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The European
part of the 2008 Formula 1 season comes to a close this
weekend with Scuderia Ferrari's home grand prix at the
Monza circuit. Ferrari should benefit from the boost of
racing in front of a big crowd of its home fans and, as
is now traditional, the staff of the Gestione Sportiva,
who will watch from their reserved grandstand. Current
form and the results of the test session held at this
track two weeks ago suggest they will get to see a very
close contest.
In terms of
performance, the three days running at Monza confirmed
that the Italian Grand Prix could be the toughest
assignment of the remaining races for the Scuderia, as
it's clear its opponents are extremely strong. Last year
here, Ferrari struggled, especially in terms of dealing
with the kerbs but, as has been seen at other races this
year, this is one problem that has been solved, as the
car's behaviour over kerbs has been improved through
work on the suspension package.
However, with the circuit affectionately known as the
Temple of Speed, it is no surprise that engines are very
much a key to this weekend. "Undoubtedly, with Monza
coming hot on the heels of Spa, this is the toughest
pair of races in terms of the engine cycle," reckons the
Gestione Sportiva's Technical Director for Engines,
Gilles Simon. "Monza is the hardest circuit on engines
and Spa is not far behind it, so this means the engines
used here will have endured the highest stress levels of
any throughout the season." Pushing the engine to its
limits was therefore a major priority at that test.
"From the engine side, we pushed very hard to test
reliability and the results were successful, as we
completed two race distances," continued Simon. "And
also in terms of car performance we made good progress
at a circuit where, in 2007, we were not that strong. So
overall it had been a very positive test."
Life was made more complicated this year for the engine
specialists with new regulations demanding that all
teams use a standard electronic control unit. "We have
had a partially positive result and we devoted a lot of
time and effort into starting the season with a
reasonable understanding of the system," says Simon.
"From then on, we had had to go deeper into the details
to understand all the possibilities offered by the
common ECU and to follow its evolution. Today, we still
do not feel we have fully exploited all the
functionalities of this system."
With just five more races remaining and both Drivers'
and Constructors' championships very finely balanced,
the Scuderia is working hard to ensure the F2008 is as
competitive as possible right down to the final
chequered flag of the year. However, Simon and his staff
cannot neglect the future and there are several new
challenges for next season that are already taking up a
lot of their time back in Maranello.
"The Kinetic
Energy Recovery System is a complex subject, which finds
us dealing with a lot of new and complicated areas,
while ensuring that we still devote all necessary
efforts into continuing our usual development programme
on the current year car," revealed the Frenchman. "It
will be really challenging to run this system next year.
We are learning every day, but we are struggling and I
think that all teams will struggle to run the new system
reliably right from the opening race of the 2009 season.
Next year, with KERS as well as the other rule change
allowing the use of an electronic front flap adjuster
(on the front wing,) electronics will play a very big
role and the common ECU will have to be fully understood
in order to operate these new elements successfully."
However, for the next few days, the focus will be on the
59th running of the Italian Grand Prix, which along with
the British event, is the longest running GP on the
calendar, with all the but the 1980 race being held at
Monza. The Prancing Horse has won seventeen of those
races, the last victory coming courtesy of Michael
Schumacher in 2006.
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