Axel Plasse - We're on cloud nine

The Mild Seven Renault F1 Team is still on cloud nine after the enormous performance last weekend and their solid performance during the 2005 season. The RS25 project leaders speaks about the performance of the Renault V10, and about teaching it to sing!

Interview with Axel Plasse

In an interview earlier this year, you said the philosophy of the RS25 could be summed up by the words ‘World Champion’…
"I know! And at the time, people thought we were a bit optimistic. We worked very hard and, at the end, we delivered. We’re on cloud nine this week!"

Did you think it would be possible to catch McLaren at the end of the season?
"We were confident. Already in Brazil, we had a big aero update and a D spec engine. McLaren finished in front for a number of reasons, but we knew we had made a step in the right direction. At Suzuka, the fact Fernando had to let Klien past hid the true level of performance, but we were already very, very competitive. And with the E spec V10, we got the power boost that made the difference."

What did the team at Enstone make of the E spec engine?
"I think they were pretty impressed! A lot of the chassis team congratulated us after the race for the performance of the E spec. We already had a perfect working relationship, but that kind of thing just helps bring everybody a bit closer."

How did you get the engine to sing?
"It’s really very simple. Every musical note corresponds to a particular frequency. LA, for example, at a particular octave, vibrates at 440 Hz. You then just need to find the frequency in the exhaust noise, and find the revs at which it occurs. After that, the automatic systems that control the dyno run the engine at the appropriate revs for the right amount of time: 5000 rpm for 1 second, then 7000 rpm for 3 seconds, etc…"