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At a Glance…
When: Friday March 27 to Sunday March 29, 2009
Where: Albert Park, Melbourne, Australia
Round 1 of 17
Standings N/A
Australia Hot Topics
How much did winter testing tell us about the form guide?
How much weight has Nico lost this winter?
The budget cap!
Race Data
Friday:
Practice 1: 12:30 - 14:00
Practice 2: 16:30 – 18:00
Saturday:
Practice 3: 14:00 - 15:00
Qualifying: 17:00 – 18:00
Sunday:
Race: 17:00
Lap Distance 5.303km
Laps 58
Distance 307.574km/h
Albert Park in a nutshell
The everyday parkland roads are invariably covered in dust and grime
when the Formula One drivers
venture out for the season’s opening practice session. Cars consequently
slide a lot, so soft,
potentially vulnerable tyre compounds are best left unused until the
track surface has been coated with
the grippy rubber residue that comes with usage. The pit lane is short
(typical stops are the season’s quickest, at 23-24 seconds from entry to
exit), but the best strategic acumen can be undone by Safety Car
interruptions… which tend to be quite common.
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 corners in the circuit
configuration and hence the greater propensity for understeer to compromise lap time. At Albert Park, the
average turn angle is 850, against a season average of 1100, ranking as the circuit with the 3rd
lowest average turn angle across the Championship. As a consequence of the circuit’s physical layout, an
understeering car balance will have a relatively less punitive effect on lap time. The end of straight
(EOS) speed at Albert Park was 303kp/h in 2008. Albert Park ranks as the 10th fastest EOS speed in the
2008 calendar, and this is one indicator of the wing level typically selected to optimise the
downforce/drag ratio.
Pitlane & Refuelling Strategy
The pitlane length and profile (ie corners in the pitlane entry)
contribute to the determination of the optimum fuel strategy. The pitlane loss at Albert Park is 19.6 seconds,
the 9th most penalising pitlane in the Championship. The winner’s preferred strategy in 2008 was a
two-stop (L Hamilton, laps 18 & 43). To complete a normalised distance of 5km around the Albert Park circuit
requires 2.48kg of fuel against an average of 2.42kg per 5km across all circuits this season, making the
circuit the 12th most demanding track of the year 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.
Since 2002, there have been 9 safety car deployments in seven Grands Prix at Albert Park, ranking the
circuit as 1st in the season’s league table of tracks most likely, based on historic data, to induce
Safety Car periods.
Temperature, Pressure & Humidity
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. Albert Park is
only 10m above sea level and has the highest average pressure (1015.77 mbar) of any race venue in the
2009 Championship based on data recorded over the past nine seasons. As a consequence, the circuit’s
ambient characteristics will be the most beneficial for engine performance of any track all year long.
What the Drivers Say:
On Albert Park:
Nico “I'm really looking forward to getting out onto the Albert Park
track. I had a great race in Melbourne in 2008 and I am determined that
we will have a similarly strong start to this season. In character, it’s
a very challenging semi-street circuit which usually suits our car
well.”
Kazuki “It’s the right place to start the year – it just feels like the
natural beginning to the season.”
On Australia:
Kazuki “What can I tell you, I love Australia. I am doing what I did
last year, dropping in on Sydney for a few days and I expect to do some
good training there – it’s a great sports nation.”
Nico “I think Australia is great. The country is so varied and the
people are cool, very relaxed and welcoming. I would come more often if
it wasn’t so far away!”
On the FW31:
Nico “Winter testing has been good, but I think we are not where we want
to be just yet. However, the potential for development is huge because
of the new rules, so we will be looking to making strong progress
throughout the year to get closer to the podium.”
Kazuki “We have a good car, one that will allow us to compete, that’s
certain, but where it will take us this year – well, that is part of the
excitement to see how it all turns out.”
On the new regs:
Kazuki “The competition is closer, that’s for sure. Whether we will get
the better overtaking we are all hoping for, really it will be an
improvement, but by how much we will only know after 58 laps of Albert
Park next Sunday.”
Nico “I think the regs are all good. It is very likely that they will
improve overtaking and ramp up the excitement in the sport for
everybody’s benefit.”
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The
Historical Perspective from Damon Hill – Melbourne 1996
“Melbourne ’96 was the start of my championship-winning season. I
was driving FW18, which, for the first time in my F1 career, was a car
that had been designed around my proportions. I have large feet and
Adrian Newey, had done a fantastic job accommodating them; the car
fitted me like a glove. It was also a very quick car and going into the
first race of the ’96 season it was pretty clear to me that we were
going to be Championship contenders. I also knew that my closest
challenger for the title was most likely going to be my team-mate,
Jacques Villeneuve, who was new to F1.
We turned up in Melbourne
full of optimism. Jacques pipped me to pole position, which he got very
excited about, as did the media, but I wasn’t at all demoralised. I was
looking at the long-term picture; I had a lot of experience in F1 and I
wasn’t about to be de-railed by Jacques. The race had to be stopped
after Martin Brundle’s crash on the opening lap and at the restart
Jacques went off at the first corner. I think his oil leak might have
started after that. I stuck with him and unfortunately for Jacques his
lack of oil became critical and I won the race by virtue of his demise.
It wasn’t an entirely satisfying win, but it was good to win nonetheless
because I was entirely focused on winning the Championship”
Read the full story at
www.attwilliams.com |
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