Clawing back the deficit to the leaders - Bell
The ING Renault F1 Team Technical Director, Bob Bell, gets down to the nitty gritty of how to turn the French team’s season around, ahead of Renault’s home race at the Magny-Cours Circuit this weekend.
"Firstly, I was surprised and disappointed that we started the season as poorly we did – that goes without saying. We may be seeing Ferrari start to slip a little, which we could have predicted, but I didn’t expect to see McLaren dominate as comprehensively as they have, they have done a very good job indeed. I am very surprised to see Honda where they are, that Toyota doesn’t seem to have moved on from last year – and considering the resources they have, I am surprised by Super Aguri’s pace."
You mentioned at the start of the year that the car was a logical development of its championship-winning predecessor – yet the performance was very different. Was that the correct strategy to follow?"Firstly, let’s be very clear: the performance of the car was different in relative terms, but certainly not worse in absolute terms. There is no doubt that we would rather be racing R27 than R26. But we learned in the opening races that the performance development from last year to this had not been sufficient. There were some aerodynamic problems as well, which we worked through in a rigorous manner: we didn’t make any knee-jerk reactions, we made sure we understood what was wrong, and then we got with fixing them. We are clawing back the deficit to the leading teams, and I am confident we will get there."
McLaren were another team that had to make the transition to Bridgestone tyres – yet they hit the ground running in January. Can you explain why?"The simple answer is that they have done a better job than us in the past year in generating performance developments. They had an advantage out of the box this season – and they maintained that through the first part of the season. In making the transition to Bridgestone, they probably had an advantage too. It’s no secret that the tyres need a further forward weight distribution, and thus further forward aero balance as well, and for their own reason, McLaren had already developed in that direction last year while running the Michelin tyres."
Is the team still getting on top of the Bridgestone tyres?"I think it is less and less of an issue. We have been running the tyres for quite some time now, and it is clear what we need to do with the cars in terms of set-up, and fundamental design parameters, to get the best out of the tyres. The real challenge is now to crank the development handle faster than our competitors, churn out performance – and continue catching them up on track."
The team has made changes to the structure of the aerodynamic department this week. Can you explain what has changed?"In simple terms, we have split the previous role of Head of Aerodynamics into two because the workload was becoming too great for one person. Dino Toso, our current head of aero, has been promoted to a newly-created role of Director of Aerodynamic Technology, which will allow him to focus on the creative direction of the car’s aerodynamics – and a number of very interesting future projects. The day-to-day job of driving the creative programme in the wind tunnel will then be the responsibility of our Head of Aerodynamics. On an interim basis, that role will be filled by our Deputy Technical Director James Allison."
Why have you made the changes at this stage of the season?"We have said all along that we would tackle our problems in a logical manner, and we have done so. The phase of problem-solving is now at its end, and for the rest of the season, the challenge will be to out-develop our rivals. In parallel, we must ensure that the 2008 car is once again a car capable of challenging for the world championship. One advantage of Dino’s new role will be improved communication with our Chief Designer Tim Densham, and we believe this is the right time to make the change to ensure that our work for 2008 progresses at full speed, while the team in the wind tunnel continues to push forward with development for the remainder of the 2007 season."
During difficult times, it is usual for a team to regularly mention words like “character” and “determination”. How have you seen the team respond to its difficulties this year?"I am very proud of, and heartened by, the efforts of the whole team to turn the situation around. We have been quietly getting on with our work in a logical, professional manner. That has taken remarkable resolve, and is something we should be proud of – in its own way, as much as winning a world championship. We made another good step in performance at Silverstone last week, and there is more to come in terms of our technical development. Our race in the championship is squarely against BMW, and we are doing everything we can to overhaul them."
Source Renault
