02.04.2004 'We start from the circuit map and work out the various options for the best racing line for the drivers': FERRARI'S HOMEWORK BEFORE ARRIVING AT BAHRAIN

As the cars began practice today for the Bahrain GP, everyone was getting the chance to check out if their expectations and predictions for the desert track were accurate.

Possibly the greatest uncertainty concerns the tyre choice on a track with a high grip, abrasive surface and asphalt temperatures already in the forties in the early morning.

Scuderia Ferrari’s Head of Vehicle Dynamics, Marco Fainello explained what 'homework' the team had done before arriving in Bahrain to address this aspect of the performance package. 'We start from the circuit map and work out the various options for the best racing line for the drivers,' began the Italian engineer.

'We feed the information into our simulation programmes, which takes every part of the vehicle’s behaviour into account, such as braking effort, acceleration, suspension movement and so forth, all tried with different fuel loads. The first element we look at is the required level of downforce.'

The choice of tyre type is not carried out in isolation, as tyre choice influences chassis set-up and vice versa. 'We have methods which allow us to take into account tyre choice,' continued Fainello. 'We work with Bridgestone to find out the best set-up to use on the car for each particular type of tyre. Then it’s down to a combination of experience and simulation.

'We start off by looking at circuits with similar characteristics and in parallel do the simulation. Malaysia is pretty similar in terms of tyre characteristics, but there are other tracks which also provide useful information. The number and speed of the corners and the characteristics of the asphalt are other factors which we consider.'

While the theoretical simulation provides the groundwork, the full picture is not available until the cars actually run on the track, discovering how smooth or bumpy the surface is and, in the case of Bahrain’s Sakhir track, how much sand is blowing around.

'With the new rules requiring us to select one type of dry tyre before Saturday, it means we only have 2 hours on Friday morning for us and the drivers to learn the track and to get the set up right,' said Fainello. 'So you really need to turn up with a set-up that is right from the start and from then on just make small changes. If you turn up with the wrong set-up then you are in trouble, because you have to work on that which takes time away from fine tuning, looking at strategy and making a tyre choice.'

Let’s leave the last word on tyre choice to Bridgestone’s Technical Manager, Hisao Suganuma: 'the first half of the Sakhir circuit features tight corners while the latter half consists of several high speed directional changes. From a tyre point of view, this means we need good tyre stability and in terms of compound, we feel the right one will be in the soft to mid range.

'Because track temperatures could rise as high as 50 degrees, while the air temperature is only 30, we have also given much thought to grip and durability. We think we have just the right tyres for the job.'