F1: Renault tyred and confused

[Rory Phoulorie]

Tuesday 10th April 2007

Renault are still struggling to come to terms with their new Bridgestone tyres, which Pat Symonds believes could be the reason for their slump in form.

Although Renault dominated the last two years' Championships, claiming back-to-back World titles, the Anglo/French squad has fallen behind both Ferrari and McLaren this season.

The team found themselves 1.5 seconds off the pace at the season-opening Australian GP, while in Malaysia they were once again a second down on their rivals.

However, what exactly is causing Renault's lack of competitiveness remains a mystery to the team.

"We are left with lots of questions which we will go through step by step until - like Sherlock Holmes - you're left with the probable causes," Symonds told Autosport.

"We know we are (slow) in the quick corners, as you'll see from sector times. But we are also inconsistent. But I see inconsistencies in other teams, even those operating with more performance.

"We are well aware that something is badly wrong, but we don't know what yet, even though we've already eliminated some of the possibilities."

However, one glaringly obvious possibility is the new Bridgestone tyres, which Symonds suspects "may end up having some significance when we do find the answers.

"It is a fact that we did lose aero performance when we fitted these tyres to the 2006 car. Also, in the past, when there was more freedom of what you could do with tyres, we used to do lots of wind tunnel testing of tyres - and that's now closed off.

"We pulled that loss back but perhaps in doing so we have fallen back in other areas. I look at the Honda and wonder if it is not exactly the same thing.

"After Brazil last year we went to Jerez to test. I don't think there's much doubt that our 2006 car was faster than McLaren's 2006 car.

"Yet when we went to the Jerez test on the Bridgestones, suddenly the 2006 McLaren was faster than the 2006 Renault."

http://www.planet-f1.com/story/0,18954,3213_2049773,00.html