The Hindu : Sport / Racing : Motor : Monza track is high-speed in nature

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Sunday, Jun 25, 2006

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Sport - Racing : Motor

Monza track is high-speed in nature

Tyres will be an important factor at this circuit as the straights are very long, writes Narain Karthikeyan

The Canadian Grand Prix this weekend marks the mid-point in this year's 18-race Formula One calendar. It's amazing how quickly the year is passing. Between my testing commitments with Williams F1 and my work with our corporate partners, this year has been in constant overdrive.

This will be the 38th Canadian Grand Prix, and the 28th held at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, making it one of the oldest circuits on the Formula One calendar, the first race being held there in 1978.

The non-permanent racetrack is located on Notre Dame Island in the St. Lawrence River. The Formula 1 paddock runs alongside the former rowing basin.

Stomach bug

In the week following the last race in Silverstone, Williams F1 spent three days testing at the Monza circuit in Italy. I was also scheduled to test drive but a stomach bug prevented me from doing so. In my absence, our other test driver, Alex Wurz took over. Mark Webber and Nico Rosberg, our other race drivers, also conducted some of the driving duties.

Monza is a great track to prepare for the upcoming races in Canada and USA, as it's high-speed nature simulates the nature of both these races. The team tested tyre compounds, aero items and brake materials as well as working on suspension and gearbox development and set-up comparisons ahead of this weekend's race.

The three drivers chalked up just over 2,500 km of the Italian circuit and as a result of the work will deploy significantly upgraded FW28s in Montreal. The upgrades to the car include a new profile of front and rear wings, winglets, nose and diffuser revisions.

A cocktail

The Gilles Villeneuve circuit features a blend of high-speed straights and low-speed corners — a cocktail that places particular strain on engines and especially braking systems, which will reach very high temperatures. There are a couple of good overtaking opportunities at this circuit which should make for an exciting race on Sunday.

With top speeds reaching 330kmph and the average lap speed in excess of 200kmph, Montreal is one of the few remaining power circuits. The engines must be durable enough to complete 60 per cent of the lap at full throttle, yet providing adequate drivability and torque to power the car out of the slow corners.

Tyres will be an extremely important factor at this circuit as the straights are very long. This generates very high temperatures, which can create blistering problems. As most of the corners are slow, they require very heavy braking, followed by very intense acceleration.

This creates a unique demand on the tyres as there is very little lateral load on it but plenty of longitudinal load. Also as the circuit is very sparingly used during the year, the track surface tends to be quite slippery. Choices of tyre compounds will be on the softer side of the scale, and the tyre manufacturers will bring several different compounds for the teams to select from.

Gameplan

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