The second leg of the
North American back to back races takes Formula One to the largest
sporting facility of its kind in the world, the Indianapolis Motor
Speedway, for the United States Grand Prix this Sunday, 17th June.
Steeped in history, the Brickyard has hosted almost a century of motor
racing since it was constructed in 1909 from 3.2 million bricks.
However, having made its debut on the calendar as recently as 2000, this
year's event is only the eighth time Formula One has visited the
legendary track.
Providing venue number seven of this year's Championship, the AT&T
Williams team will be hoping to extend their demonstrable form witnessed
last weekend in a memorable race in Canada with another points scoring
performance. The team will be looking to see if it can avoid the poor
fortune of the last two races where, despite being competitive, bad luck
has prevented both cars from scoring points.
Alex Wurz:
"Coming to Indy is special as it is a race track which has a
significant place in motor racing history, in fact, what a name -
'Indianapolis'. I am really looking forward to the race and of course I
come here feeling very positive after scoring some more points in
Canada, but of course the US GP is another clean sheet and a new game.
My goal is to ensure I qualify in the top ten and of course fight hard
for some points in the race itself. The set-up for the race is quite
similar to Canada, yet there are some subtle differences in the details,
for instance the tyre compound is one step on in terms of hardness, so
we will definitely have to do quite a lot of set-up work on the car to
find its balance on this track."
Nico Rosberg:
"After Montreal, I am going to Chicago for a couple of days of
relaxation, it sounds like an interesting place, so I am looking forward
to it. Moving on to Indianapolis, I don't suppose it is my favourite
track that we visit during the year, but as a driver I will put this to
the back of your mind. We will run similar downforce levels to Montreal,
albeit the circuit has different characteristics, but we'll still be
hoping for a similar level of performance and I want to make up for the
points I missed out on in Canada. In many ways, it's good to have
another race so soon as it provides the possibility of making up for the
problems I had in Canada."
Sam Michael Technical Director:
"Indy is completely different to the other tracks we race on because we
use part of the banked oval that is used for the Indy 500 – although in
F1 we run in the opposite direction. After a tight and twisty infield
section we have the longest full throttle section on the calendar – up
to 23 seconds. This means that we will always tend towards a low drag
setup, similar to what we used in Montreal GP last weekend.
After the great pace and podium result that we had at the last GP, we
are looking to follow that up with a good performance at the US GP. The
Bridgestone Potenza tyres that are working well on the FW29 now shift to
a harder window than the last two races."
Indianapolis Motor Speedway,
Indianapolis:
Located in the state capital of Indiana, the Indianapolis Motor
Speedway is the oldest motor racing circuit in the world. The drivers
negotiate 73, 2.6 mile laps consisting of 13 turns, nine right and four
left, and some of the longest straights on the calendar. Similar to
Montreal, Indy is a power circuit which demands a medium downforce
set-up, but its rhythm is broken by the twisty infield area (constructed
in 1998 to accommodate F1) where, contrastingly, good traction is key.
Inevitably, finding a balance between the two will therefore be the
challenge that the drivers and their engineers will face over the
weekend.
Engine power is undoubtedly rewarded at this revered circuit which sees
the cars reach 335km/h and endure 59% of the lap at full throttle. With
such events lasting up to 23.5 seconds, the longest seen over the
season, engines must be able to withstand the extremes of thermal and
mechanical pressures. The unique nature of the oval's banking also
places certain loadings on the tyres, so wear rates are carefully
monitored. Combined with an intense build up of heat from the high speed
straights, reliable, softer rubber which offers grip in the infield
section is critical to complete the challenge of one of America's finest
institutions.
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KEY RACE DATA: RACE DISTANCE / LAPS 4.361kms 70 laps = 305.270kms
RACE DISTANCE / LAPS 4.192kms. 73 laps = 306.016kms
RACE START TIME: Local: 13.00, BST: 18.00
2006 FASTEST LAP: M Schumacher, Ferrari: 1:12.719
2006 POLE SITTER: M Schumacher, Ferrari: 1:10.832
2006 RACE WINNER: M Schumacher, Ferrari
PIT-STOP SCHEDULE
1 stop: Laps 40 - 50
2 stops: Laps 23 – 28, 47 - 52
3 stops: Laps 18 – 23, 34 – 38, 50 - 55
WILLIAMS IN INDIANAPOLIS: Car Poles Fastest Wins 2005 2006 Starts Laps 14 0 0 1 MW Q9/DNF MW Q12/DNF
NH Q15/DNF NR Q21/R9
AT&T WILLIAMS DRIVER PERFORMANCE STATISTICS 2007
NICO ROSBERG ALEX WURZ
GP RESULT FASTEST LAP PTS RESULT FASTEST LAP PTS
AUS Q12/R7 1:26.721 2 Q15/DNF 1:28.303 0
MYS Q6/DNF 1.37.704 2 Q19/R9 1.37.864 0
BHR Q10/R10 1.35.556 2 Q11/R11 1.35.992 0
ESP Q11/R6 1.23.693 5 Q18/DNF - 0
MCO Q5/R12 1.16.991 5 Q11/R7 1.16.658 2
MTL Q7/R10 1.17.156 5 Q20/R3 1.17.947 6
WILLIAMS PERFORMANCE STATISTICS 1978 TO 2007 GPs Wins Poles Fastest Podiums Laps Laps Points Entered Laps Raced Led
483 113 125 129 294 47,986 7,461 2,528.5 |