Renault pack up for Australia

Melbourne, Sepang, Sao Paulo: travelling to three continents in four weeks, the F1 season certainly kicks off with a bang. For the teams, the fly-away races add even more challenges: there's no question of leaving a front wing, or crate of spare ...

Melbourne, Sepang, Sao Paulo: travelling to three continents in four weeks, the F1 season certainly kicks off with a bang. For the teams, the fly-away races add even more challenges: there's no question of leaving a front wing, or crate of spare parts, behind at the factory. At the Renault F1 Team, two men are responsible for logistics: Steve Nielsen at Enstone, and Jean-Pierre Raymond at Viry-Châtillon. The distance between the two sites, as well as the different demands of each factory, requires two separate organisations.

For Team Manager Steve Nielsen, the priority is to send 34 tonnes of freight, three cars and 67 people to the other side of the world. "It's something we start preparing a year in advance," he explains. Three successive fly-away races impose certain constraints: the aircraft style cases will leave Enstone this week, and won't return to England until after the Brazilian Grand Prix. The three R23 cars will begin preparation for departure tonight. The transport itself is handled by FOM (Formula One Management), who use three Boeing 747 Cargo planes to transport the whole grid. Aircraft leave from England, Germany and Italy.

The organisation is significantly different at Viry-Châtillon. Twelve V10 engines will be sent to Melbourne. The engine factory works on a "just in time" basis, and prepares for the races one after the other. The engines the Team will use in Melbourne, will be sent back to France straight after the race, while a fresh batch will be sent to Malaysia for the second race. If there any problems, some blocks could leave for Viry on the Friday of Melbourne, in order to be examined as quickly as possible.