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Xevi Pujolar, Chief Race
Engineer: After the August break it is great to be back racing again
and the whole team is looking forward to arriving at Spa-Francorchamps
this weekend. It is one of the most challenging circuits in the world
for both the car and drivers as you see every kind of corner from long
flowing curves to twisty chicanes and hairpins. It’s one of the fastest
circuits with an average speed of 230kph and is also the longest single
lap of the year at 7.004km. With DRS and the long lap resulting in large
differences in tyre degradation between strategies, overtaking is
usually easier here than at many other tracks. Weather is often very
changeable here and although early forecasts show a chance of rain on
Sunday only, this can quickly change. Also, given the length of the
circuit there is an added challenge in selecting tyres in changeable
conditions as certain parts of the circuit can be much wetter than
others. Overall, we are looking forward to getting the final races of
the season underway.
Pastor Maldonado: Spa is one of my favourite circuits because it
has so much history and is so fun to drive. It’s a very technical and
fast circuit and you find a very wide range of corners there: uphill,
downhill, very slow, medium, fast, short and long corners. It’s the most
complete track of the season and this tests you as a driver and also
tests the car’s setup. It also has the famous Eau Rouge corner which
puts a lot of G force and pressure on your body. You feel this even more
during qualifying when you are low on fuel and are trying to get the
most from the car. The weather can be changeable and because it is such
a long track, there are times where the track can be wet in one sector
but dry in another which requires the teams to make some difficult
strategy decisions. Two years ago I picked up my first point in Formula
One here and hopefully I will be in the points again this weekend.
Valtteri Bottas: I first drove at Spa in 2007 in Formula Renault
and immediately fell in love with the track. It’s very high speed,
flowing and undulating and gives you a real adrenaline rush. Achieving a
good car setup is difficult because of the wide variety of corners, but
we will try to get as much information as we can during the practice
sessions to find the most appropriate setup for qualifying and the race.
I’ve had a good break during the shutdown period but I’m now itching to
get back in the car. We have shown some improvements in race pace over
the past few races and we know we are heading in the right direction. We
will therefore be looking to have another points scoring result this
weekend that will give us good momentum for the second half of the
season.
Rémi Taffin, Renault Sport F1 Head of Track Operations: A massive
70% of the 7km Spa-Francorchamps is spent flat out, meaning the track
remains one of the biggest test of engines on the F1 calendar. Even
though Monza sees the RS27 at full throttle for a longer time, it is the
combination of the wide open throttle with the compressions and steep
gradients that gives such an awesome workout. La Source to Eau Rouge and
onto the Raidillon sees the engine at maximum revs, diving downhill and
then climbing through several metres, putting the engines and internals
under considerable stress. Having the right balance between reliability
and top end power is always a juggling act as a result - and one that is
particularly rewarding when you get it right.
Paul Hembery, Pirelli Motorsport Director: Spa is one of the
fastest and most spectacular races on the calendar, with a real sense of
speed and history. We’re taking the P Zero Orange hard and P Zero White
medium compounds, which cope well with the high speeds and significant
energy loadings that characterise the track. Spa is the longest circuit
on the calendar, which increases the demands on the tyres but also opens
up the opportunity for different strategies. Adding to the complexity of
the race is the notoriously changeable weather in the region: it can
even be very wet on some parts of the circuit while it stays completely
dry on other parts. So the role that the Cinturato Green intermediate
and Cinturato Blue wet tyres play could be crucial – and a completely
dry Spa weekend is a comparatively rare occurrence.
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
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