|
The 2012 FIA
Formula One World Championship restarts this weekend with the Australian
Grand Prix, held at the 5.303km Albert Park circuit in Melbourne.
This year, Renault Sport F1 will supply its RS27 V8 engine to four teams;
Red Bull Racing, which aims to successfully defend its consecutive world
championship titles; Lotus F1 Team, Caterham F1 Team and Williams F1 Team,
reviving the historic Williams-Renault partnership for the first time since
1997.
'Last year was about re-establishing Renault as an engine supplier rather
than team owner,' comments Jean-François Caubet, managing director of
Renault Sport F1, 'This season is about consolidation. We showed that the
Renault RS27 engine is amongst the best on track, but this year we want to
stress that the service, driveability and flexibility we afford our partners
is the strongest in the business.
'Ultimately we want to give our partners responsive, reliable engines
developed to their full potential within the given regulations to allow them
to achieve their respective aims, whether championship titles, race wins or
points.
'In tandem, we need to extract marketing and commercial opportunities within
Formula 1 that can be exploited within the Renault Group to increase brand
power and ultimately sales figures. We aren't just here to compete, we are
here to extract real performance and marketing value from our involvement in
Formula 1.'
Sir Frank Williams, team principal, Williams F1 Team:
"We are delighted to be embarking on a new season in partnership with
Renault. This is an important move for the team as we look to lay the
foundations for a long and successful partnership with such a leading car
manufacturer.
Our previous relationship with Renault holds many great memories for us as a
team, and for me personally, however we are very much looking to the future
and what we can achieve from here on in.
There is always a lot of work involved when changing engine partner, but our
engineers have been working closely with Renault's experienced technicians
throughout the winter to ensure a seamless transition to the RS27 engine.
We've had a productive period of testing, and we are now looking forward to
getting the season underway in Australia."
Australian Grand Prix Engine:
With a combination of short straights, second and third gear chicanes, the
16 turn track requires medium to high downforce and good traction is
essential. A driver needs the engine to be responsive on the throttle to
maximise acceleration out of the slow corners and carry speed down the short
straights. It will be interesting to see how the teams cope with the lack of
exhaust blowing this year now the FIA have implemented tighter engine
mapping regulations and mandated the geometrical envelope for the exhaust
exit.
There is a quick section at the back of the circuit that also requires good
top end speed. The circuit characteristic and resultant engine requirements
will be similar to Valencia in this respect, with good driveability and
responsiveness through the whole rev range.
The Albert Park circuit has the highest fuel consumption rate of the year
due to the short, hard bursts of power between slow and medium speed
corners. As a result, the starting fuel load is amongst the highest of the
season.
The track is used as a public access road throughout the year, meaning the
surface at the start of the weekend is low grip and littered with leaves and
day to day rubbish. If any material is ingested into the sidepods it could
have an adverse effect on the
cooling systems. The highly abrasive track surface also causes high tyre
wear, resulting in small marbles off the racing line. These can partially
block the air filter, as well as increase the level of debris in the
sidepods.
Melbourne's geographical location between the sea and hills to the
hinterland can cause several changes of weather throughout the day. The
changeable climate can also throw up unusual race situations that can bring
out the safety car. Under these circumstances it is important to manage the
fuel consumption. In general there are two options; save fuel to make use of
the richer, more powerful engine modes for the rest of the race, or during
the latter stages burn as much as possible to avoid carrying around excess
ballast for the final laps. From winter testing, rear tyre degradation
The engineers’ view:
Head of Renault Sport F1 track operations Rémi Taffin:
The gap between seasons this year has been shorter than ever, which has made
for a very busy winter. As well as the usual programme of engine
installation, dyno testing and ultimately track testing there have been a
number of different challenges we have had to face.
One of the biggest has been putting together a team for our new partner,
Williams. The process started straight after the announcement of the deal in
July 2011, which was actually the perfect time to start working on
engine-chassis installation as that’s when the fundamental principles of the
next season’s car are laid out. In parallel, we also started discussing the
trackside operations and how we would best service Williams within our given
structure. As we started the process very early, it has been quite
straightforward, which has been borne out in the high number of kilometres
we’ve been able to cover over the winter testing period.
Alongside the challenge of building a new team, there have been several
important clarifications to the regulations concerning engines. Although
this has not made a fundamental difference to our operations at the track,
it has required several changes of protocol and a re-evaluation of how we
approach items such as engine maps and engine settings.
We do however feel that we are well prepared going into the season. It’s
never easy to make predictions ahead of the first race, but we are happy
with the amount of mileage with each team and are confident that we can
maintain the driveability and responsiveness that was key in 2011. |
