Nick Heidfeld interview"Silverstone is different to the other places in F1 - it's unique"With another plucky point for the team in Valencia, Nick discusses how hethinks the new Silverstone track could suit the team.Looking back to the European Grand Prix, how would you summarise yourweekend in Valencia? Well, the race itself was not as successful as we hoped or even expected itto be after Saturday's qualifying. P9 and P11 is not what we target, butgiven our pace on the Friday and Saturday it was clear that was where wewere. On Sunday we were hoping to fight with Mercedes because we usuallyhave a stronger race pace than we do in qualifying, but that was not thecase. I was aiming to battle for sixth or seventh position but, in the end,it wasn't to be; finishing in P10 was not a result of any particularmistakes so we have looked at where we can improve for Silverstone.The race in Valencia had a few more battles than we saw in previous yearsthere - is that proof that F1 has got more exciting for spectators? Yes, definitely. The Valencia race is quite a recent addition to thecalendar, and during that time it hasn't been known for its excitement orovertaking. This year there was some, which shows that the changes that weredrafted into Formula One prior to this season have made it more exciting;there was not as much overtaking there as at the previous races this seasonbut still it made for a good spectacle. Vettel may have been leading thewhole way, but P2 between Alonso and Webber changed quite a few times sothat was entertaining for people.What steps need to be taken to ensure you finish higher up the points in thecoming races? As I've said before, we understood some of the problems we encountered butyou cannot wave a magic wand and change these things overnight. Everyone isworking very hard in the factory but the question on all our minds is what'sgoing to happen with the change in regulations from Silverstone. We willwait to see if that changes the pecking order or the gap between the teams,and then go from there.Looking ahead to the British GP - do you think the track, with its fastercorners, will suit the R31 well? First of all, we will need to see how Pirelli's choice of tyres (soft andhard) will affect the race - so that's going to be an interesting aspect.I've not actually driven the new track here yet, so that will be excitingfor me. I've driven at Silverstone plenty of times before but last year Ididn't, and I know that since then they have changed the layout. I thinkSilverstone will suit our car a lot better because at the other high speedcircuits this year we have been relatively strong. And, with the newregulation changes it's going to be exciting; some people think nothing willchange, some think that we will see changes but it is all just guesswork. Anumber of people think we will be one of the teams most badly hit (by thechanges), but I doubt it. Let's see who's right!You finished second at the British GP before - does the challenge of drivingat a new-look Silverstone excite you? Yes it's always nice to drive at a new track but, on the other hand, if youlook at the layout of the old track it was a great track to drive at. On theold circuit there was Bridge Corner, which was quite special; a lot ofpeople involved in racing would say this was quite a unique section but ithas gone now. I'm not sure what the new circuit will be like, the first partis the same with a lot of high speed corners such as Stowe. Silverstone isvery different to a lot of other places - it's a unique place that's forsure.
Vitaly Petrov interview"It is our home Grand Prix and I would love us to have a good result."Vitaly looks forward to Silverstone, a track he has some good memories offollowing his GP2 victory in 2006.Have you had a chance to sit down after Valencia to analyse the race? Yes, of course. I spoke with my engineers back at the factory to understandthe race. What happened at the start was my doing - I touched the paddle onthe steering wheel which is very sensitive and was in second gear when thelights went off. Obviously this shouldn't happen again so we made thenecessary change on the steering wheel to avoid this in the future.We saw quite a few teams performing well in Valencia around us. In a certainway, it reinforced the fact that we must keep on pushing to develop the carand work hard.Silverstone is a classic venue and the team's home race. Do you enjoy racingthere? Silverstone is an interesting track and it has a new pitlane which we willuse for the first time. The circuit has good high speed corners, and it'sthe first GP of the season where we'll have high speed corners like these,so we'll have to see how the tyres will behave. I have good memories ofSilverstone; I won there in GP2 in 2006 so it always makes it enjoyable tocome back to a track where I've done well in the past. The typical Britishweather also means that rain or sunshine will be pretty unpredictable - butthat makes the charm of Silverstone!What type of set up does the circuit require? We will take the baseline set up we had at Silverstone last year and buildon that. Of course, we will have to take the tyres into account. The firstsector is quite high speed that requires one type of set up but the carwould almost need a different set up for the second and third sectors withslower corners were more traction is required. Basically the car will needto respond to the different demands of the circuit. As usual we will makethe most of the free practice sessions to get ready for the race.What objectives do you set yourself for the British Grand Prix? We need to concentrate on making fewer mistakes and to try to continue towork hard to improve our performance and our strategies.Of course, as it is our home Grand Prix and I would love us to have a goodresult but we have to work towards giving ourselves the best chances to doso.
Eric Boullier interview - 'A word with the boss' Eric explains his excitement at competing in the home race which, with anew-look Silverstone, should provide for a memorable weekend.Just the one point in Valencia, the team must have been looking for astronger weekend? It was obviously a disappointing weekend, which was not reflective of ourlevel of performance and the level of work and dedication that the team hasbeen putting in. I'm hopeful that we have understood why we didn't have theright pace and got to the bottom of our problems. We will continue to workclosely together, and stick together, to make sure we get stronger andstronger.There was more overtaking in the race than we had seen in previous years -is that proof that Formula One has become a better spectacle this year? Yes, I know there were a lot of comments in the media about the Valenciarace. Perhaps it was not as dramatic as some of the others this season, butstill I think it was a good show and we definitely had an excellent level ofreliability from all the team's cars this weekend. It's clear, however, thatnot every race can be as hectic as the one we saw in Montreal.Looking ahead to the British Grand Prix, what would it mean to have a strongrace here on home turf? I think it's important as an English company, and as an English F1 team, todo well at your home race because there's more local attention. It's also atough fight because most teams on the grid are English as well, so it makesit even more exciting. The Silverstone track layout is very good, and we'veseen many overtaking manoeuvres here in the past so we can expect a strongshow and a spectacular race. Obviously we are looking forward to seeing thenew complex, which should make this event an even greater success.Regarding the new regulations - about the engine mapping - what effect willthis have from Silverstone? It's a complicated issue and difficult to state their exact impact just yet.What's certain is that we need to anticipate the changes to the regulationsin the best way we can. It will definitely affect every single team, andit's up to us and our engineers to cope better than our competitors with thechanges.Silverstone is known for its fast corners - will that suit the car well? Considering the races in Monaco and Valencia and our performance there, wecan definitely expect the high speed corners to suit our car much better.We're eight races into the season - what's your verdict of Lotus RenaultGP's year so far? My feelings are quite mixed; we had a very strong start to the season with acouple of podiums, but obviously we have now had a few races where wehaven't performed as well as we need to. We know we have to react well; wethink we have a clear understanding of what may have gone wrong and we'vestarted to correct it. If our car was so good at the beginning of theseason, we must be able to get that level of performance back for theremaining 11 races. Now is a good time to really, really push and comprehendwhy we haven't been able to keep our pace relative to the other teams on thegrid.
James Allison - Tech Talk"We will adapt quickly to the engine management rule changes"LRGP's Technical Director looks forward to seeing how the R31 will fare atone of Formula One's classic races - the British Grand Prix.What can we expect at Silverstone? After three races with only slow speed corners it will be interesting to getback on to a circuit with several challenging high and medium speed corners.As has been extensively discussed, the changes to the engine managementrules will make it tricky to know exactly how the car will stack up relativeto our competitors, but I am hopeful that we will adapt quickly to thechallenge. Another possible area of interest is that we may face asituation, like in Barcelona, where it is better to stay in the garage thanit is to use any of the Option tyres in qualifying.What are the challenges of Silverstone? Silverstone is one of the classic F1 circuits. Compared with the last fewGrand Prix races, it offers a very wide range of challenging corners whichrange from fiercely quick to quite slow and technical. Having such a largedifference between the fast and slow places a heavy demand on both thedriver and his race engineering team to extract the most from the car. Inaddition, there is always the capricious British weather to contend with.How have the changes of the circuit in the last few years made a difference?Last year's modification did not really change the essential nature of thetrack very much; there was a nasty bump in the middle of a fast corner wherethe old circuit joined the new, but we understand this has been smootheddown somewhat now. Having a new pit complex may change the time lost in thepit lane, which may in turn have a marginal effect on the strategy choices -we will figure all that out in free practice.How much of a change is it having the race just down the road from thefactory? Once the race weekend gets under way for the race team it makes littledifference that the track is in our own back yard - they have their headsdown at the circuit. For the guys in the factory it is an opportunity to seethe car in action, and it is also much easier to rush a new component to thetrack at the last minute.How do the new qualifying engine mapping restrictions affect the team? The changes caused some bureaucratic headaches for the team but there islittle performance effect on the configuration of the car.The full force of the FIA note relating to engine mapping comes into forceat Silverstone - can you tell us more about the new situation? The headline changes for the Silverstone GP are as follows: when the driverlifts his foot fully off the throttle pedal, then the ECU maps must be setup so that the engine [to all intents and purposes] closes the throttle -previously it was possible to configure the engine maps to leave thethrottle open and reduce the engine power by other means. Furthermore, whenthe driver lifts fully off the throttle, the ECU maps must be configured tocut off the fuel supply to the engine - this is intended to prevent socalled "hot blowing" where the energy of the exhaust gas is increased bycombustion.How do you feel this will impact LRGP relative to the other teams? It is not easy to judge the effect of this change on our competitiveness.The loss for each blown floor car will come from two separate effects - howmuch downforce will be lost and, in addition, how much will the loss of thisdownforce upset the balance of the car. All blown floor cars will losedownforce under braking as a result of these new restrictions. Some teamswill lose more and some teams less; it is hard to know exactly what relativeloss LRGP will suffer. However, it is possible that we will suffer less onthe balance shift side of the equation because our forward exit exhaustsproduce their effect quite near the middle of the car. This means that asthe exhaust blow waxes and wanes, it does not really disturb the aerobalanceof the car too much. With a rearward blower, the downforce from the exhaustis all generated at the rear axle. As the new rules reduce the blowingeffect on corner entry much more than corner exit, it is possible that therearward blowers will tend to suffer more nervousness under braking and moreundersteer on exit as a result of the new restrictions. We will find out atSilverstone!
Drivers' Guide to SilverstoneDescribe Silverstone in three wordsNH: Home of motorsportVP: Technical, fast, unpredictable weather (well, that's four!)Favourite pubs? NH: There's some great, typical English pubs around! VP: I don't know any specific places but I've been to some nice pubs withsome engineers nearby Enstone.What do you think of the track? NH: I enjoyed the old track for the same reasons I'll enjoy the new one - ithas a lot of high speed corners. Turn one is quite straightforward but afterthat there are lots of interesting parts of the track, not least The Complexwhich includes a number of quick corners following each other closely. It'sa very unique place to drive. VP: Silverstone is an interesting track and it has a new pitlane which wewill use for the first time. The circuit has good high speed corners, andit's the first GP of the season where we'll have high speed corners likethese, so we'll have to see how the tyres will behave.Best memory of Silverstone? NH: My second place there in 2008. VP: I won a GP2 series race at Silverstone in 2006, in the wet.Did you know? We've got a new geometry front suspension to try, which we will evaluate onone of the cars on Friday.
