Turkish GP Preview

[narain fan 0]

Istanbul : The only "float-away" race

After the race in Budapest, Formula 1 seemed to be entering a period of time reminiscent of an era when life was lived at a more relaxed pace. To start with, there would be three weeks before the next grand prix and secondly, the race cars and equipment would travel there and back from Trieste, Italy by ship.

Last year, Turkey became the first ever race described by the teams' logisitics people, as a "float-away" as opposed to "flyaway," which describes the races outside Europe, where teams have to get organised without their trucks or motorhomes. Turkey falls between the two in that the trucks and motorhomes in the paddock mean the event has an identical feel to the European races, but the vehicles do most of the journey by sea, rather than by road.

In charge of Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro's logisitics operations is Miodrag Kotur, whose career in racing is closely linked to that of Ferrari Managing Director Jean Todt, "I started working in motor sport in 1988 at Peugeot Talbot Sport, which is where I got to know Jean Todt and worked on Rallye Raid events such as the Paris-Dakar and other African races," says Kotur. "It was a stroke of luck that I got the job and I guess you could say I came in through the back door! After Rallye Raid events, Peugeot switched to sports car racing with the famous 905 and it was at this point that I got more involved with the logistics side of the operation.

"After a one-two-three finish in the Le Mans 24 Hours, Mr Todt signed a contract with Ferrari and he asked if I wanted to come with him. It was not an offer I could refuse, going to work for Ferrari! I was young and unmarried and I didn't speak Italian." At first, Kotur's main role was to oversee Todt's move from France to Italy and everything that entailed, before working full-time for the Scuderia's logistics operation from 1994.

Despite over a decade in the role, Kotur still has plenty of enthusiasm for his work. "It's a job I like where we can always improve with different and unexpected things to do," he maintains. "You have to try and anticipate what might happen and it is interesting because logistics here at Ferrari, involves a wide range of responsibilities, such as transport, hotels, team kit and catering. It's such a big job there is no time to get bored."

Last year's inaugural Turkish Grand Prix was a good example of the way Kotur's job can throw up the unknown as it was the first time F1 cars went to a race by boat. "It all went well," recalls Kotur. "We hesitated between going by boat or sending the cars by road from Hungary. But given that there might have been complex problems with getting through customs in countries like Serbia and Bulgaria that are not in the EU, we opted for the boat from Trieste to Istanbul. It is a 56 hour sailing. It was really well organised by a company that specialises in international truck transportation. They reserved ships just for F1 without allowing normal trucks on board. It was especially important for the return trip to Trieste to run on time as we had the Italian Grand Prix at Monza just a fortnight later. With a 56 hour crossing there was no question of missing the boat. This year, our trucks will leave Trieste on Friday 18 August and we arrive on the Monday morning for the short drive to the circuit outside Istanbul. Once we are there it is just like any other European race, except that it takes place in Asia. The infrastructure is all new with plenty of room as the circuit has been designed to have a long life while meeting the most up to date requirements of the teams. The Turkish customs cooperate and facilitate all our administrative needs. Everything is done really quickly and we certainly had no problems last year."

While getting into Turkey went smoothly, one lesson learnt from the 2005 race is that traffic on the roads from Istanbul to the circuit is very heavy and so contingency plans are being put in place for this year. "Getting to the track in the morning is the biggest problem and we hear the traffic could be even worse this year," warns Kotur. "Crossing the main bridge over the river Bosphorus is the biggest hold-up. Some of our cars did not have the telepass and it could take half an hour to cross the bridge. So, this year, we will have chauffeurs as they are local and know the short cuts and they also understand the unusual driving style of the local people there!."

Istanbul was a new experience in 2005 and now it seems that for 2007, teams will face another new challenge, when Formula 1 is due to visit the Japanese Mount Fuji circuit for the first time since 1977. "I went there after Australia this year, travelling from Melbourne to Tokyo to visit the circuit and the surrounding areas to look at the hotels," says Kotur. "The circuit itself is not bad, although it currently lacks the team offices and kitchens. They are planning that now. What worries me is that in terms of hotels and access to the circuit there could be some difficulties. There are not many hotels and they are far away. Getting to the track will be very difficult. From the centre of Tokyo it takes an hour but when a race is on it can take four to five hours. Access is by small country lanes and everyone wants to go by car. There is not much parking, so they will stop all traffic in a 20 kilometre radius and only let pass holders through. I used to think Suzuka Circuit was difficult logistically, but Mount Fuji seems to be a much more complicated scenario."

No matter how complicated it is the job of Kotur and his staff to ensure that everything runs smoothly once the race team arrive at a new venue. For the drivers, engineers and mechanics, the actual location of a circuit should have absolutely no effect on the way they carry out their job of running the cars on the track and the Scuderia's logistics department will be doing their utmost to ensure that is the case.

Source : Ferrari

[narain fan 0]

The tyre warmer

No matter what stage a Grand Prix is at, there is always a stack of Michelin tyres warming in the corner of the Team McLaren Mercedes garage.

Cold tyres are the foe of the racing driver, so it's no surprise that teams go to great lengths to heat up the rubber to give the tyres grip as soon as they touch the asphalt.

The system that Team McLaren Mercedes has for doing this is straightforward. A control box allows the tyre technician to set the temperature. Power then flows along the wires to the blankets, which are wrapped around the tyres. Elements in the blankets are surrounded by a conductive gel, which heats the surface of the rubber to in excess of 100 degrees C.

"Basically, we wrap up the Michelin tyres in the blankets, stack them up, plug them in and they're subjected to a constant heat until we turn them off," says Marcus Prosser, Race Team Tyre Technician. All clear-cut, you think. But just consider that each tyre needs to be heated for a minimum of two hours, and that numerous kinds of tyre must be heated and on hand. Now it is getting a little more complicated.

"We have all three options of Michelin tyres warming: dry, intermediate and full-wet tyres," Prosser continues. "We also heat the different scrubbed tyres that have been used over the weekend, as putting a new tyre on is not always the best course of action. We even had full wets warming in Bahrain , where the track is in the desert and it hadn't rained for five months! We have to be prepared."

The warmer the tyre, the more grip the driver has. Watch a re-start after the Safety Car has pulled into the pits and you'll see that for yourself.

Rubber temperature also influences the pressure of the tyre. "Pressure is as important as grip," explains Prosser. "If the pressures are low, the car will sit lower down. That makes a softer ride, whereas higher pressures make a stiffer ride. The race engineers will often request a pressure adjustment along with a mechanical change."

With so much importance placed on tyre temperature, it is no surprise that Prosser and the team constantly monitor the control box to make sure everything is going to plan.

* Technical Spec

* Length – 200m of filament per warmer

* Temperature – In excess of 100 degrees C

* Number of sets – 24 in 2005

Source: McLaren Mercedes

[F1 FANatic 1]

isnt the british GP a mini float away race because they all use the ferri to get across the channel, or do they now load up on the chunnel trains?

[c21 0]

isnt the british GP a mini float away race because they all use the ferri to get across the channel, or do they now load up on the chunnel trains?

I have seen F1 trucks on the ferry from Portsmouth

[Autumnpuma 0]

Excellent post! I enjoyed reading it. Thanks!

[narain fan 0]

Alonso, Renault Upbeat Ahead of Appeal Hearing

Written by: RACER staff

London, UK – 8/21/2006

On and off the track, this is a key week in Alonso's bid to hold off Michael Schumacher in the championship race. (LAT photo)

It’s a big week for the World Championship hopes of Fernando Alonso, with an FIA Court of Appeal set for Tuesday to determine the legality of the mass damper system utilized by the Spaniard’s Renault R26.

The Renault squad will participate in the hearing that will judge the appeal lodged by the FIA against its own stewards, following their decision in Germany to permit use of the mass damper system Renault had been using up until the French Grand Prix. The sport’s governing body appealed the stewards’ decision, having banned the system earlier that same week.

"The Renault F1 team will attend the hearing and will put forward a case," said Pat Symonds, the squad’s director of engineering. "It is not appropriate to comment on the technicalities of that case at this moment. However, we have every faith in the International Court of Appeal. We believe it is an unbiased final judgement, and we will respect its decision."

Regardless of the outcome of the appeal, however, Alonso says that the pace of his Renault in Hungary, made him upbeat about his chances of returning to winning ways in Turkey this weekend. The 25-year-old World Champion has seen his advantage over Ferrari’s Michael Schumacher trimmed to just 10 points with five races remaining.

"I’m feeling very positive," said Alonso. "I am in the position where everybody wants to be - leading the championship, with the races counting down. There was some pressure on us after Germany, but the race in Hungary showed that the R26 is still very competitive, and that you have to take every weekend one at a time.

"Turkey will be a new race with its own challenges, but I am feeling confident. This type of circuit suits our car, and Michelin will bring good tires. So we need to concentrate on our job, put the package together and make no mistakes. Then let’s see what the race brings."

Renault preview the Turkish GP

Monday August 21 2006

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Keen to return to the top step of the podium...

Fernando Alonso

Q: Fernando, you have enjoyed a three-week break since Hungary. How was it?

Fernando Alonso: It was great! Everybody wanted a break to recharge their batteries, not just the drivers but the mechanics and engineers as well. We all need to have some time off, and it means we arrive in Turkey feeling better than ever. Myself and Renault are leading both championships, we have prepared well for this race and we are feeling fresh. It's the ideal way to go into the final races of the season.

Q: Do you enjoy the Istanbul Park circuit?

FA: Yes, and parts of it are like a classic circuit such as Spa. It is a very wide, modern circuit and there are plenty of overtaking opportunities. It features some special corners as well, which are blind when you go into them, so it's quite different to what we normally find on a new track. And of course, there is turn 8, which is a very long left-hander where we will probably be flat out with the V8 this year, with lateral loadings of 4G. It's a fun circuit, and this will be one of the season's important races.

Q: This is the second Turkish Grand Prix. Will that change anything compared to last year?

FA: I think it will just make everything that bit easier for everybody, from the drivers to the teams and the organisers. Everything was new last year, and we needed to learn about the circuit and the facilities... This year, I am sure it will be a bit easier for everybody and that we can put the experience from last year to good use.

Q: Finally, you go into this race with a ten-point lead over Michael Schumacher -- and five races remaining. Are you confident?

FA: Yes, I'm feeling very positive. I am in the position where everybody wants to be -- leading the championship, with the races counting down. There was some pressure on us after Germany, but the race in Hungary showed that the R26 is still very competitive, and that you have to take every weekend one at a time. Turkey will be a new race with its own challenges, but I am feeling confident. This type of circuit suits our car, and Michelin will bring good tyres. So we need to concentrate on our job, put the package together and make no mistakes. Then let's see what the race brings...

Giancarlo Fisichella

Q: Istanbul Park was a new circuit for all the drivers last year. Do you like it?

Giancarlo Fisichella: I like it a lot to be honest. It is one of the new generation circuits, and I felt comfortable straight away last year when I started running there. I started from the front row as well, and the car felt pretty good. I am confident we can be competitive in Turkey this year.

Q: Turn 8 is the one that everybody talks about as the most impressive part of the circuit -- and a tough corner for the drivers. Is this a physically-demanding track?

GF: Yes, there are some good corners and turn 8 is certainly the hardest on the whole circuit. It's a very long left-hander that we take at nearly 250 kph. We have between 4 and 4.5G on our bodies for about 7 seconds -- which means that your neck is hurting by the end of the race! So you need good physical preparation for this race, maybe even more than the last few races.

Q: How do you work to find a good set-up for this track, when you have very little data from past years?

GF: You have to find the right set-up as quickly as possible. We have the data from last season, and we know what the basic set-up of the car should be. Then, you just need to work efficiently during the sessions and understand how the track and tyres are evolving during the weekend, to make the car as competitive as possible. But the main thing is to start off with a good basic set-up, so you can do the best possible preparation for the race.

Q: Hungary was a difficult outing for you -- have you managed to recharge the batteries since then?

GF: Yes, Hungary was really disappointing for me. Normally, wet conditions like those are ones that really suit my driving style but the grip of the car was just not good in the race. After that, it was good to have a break and I have spent lots of time on my boat with my family. Now, I am really motivated for the last races of the championship. Renault wants to have a strong weekend and steal back the initiative in the championship battle. We have the package to do it, I think, so we are looking forward to racing aggressively, and hopefully finishing on the podium.

[Player(1) 0]

Wire-tap 2005 F1 Turkish GP

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

"...what was Sato doing, the b@$!@*d."

My best guess is that was Heidfeld?

[narain fan 0]

Calling car 18!

Radio communications have become such an integral part of Grand Prix racing that it’s easy to forget there was a time when everything was done by pit signals. If a team wanted to get a message to a driver, he had to physically read it off the pit board, and he only had one chance every lap to do so, by which time it might be too late. Of course, if it said something like, “Move over and let your teammate by,” he might just choose not to see it at all…

Pit boards are still in use, of course – especially to communicate gaps to other drivers, laps to go, and so on – but the important stuff is done by radio.

This month’s Hungarian GP provided a perfect illustration of how valuable good communications can be. In a wet race, a team has to make quick calls on strategy and tyre choice, and it’s essential that the drivers hear everything properly the first time. If they miss a call to the pits, or the team doesn’t understand a request to come in, valuable time can be lost.

It’s an incredibly complex operation. The race engineers talk to the drivers, the drivers talk back, and crew members talk to each other. However, despite the ludicrous scenes depicted in the Sylvester Stallone Champ Car movie Driven, drivers cannot discuss tactics directly with their team mates in the middle of a race. And while girlfriends and wives might be loaned headphones with which to listen in, unlike in Driven, they are not allowed to actually make conversation with their other halves when the cars are running.

The man who looks after MF1 Racing’s radio communications is Spaniard Jose Santos, who joined the team last year. He was trained by his veteran predecessor, Gilles Flaire, who was with MF1 until after this season’s San Marino GP. The Frenchman has now retired from racing – to open a restaurant in Valencia, of all things! Jose and the team still use the systems that Gilles put in place, and indeed he remains in touch with the team, even turning up at a recent test in Jerez to check things out.

Acknowledged as an expert in this very specialised field, Flaire has a military background and worked in many interesting areas before getting involved in motorsport.

“I am a specialist in radio communications, both satellite and normal communications systems,” he explains. “That includes things like encryption systems to protect fax data for big companies and official people, plus bugging, debugging and eavesdropping.”

Flaire came into the sport by chance. A friend of countryman Olivier Panis, he went to the 1996 Japanese GP as a guest, and ended up getting the job of sorting out the Ligier team’s radios. Later, he had spells with Sauber and McLaren before joining Jordan. It goes without saying that a racing car moving at 300+ km/h is not an ideal environment for producing a good radio signal, and that’s where Gilles’s expertise has paid off over the years.

“The most complicated thing is the radio link between the car and the pit. We have special equipment in the car, and because all the electronics must be light, it weighs around 200 grams. The driver wears earplugs, and inside the helmet we install a microphone. The microphones are very, very small – something like 5mm diameter and 2mm thickness – and extremely light.”

“Speaking when the engines are on is a little bit difficult, so we use noise-cancelling technology that requires a double-face microphone. You have an opposite face, which is looking for the noise, and a face into which you talk. So you have two signals: noise and voice. The electronics inside are able to compare them and kill the noise. In the laboratory, we can have 80% suppression, although in the field it’s another question!”

“In the car it’s extremely complicated, because the pressure of the noise is extremely heavy. So the big enemy in the car is the noise. Also in the car, we have electrical problems, because the generator and the voltage regulator keep getting smaller and smaller, and therefore, from an electrical point of view, more and more noisy. So you have to cut first the audio noise from the microphones of the drivers, and after that, to cut the electrical noise that interferes with the radio. And when that is finished, I have mechanical noise due to the vibration. So it is not easy to have good communication with the driver for all these reasons.”

At every race, the teams and other travelling F1 personnel are allocated specific frequencies by the local authorities, a complex but well organised process. Very often, you will see a couple of guys from a government agency wandering around the paddock, waving a machine that looks something like a giant mobile phone. They’re looking for unauthorised signals, but legal or not, the number of radios in use around a race circuit creates a headache.

“Even if your network and equipment is set up perfectly, you still have another problem: the huge number of radios operating at the same time,” explains Jose. “For instance, each team now is handling a minimum of 20 frequencies, and as many as 30 or 40. You might have driver one, mechanics one, driver two, mechanics two, and then there is a T-car, plus telemetry for the chassis, telemetry for the engine, and so on... As we have 11 teams, you can imagine how busy it is."

“The great problem starts to arise on Sunday,” continues Gilles. “At 1:30pm, you have a minimum of 600 or 700 radios on the air at the same time – all the teams, plus the security, the catering, the broadcasters, the VIP village – you cannot imagine! Plus there are all the GSMs in the public, and so on. The radio frequency spectrum is completely full, and that creates two strange effects: first you get interference, which is the ‘scratches’ you can hear on your normal radio from time to time, because you are going past a big transformer or something like that.”

“Then there is the intermodulation effect, which is terrible. You can be in the garage and everything is working well, and a security guard or broadcaster can pass through your garage and it absolutely destroys your network, even though they are not on the same frequency. For instance, one can be on 150 and the other on 450. To handle that is absolutely impossible.”

Some circuits are worse than others, either because of the geographical layout, or the proximity to urban centres.

“On some circuits, the trees are not easy for the radio,” says Jose. “For example, Spa, Monza, and Hockenheim – those are very tricky. The forests absorb some waves, so you have to decide the strategy for your choice of frequency. Monaco, Monza and Brazil are not easy because we are in the centre of a town, so you have things like taxis. Melbourne is one of the most difficult, because they have big TV and radio broadcasters on site, and they generate this intermodulation effect everywhere. It’s a big game! It is much easier to talk to a guy on the moon than to talk to a driver during a race weekend.”

That’s the job Jose now has to tackle 18 times a year. Meanwhile, his mentor, Gilles, has other things to worry about – like serving up the paella in his new restaurant!

MF1

[narain fan 0]

Turkey tech file

After a three-weak break, the Renault F1 Team will begin the final phase of the 2006 world championship with the second ever Turkish Grand Prix. High temperatures, the newest circuit on the calendar and a demanding layout that includes one of the season's most demanding corners, turn 8, should make for a demanding weekend.

Aerodynamics:

Istanbul Park is a very modern circuit, and therefore still in good condition. The track surface is very smooth and the kerbs are not particularly aggressive, which should mean it is relatively easy to find a stable car balance. We will use a lower downforce level than at recent races: the package for Turkey will be nearer to the medium downforce set-up employed at the North American rounds of the championship.

Tyres:

The tyres are not given a particularly hard time in Turkey, but we must pay special attention to the front tyres, and particularly the right front, which suffer in turn 8. Indeed, this corner is among the most demanding of the whole season for the front end of the car. To avoid any potential problems, we can adjust suspension settings and front wing angle; however, we must always be mindful of finding the correct balance between protecting the tyres and maintaining mechanical grip, to ensure the car is quick in the more technical parts of the circuit.

Suspension:

To limit tyre wear, particularly at the front of the car, the main parameters we can adjust are the suspension settings. Given the demands of the circuit and its good condition, we use relatively stiff settings that mean the car changes direction well in the technical portions, and remains stable in the high-speed turns.

Brakes: The braking zone for turn 12 is the most significant on the circuit, and getting it wrong can cost the drivers a lot of time as they overshoot the apex in this slow corner. In overall terms, though, the Istanbul Park circuit is not particularly demanding on the brakes, which can cool on the long straights before the main braking zones.

Engine Performance:

Istanbul Park is a varied circuit for the engine. Almost 65% of the lap is spent at full throttle, which is an average value for the season. We need a tractable engine, with good top speed for overtaking on the main straight – but without compromising low end performance. We also look carefully at power delivery at high revs, which will make turn 8 easier to negotiate.

Cooling:

Temperatures in Turkey are expected to be extremely high, but this should not pose any problems for engine cooling. At this stage of the season, we fully understand the cooling needs of the car, and there are no slow sections in which the engine might risk overheating. Furthermore, the long straights will ensure the engine is well cooled.

Renault

[narain fan 0]

Wurz of Wisdom: Turkey

Right, my first column as a race driver! I’m back in business from next season and let me say that it feels bloody good. First, I want to address a small message to my lovely racing colleagues – watch out, I am back to attack! Nevertheless, I’m fully committed to the bible of motorsport and so let us speak about Turkey.

I didn’t drive in Turkey last year, so in fact maybe this column will more be words than wisdom, but let me explain just how I learn new tracks – something which I enjoy a lot.

It starts with basic homework, something I never did in school, but is now very important and for my own benefit. Yes, I know, school should also be for your own benefit, but all I wanted to do is drive cars and bang wheels with the others and not be totally bored by maths and chemistry. Anyway, step number one for me is to look at a map of the track, step two is to look at TV footage and hopefully find in car camera shots and step three is to look at the data. I always look for the gears in the corners, even though that is quite clear when I walk the track. But on the data I see how the drivers apply the brakes and throttle and from that I can understand a lot. For example, if the driver is operating the pedals in a black and white manner, I know that it is a straightforward corner. If the driver is playing on the throttle for some time I know that it is rather difficult. In which case, I will look at the steering trace and from this I discover if this corner might be one that creates understeer or perhaps oversteer.

If I combine this data with what I see on the onboard footage I have done about 80 per cent of my homework. The rest comes when I walk or drive around the track. Going around the track is important for creating a visual map, picking up signs, kerbs and other landmarks which one requires to navigate faultlessly around the track. When I am walking around the track, I try to overlay the homework data with the new visual map and try to imagine everything at racing speed. Personally, I find no benefit from driving simulators or computer games, but some drivers have different experiences. It all looks very different in real life.

As I am a big head, one of my biggest strengths is learning very quickly, so I really look forward to driving in Turkey, a track which has a lot of altitude changes and blind apexes. Also, it’s got Turn Eight, a neck killer like nowhere else where the car and driver is under lateral load for about eight seconds at more than 4G. That’s cool. On top of this, Turn Eight is a left hander which is harder on the neck as most tracks in Europe have mostly right-hand corners. This means the neck muscle is a bit weaker for left-handers.

As for the World Championship fight, I am not sure who will be better in Turkey. It will be very close between Ferrari and Renault. I guess the tyre choice will be of real importance in Turkey.

Okay, that’s it, over and out from Alex the race driver! Enjoy the Turkish GP…

Honda chief calls Button win 'luck' - 25 August 2006

Honda's Shuhei Nakamoto, who recently succeeded technical director Geoff Willis, said he did not celebrate following the breakthrough win of Jenson Button in Hungary.

'It was luck,' said the Japanese, according to Germany's 'Auto Bild'.

Nakamoto played down the prospect of a follow-up win in 2006 by insisting that the current Brackley-built car is 'not able to beat Ferrari'.

'Our president (Takeo Fukui) thinks exactly the same,' he continued, explaining that he did not join the post-race celebrations in Budapest.

'Why should I (celebrate?),' he quizzed. 'We were too slow. Instead we have to work.'

Out-of-work Willis, meanwhile, vowed to try to return to Formula One after his Honda 'gardening leave' expires at the end of the year.

'At the end of the season there are number of opportunities that are likely to arise,' he was quoted as saying by Britain's Autosport magazine

Alonso to use 'old' engine in Turkey - 25 August 2006

A whisper in Istanbul is that Renault will not fit a new engine to championship leader Fernando Alonso's car, even though he retired from the recent race in Hungary.

It is suggested that, while actually allowed to make the change, the French squad is gambling on the fact that the 2006 title duel against Ferrari's Michael Schumacher is more likely to conclude in Japan - the penultimate round - where Alonso will therefore be able to fit a fresh V8 engine.

Part of Renault's strategic thinking is also that the Enstone-based camp expect to finalise a new engine-spec in the days following Turkey, meaning that Alonso can then use the added horse power and revs on the long straights of Monza.

The risk, of course, is that the championship goes down to the wire and Alonso is forced to contest the Brazilian finale with a race-old unit.

Schumacher, on the other hand, is believed to have had a fresh 2.4 litre power plant fitted following his own Hungarian failure to finish, meaning that at Sao Paulo his engine would be new