Atlas F1 Magazine Writer
The Formula One circus arrives in Imola for the first round of the European season. Ferrari will be hoping to continue their winning streak in home ground, while their rivals aim to put an end to Michael Schumacher's dominance of the start of the year. Atlas F1's Tom Keeble previews the San Marino Grand Prix, the fourth round of the 2004 season
In its current form, the circuit requires high downforce and great balance for riding the high kerbs; a strong engine and brakes are vital for making the most of its stop-start nature.
Analysis
For the last five years, the San Marino Grand Prix has been one of Ferrari and Michael Schumacher's best circuits: they have only lost one of the races, to Ralf Schumacher's Williams in 2001, with Michael Schumacher retiring due to broken suspension. Considering their dominant start to the season, there is no surprise to learn that Ferrari and Schumacher are clear favourites to win here again.
Last season, the difference between a two or three stop strategy was minimal, though three stops offered a lower fuel penalty in qualifying, and was favoured by most of the teams. The faster pitlane speed limit for 2004 makes the three stop approach favourite again for this season, though any teams that are marginal on brakes might consider four, or two if they are gambling on when rain might fall.
As the circuit favours a powerful engine and balance over the kerbs, the exceptionally well rounded Ferrari is expected to retain an advantage over the field; however, the return to Europe and a three week break also means that all the teams are expected to have made some progress in developing their cars, so there could be some surprises.
Of course, tyres are going to be vital, and heading to the first circuit that is expected to have a relatively cool track on race day is going to prove interesting. Bridgestone have clearly made considerable inroads into Michelin's advantage at the hotter circuits; but Michelin have worked hard over the winter to be effective in cooler weather. After being shocked by the pace on the Ferrari package at the first three races, the French manufacturer has been working flat out to improve their tyres for this event: BAR and Williams both tested experimental rubber over the last couple of weeks that are a noticeable step forward. Neither team really believes these tyres are enough to close the gap to Ferrari, but they hope that it should at least turn it into a proper race.
A Lap of Imola with Kimi Raikkonen
Accelerating hard along the short pit straight at Imola, you reach 180mph/289kph in seventh gear as you wind through the scenic Italian countryside. You brake hard for the left-right-left Tamburello chicane, which is negotiated at 75mph/125kph in second gear through the left-hand entry.
You lift slightly for the middle of the chicane, a right hander, and as you exit the final left flick, you push hard and flat on the throttle, achieving a speed of 185mph/296kph in seventh gear along the straight that leads to Villeneuve. The left-right chicane is taken at 105mph/170kph in third gear. A short burst of power takes you down to the tight left hairpin of Tosa, which is negotiated at 55mph/88kph in second. On the exit you climb up the hill towards the flowing Piratella.
Powering up through the gears, you reach 175mph/281kph in sixth gear along the straight before hitting the brakes for the 125mph/201kph bumpy left-hander. The track then drops downhill, this sees you reach some 165mph/265kph in sixth gear before dabbing the brakes for the slight left hand flick before braking hard for the bumpy right of Acque Minerali, which is taken in second gear at 70mph/110kph. Accelerating out of the Acque Minerali, your speed increases to 165mph/270kph in sixth gear on the straight that leads you to the Variante Alta.
This chicane is negotiated at a minimum speed of 75mph/125kph in third gear and sees the cars riding the curbs quite hard. This leads you onto another straight, which sees your speed increase to 178mph/286kph in seventh gear. Braking for Rivazza is quite difficult and hard for the brakes as the track drops downhill, the double left swings you round 180 degrees and is taken at 60mph/100kph in second.
On the exit you accelerate hard along the Variante Bassa straight, which sees you reach 180mph/290kph in seventh before braking hard for the right-left flick of Traguardo. Taken in second gear at 59mph/94kph, the final chicane flicks you back onto the start-finish straight to begin another lap.
Team by Team
Ferrari
This is a circuit that suits both Ferrari and Michael Schumacher and the team have been working hard to improve the car over the last three weeks, so the target the pack is chasing has been moved on again.
Despite arriving as clear favourites, the team are not being complacent about taking this race. Although Williams have not been spending much time in the headlines, Ferrari have identified them as a threat: the team have consistently performed well there over the years, and typically demonstrated a turn around in fortunes when they have made a poor start. Ferrari have no wish to be caught napping.
Nevertheless, at a circuit that will be relatively cool, and with a reasonable likelihood of rain, Ferrari are confident that Bridgestone is the right tyre, and they have put together the best package for the race.
Williams
If there is going to be a challenge to Ferrari this weekend, Williams are the only team that is really likely to provide it.
Although the headlines from testing have highlighted the progress made by Renault and BAR since returning to Europe, the Williams test programme has also be running full steam, and they have been making some interesting progress with their race pace. An evolution to the engine brings improved power for the whole race, and the aero package has seen some enhancement that should help to improve brake cooling and reduce tyre wear.
The reduced wear is an important factor, as it has allowed Michelin to take softer tyres to the event. The potential from time gained through improving the tyres is huge and the fastest route to closing the gap to Ferrari.
Both drivers can go well here, and with Ralf Schumacher in need of a return to form, now would be a good time to do so: Williams may not have closed the gap to Ferrari, but in the event of showers, they have the experience to take advantage of any opportunity.
McLaren
Although McLaren have been decidedly off form at the fly-away races, they have been making the most of the recent tests to both iron out their remaining reliability issues, and bring on some new components that have been waiting in the wings. They have made a step forward, and looking to get ahead of Renault, and potentially compete with Williams and BAR: they are not a threat to Ferrari here.
Whether or not McLaren have made the enough progress to take points away from Renault, BAR and Williams remains to be seen; the most important thing they must do is get both cars to the finish: despite launching early, and testing exhaustively ahead of Melbourne, their reliability record is the worst on the grid.
Renault
If there is one thing that Renault have done noticeably well with the current car, it is to get the absolute best from their brakes and this could prove their best weapon in San Marino.
The car has been improved since Bahrain: the aerodynamics have been improved, and they have a new revision of their engine, which should demonstrate improved torque and a smoother power curve. These will both be important factors for making progress at Imola; however, the Renault's best race time advantage is expected to be from having brakes that don't give up as fast as their rivals. Although the track is not noted for ease of passing, they could be in a position to make up places at the end of the race.
Although Renault are targeting a podium, achieving it is a big task, given the relative strength of BAR and Williams, let alone Ferrari. However, should their rivals struggle with qualifying, or have brake wear or reliability issues in the race, then Renault will be ready to make the most of any opportunity to pick up good points.
BAR
Having taken podiums in the last two races, the atmosphere around BAR is very positive and it has not suffered by some very quick and reliable running in their recent tests, either.
BAR are planning to leverage a solid aerodynamic evolution and have a new version of their Honda engine available for the weekend. Despite having their new rear wing banned by the FIA, overall, the team should have taken a good step forward. Furthermore, as the circuit is lacking high speed corners, the emphasises on engine power could offer the team a slight advantage over Renault.
On the downside, this is a circuit where Jenson Button has typically not shone: even last year, where he showed considerable improvement, his qualifying time was quarter of a second off Jacques Villeneuve's. Then again, this is a circuit where Takuma Sato's bravery has paid off in the past: he outqualified Giancarlo Fisichella in 2002. If someone is going to offer a surprise challenge to Williams for the 'best of the rest' at this race, it is could be a BAR.
Sauber
Sauber have been conspicuous by their lower profile in testing over the last three weeks: budget constraints are keeping down both their developments and track time, leaving them in danger of falling back to fighting Jordan for the privilege of separating the midfield teams from Minardi.
Heading to Imola, the team are expected to try out some new aerodynamics that have been developed in the wind-tunnel; however, this will rely on the driver performances confirming the wind tunnel results whilst they are dialling the cars into the circuit and setting up for the race: this is going to be a distraction.
With the powerful Ferrari engine, Sauber are hoping that they can at least compete with Toyota here, but realistically, unless Felipe Massa can capitalise on the experience of pounding out test laps at the circuit for Ferrari, and Fisichella finally gets his act together, they are not going to qualify well enough to make much impact.
Jaguar
Whilst the Jaguar R5 is clearly better than last year's car, and in the hands of Mark Webber can be qualified well up the grid, the team have not completely solved the issues with tyre wear. Fortunately, Imola is tough on brakes, so the fastest route around it is three or four stops, reducing the fuel loads and brake wear, which coincidentally reduces the impact of the team's higher than average tyre wear.
Accordingly, Jaguar are heading to Imola in a positive frame of mind. They have a car that can potentially trouble the top six in qualifying, their second driver on a familiar track for the first time, and some improvements on the car that might keep it in the points for the whole race distance.
Whilst most of the front running teams have brought some significant developments on line since the last race, Jaguar have worked for a reasonable evolution and a lot of work on setting up the car. If the work is sufficient to hold the gap to BAR and Renault steady, then they stand a good chance of closing it in the next few races as more developments come through.
Toyota
Having flattered their grid positions in Bahrain by running light on fuel, the general feeling about Toyota's tactic is that it was worth trying something different, but it is not going to get around the basic fact that they are not performing.
Recent testing at Estoril has given the team great understanding of how to make the most of wet weather Michelin tyres; however, unless they can get more downforce on to the car, that is going to offer little benefit to the team against fundamentally the faster opposition. However, it is their only weapon for the circuit: in dry conditions, they can't expect to score points at Imola from outright performance, the big kerbs are traditionally a serious problem for the team, and they are not sure to have resolved that issue yet. Accordingly, if the kerbs are still proving an issue, it makes sense to set the car up purely for wet weather. Then, in the event of rain, they have the potential to outperform some of the teams that have opted for dry or compromise set-ups.
Looking forward, the changes due for the mid-season are what the team hope will lift their overall performance; in the meanwhile, being innovative and risking appearing further off the pace than usual, but potentially picking up some points, is arguably a better option than just racing at the rear.
Jordan
Having finally managed to get two cars home in Bahrain, Jordan have at least started to get on top of the reliability issues that have plagued the team from the launch of the car. If is not much of a coincidence that the team have not had a good enough testing budget to run the car half as much as they wanted before flying out to Australia, and their reliability has been a reflection of their track time. Fortunately, they have been able to identify the cause of their issues quickly, and expect now to stay on top of them.
Despite running the same engine as Jaguar, the EJ-14 has struggled to generate sufficient downforce, with the result that Jordan have not been able to extract the best from their tyres. Since the car is now able to run consistently for more than a race distance, they have worked hard with Bridgestone to better understand how to get the best from their rubber with the downforce available, and are looking for a step forward in performance. Realistically, all the major players are bringing out new components that improve their performances too, so the only real barometer remains Minardi.
Minardi
Minardi's season continues to look bleak, as the remainder of the grid is proving both more reliable and considerably quicker. Three finishes from six starts has proven a disappointment, as reliability was the only weapon the team hoped to wield in 2003.
The drivers are expected to have an interesting time learning how to get the most from this circuit, as finding the right way to ride the kerbs is key to unlocking the most speed from the cars; having no-one out there with experience of doing so in a Formula One car leaves them attempting to learn from experimentation and following other drivers through the corners. Getting it wrong leads to spins and broken cars, so this could be a baptism of fire on their introduction to Formula One in Europe.
Flashback 2003
Following a hectic Brazil, where Giancarlo Fisichella was finally declared the winner, after a timing error was corrected, the circus moved on to Imola: he was presented with the winner's trophy on the Friday. It left Kimi Raikkonen leading the Championship on 24 points, ahead of David Coulthard (15) and Fernando Alonso (14). Fisichella's win put him fourth with ten points, whilst Jarno Trulli was fifth with nine. The Schumacher brothers, Juan Pablo Montoya and Rubens Barrichello were all tied for sixth place on eight points.
The Schumacher brothers were competing under a cloud, after the hospitalisation of their mother, who passed on Saturday night. It was also the final appearance of Ferrari's exceptional F2002.
Qualifying
Michael Schumacher put together a fantastic lap in the single shot qualifying session to claim pole in front of a partisan crowd. Ralf Schumacher completed the front row with an equally strong lap in the spare Williams, confirming both the Schumacher brothers were coping well with their emotional issues
and that Williams were starting to get to grips with a car that had been off the pace to date.
Rubens Barrichello slid of the circuit during the pre-qualifying warm-up, leaving his mechanics to put the car back together again in a hurry: it resulted in a conservative lap that still earned third on the grid. Montoya demonstrated Williams' returning form with a convincing performance in all the sessions, though final qualifying was marred with persistent understeer.
Mark Webber underlined Jaguar's Brazilian performance by putting the car fifth on the grid in both qualifying sessions, whilst Raikkonen managed sixth on what would prove to be a fuller tank than most. Other notables include Villeneuve's seventh place capitalising on an upgraded Honda engine and Coulthard running wide at Rivazza, dropping him to twelfth place.
Race Highlights
A dry race started promisingly with Ralf Schumacher getting ahead of his brother, stopping the Ferrari from breaking away at the front, as widely predicted. Behind, Barrichello and Montoya made reasonable starts, whilst Webber's was wrecked by problems with the launch control, dropping him back to eleventh. Coulthard survived a trip over the grass at Tamburello.
Over the opening ten laps, the Schumacher brothers fought over the lead, with Michael struggling to pass his brother. It allowed Barrichello and Montoya to stay close, though Raikkonen dropped back, with Alonso tucked under his rear wing.
It was soon clear that there would be little overtaking, and strategy was going to rule the day; Ralf pitted on lap 18, with Montoya and Barrichello stopping a lap later. Michael Schumacher took full advantage of an extra two laps on the circuit, returning from his stop clearly ahead of the Williams and in third place. Raikkonen and Coulthard were running first and second for McLaren, as their two stop strategy unwound with out-of-sequence stops.
The McLarens pitted on laps 21 and 22, dropping down the field: Raikkonen was in fourth, ahead of Montoya, who had been on the receiving end of a poor stop: but worse was to come. The Colombian's second stop was marred by refuelling rig issues, with the result that insufficient fuel was put in to the car; he had to pit again two laps later.
Michael Schumacher was enjoying his lead, running away from the field and his brother in the front, extending it through the next round of pitstops. There was a moment of worry for Ferrari fans as he ran wide at Piratella, but otherwise it was a flawless display of how to dominate from the front.
The final round of stops should have allowed Barrichello to pass Ralf Schumacher, but problems with the front left tyre spoiled the stop; however, this led to the only memorable overtaking manoeuvre of the race, as the Brazilian forced his way past the German by carrying more speed through the final corner, and making a good pass on the straight.
Coming away from the race, Ferrari had worked their way up to second in the Constructors Championship, and Schumacher was third in the Drivers Championship.
Points paying positions:
1. M.Schumacher Ferrari Bridgestone 3
Classified: 15 from 20 starters
The San Marino Grand Prix is hosted at Autodromo Enzo & Dino Ferrari in Imola conveniently close to Ferrari's headquarters, and a circuit they have dominated in recent years. Coming close on the tenth anniversary of the death of Ayrton Senna, this event is expected to carry more emotional undercurrent than usual. The weekend is expected to see rain showers, probably impacting Saturday qualifying; Sunday's race is most likely to be dry with a good chance of showers. Track temperature should be cool.
2. Raikkonen McLaren Mercedes Michelin 2
3. Barrichello Ferrari Bridgestone 3
4. R.Schumacher Williams BMW Michelin 3
5. Coulthard McLaren Mercedes Michelin 2
6. Alonso Renault Michelin 2
7. Montoya Williams BMW Michelin 4
8. Button BAR Honda Bridgestone 2
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