The ING Renault F1 Team previews round eight of the 2007 Formula 1 World Championship.
Giancarlo, two great races in North America – but no more points on your championship tally. What were your feelings as you headed back to Rome after Indy? Mixed feelings to be honest. As soon as I started running in Canada, I knew that we had taken a good step forward with the car. We were quick, consistent and I thought that in the race we could fight with Ferrari and BMW – and that was how it turned out. Then in Indy, the car was good again. Maybe the feeling was not quite as positive, but we had a good strategy, and got into the top ten quite easily in qualifying. Then I had a spin, and that meant zero points. I felt really sorry for the team after that, but we have to look at the positives. The car is getting better all the time, and that's thanks to the hard work of everybody at the track and the factory.
You had a spectacular race in Indy, climbing back through the field… Yeah, it was good fun. But I'd rather have a lonely race and score points, than all that overtaking and finish P9! It just showed that the car was working really well. I had 36 laps of fuel in the car for qualifying, and even with that fuel load, I was overtaking guys off-line through the infield as I came through the pack. So we had a good strategy, and good potential. It was fun passing those cars, but ultimately, I lost too much time doing so and that meant I couldn't fight for the points.
Giancarlo, this will be your third French GP as a Renault driver. A special feeling? Without a doubt. I have had the best years of my career so far with Renault, so it is going to be a great feeling to be representing the team again at Magny-Cours. The motivation in the team goes up a notch for this race, especially for the engine team who are racing in front of their friends and family. Does it make us try harder? Of course not. But it makes a good result extra special. We will doing our maximum to achieve that on Sunday.
You mention the Renault personnel who will be in the crowd. Do you get a chance to meet them over the weekend?We will be doing some promotional activities in Paris before the race. Heikki, Nelson and myself will be visiting the Technocentre in Guyancourt on Wednesday, to meet the personnel there. They do a great job supporting the F1 team, both in terms of the human support and motivation from all our fans at Renault and also some important technical work behind the scenes. This will be our chance to thank them all and we're looking forward to it.
Looking at the Magny-Cours circuit, how tough a challenge is it? I think it's quite a selective circuit, because the car needs to be strong in every area to be quick. There are some very high speed corners, sharp changes of direction, and some heavy braking and traction areas. That makes it a hard circuit for the tyres too. Temperatures are generally very high, and the tyres quite soft, so you have to find a good set-up to make them last well through the stint, especially the softer compound we will be running this weekend. Exiting the slow corners is tough on the rear tyres as well, while the fast corners give the fronts a hard time. So you need a consistent balance to avoid taking too much out of the tyres.
And in terms of results, what are you expecting? Firstly, to score more points, that's a priority. After that, we have to race with BMW and try to beat them. They are the team we are fighting in the championship, and we have to try and out-score them in each race from now on. It's not going to be easy, but we know that our car is improving all the time, we are making steps forward, and the motivation is there to do the job. I can't wait to get out on track and start working.
Heikki Kovalainen: "Looking to maintain the momentum"
Heikki, two strong races in North America and a positive test in Silverstone last week… Things seem to be coming together for you at the moment?I think I have some good momentum going at the moment – and I want to maintain that in France this weekend. Montreal was my best result so far in F1, and Indianapolis was my best race: a strong weekend, no mistakes, no problems, five laps led and a good level of performance from me and from the car. I am still improving every time I drive, learning and putting it into practice. And as we develop the car, that is showing in my race results.
Tell us a little about the R27. What has changed since the start of the season? We had a car that was difficult to drive. It was mainly inconsistency – one lap, you would go into a corner and it would be fine; next lap, a tiny change could mean you missed the corner completely. That meant it was hard to perform consistently. Since then, the team has done a great job improving the car, finding the problems and fixing them. We are going in the right direction and getting there, step by step. We have better consistency, more downforce, and that gives the drivers more confidence. The result? Improved performances.
Have your strong races in North America given you more confidence in the car? For me, nothing has changed. I came into F1 with confidence in my ability. I always push to the limit, always attack and try to be aggressive. Sometimes this year, I have overstepped the mark. But I never lose confidence, never let my head go down. I always believed that things would come together for me, and I was positive even in the difficult moments. I think that the results in North America have changed the perceptions around me, not my confidence in myself. My job is to focus on the essentials, block out the rest – and drive to my full potential.
Last year, your work was mainly with the test team. This year, you have obviously been working primarily with the race team. How is the relationship there? Great – just like it was last year. I have been around the team since 2002, when I joined the RDD (Renault Driver Development) programme, and I knew a lot of the guys already before the season. But I have been so impressed with the team and their approach this year. They are all world champions but even when we have qualified 13th, or had reliability problems, their commitment has been 100%. I still remember qualifying in Canada, when the guys repaired my damaged car in about 5 minutes to get me back out on track. It was an incredible effort, and it says so much about why this team are double world champions.
What about Magny-Cours? Can you repeat the results from North America in France?Hopefully! It's no secret that France is a really important race for Renault, and racing in front of all the people from the factory at Viry, and the other Renault factories, makes the atmosphere very special for us. When I last raced in Magny-Cours in GP2, I had one win and one podium, and it's a circuit I enjoy: there are some quick corners, and some good high-speed chicanes that you need to attack to get a good lap-time. I think we made another step with the car last week at Silverstone, so I am looking forward to getting out there on Friday, and seeing how things stack up. We got the maximum out of our package in Indy. We have to do the same again this weekend.
Pat Symonds: "The tide is turning"
Pat, the team came away from North America having scored an equal number of points to rivals BMW. That's a positive for you, surely? Well, the first thing to say is that the results don't quite tell the full story, because some odd things happened to both teams, in both races. But in overall terms, yes, I think it's indicative of the fact that the tide is turning, we are very close to BMW now and racing them hard.
The car certainly seemed much more competitive in Canada and Indy… I think it's since Monaco to be honest. Without a doubt, we have upped our game and pulled out of the midfield bunch we were in, to stand on top of it. And there's still more to come.
The other key factor was seeing improved performances from Heikki… What a contrast from the start of his weekend in Canada, to the end of the race in Indy! After Friday and Saturday in Montreal, not much more could go wrong. But he then put in a great drive in Canada: he pulled up from the back, he was consistent, he pushed and challenged all the way. Then we got to Indy and he was strong all weekend, mentally and in terms of his driving. He used the equipment to the utmost, and even led the race, which we hadn't anticipated!
Giancarlo was less fortunate, and saw two potentially strong finishes go by the wayside… Sometimes, it is very hard to be critical of the drivers. For all of us, our job is all about taking things to the limit. If you do that, occasionally you will overstep it. As engineers, our mistakes are not very public; as a driver, it absolutely is. Giancarlo made a mistake in America, and it was a great shame because he was on a very strong strategy. But after that spin, what a drive! He showed all of his good qualities, driving very quickly, consistently and with a good dose of aggression too.
Since the start of the season, you have spoken in detail about how the team has been solving its performance problems. How is that work progressing? The first thing to say, and it's an important point, is that the work is progressing. Of course, it is never fast enough - we all want to be leading championships and winning every race, and you're never happy until you are doing so! But we take a lot of comfort from the fact that after a poor start to the year, we are pulling it back so rapidly. Other teams are not having a great season, and not pulling it back as we are. There is plenty to be proud of in what we are doing.
Have the new testing restrictions for 2007 affected the way you have tackled the problems? I don't think so, no. Our work has largely been focused on the aerodynamics of the car, in the wind tunnel. There has been some track work too, but the mileage restrictions haven't limited us at all. We wholeheartedly support the testing limit because it's simply so expensive to run these cars in testing, something like 200 euros per km.
Looking ahead to the French Grand Prix, how will the circuit suit the R27? Magny-Cours is known as a very smooth circuit – although the new final chicane now gives the cars a severe pounding. It's quite an aerodynamic circuit, with some good fast chicanes which need a responsive car. The challenge is very different to that of the low-medium downforce tracks in Canada and the USA. If you look back to circuits like Barcelona, we were struggling there at the time, but since then some very positive steps forward have been made. So I certainly believe our performance will be better, but we are still working on the car, still trying things, and hoping for a good race in France.
Finally, what do you expect the second half of the season to hold for Renault? There's plenty of activity at the factory, that's for sure. As we better understand the problems we have been suffering from, we are able to improve the car. There will be enhancements for France and Britain. And that's in addition to continue the push with our normal development processes. There are a lot of new bits coming for the car, and you can be certain that we will keep on fighting.
Magny-Cours Tech File
Renault's home race also marks the return to Europe of the F1 circus after the traditional mid-season North American leg of the championship. The circuit in Magny-Cours includes an interesting variety of challenges for drivers and cars alike: three high-speed corners at the start of the lap; a very slow hairpin at Adelaide; two enjoyable high-speed chicanes; and more changes of gradient than the flattening eye of television shows. As always, finding the right set-up will be about finding the right compromise to achieve the R27's optimum performance at every point of the circuit.
Downforce: Magny-Cours demands a much higher level of downforce than we used at the recent North American races. While both of these circuits required a similar low-medium set-up, Magny-Cours – and indeed Silverstone – demand a medium-high configuration, to ensure the cars are competitive through the high-speed corners such as turn 3, and the chicanes at turns 6/7 and 11/12. While it is tempting to reduce wing levels in order to gain straightline speed to try overtaking into the Adelaide hairpin, this is rarely a feasible solution: the back straight is preceded by the high-speed turn three, and while reduced downforce would allow greater top speed, it would have a detrimental effect through this corner, costing speed and also making it more difficult to follow a competitor closely. It is something of a Catch-22 situation, and we consequently prefer to maintain our high downforce set-up to achieve the optimum lap-time.
Suspension: Magny-Cours is renowned as an exceptionally smooth circuit, which allows the teams to run lower ride heights and stiffer suspension settings to improve aerodynamic performance. This also has the added benefit of making the car more responsive in the high-speed changes of direction required through the two quick chicanes. As ever, though, a good compromise must be found because the circuit also includes a number of very slow corners, where softer settings would offer better grip, and the correct balance must be struck between performance in the high and low-speed corners.
Tyres: Magny-Cours is a circuit that is particularly temperature-sensitive, and something as seemingly insignificant as a few minutes of cloud cover can have a drastic impact on track temperatures – and thus grip levels. Bridgestone will be bringing the ‘soft' and ‘medium' tyre compounds from the 2007 range to this race, and as always, successful management of both tyre types will be key to a successful race strategy.
Transmission: The cars are generally short and closely-geared at Magny-Cours, in order to optimise performance on the exit of the slow corners. The team will pay particular attention to performance from 0 to 250 kph, as this will ensure strong performance through the slower parts of the circuit – which in turn determine top speeds on the straights. The transmission can also come under severe strain from riding the kerbs, which the drivers do on several occasions, and particularly at the end of the lap. In qualifying, it is necessary to use the kerbs to gain lap-time but we may ask the drivers to be more cautious in race conditions, to preserve the reliability of the engine and transmission.
Engine: Magny-Cours is not a particularly severe circuit in terms of engine performance. The V8 will spend around 64% of the lap at full throttle – slightly above the season average, but nevertheless a normal value. A torquey engine is always an asset at this circuit, as it will ensure the car exits strongly from the slow corners; equally, we will look to ensure power delivery is as smooth and linear as possible, so that chassis balance is not disrupted when the drivers are using partial to full throttle in the chicanes, or through turn 3.
Over at Red Bull Racing… with Fabrice Lom, Principal Engineer, Red Bull Racing Trackside Engine Support
Fabrice, what conclusions did you draw after the races in North America? From an engine perspective, we haven't encountered any major problems so far, and that's always a good starting point. To summarise the team's position after seven races, I think we can say that Red Bull Racing is stronger than its direct competitors, Toyota and Williams. What's more, we have improved our reliability since the start of the season, and we didn't come back from North America empty-handed. Of course, there is still work to be done – but we are making good progress.
Heading into Renault's home race at the French Grand Prix, does anything change in your approach? The French Grand Prix is always an important event on the calendar for Renault and we will be determined to put in a strong performance at Magny-Cours. Our approach isn't really any different, we work in the same way but we are certainly even more determined to succeed! And if we get a good result in France, it will mean a lot to the whole team – not just the engine side from Renault.
Coming back to the engine itself, is Magny-Cours a challenging circuit which demands special preparations? No, not really. It is a relatively straightforward circuit, as there are no long straights, few high-speed corners, so very few areas that demand precautions or preparation above and beyond the norm. So our work before the event is no different, but once the cars are running, we will be paying special attention to how the cars ride the kerbs in the last two corners. They take them very aggressively – and when the rear wheels leave the ground, this can lead to over-revving which subsequently damages the engine. That can be a big risk, and one we monitor carefully.
Magic Moments: 30 Years of Renault in F1
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, there were perhaps two golden rules in Formula 1: Ferraris performed well at Monza, and Renaults went well at the French Grand Prix. From 1979 to 1983, Renault won its home race on no fewer than four occasions – including a one-two finish in 1982, and each of the four victories was from pole position. And while those wins came at Dijon and Paul Ricard, the love affair continued in the V10 era at Magny-Cours, with Renault-powered cars scoring spectacular results through the mid-90s. The era of the Renault F1 Team has seen further success, with podiums every year since 2004. In total, Renault power has taken 26 podiums, 13 poles and 10 wins on French soil since 1977. So what will 2007 bring?
Renault at the French Grand Prix
Renault's debut F1 season didn't include the French Grand Prix – the RS01 only took its first steps onto the F1 stage two weeks later, at Silverstone. 1978 might as well not have done, with the car retiring on lap 22 after qualifying in P11. But 1979 was the year when things really took off, with Renault's first ever Formula 1 victory at Dijon-Prenois. Jean-Pierre Jabouille won from pole, and indeed it was a double podium finish with Arnoux in third. But as victories go, it was one of the most anonymous ever, as the titanic battle between Arnoux and Gilles Villeneuve for second monopolised attention. 1980 saw Arnoux on the front row but he could only finish 5th behind winner Alan Jones, but he made amends during the next two seasons, with the Frenchman taking pole and the victory in both 1981 and 1982. In 1982, he was part of Renault's first ever one-two finish ahead of Alain Prost – and in the process, he took the 25th pole position for a Renault car and engine, and victory number 10! 1983 was Prost's year was he mounted his championship challenge, taking pole and the win, and the turbo era saw two more poles - for Tambay in 1984 and Senna in 1986 – and two more podiums, both in 1984 when Tambay's Renault finished second, ahead of Mansell's Renault-powered Lotus.
When Renault returned as a V10 engine supplier in 1989, the race was still being held at Le Castellet – and Riccardo Patrese took P3 in his Williams-Renault. 1990 was a barren year, but the move to Magny-Cours in 1991 kicked off an avalanche of success, and renewed Renault's unique tradition in the French Grand Prix. 1991 saw Riccardo Patrese on pole and Mansell on the top step of the podium; 1992 saw the Williams-Renaults on the front row, and Mansell and Patrese take a one-two finish; 1993 saw a Hill/Prost front row become a Prost/Hill one-two finish; while in 1994, Nigel Mansell's Williams return was rewarded with a P2 starting slot, but he retired with a gearbox failure, as Damon Hill slipped from pole to P2 at the finish. By 1995 and 1996, Renault's dominance was in full swing as supplier to Williams and Renault, and the performances in France reflected as much: a 1-2-3 finish in 1995 for Schumacher/Hill/Coulthard, followed by an historic 1/2/3/4 in 1996 with the Williams of Hill and Villeneuve ahead of the Benettons of Alesi and Berger. And in 1997? P2, P4 and P5 in the race as Michael Schumacher's Ferrari won – the third of the German's eight victories in Magny-Cours.
The Renault F1 Team's debut race at Magny-Cours in 2002 was one of mixed feelings: Jenson Button took a solid P6, while Jarno Trulli retired with engine failure. That trick was repeated on a larger scale in 2003, when both Trulli and Alonso blew their engines, but things turned around in 2004. Fernando Alonso took a stunning pole position, and raced hard to P2, beaten only by a remarkable four-stop strategy from Ferrari and Michael Schumacher. The following year saw the Spaniard make amends, winning from pole, while in 2006 he took P2 after a cunning, savvy race against Felipe Massa's Ferrari for the second spot. On each occasion, team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella finished sixth – a result he will certainly be looking to improve upon this weekend…
On this day in history… 30 June Late June and early July has always meant ‘French Grand Prix' in the world of motor racing, ever since 26 June 1906 when the first ever French Grand Prix (won by a Renault, incidentally) started out on two days of high-speed racing on a circuit near Le Mans. Nowadays, they race for two hours rather than two days, but the tradition means this weekend is full of milestones for the racing world. And so it is for the last day in June: on this day 28 years ago, Jean-Pierre Jabouille and René Arnoux placed their Renaults on the front row for the 1979 French Grand Prix; while 11 years ago, the Williams and Benetton teams scored Renault's best ever Formula 1 result, a 1-2-3-4 finish on home soil, with all four cars powered by Viry-Châtillon's famous V10 engine.
On this day in history… 1 July 1 July 1979 stands as a true milestone in Renault's F1 history for on this day 28 years ago, Renault took its first ever Formula 1 victory, with Jean-Pierre Jabouille guiding home chassis RS11 to a comfortable win at Dijon-Prenois. He trailed Gilles Villeneuve in the early stages, preserving his tyres on a heavy fuel load, before taking the lead and comfortably extending his advantage to the flag. Behind him, though, a battle royal raged as Villeneuve and Arnoux engaged in possibly the most dramatic wheel to wheel fight in F1 history – a truly remarkable demonstration of bravery and skill. At the flag, Villeneuve was second – but both Renaults stood on the Dijon podium. The descendant of the famous yellow teapot had made its mark, as the turbocharged 1.5 litre V6 engine took its first F1 victory…
