Williams-Toyota

[Ed]

JEREZ TEST

SUMMARY

Circuit: Jerez de la Frontera, Spain. 4.423km
Objective: Young driver test with Nico Hulkenberg and Andy Soucek
Weather: Mixed – cloudy, wet and sunny.
Average ambient temperature: 17°C

Driver Total Days Total KMS Best Overall Time
N Hulkenberg 2 884.6 1:19.184
A Soucek 1 384.801 1:19.158

Sam Michael, Technical Director, Williams F1:

“This week was all about giving young drivers a shot in the car. We spent the time evaluating Andy Soucek, who did a superb job on day one and really showed he can handle a Formula One car. Nico Hulkenberg took over for days two and three and worked on set-up with the high fuel loads we will be racing next season.”

Nico Hulkenberg:
“We’ve had two positive days at Jerez. It was good for me to get back in the car and get some laps in before next year. I covered a lot of mileage, which I was pleased about, and I got used to driving the F1 car quite quickly, which I wasn’t really expecting as it’s been quite a long time since my last outing. The car felt good and we fitted in a lot of set-up work, so I’m happy with the two days.”

Andy Soucek:
“Tuesday was a perfect day, a dream day. I thought I was near the front, but I never expected to finish at the top of the times. I’m very proud of myself but I also have to thank Williams for this opportunity. I still can’t believe I’ve just had my first Formula One test, it feels like a dream! This has been an amazing year for me and I think I deserve a seat in Formula One next year. I’m doing everything I can to secure a drive, and I think my performance this week will help with that objective.”
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Your predictions in 2010 - Drivers - Constructors

[Ed]

Toto Wolff is a new Williams F1 shareholder & board member

Frank Williams and Patrick Head announced today that they have sold a minority interest in Williams Grand Prix Engineering Limited (Williams F1) to an investment company led by Austrian investor Toto Wolff. Mr Wolff also joins the company’s Board.
_________________
Your predictions in 2010 - Drivers - Constructors

[Ed]

AT&T WILLIAMS’ 2009 SEASON REVIEW WITH TECHNICAL DIRECTOR, SAM MICHAEL

Q: Thinking about 2009, what are your overall thoughts about the team’s season?
SM: 2009 was a good step forward from where we’ve been in previous seasons, particularly from an aerodynamic perspective and in terms of consistency of the car across different tracks. It was a very competitive season this year with only a second covering the field at some races, so it was also satisfying when we were getting an extra one or two tenths out the car at those tracks. Overall, this year was a good step forward, but we didn’t end it where we wanted to be.

Q: What were the highs and lows?
SM: I think the high points in terms of performance were when Nico was leading in Malaysia before the rain came and then Singapore before the white line incident. The car’s much stronger performance at Silverstone also upped our credibility as well.

Q: And how do you feel Nico and Kazuki performed?
SM: Nico’s done a great job for the team and scored all of our points this year. He’s come a long way as a driver since he joined us four years ago and we wish him all the best. Kazuki certainly improved as a driver this year and did a lot of work setting up the car over race weekends. If anything, he drove better this year than last. In 2008 he was scoring points, but in a car that wasn’t as competitive. The difference was that this year the field was so tight and therefore the grid so penalising. If you were a couple of tenths off, you just didn’t cut it.

Q: The team’s three year partnership with Toyota has come to an end with the move to Cosworth. How were Toyota as an engine partner?
SM: Our relationship with Toyota was excellent. They did some great development work for us and they always went the extra mile. We have only good memories of our time with them. It’s a loss for the sport that they have withdrawn, and we wish all the staff at Cologne well for the future.

Q: There were significant changes to the regulations for 2009 with the express purpose of improving the racing. Do you think they worked?
SM: I think that clearly the changes made the cars easier to follow, however, there’s a lot of work that still needs to be done. One of the things that wasn’t addressed in the 2009 rule changes was circuit design. If you look at tracks like Barcelona where no one overtakes and take exactly the same cars to tracks like Monza, Hockenheim etc, there’s plenty of overtaking. The difference is circuit layout. Organisers need to look closer at creating slower speed corners which feed onto straights and at removing chicanes. If you look at somewhere like Abu Dhabi, there are some good aspects to the circuit, but there are fundamental mistakes. There wasn’t good enough racing there and the organisers need to rectify that before next year. You can’t keep blaming car design. The FIA are looking into this now and will hopefully solve the problem.

Q: Can you take us through the regulation changes for next season?
SM: There will be three main changes: narrower front tyres, no refuelling and a ban on wheel farings. Narrower front tyres will shift weight distribution rearwards slightly, which will affect the aerodynamics and set-up of the car because of where the tyres position the wake. With no refuelling permitted, all the fuel will have to be carried at the start of the race, so the driver will have to manage brakes and tyres more effectively than they’ve ever done. A ban on wheel farings should also improve the wake behind the car, so drivers can get closer to each other. That should help to improve overtaking opportunities.

Q: Looking ahead to 2010, it’s all change at Williams, firstly with a completely new driver pairing. Can you explain the choice of Barrichello and Hulkenberg?
SM: We chose Rubens because he is a multiple Grand Prix winner and has a huge amount of experience; he also still has a huge amount of enthusiasm to win races. He’s quick and is the complete package. We’re combining Rubens with Nico Hulkenberg, a rookie, but one who’s won everything he’s competed in since he started karting. Nico has great potential for the future.
Combining youth with experience, we have what we wanted.

Q: What can each bring to the team and what are your expectations for them?
SM: We expect both of them to deliver at the level of the car and beyond. Rubens is already having a motivating effect and we expect him to keep bringing that to everyone at Grove. Nico has worked on the factory floor all year, so everyone knows him and is behind him. We want them both to drive the factory towards wins. Unless you’ve worked with a race winner, you don’t know where that level is and that is something that Rubens will bring us which we anticipate will have a great effect on the team.

Q: The team is switching to Cosworth engines next year. Will they be able to compete against the likes of the Mercedes and Ferraris?
SM: Cosworth have a lot of work to do over the winter on the dynos, particularly on fuel consumption but, in terms of performance and reliability, it will be difficult to judge how competitive they are until we get out on track. They are an engineering-led company, they’re pushing hard and what we’ve seen so far is encouraging.

Q: How is winter development of the FW32 going?
SM: It’s going really well. It’s a big aero race over the winter to see how much downforce you can add and drag you can take off. It’s also a matter of optimising all the different design parts and mechanical development as well. Both are areas of intense activity at the moment and we’re making good progress, but there’s still a lot to do.

Q: When will the FW32 make its track debut?
SM: In the first week of February with the four, single car tests ahead of Bahrain.

Q: There is a young driver test coming up in December, who will the team have in the cockpit?
SM: We will be running Andy Soucek on day one as part of his prize for winning the F2 Championhip and then Nico Hulkenberg will take over for the remaining two days.

Q: What are the team’s ultimate objectives for 2010 and how will we achieve them?
SM: Our objective is to push everything to a much higher level from the solid base that we had with the FW31; from our drivers to the engines, chassis and trackside performance. Everyone in the factory is up for that and we want it to be a year about moving to the next level. We need to re-establish ourselves as one of the top teams and 2010 is our best opportunity to do that.
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Your predictions in 2010 - Drivers - Constructors

[Ed]

ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX - REVIEW

Q&A WITH ROD NELSON, CHIEF OPERATIONS ENGINEER

Q: How much of a technical challenge was the new Yas Marina Circuit?
RN: Yas Marina has the layout of a street circuit, at least in sector 3, but the surface of a dedicated track, unlike its fellow street circuits, Monaco and Singapore. This means that you can run a relatively stiff set-up to optimise aero efficiency, as you would on a typical road course. While the tight and twisty nature of sector 3 suggests a maximum downforce set-up, it must be tempered to accommodate the relatively long straights in the first two sectors.

Q: How dusty was the asphalt and how much did it rubber-in during the weekend?
RN: Because the circuit is effectively in the desert it was covered in a very fine dust for the start of practice on Friday. Conditions were also fairly windy due to its proximity to the sea so, although the circuit cleaned up during running, much of the dust settled back on track overnight. That left us with relatively low grip levels again for the start of P3 on Saturday morning. We definitely saw an improvement on Sunday with the drivers remarking that they preferred driving the track with the heightened grip levels felt towards the end of the race.

Q: Did you expect the FW31 to be more competitive?
RN: With a more "normal" street track we might have expected the FW31 to be more competitive, as we were in Monaco, Valencia and Singapore. We were, however, still hopeful of a fourth row grid slot in qualifying, but we lost a couple of tenths on the final lap of Q3 which put us down the order for the race.

Q: Most cars struggled on the option tyre. Was that the case with the FW31 and, if so, why?
RN: The option tyre was particularly sensitive to the dusty conditions while the prime was more stable. The option improved somewhat during the race as the circuit rubbered in though.

Q: Did the heat cause any technical issues for the team?
RN: The absolute temperature didn't cause any issues. However, because qualifying and the race were held in twilight conditions, track temperature dropped throughout both sessions. This affected tyre warm-up and car balance so we had to account for that with car set-up and tyre pressures.

Q: Was eighth place ever on the cards for Nico?
RN: The best chance for points would have been with an early overtaking manoeuvre in the first couple of laps. Strategically, there was not much more that we could have achieved.

Q: Please sum up the 2009 season for AT&T Williams…
RN: Although the car was competitive at the start of the year, we had some difficult races with accidents in Melbourne and poor weather in Malaysia and Shanghai. The middle of the season saw consistent performances, with eight points-scoring races in succession. The consistency faltered somewhat with a poor performance at Monza’s low downforce Autodromo, followed by a pitlane penalty at Singapore which robbed us of a good podium finish. We were once again looking likely for a podium finish at Brazil had it not have been for the gearbox failure, and we finished just out of the points at Abu Dhabi meaning we were unable to defend our position in the Constructors’ Championship.

Q: What plans does the team have for the winter months? Which young drivers will you test and when can we expect to see the new FW32?
RN: The design, development and manufacture process of the new car is well under way now so the entire factory is flat out. We have the three day young driver test that the FIA allows us in December during which we will be testing Andy Soucek following his victory of the inaugural F2 Championship, together with our new race driver, Nico Hulkenberg. The FW32 will be ready to run at the start of the February testing period.
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Your predictions in 2010 - Drivers - Constructors

[Ed]

ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX - QUALIFYING
SATURDAY 31 OCTOBER, 2009

AT&T Williams’ qualifying performance in Abu Dhabi this evening was solid if not to the team’s best measure this season. Nico Rosberg’s p9 grid slot provides the prospect of a points finish tomorrow afternoon, but the team will be looking to find sufficient pace on the Yas Marina circuit to defend its slender championship advantage over its nearest rivals. Kazuki Nakajima finished the day in p14, but has kept close company with his team-mate all weekend, and despite a poorer starting position, will be looking to make a contribution to the championship conclusion tomorrow.

Nico Rosberg:
The session went okay, I think 9th was around the best we could get out of today, we are definitely struggling on the open sections of this circuit, but points are definitely possible here and very important for us this weekend. From the 5th row and with a good strategy tomorrow, we can stay ahead of BMW in the constructors and I can hold 7th position ahead of Trulli in the driver’s championship. It’s a good track, not easy and very hot but this is also the last race for me with Williams and I want to do the best for this great team.

Kazuki Nakajima:
I’m a bit disappointed because I didn’t manage to put everything together in Q2, but there was still a reasonable gap to the first ten, so maybe I wouldn’t have made it into the final qualifying session anyway. The track demands that you are precise all the time and one mistake here is costly, which makes it pretty difficult. I don’t think it will be easy to overtake tomorrow, but because of the nature of sectors 1 and 2, we could have a pretty crazy first lap tomorrow, so I still believe anything is possible.

Rod Nelson, Chief Operations Engineer:
It was a reasonably straightforward qualifying session, although we did expect the option tyre to come into its own in Q2, but this didn’t materialise, so we along with most other teams stayed on the prime tyre. We hoped that Nico had another couple of tenths in him to get among the BMWs just in front, but he starts from the clean side of the grid and he should have a competitive race. Kazuki was also looking competitive on what would have been his fastest lap at the end of the prime run in qualifying two but he ran a little wide in turn 14, got some dirt on his tyres and that unfortunately, was that.
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[Ed]

ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX - PRACTICE
FRIDAY 30 OCTOBER, 2009

Objectives P1
• Mechanical, aero and fuel systems checks

Objectives P2
• Long runs for race balance, brake wear analysis, tyre compares, starts

Conclusions – Rod Nelson, Chief Operations Engineer
“As with any new circuit, it is very important to get out for maximum track time. The circuit is very professional and immaculately presented, however, being near the desert, it is sandy which possibly coloured the times we saw today. Looking at our tyre tests, we have plenty to think about overnight. It will be interesting to see what condition the track starts in tomorrow as it certainly improved significantly over the course of today.”

Nico Rosberg
Runs P1: 1 new prime (1 lap) install, 2 new prime (8 laps) baseline, 3 scrubbed prime (6 laps) aero test, 4 scrubbed prime (5 laps) aero test, 5 scrubbed prime (7 laps) fuel system test
Runs P2: 1 scrubbed prime (5 laps) baseline run, 2 new option (10 laps) long run race tyre test, 3 new prime (10 laps) long run race tyre test, 4 scrubbed prime (7 laps) mechanical set-up test, 5 new option (7 laps) qualifying analysis, grid start.

I enjoyed driving the track for the first time today. It was dirty to begin with and then of course in the second session we were interested in the artificial lighting conditions in the dark and the effect on the tyres of the temperature dropping. Visibility-wise it was fine in the second practice session and again, the temperature change didn’t seem to have too big an effect on us. The more unknown element is the choice of tyre and it is hard to say which is better. In terms of set-up, we have definitely found a direction especially on the mechanical side. All in all, a good day which has given me confidence that we can score some points here this weekend.

Kazuki Nakajima
Runs P1: 1 new prime (1 lap) install, 2 scrubbed prime (9 laps) baseline, 3 scrubbed prime (8 laps) aero test, 4 scrubbed prime (7 laps) fuel system test

Runs P2: 1 scrubbed prime (4 laps) baseline run, 2 new prime (9 laps) long run race tyre test, 3 new option (9 laps) long run race tyre test, 4 new option (6 laps) qualifying analysis, 5 scrubbed option (7 laps) aero & mechanical set-up test, grid start

“It was an interesting day, running P1 in the daylight and P2 in the evening. The track has improved a lot and we have spent a useful day finding a set-up direction. The tyre selection is quite tricky, which will be the key factor we will look at tomorrow.”
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Your predictions in 2010 - Drivers - Constructors

[Ed]

ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX PREVIEW

Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi

Formula One is poised for its second event in the Middle East – and the new Yas Marina Circuit features a number of innovative features, including a five star hotel that straddles the track. On the ground, its 5.55 kilometres (run anti-clockwise) incorporate long straights leading into tight corners, to encourage overtaking, plus a series of fast sweeps that will contribute to average lap speeds approaching 200kph. Contemporary protocol dictates that two-stop strategies will almost certainly be the preferred tactic.

Talking technical

Car dynamics
Average turn angle indicates the average angle of a circuit’s corners expressed in degrees. The higher the average turn angle, the more acute the corners in the circuit’s configuration and the greater propensity for understeer to compromise lap time. Average turn angle at the Yas Marina circuit is 1000 - which is below average for the season. The circuit predominately features low speed corners which are linked by two long straights. Based on simulation work, the end of straight (EOS) speed at the Yas Marina circuit is 300kp/h. The Abu Dhabi track ranks as having the 4th slowest EOS speed on the 2009 calendar, and this is one indicator of the wing level typically selected to optimise the downforce/drag ratio. Meanwhile, Yas Marina also has the 3rd slowest average lap speed of any of the tracks on the calendar.

Pitlane & refuelling strategy
The pitlane length and profile contribute to the determination of the optimum fuel strategy. The pitlane loss at Abu Dhabi is approximately 18.5 seconds, which is the 10th most penalising pitlane in the Championship. To complete a normalised distance of 5km around the Yas Marina circuit requires 2.43kg of fuel against an average of 2.42kg per 5km across all circuits this season, ranking the circuit as being averagely demanding in terms of fuel consumption.

Safety car
Another key contributor to the determination of race strategy is the likelihood of safety car deployments, which are influenced by weather considerations, the availability of clear run-off areas that allow racing to continue while recovery takes place and the circuit profile, especially the character of the entry and exit into turn one at the start of the race. The Yas Marina circuit is new for 2009. It has large run-off areas with additional tarmac sections laid outside the turns, so the circuit’s character is unlikely to induce a safety car period.

Temperature, pressure & humidity
As an example, it is a long observed tradition that drivers arriving at Interlagos complain about a lack of grip and an absence of engine power. Having become acquainted with a baseline of engine and aerodynamic performance during the season, the climb to 750 metres above sea level for one of the final races can, courtesy of the reduction in air density, rob a Formula One car of engine power, aerodynamic performance and cooling. The losses can come close to double digit percentages and thus have a very real impact on car performance. Air density is a factor of the prevailing ambient temperature, which varies most significantly by season, air pressure which is closely linked to altitude and, to a much smaller degree, by humidity. Thus if races are run at the same time each year, the factor that tends to have the greatest bearing on air density is elevation. Abu Dhabi is at sea level and therefore has the equal highest average pressure (1,013 mbar) of any race venue in the 2009 Championship. Engine power will be high due to the ambient pressure, although there will be a small reduction as a result of the high ambient temperatures.

What the drivers say

What we did after Brazil
Kazuki “As it was my home race in Japan at the start of the month, I’ve pretty much spent the whole of October there. I then travelled straight to Brazil from Tokyo so, after the race last weekend, I finally went back home to Oxford after a full month away. It was nice to finally be home as it was a really busy trip. I’ve had a quiet week or so, catching up with friends and spending some time at the factory with my engineers.”

Nico “I finally made it home after some technical issues with the plane to London on Sunday after the race and since then have had quite a busy week. On Thursday, I joined a karting day with some guests of Thomson Reuters before going to the factory on Friday to use the sim to prepare for Abu Dhabi. On Monday, I’m in Munich with Randstad and then I fly to Abu Dhabi. I’ll arrive on Tuesday morning and have a day to get used to the heat and time difference before another appearance for RBS in Dubai on Wednesday.”

About Abu Dhabi and the all new Yas Marina Circuit
Nico “I am really looking forward to going to Abu Dhabi. With the amount of time and effort that has gone into building it, I think it’s going to be a fantastic venue with stunning facilities and a great experience for Formula One. I’ve heard it’s a sell-out too so it should be a really exciting race weekend for the teams and the fans and a great way to end the year.”

Kazuki “It’s really exciting to be going to a brand new circuit. The organisers certainly look like they’ve put a lot of thought into developing the track and the facilities. It all looks very impressive and the perfect place to end the championship.”

Abu Dhabi from a technical perspective
Kazuki “As we haven’t driven the circuit yet, it’s difficult to give an accurate breakdown of the track but our simulator has provided us with some really invaluable data. It looks like set-up will veer towards a medium to high downforce configuration to cope with the long straight (which will require good top speeds) and tight corners which we expect to see on a street circuit. Good grip levels for balance and to cope with the sand will also be crucial. One of the most interesting things for me is that we will drive under a hotel which I can’t wait to experience.”

Nico “Abu Dhabi is going to be a new experience for all of us so the simulator at Grove has been a real help and I’m pleased I had it at my disposal this week. There are some things like the bumps and kerbs that you can’t completely replicate, but braking, oversteer and understeer are all very similar. It’s definitely a big advantage having a sim like ours as I will be able to drive out of the pits on Friday and know the track pretty much straightaway. The one consideration I’ll be interested to see playout is the fact that we will start the race in daylight and then move into the night time.”
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Your predictions in 2010 - Drivers - Constructors

[Ed]

BRAZILIAN GRAND PRIX - RACE
SUNDAY 18 OCTOBER, 2009

Competitive form shown by the AT&T Williams team this weekend went unrewarded at an incident filled Brazilian Grand Prix today as both Nico Rosberg and Kazuki Nakajima were forced into early retirements. Racing for fourth place, Nico suffered his first DNF of the 2009 season when his FW31 was paralysed by a suspected gearbox failure on lap 27. Kazuki was ousted from the race after an incident on lap 31 put him into the tyre barrier, but he fortunately suffered no injuries. Congratulations to Jenson Button and Brawn GP on their Championship victories.

Nico Rosberg:
I had a good start, making up one position off the line and then managing to stay away from the incidents ahead of me. I was lying in third, but then Kubica overtook me at the restart when the safety car went in. Fourth was still ok though because we had a strong strategy and competitive pace. It was therefore looking good until the gearbox problem. After a promising weekend, this result is a shame.

Kazuki Nakajima:
We were lucky to gain some places at the start and make progress up the field after all the incidents. It was quite difficult after the restart; I didn’t manage to hold position and I was left stuck behind the cars in front. We were having a good race until the accident, so I’m disappointed it ended this way.

Rod Nelson, Chief Operations Engineer:
Disappointing end to quite a promising weekend. We struggled slightly in the dry on Friday but recovered well for the wet qualifying session on Saturday. Despite the fact that we were running reasonably heavy downforce today, we were quite competitive in the race. Nico couldn’t keep Kubica behind him, but he was looking good for fourth place before what looks like a gearbox failure. Kazuki was also going well until an incident in the middle of the race forced him into retirement. Fortunately, Kazuki didn’t suffer any injuries from the accident.

Points: AT&T Williams 34.5 (6th), Nico Rosberg 34.5 (7th), Kazuki Nakajima -
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Your predictions in 2010 - Drivers - Constructors

[Ed]

BRAZILIAN GRAND PRIX - QUALIFYING

Torrential downpours caused chaos at Brazil’s Interlagos circuit today, severely interrupting proceedings for the penultimate qualifying session of the season. The rain drenched track caused incidents in Q1 and Q2, prompting red flags in both, while re-starts were subsequently delayed due to the conditions. Despite the rain, the AT&T Williams team had a competitive afternoon in the wet, the FW31 taking Nico Rosberg and Kazuki Nakajima through Q1 in P1 and P4 respectively, then through Q2 at the top of the time sheets. Traffic and a drying track conspired to leave the team further down the order at the end of the day, however, with Nico in P7 and Kazuki in P9 for the Brazilian GP.

Nico Rosberg:
It was good to see that we were fastest on the wets throughout qualifying. Unfortunately, however, I think we just weren’t quick enough on the intermediates. We weren’t able to warm up the front tyres enough so they didn’t work properly which ultimately hurt our pace. Still, 7th is a position from which we can hope for a strong race tomorrow.

Kazuki Nakajima:
It was a difficult qualifying session with a long time between red flags and each round. It would probably have been better if it had continued raining because the car was very competitive in the wet, but we still managed to get a good position. It’s the first time I’ve been in the top ten since Hungary so I’m looking forward to a good race tomorrow.

Rod Nelson, Chief Operations Engineer:
It was a very busy and long qualifying today because of the weather. Both drivers were happy with the car in the wet, and we moved them onto inters at the right time in Q2. Its good to have both drivers in the top ten again, but I think we could have done a little better. It will be an interesting race tomorrow and we should do well.
_________________
Your predictions in 2010 - Drivers - Constructors

[Ed]

BRAZILIAN GRAND PRIX - PRACTICE

Objectives P1
• Baseline set-up work and new aero component testing
• Fuel system checks and tyre compares

Objectives P2
• Tyre compares and race simulations
• Mechanical set-up, weight distribution and safety car tests

Conclusions – Rod Nelson, Chief Operations Engineer
“As usual, we covered our standard Friday programme; looking at car balance, qualifying set-up and some longer race runs with heavier fuel. Obviously, the first session was somewhat upset by the rain. There was more rain in the morning session than we expected and then less than we had anticipated this afternoon, but it didn’t affect us too much.”

Nico Rosberg
Runs P1: Run 1 new prime (1 lap) install, run 2 new prime (9 laps) baseline, run 3 scrubbed prime (2 laps) aero component test (red flagged), run 4 new option (12 laps) tyre compares and systems checks.

Runs P2: Run 1 scrubbed prime (6 laps) baseline with set-up changes, run 2 scrubbed prime (7 laps) overall stiffness test, run 3 scrubbed prime (8 laps) aero set-up, run 4 new option (5 laps) qualifying sim, run 5 scrubbed option (7 laps) race balance, run 6 scrubbed option (9 laps) aero set-up / safety car test.

“Today was all about tyre testing for qualifying and the race. We know roughly what we will do but it’s not entirely clear for the race; that will depend on how much the track improves. We also spent time looking at our downforce level but it’s always difficult and sometimes you need to compromise because, on the one hand, you want to find the quickest lap possible but, on the other, you need to be careful that people are not able to overtake you on the straight. Set-up wise, we just carried out some fine tuning. I don’t think there’s much to improve on that front for this track. Overall, we’ve had a good day’s work and we are where we need to be.”

Kazuki Nakajima
Runs P1: Run 1 new prime (1 lap) install, run 2 scrubbed prime (10 laps) baseline, run 3 new option (10 laps) tyre compare and systems checks.

Runs P2: Run 1 scrubbed prime (7 laps) baseline with set-up changes, run 2 scrubbed prime (7 laps) weight distribution test, run 3 new prime (12 laps) race balance, run 4 new option (5 laps) qualifying sim, run 5 scrubbed option (10 laps) race balance / safety car test.

“The weather was quite tricky today but, fortunately, we still managed to get some running in under dry conditions. We worked through quite a lot of things and we know in which direction we want to head for tomorrow now. Whenever I was out on my new tyres, it started to drizzle so I didn’t get to record a good lap time today.”
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Your predictions in 2010 - Drivers - Constructors

[Ed]

Brazilian Grand Prix Preview

Interlagos, São Paulo, Brazil

The third anti-clockwise circuit of the campaign, after Istanbul Park and Singapore, Interlagos features a long, long uphill left-hander that places a tremendous strain on drivers’ necks – and tyres. In ordinary circumstances, this is yet another two-stop race: McLaren gambled on a three-stop strategy when trying to revive Lewis Hamilton’s title hopes in 2007 and the Englishman dropped more than half a minute to the pace-setting Ferraris.
Hamilton and many others subsequently made unscheduled third stops in 2008 because of a torrential downpour, almost a daily occurrence at this time of year in São Paulo.

Talking technical

Car dynamics
Average turn angle indicates the average angle of a circuit’s corners expressed in degrees. The higher the average turn angle, the more acute the corners in the circuit’s configuration and the greater propensity for understeer to compromise lap time. Average turn angle at Interlagos is 122 degrees - which is above average as the second sector of the lap comprises a mix of long, high speed corners.
The end of straight (EOS) speed at Interlagos was 305kp/h in 2008. The Brazilian track ranks as having the 8th highest EOS speed on the 2009 calendar, and this is one indicator of the wing level typically selected to optimise the downforce/drag ratio. Meanwhile, Interlagos also has the 7th highest average lap speed of any of the tracks on the calendar.

Pitlane & refuelling strategy
The pitlane length and profile contribute to the determination of the optimum fuel strategy. The pitlane loss at Interlagos is approximately 21.0 seconds, which is the 8th most penalising pitlane in the Championship. To complete a normalised distance of 5km around Interlagos requires 2.29kg of fuel against an average of 2.42kg per 5km across all circuits this season, ranking the circuit as the 3rd least demanding in terms of fuel consumption.

Safety car
Another key contributor to the determination of race strategy is the likelihood of safety car deployments, which are influenced by weather considerations, the availability of clear run-off areas that allow racing to continue while recovery takes place and the circuit profile, especially the character of the entry and exit into turn one at the start of the race. There have been eight safety car deployments since 2000, so the circuit’s character is very likely to induce a safety car period.

Temperature, pressure & humidity
As an example, it is a long observed tradition that drivers arriving at Interlagos complain about a lack of grip and an absence of engine power. Having become acquainted with a baseline of engine and aerodynamic performance during the season, the climb to 750 metres above sea level for one of the final races can, courtesy of the reduction in air density, rob a Formula One car of engine power, aerodynamic performance and cooling. The losses can come close to double digit percentages and thus have a very real impact on car performance.

Air density is a factor of the prevailing ambient temperature, which varies most significantly by season, air pressure which is closely linked to altitude and, to a much smaller degree, by humidity. Thus if races are run at the same time each year, the factor that tends to have the greatest bearing on air density is elevation. Interlagos is 750m above sea level and has the lowest average pressure (927 mbar) of any race venue in the 2009 Championship. As a consequence, the circuit’s ambient characteristics will have the largest reduction of engine power of any race this year.

What the drivers say

Thoughts on the Japanese Grand Prix

Nico “It was a strange weekend in Japan. The weather on Friday made things quite tricky as we didn’t have much time to prepare the car, then all the incidents during qualifying made for an interesting session as well. What happened in Q2 obviously affected qualifying for me, but then I benefitted from all of the grid penalties. In the end, I started from 7th and ended the race in P5, collecting more points which I was pleased about after Singapore.”

Kazuki “Japan was just disappointing for me really. I really went there hoping to score points as I was back home at Suzuka in front of my home fans but it wasn’t to be.”

What we did after Japan

Kazuki “Work didn’t stop when the race finished for me. I went straight back to Tokyo on the Monday for a driver appearance for AT&T in the evening, then I had another event on Tuesday for Accenture. Marketing duties ended on Wednesday and I have spent the week in Japan with my friends and family as I get to see so little of them during the season. I’ll travel straight to Brazil from here, so it’s been a long trip!”

Nico ”I went straight back to Monaco after Japan. As it was a back-to-back with Singapore, it was a long trip away so it was nice to get back home. I’m heading out to Brazil a little earlier, on Monday, as I have a driver day for Allianz in Brazil on Tuesday.”

About Brazil

Kazuki “Brazil is very different to Japan so it’ll be a complete change going there next week! I like it though. The fans are always amazing; they’re really passionate about Formula One, so it’s nice to experience the atmosphere. On Wednesday I’m with AT&T, so hopefully I’ll get to experience some proper Brazilian culture with them before the weekend begins.”

Nico “I love Brazil. It’s such a vibrant country and São Paulo is cool. It’s normally the last race of the year so there are a few parties, but I imagine it will be different this year now it’s not the last race on the calendar. Either way, it’s a great place to have a race so I’m looking forward to it.”

Interlagos from a technical perspective

Kazuki “Interlagos is a fairly challenging track because it’s so bumpy and goes in an anti-clockwise direction, but it’s really exciting to drive. There are some good overtaking opportunities, which is good because the grid will no doubt be tight because of the shorter lap time and it’s important to qualify well. We’ll have to do lots of work on Friday to find the right set-up and achieve a strong mechanical balance to cope with the track’s layout, but I’m looking forward to it.”

Nico “Interlagos is a really fun track to drive as it has a bit of everything – gradient changes, a complete mix of corners and it runs in an anti-clockwise direction which presents a different challenge for the drivers, especially for our neck muscles. Last year wasn’t so great for us because of the rain at the start of the race which left us towards the rear of the field, so I really hope we go there and do well this time.”
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[Ed]

JAPANESE GRAND PRIX - RACE

Nico Rosberg banked four points for the team at today’s Japanese Grand Prix with his fourth fifth place finish of the year. Driving a solid race in a field distorted by penalties, Nico held seventh position off the grid and went on to gain two places up the order before crossing the line in P5. Kazuki Nakajima’s 15th place finish, following a race beleaguered by traffic on a one stop strategy, compounded what has transpired to be a disappointing weekend in front of his home crowd.

Nico Rosberg:
That was the best I could do today for sure. The car wasn’t as quick as we wanted it to be but we got the best out of it. I had a really good strategy which helped deliver this result. It was a tough race so overall I’m pleased.

Kazuki Nakajima:
Obviously it was a difficult race for me. I was on a one stop strategy which was working up to a point but then there was just too much traffic and the safety car came out so it didn’t work out the way we had hoped. It’s a disappointing result at my home Grand Prix.

Sam Michael, Technical Director:
We had an interesting race because our strategies were quite different to the cars around us due to the penalties imposed yesterday. Nico kept his head down and scored some points which was what was required today. He was competitive at the times he needed to be and this is a good result. Kazuki was on a one stop strategy, which was really dependent on something happening to help him up the order, but it didn’t unfortunately.

Points: AT&T Williams 34.5 (6th), Nico Rosberg 34.5 (7th), Kazuki Nakajima -
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[Ed]

JAPANESE GRAND PRIX - QUALIFYING

SATURDAY 03 OCTOBER, 2009

Following only a minimal amount of dry running during Friday’s practice sessions, qualifying for tomorrow’s Japanese Grand Prix proved challenging for AT&T Williams today. Nico Rosberg made it into Q2 but his subsequent runs to achieve a place in the top ten were unsuccessful, while the session was also severely disrupted by two red flag incidents. Nico was ultimately forced out of Q2 in P11. Kazuki Nakajima’s debut qualifying at Suzuka in front of his home crowd ended in disappointment as he was eliminated out of Q1 with the 17th time.

Nico Rosberg:
It was a dramatic qualifying session with numerous accidents and so many people going off which just show that this is a really unforgiving track. I’m not overly happy with my performance today but I didn’t feel particularly comfortable in the car. The first part of qualifying was ok, but I never found the same level of grip after that. Of course, I would have wanted to do better than 11th place, but it at least gives us the opportunity to choose our strategy tomorrow.

Kazuki Nakajima:
We didn’t really get the grip in the dry conditions or get the most out of the car today. I’m really disappointed. Yesterday was a pretty good day in the wet, but it just didn’t go right in the dry. It’s very nice to be at home in front of so many fans, I just hope to be able to do better for them tomorrow.

Sam Michael, Technical Director:
That was a strange session with so many red flags. Kazuki just missed out on Q2 by a narrow margin, then Nico just missed out on Q3 after two false starts that ended up in red flags with no lap time on the board. With the remaining time we had, we decided to go out earlier than usual on another set of primes but it didn’t put us through. Both drivers have the choice of fuel strategy now so we'll put all our efforts into that to get the best possible result that we can.
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[Ed]

JAPANESE GRAND PRIX - PRACTICE
FRIDAY 02 OCTOBER, 2009

Objectives P1
- Wet running and wet tyre compare
- Aero systems checks

Objectives P2
- Set-up tuning for the wet
- Grid starts

Conclusions – Sam Michael, Technical Director
“It was a fairly uneventful day in terms of running the cars due to the weather. We checked both full wet and intermediate tyres and the wet set-up. Now we’ll prepare the cars for qualifying with new engines and the race gearboxes. We’ll have to be conservative on the gear ratios tonight due to no dry running at all.”

Nico Rosberg
Runs P1: Run 1 new wets (1 lap) install, run 2 scrubbed wets (4 laps) baseline, run 3 new inters (8 laps) mechanical set-up, run 4 scrubbed inters (7 laps) fuel system test
Runs P2: Run 1 scrubbed wets (8 laps) set-up tuning for the wet and grid start

“Today was just a matter of trying out the tyres in order to get an understanding of where the change over points are and how the inters and full wets are working, degradation-wise. What was clear was that I pretty much destroyed the wets when the track dried out. With the information from both cars, we now have a good understanding of what is going on.”

Kazuki Nakajima
Runs P1: Run 1 new wets (1 lap) install, run 2 new inters (10 laps) baseline, run 3 scrubbed inters (7 laps) mechanical set-up and fuel system test
Runs P2: Run 1 scrubbed wets (8 laps) set-up tuning for the wet and grid start

“Not a great day in terms of weather, but in terms of results it was ok. We didn’t get many laps in, but those we did get gave us a good platform for any potential wet weather running over the weekend. It looks positive, so hopefully we’ll be in the same position tomorrow for qualifying, but in the dry, preferably!”
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[Ed]

Japanese Grand Prix Preview

Suzuka, Japan

Back on the calendar for the first time since 2006, Suzuka will henceforth share the Japanese Grand Prix with Fuji Speedway. The circuit features many quick corners and sudden directional changes, which place a significant load on tyres, but the figure-of-eight configuration balances the load over the course of a lap so the wear rate is not as significant as the cornering speeds might suggest. Two-stop strategies are the norm, although that depends on local weather patterns: the region is prone to occasional typhoons.

Talking technical
Car dynamics
Average turn angle indicates the average angle of a circuit’s corners expressed in degrees. The higher the average turn angle, the more acute the corners in the circuit’s configuration and the greater propensity for understeer to compromise lap time. Average turn angle at Suzuka is 990 - which is below the average for the Championship. Suzuka is the only circuit on the Formula One calendar to feature a figure-of-eight configuration.

The end of straight (EOS) speed at Suzuka was 311kp/h in 2006. The Japanese track ranks as having the 4th highest EOS speed on the 2009 calendar, and this is one indicator of the wing level typically selected to optimise the downforce/drag ratio. Meanwhile, Suzuka also has the 3rd highest average lap speed of any of the tracks on the calendar.

Pitlane & refuelling strategy
The pitlane length and profile contribute to the determination of the optimum fuel strategy. The pitlane loss at Suzuka is approximately 19.9 seconds, which is the 10th most penalising pitlane in the Championship. To complete a normalised distance of 5km around Suzuka requires 2.37kg of fuel against an average of 2.42kg per 5km across all circuits this season, ranking the circuit as the 5th least demanding in terms of fuel consumption.

Safety car
Another key contributor to the determination of race strategy is the likelihood of safety car deployments, which are influenced by weather considerations, the availability of clear run-off areas that allow racing to continue while recovery takes place and the circuit profile, especially the character of the entry and exit into turn one at the start of the race. There has been only one safety car deployment during the five previous races at Suzuka which means the circuit’s character is unlikely to induce a safety car period.

Temperature, pressure & humidity
As an example, it is a long observed tradition that drivers arriving at Interlagos complain about a lack of grip and an absence of engine power. Having become acquainted with a baseline of engine and aerodynamic performance during the season, the climb to 750 metres above sea level for one of the final races can, courtesy of the reduction in air density, rob a Formula One car of engine power, aerodynamic performance and pooling.
The losses can come close to double digit percentages and thus have a very real impact on car performance. Air density is a factor of the prevailing ambient temperature, which varies most significantly by season, air pressure which is closely linked to altitude and, to a much smaller degree, by humidity. Thus if races are run at the same time each year, the factor that tends to have the greatest bearing on air density is elevation. Suzuka is 50m above sea level and has the 6th highest average pressure (1,009 mbar) of any race venue in the 2009 championship. As a consequence, the circuit’s ambient characteristics will have little effect on engine power.

What the drivers say
Thoughts on the Singapore Grand Prix
Nico “Singapore was good and bad. On the one hand, it was impressive to see how much the team has developed the car which allowed us to be right up there with the quickest teams. On the other hand, I robbed us of a very likely second place with a silly mistake.”

Kazuki “For me, the Singapore Grand Prix was a solid but flat race, I didn’t really have any bad moments, but there weren’t any highlights either. We were strong all weekend, and consistent too, but at the end of the day I didn’t manage to make up enough places during the race to get into a points-scoring position. I am now just hoping that it will happen at my home race later this week.”

What we’ll be doing between Singapore and Japan
Kazuki “I am flying to Tokyo on Monday morning for a sponsor day on Tuesday. I will then head out to Suzuka on Wednesday. My work won’t be done after the race weekend though as I have two more sponsor days on the Monday and Tuesday after the race! It sounds very busy, but this year’s schedule is better for me than the one I had last year when all the events were packed into the week before the race.”

Nico ”I am travelling to Hong Kong after Singapore for a day with RBS on Tuesday. I’ll then make my way over to Japan on Wednesday.”

About Japan
Kazuki “I kind of grew up around Suzuka. I have been to the circuit many, many times and it’s the place where I started karting. I’ve also watched countless races there, not just Formula One races, but many other forms of Japanese motorsport, so going to Suzuka feels like going home. Apart from a short trip last April, I haven’t been there for the past four years so it will be almost like a new experience. Overall, it’s just a very nice place and I can’t wait to get there.”

Nico “I am now looking forward to Suzuka because I think we can do well there. Personally, I think the track is one of the best on the calendar, up there with Spa. It’s also a good venue for Formula One because the fans are so enthusiastic which is always great.”

Suzuka from a technical perspective
Kazuki “Suzuka has a very technically challenging layout. It’s designed in a figure of eight shape, which has a mix of 16 slow and fast corners around the lap. One of my favourites is the famous 130R which is really unforgiving. It’s a really quick circuit so you have to make sure you have a well balanced set-up or you’re just punished the whole way round. The one thing you have to be careful of in Japan at this time of year is the weather which can be really variable, but that could just make it more exciting!”

Nico “I haven't been to Suzuka for three years now but I felt really comfortable on the track the last time that I raced there I am looking forward to driving it again.”
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