The Hindu : Sport / Racing : Motor : Alonso looks unbeatable

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Sunday, May 07, 2006

Sport

Sport - Racing : Motor

Alonso looks unbeatable

The Renaults are not going to have it all their own way, says Narain Karthikeyan

I spent another day last week testing at Silverstone. It was a private test where we concentrated on the electronics of the car. The test was an extremely productive one. Testing different electronic systems, traction control softwares and a myriad other components really makes one realize what a complex beast a modern Formula 1 car is.

By the end of the day, the team had made a significant improvement to the car, especially in terms of how the power from the Cosworth engine is developed and delivered across the rev range. If Mark Webber and Nico Rosberg get their race-starts just right, I think some people may be a bit surprised by their pace off the start line.

Exciting race

The race this weekend is going to be extremely exciting. With the Ferraris back on the pace, McLaren always threatening and Honda overdue for a race win, the Renaults are not going to have it all their own way.

Our team has also been quite strong during Friday's practice, with Alex Wurz (the team's other test driver) quickest during both the sessions. It will be a home race for Nico, and therefore it's a track he knows quite well, and has raced on before.

The Nürburgring track is about 500m above sea level, and so air density tends to be lower. This means that the engines will generate a little less power, but this also reduces the load on other parts such as the pistons.

Demanding circuit

The circuit layout is also not very demanding on the engines, cars or drivers. The numerous elevation changes and flowing layout make for an enjoyable drive, but the high number of corners also means that full throttle is used for only 66% of the entire lap.

There are no really long straights, and the longest single period spent at full throttle would be for about 10 seconds every lap, quite a small amount compared to other circuits.

The first session of qualifying was very confusing with the official timing computers deciding to take an afternoon nap! There was a delay between the first and second sessions to sort out glitches in the system. Unfortunately owing to engine problems, both the Williams drivers have had to change their engines, thus attracting 10 place penalties on the starting grid for the race on Sunday.

Nico will start at the back of the grid in 22nd place and Mark will line up in 20th place despite being 10th fastest. Giancarlo Fisichella was relegated during the second qualifying and he felt that his quick lap was compromised by a slower Jacques Villeneuve. He made no secret of his displeasure, and had a few choice words to express to JV after the session. He will start the race in 11th place.

The third session of qualifying started as usual, with all top 10 drivers pouring out of the pit-lane. The fuel-burn strategy with all the top 10 banging in lap after lap can be a bit tedious for the audience, but the excitement of the last few minutes of qualifying more than makes up for it.

With each lap the cars burn about 3.5 kg of fuel, and every 10 kg in weight you save in the car reduces your lap time by 0.5 seconds. So the cars are going one second a lap faster after only 6 laps.

Alonso finished the session by far the quickest with another pole position to his name, sharing the first row of the grid with Michael Schumacher. Alonso looks pretty unbeatable this year, just as he did last year. As his race engineer said to him on the pit-to-car radio after the qualifying session, "Pole position mate, by a mile!"

Gameplan

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