BMW Williams Italian GP preview

The BMW WilliamsF1 team has been preparing for next weekend's Italian Grand Prix. Monza is unique in that it is a circuit with very high speeds that require a different combination of aerodynamics. For Mark Webber if the team can come away with points it will be a good race for the team.

The forthcoming Italian Grand Prix at Monza marks a distinct shift in the complexion of racing for the five end of season Grands Prix, all of which are characteristically power tracks. Monza itself is possibly the most demanding in this regard, with the lowest levels of downforce all year combined with engines run at their limits.

The team has concluded its enquiry into the tyre incidents in Turkey, determining as far as possible that a set of conditions spanning mechanical set-up, bodywork configuration and tyre deflections caused the problems experienced at the last race. Although the car specification in this area had raced without incident in previous Grands Prix, a number of precautionary changes have been made to the car and engineers are confident the team will not experience a repeat of the problems.

Mark Webber "Monza is a circuit that stands alone in terms of set-up. It’s a very, very high speed circuit where we are looking for a maximum speed all the time. I’ve finished in the points on this track in the last couple of years and I hope that we can do that again this time. We might not quite have the pace of McLaren and Renault, but I think we can get a reasonable result. If we can get some good, solid points it will be not a bad race for us.
Ever since my first year in Formula One, when I drove for Minardi, I’ve spent a lot of time in Italy, not far from Imola, and I can say it’s definitely among my favourite few countries. I love coming to Italy. The Italians love cycling and the food’s excellent, it’s just a fantastic country."

Nick Heidfeld "Monza is definitely one of the most unusual circuits on the calendar. It’s a traditional track with a great heritage and has a unique design. We reach very high speeds at Monza, in fact they’re the highest that we see all season at over 360km/h! You need a special set-up for Monza as well as a particular aerodynamic configuration. For this race, the teams develop specially designed aerodynamic packages. These need to work under low downforce conditions but also allow the car to handle properly in the high speed sections. You therefore need a car that has a good top speed for the high speed straights, one that has aerodynamic efficiency for the slow chicanes and, finally, a car that works well on the high kerbs. Just like Imola, Monza is always special because the Italian fans bring such a great atmosphere to the race."

Sam Michael Technical Director "Monza stands out from other circuits due to the fact that it is dominated by long straights, a couple of chicanes and four important corners, top speeds will also be the highest that we’ve seen all year. Set-up demands very low drag, in order to achieve this, we use specific front and rear wings unique to Monza. It is important to have a good balance through the medium speed corners and for the car to handle well over the curbs.
To address the tyre incidents that we experienced in Istanbul, we have worked through all the possible variables, such as pressure and camber, with Michelin. In the Williams R&D labs at Grove we also performed some loaded tyre tests to check what type of deflections the tyres would have seen during the lap. Finally, at the test in Monza last week, we went through various trims of the bodywork to ensure that there is no possibility for the tyre to touch anything on the car. We also worked through cooling levels, brake set-ups and tyre evaluations to select the optimum configuration for the FW27 in preparation for the race."

Dr Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director) "Monza is an outstanding circuit for engines and, as such, is always a very special Grand Prix for BMW. The cars are flat out for 69 percent of the lap, the highest full-throttle ratio of any Formula One circuit. Monza ranks among the top few circuits where engines have to operate on a sustained full throttle over various parts of the track. On the current F1 calendar, there are three similar full-throttle sections which demand everything of the engines. Topping the league is Spa (1,821 metres, if Eau Rouge is taken flat out). Almost on a par is Indianapolis (1,820 metres), followed by Monza (1,268 metres). When it comes to speed, Monza outstrips all other race tracks. In 2004, Juan Pablo Montoya set an F1 record in pre-qualifying when he recorded an average speed of 262.242 km/h. Antonio Pizzonia also claimed a Formula One record with a top speed of 369.9 km/h during the race.
For the Italian Grand Prix, we will have new BMW P84/5 engines, as scheduled. In Turkey, we had a good chance of scoring points before we suffered a disappointing setback. Our goal, however, remains unchanged; we want to end the 2005 season with the BMW WilliamsF1 Team with some good results."