BMW WilliamsF1 Team-U.S. Grand Prix-Preview
United States Grand Prix - 27/28/29 September 2002 - PREVIEW After demonstrating unrealised potential in Monza, the BMW WilliamsF1 Team expects to do justice to its competitiveness in the USA. The penultimate race in the FIA Formula One World Championship takes the BMW WilliamsF1 Team to one the spiritual homes of international motorsport, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It could be said that the Indianapolis circuit is one of the crown jewels in the international motorsport calendar alongside Le Mans and Monaco. It is a unique circuit incorporating long straights, as well as the distinctive characteristics of an oval in places. Juan Pablo Montoya is well acquainted with the circuit and set the lap record of 1m14.448s last year, and has previously in the 2000 CART series as the youngest driver to win the Indy 500. Juan Pablo Montoya: "I am pleased to race at Indianapolis again. From a technical perspective, the Brickyard is a circuit that has got a lot of rhythm and so an important key to performing well in Indy is to have a well balanced car. The Speedway is also a good competitive circuit as it is very fast and strategy can come into play in the race outcome. I think it is probably one of the best circuits for overtaking, having such a long straight and turn one into the oval is an especially good place for passing. The trick is to get fairly close to the car in front of you by the end of the straight before trying to pass. "The circuit also holds sentimental value for me as when I raced in CART my team was based here. I have good memories from then, as well as of course winning the Indy 500. I'm probably going to see all my Œold¹ friends out there, and we'll be sure to make it as entertaining as possible! It's going to be an interesting weekend for us. No doubt about it." Ralf Schumacher: "Some people said that Monza was going to be our last chance for a victory this season, but in my opinion our car will also suit the Indy track. After both Juan and I didn¹t finish in Italy, our performance in the US will be even more carefully scrutinised and we will be looking for a better result. The long full-throttle sector in the parabolic corner suits our engine, but it will be very difficult to find the right compromise with the winding infield. I will fly out to the US a couple of days early in order to be acclimatised, relaxed and fresh. I hope to be able to heal the wound of our poor performance in Monza together with the team." Sam Michael (Chief Operations Engineer, WilliamsF1): "Indianapolis is completely different to any of the other circuits on the Formula One calendar. It has the longest straight with up to 23 seconds on full throttle, followed by tight and twisty corners, none of them high speed at all. Part of the Formula One circuit uses two corners from the oval track, but they are taken at full throttle, so are considered as part of the straight. "The set-up of the car needs to be geared towards good traction for the slow speed exits and good braking stability. From a tyre point of view, the Michelin compounds will be competitive. We had strong tyres at Monza and we were disappointed not to capitalise on the advantage they gave us there due to the technical problems we had with our own package. The circuit layout demands maximum downforce for the infield and minimum drag for the straight. We are sure to see a variety of different wing levels tried throughout the weekend. The pit stop strategy should be interesting because there are plenty of overtaking opportunities." Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director) "On the oval part of the Indianapolis circuit, the engines run full throttle for 23 seconds, this represents the longest full-load section of all Formula One circuits. In contrast, there is the narrow infield, which reduces the full throttle percentage of a lap to just over 50%, based on data collected in 2001. "The important figure for the engine is the continuous loading on the straight. In Qualifying we will again use our latest engine development which allows us revs over 19,000 per minute. The decision as to whether we run this engine specification in the race will be made after we have completed our endurance runs." Facts and Figures … The 2002 race will be the third United States Grand Prix to be hosted at the Indianapolis circuit since Formula One returned to the US in 2000. The first race was won by Michael Schumacher in his Ferrari, Mika Häkkinen won for McLaren-Mercedes in 2001. … The BMW WilliamsF1 Team has not successfully completed the race in the last two years. Last year Ralf Schumacher spun off the track halfway through the race, and Juan Pablo Montoya retired while leading the race due to problems with the car¹s hydraulic system. The pair had qualified third and fourth on the grid. … The first US Grand Prix took place in 1959 at Sebring and was won by Bruce McLaren driving a Cooper Climax. In 1960, the US GP was held at Riverside, California, before going to Watkins Glen, NY. From 1976 until 1983 there were eight races called the Grand Prix USA-West held in Long Beach. The Eighties also saw two races held at Las Vegas, another in Dallas and seven in Detroit. From 1989 until 1991, Phoenix was the home of three US GPs. In total 45, Formula One Grand Prix races been hosted in the USA. … WilliamsF1 has five wins in the US to its credit: 1980 Alan Jones, Watkins Glen; 1981 Alan Jones, Las Vegas and Long Beach; 1984 Keke Rosberg, Dallas; 1985 Keke Rosberg, Detroit. In 1984 Nelson Piquet won the USA Detroit Grand Prix in his BMW powered Brabham. … As a driver, Juan Pablo Montoya has fond memories of the circuit. In 2000, the Colombian wrote motor racing history by winning the legendary Indy 500 as a rookie. Nobody since 1966 (Graham Hill) had won this classic race at the first attempt. … Juan Pablo Montoya has the chance to become the first driver to win both the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race and the F1 Grand Prix at Indianapolis. Only four drivers - Jim Clark, Graham Hill, Emerson Fittipaldi and Mario Andretti - have won the Indy 500 and an US GP to date, but on different circuits. … The current circuit which incorporates part of the oval, is 2.605 miles (4.192 km) long and the race will be a total of 73 laps covering a race distance of 190.190 miles (306.016 km) long. One big difference between the oval and the road course is they go in opposite directions Formula One races clockwise. … The circuit includes parts of the famous oval for 1822 metres (1.132 miles) or approximately 23 seconds where the cars run full throttle. After this section the cars dive into the infield, a winding section containing 13 corners. This unique circuit lay out obviously requires a difficult compromise between low and high downforce set-up. … Turn 13 of the road course, which is Turn 1 of the 2.5-mile oval, a new safety feature has been introduced for Formula One. It is termed SAFER (Steel And Foam Energy Reduction) Barrier and is an energy-absorbing system which was installed into all four turns of the oval in May. … Tyre degradation is expected to be low in Indianapolis, with one pit stop between laps 36 and 52 likely. … The lap record was established last year by Montoya in his BMW WilliamsF1 FW23 with a time of 1m14.448s (202.707km/h). Last year¹s pole time was set by Michael Schumacher in 1m11.708s (210.453 km/h). … The race will start at 13.00 local time (18.00 GMT) on Sunday, 29th September. … The city of Indianapolis, the capital of the State of Indiana, has approx 800,000 citizens. 1,600,000 people live in the surrounding Marion County. Indianapolis was founded in 1821. The city was planned and mapped with several ring roads around the centre which explains its nickname "circle city". It is the 12th biggest city in the US and has two universities and due to many immigrants from Germany around 1840 the oldest male-voice choir of the United States. The German twin town of Indianapolis is Cologne. Ralf Schumacher #5 Juan Pablo Montoya #6 DOB 30/06/75 Hürth (DEU) 20/09/75 - Bogota (COL) Nationality German Colombian Residence Salzburg (AUT) Monte Carlo (MCO) Marital status Married to Cora, one son (David) Engaged to Connie Freydell Height 1.78 m 1.68 m Weight 73 kg 72 kg F1 debut 1997, Melbourne 2001, Melbourne GP starts 98 32 Poles 1 10 Wins 4 1 Points (total) 177 75 Points 2002 42 (4th) 44 (3rd) Fastest laps 6 6 2002 Qualifying Race Qualifying Race GP Australia 3rd accident 6th 2nd GP Malaysia 4th 1st 2nd 2nd GP Brazil 3rd 2nd 1st 5th GP San Marino 3rd 3rd 4th 4th GP Spain 3rd 11th 4th 2nd GP Austria 2nd 4th 4th 3rd GP Monaco 4th 3rd 1st Dnf GP Canada 4th 7th 1st Dnf GP Europe 2nd 4th 1st Dnf GP England 4th 8th 1st 3rd GP France 5th 5th 1st 4th GP Germany 2nd 3rd 4th 2nd GP Hungary 3rd 3rd 4th 11th GP Belgium 4th 5th 5th 3rd GP Italy 3rd Dnf 1st Dnf