New Imola chicane receives mixed reviews
Imola's revised Variante Alta chicane received mixed reviews following Friday's practice for the San Marino Grand Prix.
For this year's race organisers have flattened the kerbs and have made the corner tighter and slower, also resurfacing the area.
The end result is that the chicane is now taken like two corners instead of just one like in previous years.
The new asphalt has caused several incidents in today's two sessions, with some drivers expression their disappointment at the changes.
"Especially on the new surface, you have a big difference in terms of grip from the old asphalt and the new surface and that you need to take care and be careful," said Ferrari's Felipe Massa.
"I didn't like the chicane so much: it is much slower than before and you could even manage to make the chicane behind another car without losing grip, and now it is much slower so it will be impossible to overtake in the Rivazza."
Briton Jenson Button added: "It is not as exciting, it was a lot more fun last year. It is alright, it is just very, very slippery.
"The tarmac there is very slippery, it will need a lot of bedding in I think, and it is just strange coming from the previous corners where you have lots of grip compared to that one where it is completely different tarmac and that is the biggest issue you have got there.
"The grasscrete on the outside is good because it stops you from going off the circuit because it slows you down you so much so maybe it is a good idea for the future."
Button's teammate Rubens Barrichello believes the new chicane will create more overtaking opportunities.
"Obviously they could have put a huge corner in there, you would have loved it further, but the idea of not having a little kerb on the exit means that a lot of people will be making mistakes," he said.
"It is a pity that the track is not wider because then we would promote more overtaking at the Rivazza corners because it is left and right. The guy could choose to stay in the middle of it and you cannot pass, but it will definitely create more opportunities."
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2006 San Marino Grand Prix - Race 4/18
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Thread starter's postsIde confident of raising game
Yuji Ide is optimistic he will be able to raise his game with the Super Aguri team following the three-week break ahead of the San Marino Grand Prix.
The Japanese rookie has struggled to match to the pace of his more experienced teammate Takuma Sato since the start of the season, and very limited testing has not helped him.
Ide was scheduled to have a full day of testing at Barcelona last week, but problems with the car meant he could not run at all.
Despite that, the Super Aguri driver believes a meeting with his engineers before the Imola race will help him improve from now on.
"After the Australian Grand Prix I was not happy with my past results, so I had an important meeting with the engineers in UK before we came to Imola," said Ide.
"I am glad we had this particular meeting since I feel that the car is working much better for me and I think that I will be able to show a better performance than during the past races."
Ide was slowest in today's practice, over a second behind Sato.
"I was able to have a clear run today and I am feeling more confident about the qualifying session tomorrow. I won't be able to make up too many places, but I am hoping that it may be my best qualifying and starting position so far," he added.
Berger believes Toro Rosso could shine
Gerhard Berger is convinced that Scuderia Toro Rosso can beat some of their better funded rivals in Formula One - especially when new rules are introduced for 2008.
The Austrian, who returned to the sport as a part owner in Red Bull's junior team, is convinced that Toro Rosso can break the mould in F1 by achieving results beyond what are normally possible for small teams.
"On paper it is practically impossible for a small team to assert itself there, so why are we giving it a go anyway?" he said in a column in The Red Bulletin.
"It could be naivety, but in fact we are hoping to be able to go beyond the conventional standards with a particular racing flair and a feeling for the right people.
"The regulations from 2008 onwards will also play an essential role – this was a crucial factor in my decision to risk the step up to team owner together with Didi Mateschitz.
"Without the chance of a new approach to Formula One, with respect to clever cost saving, synergies and fresh ideas, it would make absolutely no sense at all for a small player to enter the fray against the big players and their enormous resources.
"My feeling is that these fresh ideas are really doing well and will give us a Formula One where one's rivals will not be beaten by purely monetary means."
The new rules for 2008 are expected to dramatically cut the costs of competing, which should in turn allow the non-manufacturer teams a better chance of achieving success on the track.
San Marino: Friday notes - Red Bull
David Coulthard: I don't think we're suddenly going to take a big step forward here, but we're starting to get a better understanding of the car. Inevitably that will help with future development. I honestly don't know where we are in the field at the moment – tomorrow will tell.
Christian Klien: I went out in the first session for just a few laps. The car felt not too bad overall, although there was some understeer. I had problems with the brake balance and, as a result, the rears kept locking up. I wasn't able to adjust the balance from the cockpit, so that's why I was off the pace. In the second session, after we'd made some changes to the brake balance, the car felt better.
Robert Doornbos: That wasn't such a good Friday for us to be honest. Normally we have a better day, but we struggled with the set up this morning. The car was very unbalanced, so it was quite difficult to do the tyre work and the set up at the same time, but we made the best of it this morning. This afternoon we did some long runs, which were consistent and we have a clear decision on tyres for the weekend. It's a very particular circuit to get the right set up right here, and hopefully things will improve over the weekend.
San Marino: Friday notes - Renault
The Renault F1 Team's weekend in San Marino began with two routine practice sessions today in Imola.
The morning session saw the team's two drivers completely only installation laps, before beginning their programmes this afternoon with several set-up changes to achieve a stable balance on the R26. Their work was hampered by poor circuit conditions and very low grip levels; as a result, neither driver was satisfied with the handling by the end of the session. In spite of this, the cars were encouragingly quick, and overnight set-up changes combined with additional running tomorrow morning, should see both Renaults in a strong position for the afternoon's qualifying session.
Fernando Alonso: As usual on the Friday, the grip levels were quite bad. That makes the car inconsistent to drive, and we began working on the set-up to try and improve things. We are not there yet, and we are suffering from too much understeer at the moment. I think we are quick as well but as always, the times on Friday don't mean too much. If we can make some good changes tonight, though, I think we will be a in a strong situation for the race.
Giancarlo Fisichella: I had a difficult day to be honest. The balance of the car is not good and the grip is very low on the track. The main problem is in the chicanes where the handling is inconsistent, which means you cannot attack them with any confidence. We have a lot of work to do tonight, to reach our normal level of performance.
Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering: In very low grip conditions such as we experienced today, it is perfectly understandable that neither driver is particularly happy with the balance of the car at the moment. We made some limited changes to the set-up in the second session and we seem to be going in the right direction, so we will continue to study the data overnight to solve the problems. All things considered, our relative competitiveness seems to be where we would expect.
Denis Chevrier, Head of Trackside Engine Operations: We had another normal day of Friday practice today. For the engine team, that means calibrating the engine mapping and control systems, which we did without incident. The weather conditions were perfect, contrary to some forecasts, and we hope they will stay that way for the rest of the weekend. It was pleasing to see both cars in a strong position after having done very little running, and Giancarlo's B spec engine is performing in line with our expectations. This has been a solid start, that we will look to build from in tomorrow morning's final practice session.
San Marino: Friday notes - BMW
The three BMW Sauber F1 Team drivers had two trouble-free practice sessions at the Imola track which sees the start of the European part of the F1 season with the sun shining. Test and reserve driver Robert Kubica was third quickest in both sessions.
Robert Kubica: This is my first ever Formula One practice in Europe. I already knew Imola, but they have changed the chicane and re-asphalted some corners. Where the grip level was poor the car was very unstable. We have worked to choose the best tyres, mainly concentrating on doing long runs to see the degradation, and I think we have done two really good sessions. I think it was a good Friday and I think the team will be happy with my driving and our job with the guys.
Nick Heidfeld: I only did a few laps to get familiar with the track. The Variante Alta chicane has changed, and some parts have new tarmac where the surface of the track is very slippery. I also had to deal with a nervous car. Physically I don't feel very well today, something with my stomach doesn't seem right.
Jacques Villeneuve: The track is very slippery, but it is not looking too bad. I think we can work on the car and be competitive. The major problem is we are lacking grip at the moment. They have changed just one chicane and the asphalt in a few places, but that is the same for everyone. At the end of the day the story for me is we are just low on grip.
Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director): It was a good practice day. Robert had a very heavy workload, especially as he was comparing the different tyre compounds over long runs. With this data we have a solid basis to decide on the tyres and the set-up for both racing cars. Nick and Jacques carried out their planned programmes as well. We were able to complete all of this with no technical problems.
Willy Rampf (Technical Director Chassis): We are happy with the first day. We have new aerodynamic parts for the cars and were able to collect a lot of data from these. We are now going to concentrate on fine tuning the set-up of the cars for the race.
San Marino: Friday notes - Toyota
21/04/2006
Panasonic Toyota Racing today began its preparations for the San Marino Grand Prix on a sunny day at Italy's Imola circuit. Fresh from his podium in Australia, Ralf Schumacher missed most of the day's running due to electronic problems but Jarno Trulli successfully completed his programme of tyre comparison and set-up work. The drivers will now look to make continued improvements over the rest of the weekend as Toyota bids for more points. Yesterday Toyota's Technical Director Engine Luca Marmorini received the Gold Medal from the Italian region of Emilio Romagna at the Lorenzo Bandini trophy evening. Now the team will be looking for even more to cheer after Sunday's race.
Jarno Trulli has high hopes for his home race after making progress with his set-up during last week's test.
Jarno Trulli: "I haven't had much fortune in the first three races, but I am more confident about this weekend. At last week's Barcelona test we took a different direction with set-up. That led to a big step forward, and today the handling of the car was pretty close to how I like it. We had to do more laps than usual because of Ralf's problems but we look good so far. We have some small steps on the car here and Bridgestone have brought some new tyres so that should give us a chance to get closer to the top teams. Historically Imola has never been a good track for Toyota, but I'm confident we can turn that record around."
Ralf Schumacher missed most of the day due to electronic glitches but he remains optimistic.
Ralf Schumacher: "Today was obviously not the perfect way to start the weekend. But Jarno showed that we have good potential here so I still have strong hopes. We saw in Melbourne that we can now get much more out of our package. We've made further improvements during testing so we hope to continue that progress here. We are making steps forward but we are still behind the top teams so we should aim for another strong finish in the points. That would be a good result as we continue our upward momentum."
Panasonic Toyota Racing enjoyed ups and downs during practice for Sunday's San Marino Grand Prix.
Dieter Gass - Chief Engineer Race and Test: "That was a day of mixed emotions for us. Some of the Imola track has been resurfaced so the grip was lacking early in the session but the modification to the Variante Alta is good. We had a very positive day with Jarno, who was happy with his car's balance. He was able to complete his programme of set-up and tyre evaluation, even though he struggled with traffic on his last run. Unfortunately we lost most of Ralf's running because he had some electronic problems so we have less data than usual for the tyre choice. We have an aero update here and overall this was a promising start to the weekend."
San Marino: Friday notes - Midland
Tiago Monteiro: "I'm a bit frustrated today. We lost a lot of time with the old tyres, which was the set programme, but we shouldn't have. I did 75% of my day's practice on tyres that obviously didn't work, and that led us in the wrong direction in terms of set-up, as well as the way I had to drive the car. So naturally, I wasn't too happy about that. But then, when we put the new tyres on, it was like driving a completely different car and I gained two seconds right away. Thankfully, we have one more hour of practice tomorrow morning before qualifying to optimise the set-up with the new tyres, so I'm confident we can be a lot quicker."
Christijan Albers: I think we had a reasonable day, but I'm not really surprised, to be honest, because I know what we're capable of when we're on our game. We are a serious team, and we made the most of our Friday programme today. I also think that tomorrow, when we go for qualifying, we'll be able to find even more time."
Giorgio Mondini: "This morning, I found the car difficult to drive, because it did not match my set-up preferences. But this afternoon, we made some changes that improved the handling quite a lot. The new spec front wing was much better but unfortunately, I broke it on a kerb, so we went back to the old one and I wasn't able to improve on my times. But I felt good in the car, and I think the team did a great job to keep moving up the time sheets. Christijan's fast lap, in particular, was excellent, so I think the engineers were able to get some good data."
Dominic Harlow, Chief Race and Test Engineer: "We had a couple of very productive sessions today, just working through the programme we'd planned for our car updates. We also seem to have a good direction on the tyres we've selected for this weekend. Now it's just a question of siting down and going through the data to see how we can improve again tomorrow. I think we can probably increase Tiago's pace a bit more and move him closer to Christijan's time. Giorgio's obviously given us a lot of feedback from his tyre work today, so we're quite pleased with the work we've put in."
Andy Stevenson, Team Manager: "We had a very productive test at Silverstone last week, where we ran the new aero parts for this weekend. Christijan arrived feeling very upbeat about the whole thing, and he's managed to put some very good laps together. He was consistently quick all the way through the session and then just steadily climbed up the table. Actually, if you take all the 3rd drivers out of the equation, we were 11th quickest today. So I think that puts us in a good position for the remainder of the weekend."
San Marino: Friday notes - WilliamsF1
The FW28s of Alex Wurz, Nico Rosberg and Mark Webber today carried sidepod livery to celebrate Petrobras' achieving oil self-sufficiency for Brazil as annual production in 2006 has reached 1,910,000 barrels per day. This major resource advantage, the privilege of only a few developed nations in the world, in the context of increasing oil scarcity, has been achieved through groundbreaking extraction techniques in deep and ultra deep waters.
Sam Michael, Technical Director, WilliamsF1: "We had a productive day with Alex's car today and we went through the whole programme, particularly checking tyres. The tyre choice will be difficult, but we have plenty of data to go through to assist the engineers with this. Alex also tried a couple of different mechanical set-ups specific to the Imola circuit. We did two runs with Nico's car to give him more track time and one run with Mark's car to check the balance, so it was normal activity for a Friday."
Alex Wurz: "We completed a busy test programme today, so now we have to sit down and carefully analyse what did what and how it should translate to the race cars. My role is purely to evaluate our options and I spent all my time conducting long runs, which is why we do not appear higher up in the timing results, but this doesn't worry me at all. We just have to pull our whole package together a bit tighter and then we will be competitive."
Mark Webber: "I had a few laps at the end of the session to help with the tyre selections - not as many laps as you might like, but I'll make up for it tomorrow. The balance feels about right and we have lots of good information from Alex to look through tonight."
Nico Rosberg: "I think today's sessions went well and Alex did a good job again to find the right set-up, so I immediately had quite a good balance when I first went out. We divided my activity in two runs so I had a bit of time to look at data comparisons. All in all, the performance felt quite good today."
Simon Corbyn, Head of F1 Race Engineering, Cosworth Ltd: "All three CA2006 engines ran without problems today. As usual for Friday, Alex completed the bulk of the running and evaluated the effect of some engine map changes. The data will be checked tonight prior to finalising Mark & Nico's engine plans for Saturday & Sunday."
San Marino: Friday notes - McLaren
Team McLaren Mercedes drivers Juan Pablo Montoya and Kimi Raikkonen finished today's practice sessions for the 2006 San Marino Grand Prix in ninth and 12th positions respectively. Juan Pablo set a time of 1:26.334 and completed a total of 15 laps whilst Kimi's time was 1:26.500 and he completed 20 laps.
Juan Pablo Montoya: "So far so good, and we achieved everything we needed. I did two short runs just to check the balance and then a long run to evaluate our Michelin tyres and all went well. I was stuck in traffic on what was meant to be a fast run, but that is life. We have a couple of new things here which seem to be working and the car feels good. I'm not too keen on the new chicane, but overall I'm quite pleased."
Kimi Raikkonen: "Everything went well, so it's a good start to the weekend. We spent our time working on the set-up and evaluating our Michelin tyres, and I'm pretty confident. The weather is a bit warmer than normal at Imola, and I'm looking forward to the rest of the weekend. I think we have a good package, and we should be able to do well."
Ron Dennis: "Two uneventful but productive practice sessions where we conserved our equipment but still gained a lot of information which we will evaluate overnight. Both Juan Pablo and Kimi went through their planned programmes, and we are definitely heading in the right direction."
Norbert Haug: "We concentrated on going through our planned programme, and we are quite happy with the lap times so far."
San Marino: Friday notes - Super Aguri
It was a positive start to the San Marino Grand Prix weekend for the Super Aguri team today. Yuji Ide pushed himself and the SA05 during the first Free Practice session to clock a best lap time that was only 0.2 seconds off the pace of team mate Takuma Sato. The team completed its planned programmes for the day and now focuses on the decisions to be made for the Qualifying session tomorrow.
Takuma Sato: We had a good day and were able to learn a number of useful things by varying our programme. It was interesting testing the two Bridgestone tyre options and we have collected important data. The car is unstable on the kerbs and bumps, so it is a bit difficult to drive. But I think that we improved throughout the sessions and we will just continue to work hard to prepare ourselves for tomorrow.
Yuji Ide: After the Australian Grand Prix I was not happy with my past results, so I had an important meeting with the engineers in UK before we came to Imola. I am glad we had this particular meeting since I feel that the car is working much better for me and I think that I will be able to show a better performance than during the past races. I was able to have a clear run today and I am feeling more confident about the Qualifying session tomorrow. I won't be able to make up too many places, but I am hoping that it may be my best qualifying and starting position so far.
Aguri Suzuki, Team Principal: I think Yuji is getting used to handling the car and starting to feel more comfortable with it. It is good to see him growing in confidence and getting used to his F1 surroundings. I know that there are a lot of things we need to improve and our performances are far from the top level, however, we are taking very good steps forward. As I always say, we want to improve the team and performance step-by-step. I am looking forward to the Qualifying tomorrow.
San Marino: Friday notes - Ferrari
Jean Todt: We are happy to be here in Imola in front of so many Ferrari fans, including those members of the Scuderia Ferrari Club, who have their own grandstand and gave Michael and Felipe a really warm welcome when the drivers went to greet them between the two sessions. As for the work on track, it was the usual Friday, dedicated to evaluating the two types of tyre and setting up the cars. From what we could see and allowing for the usual factors relating to fuel loads and tyre usage for the other teams, we can say that the 248 F1-Bridgestone tyre combination seems to be competitive. Now we have to work on making a further step forward for qualifying and the race.
Michael Schumacher: We are happy with the work done today, which has left me in a positive mood. I see no reason to be pessimistic, even though that doesn't mean we were slow at the previous races. We have made progress in various areas and even if they are only minor things, all put together they have produced a good step forward. The whole package is working better and therefore the car is quicker. I think we can fight for pole tomorrow and I even believe we can be in the hunt for the win on Sunday. I say it again, I am optimistic.
Felipe Massa: All in all, I am happy with what we achieved today. In the morning, we struggled a bit to find the best set-up, however we improved the car in the afternoon. I used the same set of tyres throughout the two hours to prepare as well as possible for the race. I think we now have a good starting point for the rest of the weekend. I am happy to be here at Imola for the first time as a Ferrari driver and hope to give the fans something to cheer about.
Ross Brawn: A good day's work. The progress we saw at the Barcelona test has been confirmed in these two hours of practice and the new aerodynamic package seems to be working particularly well, as does the engine. The engine was an area where we experienced some difficulties in the last two races, but now we are back to normal. We compared the two types of tyre supplied by Bridgestone and now we have to look at the data to make the right choice. Both types seemed up to the task, which is a sign that we have also made progress on this front.
San Marino: Friday notes - Honda
The Honda Racing F1 Team were back on track in Imola today for the opening day of the European season which kicks off this weekend with the San Marino Grand Prix. Today's opening free practice sessions saw the usual Friday activity of tyre evaluations and set-up work, giving the drivers the opportunity to fine-tune the cars to the demands of this newly reprofiled circuit. The new chicane layout left the drivers struggling for grip during the morning session but the team was able to make good progress with evaluating its new aerodynamic and engine upgrades this afternoon when the circuit had 'rubbered in'.
Anthony Davidson: "We've made a good start to the weekend, collecting plenty of data from our extensive tyre evaluation work. The track conditions were very slippery this morning due to the asphalt around the new chicane but that improved this afternoon and I think we have got some good running under our belts."
Jenson Button: "We worked through our usual Friday programme and as usual have a lot of information to work with as a result of Anthony's running. We'll be taking a good look at the data tonight to assess how our developments for this race will suit us for the rest of the weekend and there is still some way to go with the set-up. Generally, a reasonably good start."
Rubens Barrichello: "There was traffic everywhere today which made clean runs very difficult, however I had a generally problem-free day with the brakes working much better for me. We have some work to do on the balance yet but so far so good and let's see what tomorrow brings."
Gil de Ferran, Sporting Director: "We have had a reasonably good first day with Anthony getting good clean runs to compare tyres in practice one and two. As a result we have some very good data on this front. On the other hand there is still some room for improvement as far as the car balance is concerned, since all three drivers are unhappy with similar issues. Hopefully we can address some of these overnight and be in a strong position for qualifying tomorrow."
Shuhei Nakamoto: Management Board Member - Honda Racing F1 Team, Engineering Director - Honda Racing Development: "We had a trouble-free day with the new specification engine and we were able to gather a lot of data to analyse in preparation for tomorrow's strategy decisions. Generally a good start to the weekend."
San Marino: Friday quotes - Toro Rosso
Tonio Liuzzi: "Not bad for a first day. The car was consistent in the long run and we have a good balance for the race. Tomorrow morning, we will have to work hard on our set up for qualifying, as that has been our weak point so far this season. Here in Imola, where overtaking is difficult, it is important to have a good grid position.
"To start further forward in this our home race is important to show all the Italians that we are here as an Italian team a real Italian team. The kerbs are always a problem at this circuit, but the car is not so bad, apart from the last chicane where we struggle a bit. All in all, the first two hours have been good and I am confident we can improve."
Scott Speed: "It's really hard to tell what our real performance level is at the moment. It's hard to compare with the others. The balance of our car is not too horrible. I think we are pretty close to where we need to be. It's the usual compromise on set-up here to deal with the kerbs, but our car is handling them quite well, although I don't know how we stand down the straightaways right now."
Neel Jani: "My programme in the first session was completely different to the other two guys, so as to get some extra information, but it didn't really work out and the car was very difficult to drive. When I spun, I was going 2 kilometres quicker than on the previous lap, but it was obviously 2 kilometres too much! This afternoon, we again tried a completely different set-up and it worked much better and it helped us with our tyre choice."
San Marino: Friday notes - Bridgestone
Bridgestone Motorsport's teams were on good form today at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino as they hit the track for the first time ahead of this weekend's San Marino Grand Prix. Bridgestone has brought new compounds to Imola and the teams were busy deciding which to run. Scuderia Ferrari's Michael Schumacher set the fastest lap of the day with a time of 1m24.751s. Fellow Bridgestone runner WilliamsF1 third driver, Alex Wurz, set the third fastest time of the day while running a total of 50 laps, enabling his teammates Mark Webber and Nico Rosberg to complete very few laps. Panasonic Toyota Racing's Jarno Trulli had a productive day, setting competitive lap times but his teammate Ralf Schumacher had his running cut short with a mechanical problem. MF1 Racing's Christijan Albers seemed to be relishing a return to Europe, posting some solid times in both of today's sessions. The teams now have one more session on Saturday morning before deciding their final tyre choices ahead of the afternoon qualifying session.
Hisao Suganuma, Bridgestone Motorsport Technical Manager: "Track conditions were dusty this morning but this is normal for a Friday. We also found that the areas which have had new tarmac laid down were lacking in grip but we expect these sections to improve as the weekend progresses. The Bridgestone teams got plenty of tyre work done today with Alex Wurz in particular providing some good comparison data between the 'hard' and 'soft' specifications. Looking at the lap times it seems both should be competitive this weekend. On the whole we saw some promising times from the majority of the Bridgestone runners, which bodes well for the race on Sunday. We shall now go and analyse the lap times and wear rates before giving the teams our opinions ahead of their final tyre choices. What was good to see today was that while we brought compounds for a cooler European climate, they have performed very well in the warm conditions we have experienced today, demonstrating a broad working range."
San Marino: Friday quotes - Michelin
Nick Shorrock, Formula One director: "This weekend has been a pleasant surprise because the forecasts told us to expect cool, showery conditions. The warm weather hasn't had an adverse effect on Michelin's performance, but it does mean our partners might end up racing a compound they hadn't expected to choose.
"The track has evolved considerably during the day, but we were able to do some good comparative work this afternoon. That gives us a solid base for the rest of the weekend and we have plenty of data to analyse this evening.
"Michelin scored a narrow victory in last year's corresponding fixture, with Fernando Alonso and Renault, and all the evidence suggests this is going to be another very competitive weekend. I'm delighted to say, though, that the five different products we are using this weekend are working very well."
Friday's press conference - San Marino
Participating: Bernard Ferguson (Cosworth), Paolo Martinelli (Ferrari), Otmar Szafnauer (Honda), Rob White (Renault).
Q. Bernard, you have quite a workload this year with V10s and V8s, how is that working out?
Bernard Ferguson: It seems to be working OK so far. It's not such a huge problem with the V10, because we weren't allowed to change anything and the specification is pretty restricted so not much of a workload there. A little bit more of a workload on the V8 as you can imagine: an awful lot to do, very difficult introducing a new engine and taking it to two race weekends. I think all the engine manufacturers have found that so far.
Q. How much are you asking Williams to do in terms of simulation, that sort of thing?
BF: Basically, most of the work we do on the specification of the engine and testing the engine has to be done on the dyno now because obviously there's a restriction on the amount of testing that one wants to do, but they have been very accommodating in so far as they've done all the tests we've needed to do, all of the different modes of running, they've been very accommodating. The drivers have been really good with us and working together brilliantly as a team.
Q. What's the reliability situation as we come to this race?
BF: We've lost one engine in three races; that's a long way above what we're used to but we're pretty confident we're going to have a good race weekend this weekend.
Q. Otmar, Jenson's retirement from Melbourne. How did that come about, especially pulling off before the chequered flag?
Otmar Szafnauer: Well, as you saw, it was a spectacular retirement on the last lap of Melbourne. We had no inkling of the fact that the engine was going to let go until about halfway through the last lap and then noticed some idiosyncrasies on the telemetry. We didn't know whether Jenson was going to make it or not. However, we had a feeling that something was happening. And then on the straight, when the engineers saw what happened, we just considered Jenson's safety and the safety of everyone else - I think we were half a kilometre away from the finish line when that happened - and we just told him the best thing to do was to pull over as quickly as he could and that's what he did.
Q. Which would Honda have preferred?
OS: Well, that's hypothetical. You always prefer points because that's what we're here to do. However, you can't say that points is what you want to do over somebody's safety so the right thing to do and the thing we prefer is to have a safe conclusion to something like that.
Q. This year, Honda has said they would support the Super Aguri team who have had phenomenal reliability, but how much is 100 percent support, which it was quoted as being.
OS: Well, it is 100 percent support from an engine perspective, so Super Aguri receive the same engines as Honda Racing F1 from Japan. We're also supporting them with some gearbox technology and we have some people from our R&D in Japan supporting them with general racing technologies and the know-how that we have. But they are definitely separate and split from Honda Racing F1 as they have different objectives and our predominant support is in engines and partly gearboxes.
Q. Paolo, what have your feelings been about the development of the V8 so far in comparison to the V10?
Paolo Martinelli: Well, of course the V8 has been a completely new engine development, a new type of engine so it was quite tough and we have to work hard, for sure, during the season, being this is one of the first racing seasons with a V8, so we are gaining experience. I think each of us is working hard, trying to develop as fast as possible, as usual in Formula One, with a brand new engine.
Q. Is the development pace a lot faster than it has been in the past?
PM: You can say that we have a different learning curve than we had with ten years' experience with a V10. Most of the job, or the majority of the very important or predominant factors were well known. Here, sometimes we find some new items, some new areas where you can find performance and then you have to push hard for development.
Q. You didn't really have a great heritage in V8s, did you?
PM: Well, we used the V8 in the very far past, about 50 years ago, so basically we didn't get much experience from that in the Formula One world.
Q. So have you been happy with the way it's gone so far?
PM: Well, in terms of development, everything is going properly. Of course, we had a reliability issue which we paid for in a severe way. In Malaysia we had a component failure. We hope to have fixed it. We have something different here in Imola and from that point, we hope to continue with our necessary search for reliability.
Q. Rob, your engine came out relatively late in comparison to some others. Was that part of the policy and has that had an influence on the reliability since then?
Rob White: It's certainly true that I think we were the last onto the track which came about from our explicit choice not to do a hybrid car in which we put an early version of the engine into a converted car of a previous generation. This was a thing we looked at, honestly very very briefly, and figured that for us it would not be best use of our resource.
We tried to set out our stall in order to make best use of the resources in the team. We looked at how to construct the project planning from the moment we knew what the rules would be until the date of the first race. We tried to build in the experiences from previous engine projects. Frankly, we did what we thought was right for our team in our context and we were, I think, reassured that it played out well for us.
Q. So you're quite happy with the way it's gone.
RW: As Paolo said, it's a new experience working on this family of V8 engines. They're not the same as V10 engines but they clearly have some very important family similarities. There's a lot of the genes of the previous V10 engines certainly built into our V8 engine. I think that's part of the way in which we approached the design of the engine. We tried to set ourselves aggressive performance targets.
We tried to set ourselves clear reliability objectives that we thought would be worthy of a World Championship campaign. The difficulty of developing the V8 is of course due to the phenomena that are particular to V8s. There are some, but behind all of that, the physics is the same, the engineering is the same and we're pretty confident that the people, the skills, the techniques that we have are portable between V10 and V8 engines.
Q. You've got a new spec engine here, but only for Giancarlo, not for Fernando. How much of a disadvantage is that going to be for Fernando?
RW: We're in a position where our two drivers are out of sync so what we have been able to do is advance the arrival of a planned engine upgrade for Giancarlo. We had an upgrade, which was scheduled for race five, and due to being out of sync; we were able to make one of those upgrades available to Giancarlo.
Clearly the way that was handled is that we had to go right down to the last minute with all the validation processes, the performance on the dyno, the validation of all the pieces for reliability and confirmation through track testing. There was a decision on whether or not to use the engine on a race weekend, but following good results on the bed and in testing, that's what we decided we could do. Giancarlo gets the new spec a little bit earlier than Fernando and Fernando gets his on the normal planning.
Q. So how much advantage or disadvantage will it be?
RW: As always, I won't tell you the exact differences, but we have a lap time improvement which is pleasing.
Q. But is it a disadvantage therefore, for Fernando?
RW: It's certainly an advantage for Giancarlo.
Q. (To all) You were all at the Maranello meeting that was held where the 2008 regulations were discussed. Can we have your reactions and thoughts on those regulations working up to the homologation?
PM: It was an important meeting in Maranello, but it is not the only meeting we are going to have. The aim is quite clear, and the aim is to limit economic resources to put on the engine's continuous development. We are not fixing the engines for five years - we are saying that each year we can make a step forward in development. We have frozen something, which is the starting page and the details have to be examined together for next month before we get to what the rules will be finally.
We want to have an area in which we can continue development. This is an important part of supporting Formula One. We just want to establish what the constraints will be each year. It would be very difficult if each year you had to start with one piece of paper and you had to make a completely new engine. We need to have a freedom there to keep high technology in Formula One and continue.
Q. But it's something you are in favour of?
PM: Of course, yes. I am in favour of anything that supports the sport.
Q. Rob?
RW: It was a good meeting in Maranello. Clearly, the purpose of the meeting was to discuss the engine part of 2008 rules. A list of the 2008 rules has already been published and exists and between now and the end of June we will have to discuss it more. It was a good, constructive discussion between interested parties, during which we Identified some ways in which the rules can be freed up a little bit.
We also want to identify some areas in which it will be useful for our engine to be developed. The process will, of course, continue in to be discussed. I'm sure there will be some more discussions for the entire 2008 rules. It's not just the engine part of it that needs to be finalised
Q. But you see advantages?
RW: The reasons for the restrictions being published are clear for all to see – to achieve a substantial cost reduction in Formula One. Everybody understands, accepts and supports that cause and any discussions on it are a clear step in the right direction.
BF: It's rather difficult to imagine how you could freeze the engine for three years and still have the engineers around to develop the next one. I don't know how we'll achieve that, so I think this is a very logical step – the Maranello meeting. I think it needs fleshing out a little bit and it needs to specify in a little bit more detail, but it's a good starting point.
What I'm altogether unsure about is what the mechanism is now for discussing and modifying the 2008 regulations. Whilst they are a draft proposal, they are not a modification in the 2008 regulations. I'm sure that in the future, Charlie Whiting will be calling together a meeting of the technical working group to discuss and introduce any changes to the regulations ahead of the June 30 deadline.
Q. That's the problem as far as you're concerned? Are you still supportive?
BF: In principle, it's absolutely right, the mechanisms I'm not sure of, but from my point of view, that doesn't really matter. The answer to the question you asked is yes, we are very supportive of it certainly. OS: We didn't attend the meeting so we only know what was written in the press. We understand the reasons for proposing an engine freeze meaning cost reduction and we do support cost reduction in Formula One.
However, I think we have to spend the next two months in proposing ways of alternative cost-cuts, alternative to an engine freeze, because we believe an artificial engine freeze would not be beneficial to Formula One and to racing in general. We can appreciate the engine freeze and cost reductions, but how we do it though, we think there are ways alternative to an engine freeze.
Q. How would you do that?
OS: Like Bernard says, the process is a bit unclear. As I understand it, we could do it through the technical working group until June 30, which is when the 2008 regulations will be published. When TWG meeting is called, I think the engine manufacturers should be prepared with some alternative engine solutions to suggest, because we differentiate from each other through engine technology. That would be our preferred method.
Ferrari: engine problems behind us
Ferrari are confident that they are now fully on top of the piston problems that marred their start to the campaign.
The Maranello outfit have worked hard in the three-week break since the Australian Grand Prix to get on top of the engine issues that resulted in reliability concerns for the first three events of the season.
As well as suffering from needing to change engines in the Malaysian Grand Prix, Ferrari also had to compromise their performance by running restricted revs in Australia because of worries about further piston breakages.
But after modifications made to the pistons in time for this weekend's San Marino Grand Prix, Ferrari technical director Ross Brawn said he was hopeful that the issue was now behind them.
"I hope so," he said. "All the signs are good. The only slight doubt is that it appeared with no warning and the engines had been running well up to then and we just suddenly had a problem at Bahrain. It was a problem that appeared quite quickly, having done a lot of successful mileage over the winter.
"The piston design has been modified to a stronger design. There are a few little disadvantages but not from a reliability point of view. So we are all reasonably confident.
"We've done plenty of long runs on the specification, so we're as confident as we can be."
Brawn confirmed that the engine issue was restricted to pistons and did not revolve around any other area of their V8 power-unit.
"It was a piston problem - that was the component that failed," he said. "It was a frustrating problem because it was an individual piston that was having a problem while the other seven were okay.
"Normally when you get a piston problem, you get the evidence of the other pistons to look at and understand what on earth is happening. In this case we were getting a single piston failure with no evidence from the other seven as to what might be the problem. "
Brawn claimed that Ferrari's confidence about their engine would allow them to run at maximum revs for qualifying - something they had not been able to do since the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix when they locked out the front row of the grid.
"We couldn't use the revs in qualifying that we had been able to use in Bahrain," he said. "We are back to a situation where we can use a range of rpm on the engine whereas we had to be conservative in the last two.
"Fortunately we're back in a situation where I feel we can be quite aggressive in our approach, in a way we have been doing for several years with a strategy that's absolutely the best for being at the front of the grid."
GPMA: fine-tuning needed for new F1 deal
Formula One's manufacturers believe that more fine-tuning still needs to be done before they can reach a final agreement over their commitment to the sport, despite earlier hopes of a breakthrough in talks.
As revealed earlier today, Renault boss Flavio Briatore said that he was ready to commit his team to F1 until the end of 2012 after talks with Ecclestone and F1 owners CVC Capital Partners about a new Concorde Agreement.
As a member of the Grand Prix Manufacturers' Association, his comments indicated that there was a chance a settlement could be reached imminently.
But in a meeting at Imola on Friday evening between the other members of the GPMA to analyse the latest offer, they decided that further talks were necessary before they could commit.
Mercedes-Benz motorsport boss Norbert Haug said he remained optimistic a deal was close, but that further fine tuning of the details of the agreement needed sorting out.
He said: "If you look at where we started four years ago, there have been a lot of talks and we have achieved a lot in that time. But there is still some fine tuning to be done here and there."
Briatore was optimistic the deal would be struck within the next few days, however.
"I am sure it is close," he told Reuters. "The deal has been on the table for the last three or four weeks. It depends when the manufacturers want to sign.
"We need to go ahead...for sponsorship, for anything, we need to give stability - we need to give a signal that we will do the 2008 championship, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012," added the Italian.
"It makes no sense to lose time. The difference between what is on offer and what the people request is a motorhome," he added gesturing towards some of the imposing team facilities that can cost several million dollars.
Asked whether a deal could be sealed this weekend, Briatore replied: "I hope so, especially for us.
"It is a deal, good or bad. Only the future tells you how good or bad it is. I am optimistic."
Brawn happy with Ferrari's step forward
Ferrari believe they have taken a significant step forward with the improvements they have introduced for their car at the San Marino Grand Prix.
The Italian squad, who failed to keep their momentum going in Malaysia and Australia after a strong Bahrain Grand Prix, are using several new components at Imola, in the hope to fight for their first win since last year's United States Grand Prix.
Ferrari claim they have also solved their engine problems, which means they will be able to run their units at full power during the weekend.
"Aero is a two, threes tenths step forward," said technical director Ross Brawn after today's practice. "And being able to run the engine in the sort of form we want to is another few tenths, so it's a reasonable step from what we had in Australia."
Michael Schumacher enjoyed a promising first day at Ferrari's home track, the German finishing on top in the morning and second only to Fernando Alonso in the afternoon. His teammate Felipe Massa finished in fifth.
Brawn reiterated the team's claims that there's nothing wrong with the 248 F1 car, saying they have failed to maximise its potential.
"We feel we have a good car and we've not quite realised it and I think today we've reinforced that," Brawn added.
"The car was well balanced, both drivers found plenty of grip. We found some different set-ups - some improved it and some went in the wrong direction, but generally the car was good.
"Both drivers tried the two tyres available and both were quite good, so it was quite difficult to choose between the two compounds. Both seemed to be working quite well."