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

Giancarlo Fisichella: "We are going in the right direction"

Giancarlo, we have passed the mid-season point. The last two races were quite tough, and you lost ground to BMW. Do you think you can turn things around this weekend?It is fair to say that the last two races were a bit disappointing, all the more so because they were our home races. We knew that it would be a tough battle with BMW: all of the teams are making progress, and our challenge is to do so faster than them in order to get ahead and try to close the gap in the championship. We are going in the right direction, and everybody is doing their maximum. I am convinced that if we carry on like this, our hard work will pay off.

This year's only German race is the European Grand Prix at the Nürburgring. Do you enjoy the circuit?Yes, I have some good memories here. It is a famous circuit, and the new, slow section at the start of the lap is demanding for the drivers and the cars. From my point of view, the old Nürburgring was definitely the best circuit in the world, so I am pleased to be racing here again.

What does the car need to do well, in order to set a quick lap at the Nürburgring?The most important thing is good traction on corner exit. We use quite high downforce, and the main worry is the understeer, which can be quite high. So we try and soften the front end to get good grip, by playing with the springs and anti-rollbars, while keeping the rear stiffer. That will be a major focus for us during the practice sessions.

This will be the first race in Germany since Michael Schumacher's retirement. Do you think that will change the atmosphere?Maybe there will be fewer spectators, maybe not. Racing in Germany without Michael will be very different, but there are a lot of racing fans there and the Nürburgring is an historic venue. We need to make sure we put on a good show for everybody.

Heikki Kovalainen: "Still a long way to go this season"

Heikki, the last two races showed the team still has work to do in order to beat BMW. Is it difficult to stay motivated during these times?Not at all! Everybody in the team knows that we have only just passed the halfway point of the season, and that there is still a long way to go. The team has done a fantastic job to fix the problems we had at the start of the season, and I think we are all determined to show that we can bounce back. I still think that third place in the championship is achievable. It's going to be tough, but I believe we can do it!

This year's German round of the championship will be at the Nürburgring. Would you have preferred Hockenheim? No, not really! In GP2, I had a very good race at this circuit, and it's probably my best memory of that championship. I won the first race on Saturday after starting from P17 on the grid. It was a consistent drive, we had a very good strategy and everything came together. At Hockenheim, I wasn't very competitive when I raced in GP2, so I'm pleased that my first F1 race is at the track where I did well! And to be honest, I think it's a more enjoyable circuit too, with some quite tough high-speed corners.

This season has already seen a number of races take place in unusual weather conditions. If we encounter hot conditions at the Nürburgring, as you might expect in the middle of summer, what will that affect in terms of the set-up?I think we are well-prepared for a race in hot temperatures. Malaysia is always the toughest race from this point of view, and the most important factor will be to avoid disrupting the car's aerodynamic performance if we need extra cooling. Like at every race, we will push the cooling to the limit, while maintaining optimum aerodynamic performance. That's always a difficult compromise to achieve.

What areas of the set-up will you be focusing on with the R27?I have never driven an F1 car on this circuit, but as always, I think you need a stable balance in the high-speed corners. On the way back up the hill from the hairpin, there are two high-speed right-left sections, and a good balance is important if you want to gain time. The other crucial factor will be to have good braking stability, to ensure we can attack the braking zones and corners with confidence. We will work on both of these areas during Friday practice, and also on Saturday morning during our qualifying preparation. Qualifying in the top ten is absolutely vital, and finding a good set-up for that single timed lap will be a major focus for us during practice.

Bob Bell: "Maintain our upward trajectory"

We have just passed the halfway point of the 2007 season. How would you summarise the year so far?It has been a mixed bag, to be honest. Initially, we were all disappointed to see that the car was not performing as we had predicted. But since that initial realisation, I have been extremely heartened and motivated by the team's response. Everybody in the organisation, from top to bottom, has just got their heads down and grafted to improve the situation. We have already made significant improvements to the car, and that will continue during the second half of the year. I'm very optimistic we can maintain our upward trajectory.

The team has been conducting a phase of problem-solving since early in the season to make up its performance deficit. What is the current status of that process? We are reaching a key point in the process, because we now have now identified and understood the problem. Simply put, there was a discrepancy between the car's predicted performance in the wind tunnel and its behaviour on track. We therefore began an extensive test and analysis programme to correct this. Some of the problems we discovered had their roots in the 2006 season, but had in fact been masked by our competitiveness at the time. We have now identified, and modified, the parts of the car that were causing the problems, and our simulations correlate well with the car's on-track behaviour.

You said earlier this season that when the problems had been solved, you had a car capable of fighting with the best. Why is this not yet the case?It is an illustration of the relentless pace of development in Formula 1. As we have been working to understand and solve our problems, we have fallen behind in the normal development of the car. The gap to our rivals reflects that.

So what can you do about it? The solution is very simple: we need to accelerate our pace of development in the second half of the season. It will be a big challenge, but it's one that the factory is ready to take up. Our commitment is as strong as ever.  What will the targets be for the second half of the year? The target is clear: to continue closing the gap to BMW on track, and to begin doing so in the championship. If you look back to the opening races of the year, it was as if we were in a different race to them. Now, we are regularly qualifying in the top ten, and according to the type of circuit, racing with our direct rivals. Giancarlo and Heikki are both pushing very hard and getting the maximum from the car. They now need a more performance to fight on equal terms with BMW. That is what we are focused on providing them throughout the second half of the year, beginning this weekend at the Nürburgring.

European GP Tech File

One of the first modern ‘autodrome' circuits, the Nürburgring's reputation has undergone something of a renaissance in recent years. While difficult, overtaking is possible into the first corner and the chicane at turns 13 and 14, and the circuit's challenges range from first gear hairpins to sixth- and seventh-gear sweepers. No matter what the season, rain and cool conditions are an ever-present threat in the Eifel mountains.

Chassis

The Nürburgring demands some of the highest downforce levels of the season, not only for the numerous slow and medium-speed corners, but also to maintain good stability under heavy braking for the first corner and the slow chicanes.

Corners such as turns 5/6, 8/9 and 10/11 in particular demand a neutral handling balance to avoid compromising the optimum line through the second corner in the sequence, and the engineers will often work through the weekend to dial out understeer in the medium-speed corners.

A quick, responsive change of direction is required in both the slow-speed section at the start of the lap, and through the quicker corners. Mechanical grip is particularly important through turns 1 to 4, but cannot be achieved at the expense of aerodynamic performance around the rest of the lap.

Tyre performance will, as always, be a critical performance parameter for all teams. The soft and medium tyres from the 2007 Bridgestone Potenza range will be used and ambient conditions will dictate how they are used in race conditions. Should the abnormally cool summer conditions continue at the Nürburgring, teams are once again likely to find themselves trying to minimise the impact of tyre graining on the softer tyre.

Engine

The Nürburgring is not a circuit that presents the engines with any extreme challenges, and its overall impact is further reduced by the fact that the circuit is situated at altitude, some 500m above sea level. This has the effect of reducing engine power by approximately 5%, while also reducing loads on certain engine components such as the pistons.

The engine is at full throttle for just over 56% of the lap – a value well below the season average of approximately 61%. The longest single period at full throttle barely exceeds ten seconds, so the main challenge for the engine team is ensuring strong performance from low revs so the engine launches well out of the slow corners, and particularly turn 7 which leads onto the uphill drag to turn 10.

The circuit includes a number of elevation changes, but none are sudden enough to cause the engine systems any concern. The only note of caution come to finding the best line through some of the bumpier corners, and particularly the chicane, to avoid spending too much time on the rev limiter, which is potentially damaging for the engine.

Magic Moments: 30 Years of Renault in F1

The European Grand Prix is among the best-travelled of the F1 races, having been run in the UK (at two different venues), Spain and Germany on the sixteen occasions on which it has been held. Renault power has participated in fourteen of those races and scored twelve podium finishes – including three wins, and three double podiums.

Renault at the European Grand Prix

The European Grand Prix was first held at Brands Hatch, as the penultimate race of the 1983 season that saw Alain Prost narrowly miss out on the world title, and which also marked the first year of the company's engine supply agreement with Lotus. Renault power took pole in the form of the Lotus of Elio de Angelis, and secured a double podium finish with Alain Prost finishing second, ahead of Nigel Mansell's Lotus – but behind championship rival Nelson Piquet's Brabham. Mansell also set fastest lap for good measure. For 1984, the race was held at the newly remodelled Nürburgring, but Renault engines scored no points. Although six took the start powering the works cars, Lotus and Ligier, only the two Ligiers made it to the finish – in P7 and P10. The 1985 race, back at Brands, saw Ayrton Senna on the podium for Lotus, comfortably out-performing the works Renault cars. And for eight years, we heard no more of the European Grand Prix…

The V10 era was in full swing when the race returned to the calendar, at Donington Park. The British weather kept the crowds away, but those who attended saw Ayrton Senna produce perhaps his greatest F1 drive in the changeable wet-dry conditions, leading home Damon Hill and Alain Prost in their Renault-powered Williams. The next year, the race was held in Jerez and Damon Hill's Williams took second place behind the returning Michael Schumacher as their championship fight went down to the wire. For 1995, it was the Nürburgring again, with Michael Schumacher's Renault-powered Benetton eventually overhauling Jean Alesi's Ferrari after a dramatic chase during the second half of the race. The race remained at the German venue the following year, bringing a Renault-powered win for Jacques Villeneuve – while in 1997, the Canadian managed just third place, but with it secured world championship victory in Jerez, meaning Renault departed the sport on a high.

The race has been held at the Nürburgring ever since Renault power returned to F1 in 2001, and the Renault F1 Team has finished in the points every year since 2002: P5 for Jenson Button in 2002; P4 for Fernando Alonso in 2003, holding off Michael Schumacher; P4 and P5 for Trulli and Alonso in 2004; a win for Alonso in 2005, with Fisichella in P6; and second place in 2006, with Fisichella once again sixth. With the team's every-improving R27 at their disposal, Heikki Kovalainen and Giancarlo Fisichella will once again be aiming for the points during this weekend's 17th edition of the Grand Prix of Europe.

Over at Red Bull Racing with Fabrice Lom for the European Grand Prix

The team's results seemed to tail off a little in Magny-Cours and Silverstone. What are your expectations for the second half of the season?Our performances improved in Barcelona, Monaco and Montreal – and then seem to have stalled. The competition took a step forward on its side, and we had some reliability problems. So there are a number of different factors, but the car is certainly better than recent results show. Our primary objective at the moment is to improve our reliability. Then, we will need to find more performance to get a decisive advantage over our current rivals, Williams and Toyota. We have made a lot of progress since the start of the season, but there's still a long way to go!

Germany will host just one race this year, at the Nürburgring; is this a tough circuit for the engine?When it comes to comparing Hockenheim and the Nürburgring, the latter is much less demanding for the engine, both in terms of the maximum time spent at full throttle – and the percentage of the lap spent at full throttle. Furthermore, the Nürburgring is at altitude, which means lower air pressure and less load on components such as the pistons. The engine doesn't have any severe challenges; our aim is to ensure it runs like clockwork and causes no problems.

What are your expectations for the European Grand Prix? It is a relatively standard circuit for the engine, interesting for the drivers, and I believe that there is real potential in our package. It's now down to us, to make the most of it. We are expecting a big upgrade in Hungary, but we worked hard during testing at Spa last week to improve our reliability, which should help us to hit our target of scoring more points this weekend.