Bahrain 2014 - GP Preview - Renault F1

Rémi Taffin, Renault Sport F1 head of track operations:

Sakhir is a typical modern track – wide, with long periods of wide open throttle followed by tight, low speed corners.

The circuit includes four straights, starting with the 1km pit straight. After that there is the 500m burst between Turns 3 and 4, then the slightly longer straight linking T10 and 11 and then the final drag from T13 to T14, which is approximately the same length as the pit straight. With the ICE and turbocharger working at full revs for around 60% of the lap, Sakhir sits in the middle of the table for Power Unit demands. The straights give plenty of opportunity for the MGU-H to recover energy from the exhaust, but it’s crucial for it to convert quickly to the ‘motor’ function to give good drive out of the slow speed corners. A smooth, neutral PU set up will show up in the lap time and it’s something we will aim for from the start of the weekend.

The corners of the back section from turns 4 to 8 and 11 to 13 have several heavy braking points, which will allow the MGU-K to keep the battery reserve at high charge. This is very important since the MGU-K will also be required to feed the ICE on those four long straights.

We follow one hot race with another. As in Malaysia the ambient heat, which can reach up to 45°C, means we need to play particular attention to the cooling. We saw in Sepang that we are running on a knife edge in this respect and a couple of degrees difference between sessions can really affect the balance of the Power Units. While we don’t expect any significant issues due to temperatures it is something we monitor carefully. Of course, the fact that this year it’s a night race and the sessions are slightly later, means we’ll have a luxury of slightly cooler temperatures but it’s not something we’re taking for granted – it can still be way over 30°C at 7pm!