European GP Honda preview

European Grand Prix, Nürburgring, 22-24 June 2001

Round nine of the Formula One World Championship takes Lucky Strike BAR Honda and Benson and Hedges Jordan Honda to the continent and Germany this weekend for the European Grand Prix at the Nürburgring. After a weekend in Montreal that culminated in unexpected disappointment for the Honda-powered teams, both are eagerly seeking points from this race. Here, as at all circuits, the aerodynamic qualities of each individual car will be honed to contribute to the overall performance package.

Integral to the success of an F1 car, aerodynamics is an area which receives constant attention from all chassis manufacturers in their persistent quests for greater speed and performance. But, like the teams, engine manufacturers have particular considerations when it comes to optimising a car's aerodynamic efficiency, the three key examples being air induction, cooling and exhaust. Another crucial aspect is the design of the airbox itself which must ensure that the inducted air is at an equal pressure across all ten inlet trumpets. As engine partner to both BAR and Jordan, Honda has contemporary experience of working with two teams in adapting its engine to operate within different aerodynamic characteristics.

The air-breathing F1 engine requires a vigorous diet of oxygen, delivered through the air intake aperture above the driver's head into the engine's airbox at a high static pressure. While the size and shape of the air intake is important, the fundamental objective is to create the maximum possible dynamic pressure in order for it to be converted to static pressure in the airbox. The greater the static pressure the more power the engine develops and this is the subject of continual study by the teams' aerodynamicists and Honda engineers in the wind tunnels. One of the ways for this to be achieved is for the air intake to be in as undisturbed an airflow as possible, and the importance of this is evidenced by some drivers' experiments with their head position to enhance airflow.

In terms of the effect of the exhaust aerodynamics the teams' designers seek the best compromise between power and torque and aerodynamic efficiency. This centres on the movement of the high energy air through the engine's exhaust which, if managed efficiently, has an energising effect. The bigger a cooling requirement an engine has, the bigger the loss aerodynamically for the car as a whole. Therefore, this is one area in which the teams and Honda work extremely closely, as an engine which has the maximum operating temperature and the minimum heat rejection will have the best overall performance. Just as the variance of ambient conditions, such as air temperature and air pressure, has an effect on a car's aerodynamic behaviour, so it does on an engine's air induction and therefore performance.

The Nürburgring is fallow ground for Honda as, unusually, not one of the manufacturer's 71 Grand Prix successes has come at the German circuit. John Surtees recorded Honda's best performance around the original track, finishing fourth in 1967 while in 1985, the first Grand Prix on the heavily revised track, Keke Rosberg's Williams-Honda led for half the race before retiring, leaving team-mate Nigel Mansell to claim a point in sixth place. In the same year though, Mansell provided Honda with victory at the European Grand Prix at Brands Hatch, to record his maiden Formula One win, with Rosberg third.

<pre> European Grand Prix, Nürburgring, 22-24 June 2001

Circuit Details Circuit Name Nürburgring Circuit Address Nürburgring GmbH, 53520 Nürburg, Eifel, Germany Circuit Length 4.556 km / 2.831miles Lap Record H-H Frentzen 1m18.805s (Williams Renault 1997)

Timetable (all times are local, CET is the same, BST is one hour behind) Friday Free Practice: 11.00-12.00 & 13.00-14.00 Saturday Free Practice: 09.00-09.45 & 10.15-11.00 Qualifying: 13.00-14.00 Sunday Warm-up: 09.30-10.00 Race (67 laps): 14.00

2000 Results Winner M Schumacher (Ferrari) 1h42m00.307s Fastest race lap M Schumacher (Ferrari) 1m22.269s Pole Position D Coulthard (McLaren) 1m17.529s

Honda in Nürburgring 2000 Jacques Villeneuve Qualified: 9th Race: DNF Ricardo Zonta Qualified: 18th Race: DNF

Honda in Nürburgring Grands Prix: 6 Podiums: 0 Wins: 0

Honda F1 winners Senna 32, Mansell 13, Prost 11, Piquet 7, Berger & Rosberg 3, Ginther & Surtees 1

Team wins powered by Honda McLaren-Honda 44 - Williams-Honda 23 - Honda 2 - Lotus-Honda 2