18 November: The
Week at Renault F1: November 18, 2005
The latest update from Enstone and Viry: including Key Moments from 2005, the
Fabrication Department, a determined Fisico and a progress report on 2006…
Key Moments in 2005 2005 was the
longest ever season in Formula 1 history. Throughout the 19 races and seven months, it featured twists and turns, highs and lows,
fortune and misfortune. Great drives, exceptional team performances, and some moving human stories within the wings of the Renault
F1 Team. Every week between now and Christmas, the Renault F1 Team will be bringing you a key moment in how 2005 unfolded: good
performances, bad performances, and some insight into an historic season for Renault's racing team. This week, the spotlight falls
on Melbourne: a weekend full of unknown factors and new regulations, a faultless drive from Fisico and a characteristically
aggressive performance from Fernando. How did it unfold? Click here
to relive it
Behind the Scenes: The Fabrication Department, Enstone Once upon a time, a Grand Prix car was a
hand-made work of art. Craftsmen beat metal panels, shaping them into paper-thin, wind-cheating forms that clothed space-frame
chassis, bearing names like Gordini, Vanwall or Maserati. To the outside world, today's Formula 1 has lost that soul: everything is
dominated by gadgets, gizmos and computer-controlled machines… Or nearly everything. In Enstone's Fabrication Department,
hand-made is still the only way. Flat sheets and tubes of metal are worked to form some of the most complex parts on the F1 car:
exhausts, radiators and myriad other components. Find out about this workshop here
Fisico
looks ahead to 2006 To the outside world, Giancarlo Fisichella's season might seem something of a paradox. Driving a world
championship winning car, he finished fifth in the championship; driving for a team with an exceptional reliability record, he
endured nearly all of the mechanical failures. He had been known as one of Formula One's most under-rated drivers at the start of
the year; by the end of the season the limits of his talent had been found… or so the story went. Within the team, the reality was
somewhat different: at Enstone and Viry, the personnel recognised an integral member of a world championship winning team; a true
team player ready to put the team's priorities ahead of his own; and a driver with genuine resolve and mental strength.
Fisico
has called 2005 "the best season of my career", something the stats bear out as he took his best championship finish, and
came very close to third position in the drivers' championship. This week, the Italian showed that he is approaching 2006 with his
ambitions undiminished. "I think I am a better driver now than I was a year ago. I am in a team that is 100% behind me, and we
support each other in difficult moments. With this year's car, some elements of it were not adapted perfectly to my driving style.
But I have worked with the engineers to change some of my characteristics, and they also know how we need to work to adjust next
year's car to better suit me." So the rivalry with his world champion team-mate is alive and strong? "Fernando and I are
very similar. We work together, we help each other, we laugh and joke. There is a good relationship, we are friends," concludes
the Italian. "But I know that in some races this year, I beat Fernando. Next year, we start again from zero, and I think that
with an even better environment in the team, I can do it more often."
Talking Technical: Catching up with the Bob and
Rob show Winter-time is when Formula 1 battens down the hatches. The ‘No Entry' sign is hung on the factory gates, as the
teams busy themselves with preparing for the coming year. The situation is no different at Enstone and Viry, so we asked the team's
two Technical Directors, Bob Bell and Rob White, to bring us an update on progress at the respective sites, discussing interim cars,
track testing, dyno testing, tyre testing and much more. The first part comes today with Engine Technical Director Rob White, who
discusses progress with the 2006 V8 engine. "We have planned the project in a pragmatic, prudent way," explains the engine
boss. "We are not under-estimating our rivals' performance, nor over-estimating our own. At the moment, the focus is on hitting
our performance and reliability milestones. The project is on time, with the aim of being perfectly prepared when we arrive in
Bahrain in March." Read more from Rob White by clicking the link here
