Europe 1999: Previews
[
Arrows |
Benetton |
BAR |
Ferrari |
Jordan |
McLaren |
Minardi |
Sauber |
Stewart |
Prost |
Williams |
Bridgestone
]
Arrows [start]
Not present at this time
Benetton [start]
Pat Symonds, Technical Director of the Mild Seven Benetton Playlife team:
Preparation
In view of our current aerodynamic problem, preparation for the European Grand Prix took the form of further aerodynamic testing at RAF Keevil in England. During the for days of testing a number of new aerodynamic solutions were tried and some of these will be seen on the car this weekend. These centred around a completely new rear wing package and subtle modifications to the front wing area.
The Circuit
The Nurburgring circuit is a challenging one for both drivers and engineers. While some features of it follow the typical modem circuit, it does still contain some challenging corners. One feature that is always unpredictable in the Eiffel mountains in September is the weather, but we can expect cold and probably damp conditions. This means that every minute of practice has particular value as rain can disrupt any planned programmes. The characteristics of a competitive car here is to have good traction out of the slow corners and a responsive change of direction for the chicanes.
The Race
In the past the European Grand Prix at the Nurburgring has been either a two or a three stop race. Bridgestone are bringing both the soft and the extra-soft tyres, last used in Hungary. This means that a one-stop strategy is unlikely, however not impossible, if the harder of the two tyres in chosen. Overtaking opportunities are, as always, limited and therefore a good qualifying position and efficient pit work is a pre-requisite of a good result. The chicane immediately after the start can also play a major part in the race result as first lap collisions here have occurred many times.
British American Racing [start]
As autumn begins to descend on the mountains deep in the Eifel region of Germany, so the curtain falls on the European leg of the 1999 Formula One World Championship. Dubbed the Grand Prix of Europe, the final event before teams depart for a pair of season-ending, fly-away races, this race takes place at a circuit whose name is certain to stir the blood of any self-respecting motor racing fan - the Nurburgring.
These days, however, the mighty Nurburgring has been replaced by a circuit signed his that, in truth, is only a pale shadow of the original. As drivers in skitter through the Veedol schikane, 1996 negotiate the Romer and Coca Cola kurves, and accelerate down the pit they will actually be travelling on a vestige of the original track.
That remains a 14-mile-long, 174-corner, grunting monster of a circuit, a place which lead from another era, painted with broad to the brush-strokes on a rough-hewn canvas. Conceived as part of a government-inspired local employment programme in Hitler's pre-war Germany, the Nurburgring came into being at a time when run-off areas, gravel traps and speed-reducing chicanes were most definitely not standard items in the track designer's repertoire.
Despite, or perhaps because of the inherent dangers of the place, man and machine were ever ready to pit themselves against the Nurburgring, and frequently paid dearly for twisting the tail of this particular tiger. In the end, it was a fiery crash at Bergwerk that nearly claimed the life of Austrian Formula One World Champion, Niki Lauda, that spelled the end of the old Nurburgring as the home of Grand Prix racing in Germany.
A modern, far safer circuit, still bearing the name Nurburgring, was constructed next to the original and officially opened in May 1984. At 2.831 miles/4.556 km, it is only a fraction of the length of its predecessor, but it poses its own particular set of challenges. The difficulty for the new Nurburgring, however, is that it will forever be compared with the original. It may have been reduced to a dormant giant that lies alongside its offspring, but the indisputable presence of the Nurburgring still permeates the whole region. On a quiet, misty autumn morning, over the Flugplatz, through Adenauer and the Karussell, or at Pflanzgarten, it's difficult not to hear the siren wail of distant Formula One engines on the breeze.
For a man whose family name is synonymous with speed and daring, it comes as no surprise to learn that Jacques Villeneuve would prefer to be racing on the original Nurburgring.
"I have great memories of the Nurburgring," he says. "It was there that I had my first victory in Formula One, in April 1996. This place has a great past because of the old track, but unfortunately we're not running on it, which is sad. It is hard to get a good feel for the current circuit. The grandstands are quite far from the track and you never have the feeling of going fast. There are a number of long corners and normally you get quite a lot of understeer. Basically, it is not one of my favourite circuits, but it does have good memories for me."
Villeneuve's team mate, Ricardo Zonta, also has good reason to harbour warm thoughts about the Nurburgring. It was there, in 1997, that he put his FIA International Formula 3000 Championship challenge emphatically back on track after a shaky start to the season. He won the accident-shortened race and then strung together a series of strong finishes that saw him claim the title with one race to go. In doing so, he also marked himself out as a potential Formula One star of the future.
"I have very good memories of that win," says the 555 World Racing Team driver, "and I'm sure I'll be able to do a good job at the Nurburgring. I know the circuit and I love racing there because of the surface, which is very smooth, and because most of the corners are medium speed, which I like. I think this track will suit our car."
Zonta's comments point out with graphic clarity the differences between the Nurburgrings past and present. For British American Racing engineers, however, it is the present with which they must deal during the upcoming European Grand Prix. "The Nurburgring as it is now configured is a fairly high downforce circuit," observes Team Manager, Robert Synge. "The big issue of the weekend is likely to be understeer - those teams that can 'dial out' the understeer from their chassis effectively are likely to be quick. It's not a high-speed circuit, so the Nurburgring is light on brakes, especially in comparison with Monza. Nor is there likely to be any particular problem with tyre wear. What is required for this track are all the normal things you need to get a competitive lap time from a F1 car - good traction, particularly out of hairpins, good chassis balance and stability under braking, and the best possible compromise between downforce and straight-line speed."
The 67-lap Grand Prix of Europe gets under way at 14hrs local time on Sunday, September 26. Last year, McLaren's Mika Hakkinen prevailed in what was to be one of the most decisive races of the season. He took the chequered flag in front of title rival, Michael Schumacher (Ferrari), and team-mate, David Coulthard, the momentum gained undoubtedly helping to propel the Finn to the World Championship in Japan a month later. The lap record for the Nurburgring - 1:18.805 - belongs to former Williams driver Heinz-Harald Frentzen, who set the time in 1997.
Ferrari [start]
Formula One returns to Germany for the second time this season with the European Grand Prix, round 14 of the FIA Formula One World Championship, to be held for the fifth consecutive year at the new Nurburgring circuit.
Although the circuit bears the same name as the former Nurburgring, there is little in common with the magic of the old Nurburgring circuit with its 14 miles and 174 corners of nail biting tarmac that winds through the forests of the Eifel mountains, overshadowed by Nurburg castle.
Sadly, the near fatal accident of Niki Lauda in the 1976 German GP brought an end to the historic circuit as a GP venue, the powers that be deciding that it no longer met the safety standards of modern F1 racing.
The new circuit - opened in 1984 - which adjoins the southern corner of the old track, is now the latest in modern safety technology, but with its clinical wide open corners and expansive run-off areas, it lacks any of the character or excitement of the old track. Although it is only used now for historic events or public sight-seeing, it still stamps its presence on the environment, especially for those spectators and drivers that have been lucky enough to spectate or race on it during its glorious past.
The twelve main corners of the new track are all slow to medium speed corners, divided equally between left- and right-handers with an average lap speed of just over 200 kph.
Despite the new circuit's lack of appeal compared with its namesake, the organisers are expecting a maximum crowd for the final European F1 race of the season, which sees the Drivers' Championship standings tied between Mika Hakkinen and Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro's Eddie Irvine, each with 60 points. Heinz- Harald Frentzen's second win of the season in the recent Italian Grand Prix has now put the local driver right back into the title fight at his home race with just 10 points less than the leaders, while David Coulthard is also in the hunt in fourth place with 48 points.
Whatever the outcome, the race promises to be a vital one for the championship hopes of the leading runners, for which McLaren-Mercedes' Mika Hakkinen is the logical favourite, but who threw away his almost certain victory with a driving mistake at the last race.
"It was like a get-out-of-jail card for free," quipped Eddie Irvine, whose sixth place single point in Italy was enough to match Hakkinen's points total, the Finn's mistake keeping the Irishman firmly in the title chase with just three races to go.
Irvine is hoping that his chances of finishing higher up in the points in Germany are a lot better than they were in recent races. "We have been struggling on the low downforce high-speed tracks like Spa and Monza," he says. "We have tried some new aerodynamic modifications in Fiorano since the last race and the car feels better than it has all year. Just by being able to run more downforce as we will at the Nurburgring will already be an improvement over the previous races," adds Irvine. "We should be more competitive in the final three races than we have been recently," he predicted.
Race tactics are also likely to play a bigger part in the European GP than they did in Monza where a one-stop race was the only real option. "At the Nurburgring soft tyres and two stops or even a one stop race could work. It's one of those races you can never be sure how you are doing until the last third of the race. If it rains, as it often does at the 'Ring, then it's anybody's guess."
Mika Salo will be hoping to take his third podium finish for Ferrari in five races following his third place result in Italy. "It was an incredible experience to finish third for Ferrari in the Italian GP," said the Finn. "Obviously I am racing not only for the team but also to help Eddie's title chances, but the way things worked out in Italy I could go for third place as he was too far behind for me to do anything to help," explained Mika, who has yet to show his driving prowess on a slower track like the Nurburgring. At the similar circuits of Austria and Hungary, Salo wasn't as impressive.
With only six points between McLaren and Ferrari for the coveted Constructors' Championship title, a double finish in the points will be vital for the team. The Marlboro-Ferraris certainly need to beat the two McLarens for the title, but it remains to be seen if they will also need to beat the fast improving Jordan and Williams teams following their impressive showing in Monza and Spa.
Jordan [start]
The Benson and Hedges Jordan team will compete in the final race of the 1999 European season buoyed by its victory in Italy. "Monza was magical," says Jordan's Chief Executive Eddie Jordan, "It might have been our third victory, but winning still tastes just as sweet. Heinz-Harald's result has added a new dimension to the Championship fight, but it doesn't change our approach to races. We will remain focused on doing the job we have been doing all year and keep picking up the points. Winning the Championship is a long shot and we are under no illusions that for us to win McLaren and Ferrari would have to lose. Had we said at the start of the season, however, that we would be fighting for the title, we would have been laughed at, so just to be where we are is fantastic. We are the dark horse on the rails!"
Nurburgring will be a greater challenge for Benson and Hedges Jordan than the previous few races, as Chief Designer, Mike Gascoyne explains. "Nurburgring is a high downforce circuit unlike Spa and Monza where we were very competitive, so it will be a good measure of our progress. It will be more difficult and, being realistic, we will not be challenging for pole as we were in Monza. But we must look to qualify on the second row behind the McLarens and push them as hard as we can in the race. Heinz-Harald will have higher expectations of himself after his win in Italy which I think will give him an added push."
Whilst the performance of the Jordan Mugen-Honda has continued to improve throughout the season, there have in fact been very few up-dates made to the car since the British Grand Prix. Gascoyne explains this apparent anomaly. "Up until Silverstone we had a lot of new parts on the car, but since then we have been developing the car around those up-dates, getting more and more out of the developments. Our record has been good on the last three race tracks which were very high downforce (Hungaroring), medium downforce (Spa) and very low downforce (Monza). Whilst we were weaker on the highest downforce circuit, Heinz still finished fourth and over the last three races we have scored 19 points and been on the podium twice. So our strong performance must be based on more than simply being strong on low downforce circuits. A better understanding of how to maximise the performance of the car and very strong team work have certainly been key to our success."
The weather is likely to have a bearing on the race, and rain might give Jordan an advantage. In 1998 and 1999 there have been three wet races, two of which Jordan won - Belgium 98 and France 99. "Rain on Sunday could play into our hands," says Gascoyne. "Both Damon and Heinz-Harald drive well in the wet - in fact they have won the last two wet races!"
Since his victory, Frentzen has had a busy week testing in Magny Cours and attending promotions at the Frankfurt Motorshow with Auto-Bild and in Ireland for Benson and Hedges where he enjoyed a press lunch with 60 Irish media. "For a country which does not have its own Grand Prix," said Frentzen, "the level of interest in Formula One and motor racing in general was enormous. I was very impressed by how knowledgeable the journalists were."
McLaren [start]
The McLaren Mercedes team returns to the Nurburgring this weekend, the scene of its stunning victory in the penultimate round of last year's championship that helped secure the 1998 drivers' and constructors' titles. Mika Hakkinen passed both Ferraris of Michael Schumacher and Eddie Irvine while reeling off a succession of fastest laps round the twisting layout of this Grand Prix circuit to record a memorable win. This year's European Grand Prix will be only the seventh occasion the significantly revised German circuit has hosted a Formula One race since 1984 - when Alain Prost won for McLaren.
The original "ring", which was built 70 years ago, was a demanding 14-mile drive through the Eifel mountains and was the regular stage for the German Grand Prix before safety concerns saw the race transfered to Hockenheim. Drivers were initially critical of the bland nature of the new version, but have gradually appreciated its differing style which has often produced exciting races.
Set in beautiful countryside 55 miles south-west of Cologne, the 2.8-mile circuit is quite forgiving, with wide run-off areas and large gravel traps. Car set-up needs to allow for the track's mixture of high-g curves and slow corners, and medium downforce is the usual setting. Overtaking manoeuvres need to be precisely judged, but there are opportunities as Mika Hakkinen proved in last year's race when he outbraked Ferrari's Eddie Irvine from the 175 mph run into the tight, 2nd-gear Veedol chicane.
Mika Hakkinen
"I had a really exciting race at this circuit last year and if I can repeat that performance this weekend I would hope to achieve another good result. The Nurburgring is very different in style to Monza, but despite its more compact layout it is deceptively quick."
David Coulthard
"Understeer is a common problem at the Nurburgring, so we will be working hard on perfecting our cars' handling in the two Friday practice sessions to put us in good shape for qualifying and the race. The circuit sits in a very picturesque setting, but you get little time to admire the scenery when you're racing at speeds of up to 175 mph !"
Ron Dennis
"The team will be focused on achieving a good result at the Nurburgring. The circuit should suit our car package and we are looking forward to another challenging weekend."
Minardi [start]
Not present at this time
Sauber [start]
Preparation
Team Red Bull Sauber Petronas' test team spent three days in Magny-Cours last week, in order to prepare the cars for the European Grand Prix on the Nurburgring. Pedro Diniz completed the test programme. Enrique Bernoldi, the F3000 driver from the Red Bull Junior Team, was also given an opportunity to test the C18. During the test 280 laps were completed, which in total amounted to 1190 kilometres.
Technical News
The Magny-Cours test programme focussed on aerodynamics. Different versions of front wings were tested, including a prototype developed with the aid of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). This computer windtunnel enables the designers to go through a lot more test runs on the computer than would be possible in wind tunnel testing, which in comparison is rather more expensive and time consuming.
Drivers
Jean Alesi is a father again. Son Julien was born on 20th September, he weighs 3.4 kg and is 50 Centimeters tall. Therefore congratulations from the whole team!
Test Schedule
Team Red Bull Sauber Petronas will be performing a two day test at 6th and 7th October in Barcelona as part of the preparation for the Malaysian Grand Prix in Kuala Lumpur. Pedro Diniz will be driving.
Stewart [start]
A busy week for the Stewart-Ford team began with the official announcement at the Frankfurt Motor Show on Tuesday that the team will become Jaguar Racing for 2000. Eddie Irvine and Johnny Herbert were confirmed as the drivers for next season. On Wednesday and Thursday, Herbert completed two days of testing at Magny Cours. Despite heavy rain on Wednesday, Herbert completed a full test programme in preparation for the European Grand Prix.
Rubens Barrichello
What are the characteristics of the Nurburgring circuit?
Nurburgring has a lot to offer. It is a good combination of low speed corners and faster third and fourth gear corners. The ITT-bogen curve is one of the most exhilarating. From the 180 mph approach, you sweep round at 165 mph. By contrast, at Dunlop Kurve you're hard on the brakes down to second gear and 50 mph. Cars experience a lot of understeer at Nurburgring so it's important to have the front of the car working well to cope with that. The SF3 works well in high downforce so I am confident of a good result.
What experiences do you have of Nurburgring's fickle weather?
The weather is so unpredictable. Because of the mountains surrounding the track, the rain can appear without warning. A few years ago I was rounding the final turn heading for the main straight in brilliant sunshine. Next thing some damp spots landed on my visor, the sun disappeared : it was snowing.
Johnny Herbert
What are your aspirations for the weekend?
The test at Magny Cours last week was very fruitful. We were on the pace of the front runners which was encouraging. We have also identified where I lost time in Monza. Basically we suffered a drop-off in downforce from Saturday morning to qualifying. We worked on some modifications to rectify the problem in testing and I am confident of being in much better shape this weekend than I was in Monza.
What are you thoughts on Jaguar's foray into F1 next year?
Paul Stewart : Stewart-Ford Chief Operating Officer
It is imperative that we consolidate our 5th place in the Constructors' Championship with another solid performance this weekend. Our target must be to pick up points in the three remaining races of the 1999 season. This is the first Grand Prix since the announcement that Stewart-Ford will be renamed Jaguar Racing next year. While our efforts are focused on the present, we are all excited about the future.
Martin Whitaker : Director, Ford Racing Europe
During last week's two days test at the Magny Cours circuit in France we completed a variety of engine system development work and completed a very tough reliability test. In terms of performance our times at the test were encouraging, and, coupled with our promising result from the Italian Grand Prix at Monza two weeks ago, we are confident that we can remain competitive at the Nurburgring.
Prost [start]
The Gauloises Prost Peugeot team completed a three-days test session in Magny-Cours last week with Olivier Panis and the future team driver Nick Heidfeld. During this session, tyre manufacturer Bridgestone and the teams worked on the test of soft and extra soft tyre compounds, as the track temperature of the next Grand Prix could be quite cold, and therefore could request such soft compounds.
The Nurburgring circuit, located 90 km south west of Cologne, in the middle of the Eifel mountains, is similar to the Spa-Francorchamps track. The area is characterised by sudden and frequent weather changes, which will make for a challenging weekend for the teams and especially for the tyre manufacturers, because of the most probably very low grip level of the track. The track's configuration presents a slow hairpin followed by a series of fast corners. The cars usually need a high aerodynamics down force.
Therefore the compromise to be found is somewhat difficult as the average speed of the 4.5 km circuit is also quite high.
During the Magny-Cours test, Olivier Panis also tested the last evolution of the A18 Peugeot engine - the EV7 which will be used from now on for the qualifying sessions. This week end the cars will be equipped with the EV4 Peugeot engine for the race. After a first very positive experience of the high exhaust system on Olivier's car at the Italian Grand Prix, both cars will have them for the practice session as well as for the race.
Williams [start]
After a strong performance in Italy, the Winfield WilliamsF1 team is looking forward to round 14 of the 1999 FIA Formula One World Championship at the Nurburgring. The European Grand Prix provides the second dose of Formula One for the German fans and, if the result at Monza is anything to go by, they could have a lot to cheer about at this race.
The teams had the opportunity to test at Magny Cours in preparation for this race which is the last in the European leg of the championship.
Ralf Schumacher
Ralf has competed in two Grands Prix at the Nurburgring but unfortunately retired from both races.
"The Nurburgring is one of my favourite tracks and has been since I began racing. I got good results there in the ADAC Junior Class as well as in Formula 3 and Formula One. The circuit is a challenge for both the driver and the car. You can simply overdrive the car in some corners and lose a lot of time. To be in front a good performance from the engine is also important, not only because of the long straights but also because of the aerodynamical downforce you need."
Alex Zanardi
This is Alex's first Grand Prix at the Nurburgring and he is looking forward to the challenge it presents.
"It's quite difficult for me to make a detailed comment about the Nurburgring circuit as I never saw it apart from on the television. So, I can only judge it by the characteristics I think I saw through the TV screen. I hope that the last improvement we made to our car will help us to perform well. The Nurburgring is theoretically a harsher circuit for us, as we will have to use more downforce, whereas our car seems to prefer and to perform the best way in low downforce conditions. We are going to Nurburgring in good spirits and we hope the weather will be fine because in this period of the year, it's fairly easy to come back from there... wet!"
Bridgestone [start]
Controlling understeer will be the key
All eyes next week will be on the Nurburgring, where world championship contenders Mika Hakkinen (West McLaren Mercedes) and Eddie Irvine (Scuderia Marlboro Ferrari) face each other in the European Grand Prix. The two have exactly 60 points each, and with Heinz-Harald Frentzen having lifted his score to 50 points after his victory in Italy, there are now three drivers fighting for the title in what promises to be an exciting and maybe decisive round.
In preparation for this last race of the 1999 world championship in Europe, Bridgestone supplied tyres to the eight F1 teams present at Magny-Cours for the last FOA test of the season. Starting on Tuesday (September 14), half of the first day and the whole second day were mainly wet or damp, while the final day's running took place under dry conditions.
The McLaren of Daviv Coulthard set the fastest lap of 1:17.500s under dry conditions.
All the teams in France had an opportunity to evaluate the performance of the Extra Soft compound, which with the Soft compound will be the tyre choice available from Bridgestone at the Nurburgring. Bridgestone engineers report that the teams now understand even better the characteristics of the Extra Soft tyre, which is the same compound some of them chose when it was previously offered at Monaco and in Hungary. The teams' final decision of compound does not, of course, have to be made until just before qualifying at the Nurburgring.
The one and half day of unpredictably wet conditions at Magny-Cours helped the Bridgestone engineers to approve the suitability of the Heavy Wet tyre, which will be offered at the Nurburgring. Under the cool temperatures expected for this race, and on a surface which tends to retain water, this tyre is expected to be a good choice even in light rain.
With the high speeds of Monza now just a memory, the challenge facing the F1 teams in Germany will be to set up their cars to reduce to a minimum the understeering usually experienced on the Extra Soft rubber.
"Bearing in mind the advantage in qualifying to be gained on the Extra Soft compound, the teams will be tempted to use it in order to gain positions on the grid," says Yoshihiko Ichikawa, Technical Manager of Bridgestone Motorsport. "However, they will also have to set up their cars very carefully to minimise understeering and the possibility of aggravating wear on the front tyres."
"The Extra Soft, when still new and properly used, can be expected to be faster in the first few laps. But consecutive laps are likely to be slower as the probability of understeering increases at each lap. The Soft compound, however, can be expected to offer more stability and provide more consistent lap times."
Bridgestone will bring 2640 tyres to the Nurburgring for the European Grand Prix. This total will be divided between the two specifications of dry tyre and two additional choices of wet tyre.
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