(Renault Sport F1)
This weekend Formula One heads to the Hockenheimring for the German Grand Prix where in 2012 Renault powered cars made up three places in the top ten where Kimi Raikkonen finished the race in third place while driving for the Lotus F1 Team. Reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel finished the race in fifth place as then Red Bull team mate Mark Webber finished in 8th place.
Last season the German Grand Prix was held at the Nurburgring where reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel took victory in the Renault powered RB9. The Lotus F1 Team have a double podium finish last season as they finished the race in second and third place respectively.
The Parapolika straight is a kilometre long as a result team's can expect to be on full throttle for 14 seconds per lap. The team's will have to take care of their engine's more so this weekend as it is the first race of a double header with the Hungarian Grand Prix taking place next weekend.
Speaking about this weekend's German Grand Prix Renault Sport F1's head of track operations Remii Taffin said:
'Hockenheim will be the fourth power track in a row after Canada, Silverstone and Austria. Approximately 65% of the lap is spent at full throttle thanks to the four long straights, the longest of which is over 1km long. The ICE, turbo and MGU-H will therefore be under enormous pressure, particularly since drivers will reach over 290kph on three occasions (or over 300kph on two occasions) during the first two thirds of the lap.
Unlike Silverstone, however, the straights are linked by medium to low speed corners such as the Hairpin and the old Stadium complex. Energy recovery under braking is therefore relatively easy, which is good news as far as carbon fuel consumption is concerned.
With such large loads going through every part of the Power Unit, everything will get very hot. The expected high ambient temperatures will only compound this challenge. To prevent against any potential overheating issues we’ll run a different cooling configuration and use the PU elements in a slightly different way. For example, we may run a ‘mix and match’ system using components at different stages in their life cycle. This race will also be a good warm up for the very hot temperatures we’ll see in Hungary just a week after.
We’re going to Hockenheim in a good frame of mind. We aim to be on the form we showed in Canada and Silverstone. Our confidence is increased by the new software tested last week in Silverstone and fuel from Total that should bring additional performance per lap.'
© Ben Johnston 2014
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