Yesterday was the first day of Grand Prix weekend running for the Williams FW34, and the first time a Williams-Renault had participated in a Formula 1 event since 1997. We caught up with Dave Lamb, Renault Sport F1 engine engineer for the Williams F1 Team, to see how the day went.

What are the characteristics of Albert Park you need to watch out for engine-wise?
At this stage in the weekend, it’s very low grip, with very little rubber laid down and lots of rubbish on track as it is usually a public road. There is a combination of short straights, second and third gear chicanes, but there is also a quick section at the back of the circuit. As a result, we need to provide an engine that’s responsive out of the corners, with good acceleration for the short bursts between turns but that maintains the top end power. This increases the normalised fuel consumption per kilometre to one of the highest of the season, which will result in a high race starting fuel load. Whilst we can get a gauge of this on Friday, the fact that today was wet means that the track improvement will increase this further, as faster cars always use more fuel.

How did the first day of running go engine-wise?
The first day actually went very well, with no issues at all from Renault’s perspective. It was obviously our first day of running in a Grand Prix weekend, so the first time running with two cars, as winter testing is conducted with just one chassis. In testing you have the relative luxury of working with a team of five technicians, however in the race situation there are just six to cover both cars. During the two sessions one of our main programme items was to understand cooling levels, as well as get a measure on the oil consumption. Once we have some numbers we can anticipate the settings required for the race, and take the necessary action.

Did the wet running make this any harder?
It’s obviously not ideal as the track was very damp in both sessions and you can’t learn much about car performance, so there is very little point in doing a lot of mileage. We completed 38 laps in the first session across both cars and then 37 in the second, which is very low for a Friday, particularly for the opening day of the year. You also can’t get a great picture of where you are in relation to the competition as everyone is running very different fuel loads. You can look a bit at cornering speeds and grip through the entrance and exit but this doesn’t always give a complete idea.

What are the plans between now and FP3?
As this is the first race we won’t change the engines between now and FP3 but we will make a couple of tweaks for FP3 and then ultimately qualifying. We will try and manage the mileage tomorrow as we will be carrying these engines through to Malaysia. Although the degradation of the RS27 is practically negligible, the fact that the mileage accrued today has been low will slightly free-up the run plan for tomorrow and in Malaysia, where the engines are due to be used again.

What’s the drivers’ feedback been like?
Both Bruno and Pastor have been very happy with the engine round Albert Park. The team also seems to be very happy with the service, so it’s been a good day – despite the rain!