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At a Glance…
When Friday 28 to Sunday 30 August, 2009
Where Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium
Round 12 of 17
Standings
AT&T Williams 29.5pts (6th), N Rosberg 29.5pts (5th), K Nakajima 0pts -
Belgium's Hot Topics
Will there be any movement on the driver market?
Will it rain or shine?
Will Kazuki’s luck change?
Race Data
Friday:
Practice 1: 10:00 - 11:30
Practice 2: 14:00 - 15:30
Saturday:
Practice 3: 11:00 - 12:00
Qualifying: 14:00 – 15:00
Sunday:
Race: 14:00
Lap Distance 7.004km Laps 44 Distance 308.176kms
Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium
In the slipstream of two circuits that render overtaking all but
impossible, Spa offers welcome relief to frustrated drivers. Fast and
challenging, the longest track on the calendar incorporates a raft of
passing opportunities and some of the most exhilarating corners of the
season, notably Pouhon and Eau Rouge. The weather often generates a
little unwanted excitement, too, in the form of sudden cloudbursts.
Drivers plump for both one-and two-stop strategies (the latter favoured
by the quicker qualifiers), but adverse weather in 2008 meant two or
three stops became the order of the day.
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. Average turn angle at
Spa-Francorchamps is 760 which is the lowest in the Championship and
highlights the flowing nature of the circuit.
The end of straight (EOS) speed at Spa was 319kp/h in 2008. The Belgium
track ranks as having the 2nd highest EOS speed on the 2009 calendar,
and this is one indicator of the wing level typically selected to
optimise the downforce/drag ratio. Meanwhile, Spa has the 2nd highest
average lap speed of any of the tracks on the calendar.
Pitlane & Refuelling Strategy
The pitlane length and profile contribute to the determination of the
optimum fuel strategy. The pitlane loss at Spa is approximately 19.8
seconds, which is the 6th least penalising pitlane in the Championship.
To complete a normalised distance of 5km around Spa requires 2.25kg of
fuel against an average of 2.42kg per 5km across all circuits this
season, ranking the circuit as the 2nd least demanding 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. There have been 4 safety car deployments in the last
7 races at Spa, which means that there is a 57% chance that the
circuit’s character will induce a safety car period.
Temperature, Pressure & Humidity
As an example, 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. Spa Francorchamps is
410m above sea level and has the 3rd lowest average pressure (968 mbar)
of any race venue in the 2009 championship. As a consequence, the
circuit’s ambient characteristics will result in a significant reduction
in engine power..
* Please note these statistics do not take into consideration Abu Dhabi.
What the Drivers Say:
Reflections on the European Grand Prix
Nico “It was a good weekend for us. Again, the car performed really well
which is good to see. It’s been consistent on every single track so far
so I’m pleased with the way the team is working. In relation to other
teams, we’ve done well on the development front as well. We should have
been on the podium this race, but McLaren have made an even bigger jump
than us which is frustrating, but we are always there and a podium
should come soon. Hopefully Kazuki will have some more good fortune on
his side for the rest of the season as he was very quick this weekend
and he could have scored some points if it weren’t for the puncture.”
Kazuki “From Saturday on, it was a bad weekend for me. We had a problem
with the car in qualifying which ruled me out of Q2 and put me right
down the grid in P17. From there, it was hard work to make any headway
even though I made up three places in the opening lap. I was running in
13th and racing for 11th when I then had a puncture which was really
frustrating. Up until then, it was going quite well considering so the
end result was a shame.”
What we did after Valencia
Kazuki “We only have a couple of days before heading over to
Belgium, so I’ll be going to the factory to do some simulator work with
my engineers.”
Nico “I don’t have any plans really. I’m going home to Monaco and will
just be relaxing with friends and fitting in some training.”
Spa – from a technical perspective
Nico “Spa should be good for the team. It’s a very high speed track,
very different to Valencia, but our car goes really well everywhere.
This track, in particular, will suit our car because we have a strong
aero package for the quick corners so I’m looking forward to it.”
Kazuki “It’s very different to Valencia with its medium and high speed
corners. We struggled a bit there in 2008 but this year’s car is
competitive everywhere so it should be fine. The weather made it a
difficult race last year so hopefully it will be more stable this year."
Belgium: love it or hate it?
Nico “Belgium’s in the middle of nowhere really so it will make a change
to the places where we’ve visited recently. Going to different places is
what Formula One’s about though so it will be nice.”
Kazuki “I don’t have much experience of the country as a whole, but Spa
and the surrounding countryside is really beautiful. It’s quiet, but the
people are really passionate about Formula One so always really nice to
go there.”
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