Fuente: © Renault F1 Team (English)
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FORMULA 1 - RENAULT: The keys to the race with Pat Symonds

/noticias.info/ The Executive Director of Engineering talks about the team's weekend so far and what we can expect from this afternoon's race.





Pat, just hours away from the race, how would you sum up the weekend so far?
We had a reasonable test here last week, and from that it was obvious what was left to do over the weekend. And leading up to the race, it was also obvious that the weather was going to mean that we needed to get that work done on the first day. So Friday was very much a case of finishing off the work from the test, and getting all the work done in the knowledge that it might be wet on Saturday. As it happens, Saturday wasn't a wet as we thought it would be, although we did start on wet tyres which gave us the chance to prepare for possible wet conditions on Sunday. By the end of third practice we were quite happy with the car, and then we had a reasonably straightforward qualifying session with both cars through to Q3 without too much difficulty. So we were quite happy with the qualifying session.

As forecast, it's very wet here today, how will that impact on the team's race?
We went into qualifying with the knowledge of almost certain wet conditions for Sunday. And so we've kept our options quite open by putting a reasonable amount of fuel in the car, and that will be a good thing with it being so wet today. This morning we've been looking at the GP2 race and seeing how difficult the conditions are, and we are going to experience similar things this afternoon, although we're not expecting the weather to be quite as bad as it has been this morning. But, in a way, that will make it more difficult for us because we will probably get dry and wet periods, and trying to coincide those with pit stops is the secret to a good race, but almost impossible.

How easy is it to predict what the weather will be like for the race?
No matter how good your forecasting is, you never know for sure what you will get. As you get closer to the race, you can see the radar and so it does get easier, but in the hours leading up to the race you simply cannot tell. The actual forecast is that it will be drier than this morning, but that there will be heavy showers affecting us. We are dealing with a period of an hour and a half for the race, so we may escape those showers between 1:00 and 2:30.

So if the weather remains damp, what will be the keys to a successful afternoon?
The key will be to keep our options open: that means compromising the ideal dry strategy by running with a bit more fuel to try and get coincident stops for fuel and tyres depending on the weather, but, as I say, you need a little bit of luck too. From a driver's point of view they will need to be smooth and steady, anticipating possible changes as every corner will be different each lap. So there is an element of caution for the drivers and as team we will be ready to adapt as needs be. notas_de_prensa_archivo