19-Aug-08: Renault Aiming High for the Championship
Today is the 19th August 2008, and you’re listening to F1 Minute.
We’ve heard from Red Bull recently that they are aiming to finish fourth in the constructor’s championship this year, but now it appears they’re not the only ones with such an ambition. After a couple of strong race finishes, Renault have said that fourth is the position they have their eye on as well. Director of Engineering Pat Symonds said: “So the performance in Hungary reinforces the belief that we are moving in the right direction and gives me confidence that we can finish fourth in the championship and end the season with the third fastest car.” Not quite sure of his maths there, but it sounds good to me.
Still with Renault, Piquet is looking to qualify well in Valencia and finish with a good points haul. He reckons that he’s had to learn a lot of new tracks this year, but as everyone else is in the same boat at this circuit, it will level the playing field somewhat.
And away from Renault, just a note that Glock says he is still smiling after his second place finish in Hungary. Three weeks later.
That’s it for today, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.
28-May-08: Renault Face Dilemma Over Car Precedence
Today is Wednesday, the 28th May and you’re listening to F1 Minute.
Pat Symonds from Renault has given us a few insights into the problems the team are facing at the moment in this week’s official team podcast. Of the improvements needed to the car, Symonds admitted that they are struggling to decide whether to focus on updating this year’s car, or concentrate on getting a good start for next year. He says the team are small enough that they don’t have the resources to do both. Having said that, there are reports that a significantly updated car will be introduced at the British Grand Prix.
The Honda factory in Brackley has been awarded the ISO14001 certificate, which is an international standard for environmental management. This means that the team have implemented a management system that meets the international standard, and basically makes them a very green team.
Finally today, there are rumours that F1 teams will be testing at Hockenheim in July ahead of the German GP.
That’s all for today, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.
30-Apr-08: Webber Asks the FIA to Consider Spain Run-off Areas
This is F1 Minute for the 30th April 2008.
Mark Webber has been talking about Kovalainen’s crash in Spain this past weekend, in his capacity as director of the GPDA. Webber says that the run off area on that particular turn is not big enough and needs to be looked at by the FIA. He mentioned the fact that Sebastien Bourdais also had a crash there in testing the previous week, although that was much less severe.
The FIA have today announced that their safety experts are looking into the crash, particularly from the angle that it took doctors a relatively long time to reach Kovalainen. The FIA have said they will be conducting a detailed analysis of the accident data but it is too early for any official comment just yet.
In aero news today, BMW’s technical director Willy Rampf has said that the team will be testing a version of the Ferrari nose hole in the wind tunnels to see if it will benefit them. And Renault believe they have already made significant improvements, as Pat Symonds said the gap may still be big to Ferrari, but the team have gained at least three tenths on their past performance.
That’s all for today, please join me again tomorrow for another F1 Minute.
07-Feb-08: McLaren Four Called to Face Italian Questioning
Today is the 7th February 2008, and this is F1 Minute.
Ron Dennis, Mike Coughlan, Paddy Lowe and Martin Whitmarsh have all been called to appear before the Italian magistrate who is investigating the espionage affair from last year on behalf of Ferrari. McLaren have simply confirmed that their lawyers “received some papers from the Modena authorities which are currently being reviewed.” Ron Dennis is believed to be due at the meeting on the 18th February.
Pat Symonds has been speaking to Autosport magazine about the new car, and it’s chances. He said that last year’s car faced two separate issues – differences with data from the wind tunnel and the track, and the change from Michelin to Bridgestones. He believes that they’ve got those sorted now, and this year Renault will be back challenging for wins.
They all said their piece yesterday, and now the machinery to help them achieve their goals has been released. The Force India car for 2008 was unveiled in Mumbai today. The most significant things to gain from the launch are the colours, a white and gold livery, plus the prominent Kingfisher branding, Vijay Mallya’s own company.
That’s all for today, please join me tomorrow for another F1 Minute.