JULY 29, 2006

Renault playing it safe

Renault is playing it safe over the question of mass damping, despite the fact that the FIA Stewards say the systems are legal. The FIA technical department is saying that it will appeal that decision and thus if Renault used the systems and the FIA won its case at the International Court of Appeal, there would be a possibility that Renault might lose points. It is thus felt to be better for the team to race without the systems and try to minimise any loss of points in relation to Ferrari. It is worth noting that in the team's preview of Hockenheim it noted that "the long straights and slow corners of Hockenheim demand contrasting suspension set-ups: stiff to maintain aerodynamic performance at high speed, and soft for optimum mechanical grip. In general, we will achieve this with relatively soft settings, and bump rubbers to maintain stable ride heights at speed. The car is run with a forward mechanical bias (stiffer at the front than the rear) in order to optimise grip under traction and braking. Indeed, braking stability is particularly important at this circuit at Turn 6 - where the cars slow by more than 200 kph - is the key overtaking opportunity. We therefore pay detailed attention to this area."

This means that at Hockenheim the mass-damping has less effect than at other tracks.