be set up to ensure gearchanges happen at the right time. Prior to 2007, our worry was about not exceeding the physical capabilities of the engine with too many revs; this year, we will be adapting to the slightly different challenge of ensuring we do not exceed the rev limit of 19,000 rpm.

You prepared for the race at Paul Ricard last week… Yes. The team's main focus was on chassis testing. On the engine side, we were paying attention to the engine's behaviour with very closely-spaced gear ratios, particularly in second and third gears; to the driver's feeling about the engine characteristics; and to cooling, which is a factor that can never be neglected in the Principality.

Magic Moments: 30 Years of Renault in F1

The calendar's most glamorous race was traditionally a disappointing rendez-vous for Renault-powered teams, but that all changed in the last three years…

Renault at the Monaco Grand Prix

Renault may have traditionally enjoyed great success at its home race in France, but silverware was never quite so forthcoming in the Principality nestled on the Côte d'Azur. The team did not compete in the race in 1977, but thereafter, it took until 1983 for Renault to score its first Monégasque podium – and even then it was tinged with disappointment, as third-place finisher Alain Prost had started from pole. In doing so, he emulated the feat of former team-mate René Arnoux the previous year. But after qualifying P1 in 1982, René failed to finish, spinning out of the lead on lap 14.

1985 saw another podium finish for Renault power, this time for Elio de Angelis in his Lotus. But it was his team-mate who, in just his second F1 visit to the Principality, had confirmed the beginning of an enduring love affair. Ayrton Senna made a sensational debut in his Toleman in 1984, finishing second in the rain-blighted Grand Prix. In 1985, with Renault turbo power behind him, the Brazilian qualified on pole – and was leading comfortably when, on lap 13, an engine failure halted him.

Four more pole positions followed during the V10 era, for Mansell in 1992, Prost in 1993, Hill in 1995 and Frentzen in 1997. However, none of these pole-sitters ever won the great race for Renault. Mansell came close in 1992, but a late-race pit-stop meant he shadowed Ayrton Senna to the chequered flag, clambering all over the McLaren but unable to pass. In 1993, Prost – ten years after previously qualifying on pole for Renault – could only race to fourth place: he may have won the race four times, but each victory came at the wheel of a McLaren. Hill's 1995 pole was converted into second-place, while second-place starter Michael Schumacher took the win – the first victory for Renault power in the Principality, and part of a Renault 1-3-4 (with Hill and Herbert). In 1997, Michael Schumacher's Ferrari was imperious in atrocious conditions, while Frentzen retired after 39 laps.

Victory for a 100% Renault works team took until 2004 – but when it came, it did so in style. Jarno Trulli headed a 1-3 qualifying effort, putting his R24 on pole by a colossal 0.4s (the same margin that separated P2 to P6 on the grid), and then made the most of the car's handling on the tight streets to take his only career win to date. Tyre wear problems hobbled the Renaults in 2005, but twelve months ago, Fernando Alonso took his first Monaco win at the wheel of the R26 – winning from pole position, after Michael Schumacher's qualifying times were removed. In total, Renault power has scored nine poles in the Principality and taken eleven podiums, of which just three were victories.

On this day in history… 24 May

Ten years ago at the Circuit de Catalunya, Renault power locked out the front row at the 1997 Spanish Grand Prix, with Jacques Villeneuve out-qualifying team-mate Heinz-Harald Frentzen in their Williams-Renaults. It was pole number 128 for a Renault engine.

On this day in history... 25 May

The next day, Renault power took a double podium finish – but this time, with a mix of Williams and Benetton drivers. Jacques Villeneuve took the seventh of his eleven Grand Prix victories, while Jean Alesi's podium was number 27 in a career total of 32. The win was number 90 for a Renault engine.

On this day in history… 27 May

On this day in 1995, Renault power locked out the Monaco front row, with Damon Hill's Williams qualifying ahead of Schumacher's Benetton. This was pole 6 of 20 for Hill, and the 99th for a Renault engine. Last year, Fernando Alonso claimed pole for Renault – pole number 151 for a Renault engine.