Petronas engine fast, but can it take the heat?
Petronas Power
By Jamie Makin (10/3/2004)
March 10 2004
The sea of headlines after last weekend's race told many tales about new rules, Ferrari's domination, McLaren's crisis and even 2005 driver moves. Completely drowned out was the fact that team Sauber-Petronas scored a small victory along the way.
Powered by the new Petronas 04A engine, Giancarlo Fisichella set the fastest trap speed in qualifying at 318.7 kph. Felipe Massa repeated that feat in the race, rocketing to a top speed over 323 kph. In fact, the top four trap speeds from the race were set by this engine. Using the identical Ferrari 053 engine, drivers Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barricello also topped 323 kph with Giancarlo Fisichella the fourth quickest on the list. Their nearest rival was the BMW powered Williams team with drivers Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya, who reached speeds of 321 kph and 320 kph respectively. Throughout the entire race weekend, Ferrari and Sauber were consistently at or near the top of the charts when it came to straight-line speed.
This is encouraging news for the Sauber-Petronas team, who otherwise looked decidedly midfield throughout each session in Melbourne. Having the quickest engine in the field will serve the team well on tracks with long straights such as Monza, Indianapolis and Malaysia. But will this engine hold up against the smothering heat of a race like Malaysia? It is a question that raises some concern.
Australia's race day temperatures were very cool this year and overcast skies kept overheating problems to a minimum. Even with these favorable conditions, Massa retired on lap 44 with engine failure. Although Sauber did not disclose the exact nature of the problem, it was troubling enough to the Ferrari team that they asked Schumacher and Barrichello to conserve their cars in the closing stages of the race. It was a sensible precaution as both drivers had built up a large enough lead that they could afford to back off and still coast to an easy victory.
In just over a week's time the Malaysian Grand Prix, billed as "The World's Hottest Race", will give this new crop of long-life engines their first true endurance test. The Bahrain Grand Prix two weeks later will pose a similar challenge. There will be little or no opportunity for Sauber to do testing and development between these fly-away races, as they usually spend the days leading up to the Malaysian Grand Prix doing promotional work for their title sponsor, Petronas.
Interestingly, Sauber has had excellent mechanical reliability in the past at the Malaysian Grand Prix. Outside of a few DNF's caused by accidents, they have always brought the car home in the top ten. Their only mechanical retirement in the five year history of the race came from Kimi Raikkonen's gearbox failing at the start of the 2001 race. In hot conditions more suitable to their Michelin rivals, Sauber has done consistently well in what they regard as their home race.
The team will be working hard to diagnose the problem and prevent it from repeating itself in these hot upcoming events. Their innovative new radiator design, which boasts increase cooling surface area, while keeping the overall size compact should help get them to the finish line. The fastest top speeds afforded by the Petronas 04A engine will serve them well on the Sepang Circuit's two long straightaways. In just over a week, we will find out if past good luck in Malaysia will combine with a fast, reliable engine to score Sauber their first points of 2004.