Williams hope to deliver at Bahrain
Only days after the dramatic Chinese Grand Prix at the Shanghai International Circuit, the Bahraini Grand Prix will take place in the middle of the desert. The Williams F1 Team hopes that they can finally score some big points.
Race strategies tend to be conventional in Bahrain. Teams tend to favour two stop fuel loads and
build in a margin of flexibility to guard against possible safety car interruptions, but the same cannot be said of the location. Bahrain became the first Middle Eastern state to host a World Championship Grand Prix in 2004 and the circuit is frequently sandblasted, and rendered very slippery, by fierce winds that whip across the adjacent desert.
Talking Technical
Car dynamics:
Average turn angle indicates the average angle of a circuit’s corners expressed in degrees. The higher the average turn angle, the more acute the corners in the circuit’s configuration and the greater propensity for understeer to compromise lap time. At Bahrain, the average turn angle is 123.560, against a season average of 1100, ranking it as the circuit with the 5th highest average turn angle across the Championship.
The end of straight (EOS) speed at Bahrain was 303kp/h in 2008. Bahrain ranks as having the 8th fastest EOS speed on the 2009 calendar, and this is one indicator of the wing level typically selected to optimise the downforce/drag ratio. As the average speed around Bahrain is the 8th fastest of any of the tracks, a compromise is required.
Pitlane & refuelling strategy:
The pitlane length and profile (i.e. corners in the pitlane entry) contribute to the determination of the optimum fuel strategy. The pitlane loss at Bahrain is approximately 23 seconds, the 5th most penalising pitlane in the Championship. To complete a normalised distance of 5km around the Bahrain circuit requires 2.66kg of fuel against an average of 2.42kg per 5km across all circuits this season, making the circuit the 4th least demanding track of the year in terms of fuel consumption.
Safety car:
Another key contributor to the determination of race strategy is the likelihood of safety car deployments, which are influenced by weather considerations, the availability of clear run-off areas that allow racing to continue while recovery takes place and the circuit profile, especially the character of the entry and exit into turn one at the start of the race. Since the race debuted on the calendar in 2004, there has been 1 safety car deployment in Bahrain, in 2007, making it statistically unlikely that the circuit’s character will induce safety car periods. The first two races of this season have already seen 5 safety car periods, however, so anything is possible!
Temperature, pressure & humidity:
It is a long observed tradition that drivers arriving at Interlagos complain about a lack of grip and an absence of engine power. Having become acquainted with a baseline of engine and aerodynamic performance during the season, the climb to 750 metres above sea level for one of the final races can, courtesy of the reduction in air density, rob a Formula One car of engine power, aerodynamic performance and cooling. The losses can come close to double digit percentages and thus have a very real impact on car performance. Air density is a factor of the prevailing ambient temperature, which varies most significantly by season, air pressure which is closely linked to altitude and, to a much smaller degree, by humidity. Thus if races are run at the same time each year, the factor that tends to have the greatest bearing on air density is elevation. Like half the races on the calendar, Bahrain is close to sea level, just 10m above, and has an average pressure (1,011 mbar), so engine power will be good.
What the Drivers Say
Conclusions from China – Reflections from another wet race:
Nico Rosberg: “Once again it didn’t go our way in China. My major problem was a real lack of visibility as the water just wasn’t clearing off my visor. We also made some calls that didn’t work out well. It’s nice that we now have another race straightaway that we can look forward to doing better at.”
Kazuki Nakajima: “Shanghai was difficult. The water on the track just caused you to aquaplane, particularly at the exit of the last corner, and I went off a couple of times before I finally retired with a transmission problem. We had a good de-brief afterwards and hopefully we can keep up the pace we have and translate that into something good this weekend.”
On the Bahrain International Circuit:
Kazuki: “I didn’t have a great weekend in Bahrain last year and found it difficult to get used to the track. I’m more positive going there this year so hopefully it will be a different story. It’s a stop and go track where you need straight line speed, good breaks and traction to do well. Corners 9 and 10 are a bit tricky, you have to really use your breaks and there’s a lot of lateral loading.”
Nico: “Bahrain is one of my favourite tracks. Last year the car went well there and we won’t have any issues with warming up the tyres. Downforce level is always really important there for the corners, but then there’s a compromise required so you can fight the other cars on the fast straights. We’re confident going to Bahrain that we can finally get a good result.”
On Bahrain itself:
Nico: “It might not be the most interesting place we go to, but I’ve always had good experiences there. I first raced at Bahrain in 2004 in F3, then won the GP2 Championship there in 2005. In my first race for Williams, I started in 12th but took the nose off on the first corner. After I pitted for a new nose, I had a good race and in the end I made my way up to 7th which meant two points. I also got the fastest lap of the race. As I’ve always had good races there, I really enjoy going to Bahrain.”
Kazuki: “Bahrain isn’t a particularly interesting place to visit! There’s not much to do or see so I think I’ll be staying in my hotel a lot!
On the break between Shanghai and Bahrain:
Kazuki: “I’m going to Dubai before Bahrain. I’ll be with my trainer so we’ll be doing lots of preparation work to get me ready for the hot weather we’re expecting.”
Nico: “I’m going to Bahrain early to get used to the time difference. I’ll just be chilling out and doing some training I think.”
