Streets of Monaco suit the R24

By role
May 18 2004

Renault F1 Technical Director Chassis, Bob Bell, is quite confident that the team will do wel at the upcoming Monaco Grand Prix. The team will take to the race several new parts developed exclusively for the race at the street circuit.

Bob recognises that the team is quite optimistic and confident after finishing 3rd and 4th at the Spanish Grand Prix:

"We are certainly very motivated at the moment: the team is working well, we are enjoying our racing and doing a very professional job in every area. At Monaco, we know qualifying will be all-important.This is traditionally a circuit that suits us: the R24 should perform strongly there, and the car has a good high-downforce package. Equally, our drivers have been impeccable so far and there is little reason for that to change in Monaco: Jarno has been historically very quick through the streets, and is extremely motivated after his first podium of the year, while Fernando raced very strongly there in 2003 and will certainly benefit from the experience he has gained since then." He said.

The R24 will several developments on their chassis to improve the downforce:

"Our work for this race has primarily focused on the wing package, and in addition to usual, the car will feature a roll hoop wing, a deck wing mounted between the rear wheels and a high-downforce rear wing configuration, as well as developments to the bargeboards." He added. "Monaco has very specific characteristics in terms of how the circuit evolves during the weekend, and how a team manages the weekend. It is a very different proposition to Barcelona, for example, and the key is to give the drivers as much track time as possible in order that they can progressively build up their understanding and knowledge. You need to arrive with a good baseline set-up that allows them to build confidence, but also so that we can evaluate the tyres properly to make our choice for the weekend. It is all about being sensible in your approach, and not making too many changes to the car, too quickly."

One of the key matters for maintaining the second position on the Championship table is to finish with both cars on the points once again and Bob Bell knows this quite well:

"Monaco has very specific characteristics in terms of how the circuit evolves during the weekend, and how a team manages the weekend. It is a very different proposition to Barcelona, for example, and the key is to give the drivers as much track time as possible in order that they can progressively build up their understanding and knowledge. You need to arrive with a good baseline set-up that allows them to build confidence, but also so that we can evaluate the tyres properly to make our choice for the weekend. It is all about being sensible in your approach, and not making too many changes to the car, too quickly." He concluded.