A talk with Renault's technical men
As the Renault team heads to the fifth round of 2004, Bob Bell and Rob White give their opinions about the challenges for the team, together with their own ideas obout relative performances. Both of the technical chiefs share their thoughts...
Bob Bell How satisfied were you with the team's result at Imola? Overall, I was very pleased with the result - our biggest points score so far this season. We know there is still basic performance waiting to be extracted from the car, but the drivers did a good job to bring the cars home in the points at a circuit that does not traditionally favour us. Our reliability was once again impeccable, and the team did a fantastic job with the strategy and the pit-stops. Ultimately, we left Imola with our championship position reinforced and, although the gap to our pursuers is certainly precarious, it is a real gap nonetheless. The levels of reliability and consistency are building a strong foundation for our future performance evolutions.
Barcelona is a circuit that each team is extremely familiar with: does that change the way the team will work? We and our competitors are very familiar with the circuit, and this does level the playing field somewhat - indeed it could well be that the advantage of the third driver is slightly diminished because of this. However, our knowledge of Barcelona will not really change the way we run our race weekend. Under the current rules, every lap on Friday is precious and even the slightest hold-up can put you under pressure in terms of making the correct tyre choice. Thus far, we have been one of the teams that has run the highest number of miles on Friday, and this will, I am sure, continue in Barcelona.
Finally, how well do you expect the R24 to perform at the race? In terms of performance, Barcelona possesses the high speed corners that suit our car and reward a good aerodynamic package. In terms of the drivers, Jarno has had his best start to a season since he joined the team, and I am sure Fernando will even more motivated than usual at his home Grand Prix. Once again, providing we qualify in the top six, I am certain that with our consistent performance over the race distance, we can fight for podium finishes.
Rob White Following the successful debut of the B-spec, what changes will we see to the engine for the race in Barcelona? Engines are built for each race, with the exact definition chosen to take account of the latest available results from dyno testing, track testing and the analysis of previous race engines. For Barcelona, it is particularly important to learn from the RS24B engines used in Imola - the first race for this improved performance spec. In addition, the operating conditions of the engine are tailored to the specific circuit. Building on the existing knowledge of the engine, the operating conditions customised for Barcelona are simulated on transient dyno at Viry-Chatillon.
Barcelona is renowned as a comprehensive test of a car's capabilities - is this equally true on the engine side? Barcelona is more severe than Imola in terms of duty cycle. Barcelona is a circuit that is well understood from testing there, it is demanding in the medium and high engine speeds and the track engineers will work with the drivers and chassis engineers to optimise the behaviour of the engine to contribute to the performance of the car. Barcelona is not a circuit where driveability at very low speeds is high priority.
After working through the winter with reliability as your major priority, how satisfying is it to have maintained a 100% points-scoring record in the opening four races? The results so far confirm the strategic direction to be correct. The work behind the scenes to sustain this level of reliability is immense. The importance is well understood and is a crucial part of the collaboration between Viry and Enstone. The work on reliability is never finished - as the performance of all the elements of car, tyres and engine improve, the environment becomes more severe. The reliability of previously reliable pieces must be re-approved with each performance step. This is a vital part of the battle in the constructors' championship, as any hiccup will cost us points and hand them to our closest competitors.
