San Marino: Good to be Back in Europe


By Jamie Makin
April 19 2005

After a frustrating start to the season for SAUBER PETRONAS, the team is happy to return to home soil in Europe. The San Marino Grand Prix at Imola will kick off the first European segment of the season and the team have continued to improve the C24 in hopes of a good result.

"It is always good to get back to Europe after the opening three 'flyaway' races, because things get a little easier logistically and because the travel time schedule is shorter," said Technical Director Willy Rampf.

The team have struggled with the C24 this year in key areas of setup and aerodynamics but have worked hard at ironing out the problems. "Imola is a maximum downforce circuit that is very taxing on brakes," Rampf explained. "Therefore we use the maximum brake cooling we have and the optimum specification of pad and disc. It is also important to set up the car so that the drivers can use the kerbs. These are relatively high but the only way to a fast lap is to go straight over them, especially in the chicane at the top of the hill. The track is also bumpy, but the drivers just have to live with that. Our last test at Imola in February was snowed off after a day, but we were at least able to get a base set-up in our limited running time."

The team have compensated for the lack of running time in other ways. "The most important aspect of our preparation for the San Marino Grand Prix has been our intensive three-day test in Barcelona, our first since this year's racing began," Rampf said, referring to the session two weeks ago. "We concentrated there on our ongoing aerodynamic programme, trying several new components from the wind tunnel at Hinwil, and also tyre testing for Imola and future races."

Although aerodynamics are crucial to a modern day Formula One race car, the team has also made progress in other key areas. "One of the things we needed to do was continue set-up work on the SAUBER PETRONAS C24 as we learned more about optimising the way that it uses Michelin's tyres. We also worked on a range of different set-ups for cooler conditions, following the races in Malaysia and Bahrain with their high track and ambient temperatures. All of this test work was particularly valuable, as there is no longer the time or the engine mileage available for such work at races."

The SAUBER team has a good rate of success at the Imola Circuit and if history is any indication, there is a good chance of seeing one or both cars in the points at the end of the race.

SAUBER PETRONAS - Prior Results at Imola Circuit, San Marino: