BMW and Honda will focus on engine improvements and Renault hopes to challenge Ferrari dominance with a new traction control system at the European GP.
BMW and Honda will focus on engine improvements and Renault hopes to challenge Ferrari dominance with a new traction control system at the European GP.
Both Williams-BMWs suffered engine failures during the Canadian Grand Prix, and the team will place an emphasis on reliability at this weekend’s race.
“Our ambition is to improve our points standing. It is difficult to predict what the partly redesigned layout of the Nurburgring will mean for us. But compared to last year we have found that our advantage on high-speed circuits is not as significant as it was in 2001, but at the same time, our disadvantage on the slower circuits has reduced. Therefore we should be able to cope with the Nurburgring as well,” BMW motorsport boss Gerhard Berger said on Wednesday.
BMW motorsport director Mario Theissen said: “We have managed to identify the reasons for the engine problems we have suffered in Montreal. It is one disadvantage of the overseas races that equipment is returned a couple of days after the Grand Prix.
“Last week Wednesday we dismantled the engines and found out the following: Juan Pablo’s engine stopped in the race due to a broken valve. On Ralf’s car, a problem with a piston appeared after he had crossed the finish line. It actually was not a failure of the piston itself but of the operating conditions,” he added.
While the Munich manufacturer’s engineers will attempt to improve Williams’ current powerplant, Jordan and BAR will benefit from Honda’s new wide angle V10 engine at the European Grand Prix. Both teams will have use of the revised motor in practice and qualifying, but will revert to the older spec engine for the race.
"We had a strong race in Canada and managed to get the most out of our engine during the weekend," said Shuhei Nakamoto, Honda Racing Development’s race and test team manager. "Since then, we have been working to improve the reliability for the race in Germany. We will be introducing the new spec engine for Friday and for qualifying on Saturday."
Meanwhile, Renault, the team reputed to have the best launch control in F1, will introduce a new and improved traction control system this weekend.
The Nurburgring has been heavily revised, with the first corner becoming a tight hairpin, and strong traction control is likely to be vital for a good lap time on the new circuit. Aerodynamic updates will also be featured on Jenson Button and Jarno Trulli’s R202s.
Renault technical director Mike Gascoyne said: "We’re still pushing forward with our aero programme, and are now in a position to race the new traction control, which should be an advantage given the circuit modifications.
"Once again we must look to qualify both cars inside the top 10 and consolidate our overall position behind the top three teams."
Executive director of engineering Pat Symonds said: "We have a slow chicane and, with the changes, four very slow corners replacing the previous two, which will put an extra premium on traction. We expect that the changes to the track will result in lap times that are approximately 15 seconds slower than what we saw in last year’s race."
