Abu Dhabi GP 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.
-credit: williams
