Francorchamps should suit the FW31

F1 Grand Prix, GP Belgium, Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps

After a very hot European Grand Prix at the Valencia street circuit, the Formula One circus travels to the Belgian Ardennes for the Belgian Grand Prix at the historic venue of Spa-Francorchamps. The Williams F1 Team is convinced that the demanding track will suit their car and that more points are possible this weekend.

Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium

In the slipstream of two circuits that render overtaking all but impossible, Spa offers welcome relief to frustrated drivers. Fast and challenging, the longest track on the calendar incorporates a raft of passing opportunities and some of the most exhilarating corners of the season, notably Pouhon and Eau Rouge. The weather often generates a little unwanted excitement, too, in the form of sudden cloudbursts. Drivers plump for both one-and two-stop strategies (the latter favoured by the quicker qualifiers), but adverse weather in 2008 meant two or three stops became the order of the day.

Talking technical

Average turn angle indicates the average angle of a circuit’s corners expressed in degrees. The higher the average turn angle, the more acute the corners in the circuit’s configuration and the greater propensity for understeer to compromise lap time. Average turn angle at Spa-Francorchamps is 760 which is the lowest in the Championship and highlights the flowing nature of the circuit.

The end of straight (EOS) speed at Spa was 319kp/h in 2008. The Belgium track ranks as having the 2nd highest EOS speed on the 2009 calendar, and this is one indicator of the wing level typically selected to optimise the downforce/drag ratio. Meanwhile, Spa has the 2nd highest average lap speed of any of the tracks on the calendar.

The pitlane length and profile contribute to the determination of the optimum fuel strategy. The pitlane loss at Spa is approximately 19.8 seconds, which is the 6th least penalising pitlane in the Championship. To complete a normalised distance of 5km around Spa requires 2.25kg of fuel against an average of 2.42kg per 5km across all circuits this season, ranking the circuit as the 2nd least demanding in terms of fuel consumption.

Another key contributor to the determination of race strategy is the likelihood of safety car deployments, which are influenced by weather considerations, the availability of clear run-off areas that allow racing to continue while recovery takes place and the circuit profile, especially the character of the entry and exit into turn one at the start of the race. There have been 4 safety car deployments in the last 7 races at Spa, which means that there is a 57% chance that the circuit’s character will induce a safety car period.

As an example, it is a long observed tradition that drivers arriving at Interlagos complain about a lack of grip and an absence of engine power. Having become acquainted with a baseline of engine and aerodynamic performance during the season, the climb to 750 metres above sea level for one of the final races can, courtesy of the reduction in air density, rob a Formula One car of engine power, aerodynamic performance and cooling. The losses can come close to double digit percentages and thus have a very real impact on car performance.

Air density is a factor of the prevailing ambient temperature, which varies most significantly by season, air pressure which is closely linked to altitude and, to a much smaller degree, by humidity. Thus if races are run at the same time each year, the factor that tends to have the greatest bearing on air density is elevation. Spa Francorchamps is 410m above sea level and has the 3rd lowest average pressure (968 mbar) of any race venue in the 2009 championship. As a consequence, the circuit’s ambient characteristics will result in a significant reduction in engine power.

What the drivers say

Reflections on the European Grand Prix:
Nico Rosberg: “It was a good weekend for us. Again, the car performed really well which is good to see. It’s been consistent on every single track so far so I’m pleased with the way the team is working. In relation to other teams, we’ve done well on the development front as well. We should have been on the podium this race, but McLaren have made an even bigger jump than us which is frustrating, but we are always there and a podium should come soon. Hopefully Kazuki will have some more good fortune on his side for the rest of the season as he was very quick this weekend and he could have scored some points if it weren’t for the puncture.”

Kazuki Nakajima: “From Saturday on, it was a bad weekend for me. We had a problem with the car in qualifying which ruled me out of Q2 and put me right down the grid in P17. From there, it was hard work to make any headway even though I made up three places in the opening lap. I was running in 13th and racing for 11th when I then had a puncture which was really frustrating. Up until then, it was going quite well considering so the end result was a shame.”

What we did after Valencia/
Kazuki “We only have a couple of days before heading over to Belgium, so I’ll be going to the factory to do some simulator work with my engineers.”

Nico “I don’t have any plans really. I’m going home to Monaco and will just be relaxing with friends and fitting in some training.”

Spa – from a technical perspective Nico “Spa should be good for the team. It’s a very high speed track, very different to Valencia, but our car goes really well everywhere. This track, in particular, will suit our car because we have a strong aero package for the quick corners so I’m looking forward to it.”

Kazuki “It’s very different to Valencia with its medium and high speed corners. We struggled a bit there in 2008 but this year’s car is competitive everywhere so it should be fine. The weather made it a difficult race last year so hopefully it will be more stable this year.”

Belgium: love it or hate it? Nico “Belgium’s in the middle of nowhere really so it will make a change to the places where we’ve visited recently. Going to different places is what Formula One’s about though so it will be nice.”

Kazuki “I don’t have much experience of the country as a whole, but Spa and the surrounding countryside is really beautiful. It’s quiet, but the people are really passionate about Formula One so always really nice to go there.”