The forthcoming Italian
Grand Prix at Monza marks a distinct shift in the complexion of racing
for the five end of season Grands Prix, all of which are
characteristically power tracks. Monza itself is possibly the most
demanding in this regard, with the lowest levels of downforce all year
combined with engines run at their limits.
The team has concluded its enquiry into the tyre incidents in Turkey,
determining as far as possible that a set of conditions spanning
mechanical set-up, bodywork configuration and tyre deflections caused
the problems experienced at the last race. Although the car
specification in this area had raced without incident in previous Grands
Prix, a number of precautionary changes have been made to the car and
engineers are confident the team will not experience a repeat of the
problems.
Mark Webber:
"Monza is a circuit
that stands alone in terms of set-up. It’s a very, very high speed
circuit where we are looking for a maximum speed all the time. I’ve
finished in the points on this track in the last couple of years and I
hope that we can do that again this time. We might not quite have the
pace of McLaren and Renault, but I think we can get a reasonable result.
If we can get some good, solid points it will be not a bad race for us.
Ever since my first year in Formula One, when I drove for Minardi, I’ve
spent a lot of time in Italy, not far from Imola, and I can say it’s
definitely among my favourite few countries. I love coming to Italy. The
Italians love cycling and the food’s excellent, it’s just a fantastic
country."
Nick Heidfeld:
"Monza is definitely one of the most unusual circuits on the calendar.
It’s a traditional track with a great heritage and has a unique design.
We reach very high speeds at Monza, in fact they’re the highest that we
see all season at over 360km/h! You need a special set-up for Monza as
well as a particular aerodynamic configuration. For this race, the teams
develop specially designed aerodynamic packages. These need to work
under low downforce conditions but also allow the car to handle properly
in the high speed sections. You therefore need a car that has a good top
speed for the high speed straights, one that has aerodynamic efficiency
for the slow chicanes and, finally, a car that works well on the high
kerbs. Just like Imola, Monza is always special because the Italian fans
bring such a great atmosphere to the race."
Sam Michael Technical Director:
"Monza
stands out from other circuits due to the fact that it is dominated by
long straights, a couple of chicanes and four important corners, top
speeds will also be the highest that we’ve seen all year. Set-up demands
very low drag, in order to achieve this, we use specific front and rear
wings unique to Monza. It is important to have a good balance through
the medium speed corners and for the car to handle well over the curbs.
To address the tyre incidents that we experienced in Istanbul, we have
worked through all the possible variables, such as pressure and camber,
with Michelin. In the Williams R&D labs at Grove we also performed some
loaded tyre tests to check what type of deflections the tyres would have
seen during the lap. Finally, at the test in Monza last week, we went
through various trims of the bodywork to ensure that there is no
possibility for the tyre to touch anything on the car. We also worked
through cooling levels, brake set-ups and tyre evaluations to select the
optimum configuration for the FW27 in preparation for the race."
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Dr Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director):
"Monza
is an outstanding circuit for engines and, as such, is always a very
special Grand Prix for BMW. The cars are flat out for 69 percent of the
lap, the highest full-throttle ratio of any Formula One circuit. Monza
ranks among the top few circuits where engines have to operate on a
sustained full throttle over various parts of the track. On the current
F1 calendar, there are three similar full-throttle sections which demand
everything of the engines. Topping the league is Spa (1,821 metres, if
Eau Rouge is taken flat out). Almost on a par is Indianapolis (1,820
metres), followed by Monza (1,268 metres). When it comes to speed, Monza
outstrips all other race tracks. In 2004, Juan Pablo Montoya set an F1
record in pre-qualifying when he recorded an average speed of 262.242
km/h. Antonio Pizzonia also claimed a Formula One record with a top
speed of 369.9 km/h during the race.
For the Italian Grand Prix, we will have new BMW P84/5 engines, as
scheduled. In Turkey, we had a good chance of scoring points before we
suffered a disappointing setback. Our goal, however, remains unchanged;
we want to end the 2005 season with the BMW WilliamsF1 Team with some
good results."
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