Zoom Power delivery, not raw power, the key

Fabrice Lom, who looks after the activities of Renault F1 with Red Bull Racing, looks ahead to the Monaco Grand Prix.

How was the Turkish Grand Prix for Red Bull Racing?
"We were a bit uncertain as to how the car would work in Istanbul, but in the end we were reassured because we were even closer to the leaders than we had been in Barcelona. In Q2, for example, our performance was quite flattering, with the 5th and 7th best times for Mark and David."

The team compete in Monaco next. What do you expect there?
"This race is always an unknown and it’s a bit of a lottery. What will be interesting is to see how the drivers cope without any driver aids. All season, we have seen that some of them have difficulty getting into the corners and being precise, and that can have serious consequences in Monaco. In qualifying, a good lap requires the driver to push hard and kiss the barriers, but there is a fine balance between being close to the barriers and being in the barriers."

What is the most important characteristic for the engine in Monaco?
"In the Principality brute power is of little importance. Instead you need a progressive power delivery. We therefore work with the engine mapping programmes. It is a real challenge because we are still in the learning phase with the standard electronic control unit and this is the first time we will run it at a track like Monaco. But it’s the same for everybody."

Finally, what is the position with the engine cycles?
"In Monaco, Mark will have the V8 from Istanbul and David will have a new V8. For Mark this will not be a problem because the power is not that important in Monaco. David will have to use his V8 on the demanding track in Montreal two weeks later, but it’s still not a concern as our engine should not suffer in Monaco because the cooling supplied from the Red Bull chassis is excellent.

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