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In the latest
Renault Report, Renault Sport F1 engine engineer for the Williams F1 Team
Dave Lamb gives his views on the running in Malaysia...
What’s been the schedule of work between Melbourne and Sepang?
Double-headers are always a challenge, due to the lack of time between
events. You have to wrap up the work from the previous weekend and start
preparation for the next one in five fewer days than you would have for a
standard GP cycle. Of course you also effectively lose a day travelling, so
it feels even less than the two to three days you would have available. On
the positive side, the fact we are reusing the Australia engines this
weekend helps.
What are the key characteristics of Sepang for the engine, what do you
need to look out for here?
Sepang is quite challenging for the engine as there are two long straights
of just under a kilometre each, which means top end power and good
acceleration are important. However there are also tight mid to low speed
corners so the engine also needs to be driveable and responsive on the apex
and exit of turns. Of course there is also the fabled humidity to deal with,
which reduces engine power output as the high water content displaces the
oxygen available to burn. Coupled with the heat, it’s actually one of the
more interesting circuits for engine engineers as the engine gets a full
workout if it stays dry.
Weather is always a feature of this event. How do you deal with such
extremes for engine preparation?
Currently there is a 60% chance of rain for Sunday, but there’s a
possibility that we may not get wet running until the race itself. Rain
throws another factor into the mix as fuel consumption drops in wet
conditions. Similarly, when the weather front comes in, the wind direction
can change, which can unsettle the car aerodynamically. Although this
doesn’t affect the engine operations a great deal, if the car is running
into the wind, the time spent at the limiter at the end of the straight is
less, meaning fuel consumption is higher. This is however compensated by the
straight running in the opposite direction, so one straight will have a
tailwind, the other a headwind.
The team ran Bottas in FP1 this morning; how did this affect your job?
It’s always nice to run with younger drivers as they are receptive to every
bit of information and detail. They don’t drive the car everyday so we have
to go through procedures in detail, which in turn keeps us sharp. Normally
they are very well prepared, and in Valtteri’s case, he had done a great job
beforehand and performed very well in the car. In terms of the work during
the session it changes very little but there are certain sensitivities each
driver likes that we need to be aware of.
How was the performance today?
Actually it was pretty good. We did lots of laps in both sessions and the
drivers were happy with the engine performance. Valtteri did a good job in
the morning and Bruno was able to pick up where he left off in the
afternoon, while Pastor looked very comfortable. It was a good start to the
weekend, although in some respects it was a shame it didn’t rain in the end
as it would have been useful to get data from wet running. |
