R31 - Silverstone Set-Up Guide

"Silverstone is one of the classic F1 circuits. Compared with the last few Grand Prix races, it offers a very wide range of challenging corners which range from fiercely quick to quite slow and technical. Having such a large difference between the fast and slow places a heavy demand on both the driver and his race engineering team to extract the most from the car." said Technical Director James Allison.

Set-up Guide of Silverstone

Engine

The layout of Silverstone is reasonably hard on the engine due to a high average rpm over the course of a lap. It has an impact on fuel consumption but the Renault V8 engine is very good in this area.

Brakes

In complete contrast to places like Canada or Valencia, where we battle to keep the brakes cool, here we battle to keep them hot enough. Silverstone is very easy on the brakes, as there is relatively little brake usage because so many of the corners are high speed. When you do actually need the brakes they can be quite cold so you have to ensure they stay warm enough to function correctly.

Suspension

We've got a new geometry front suspension to try, which we will evaluate on one of the cars on Friday. There isn't a great deal of kerb usage or anything in particular which relies on any particular aspect of the suspension, as this is more of an aerodynamic efficiency type of circuit. You need a stable car through the high speed corners like Copse, Maggots, Becketts and Chapel, and this achieved through a combination of the aerodynamic balance and suspension settings.

Rear Wing

After three street courses, Silverstone is a return to a slightly lower level of downforce and aerodynamic efficiency, which is king. Our new DRS rear wing worked well at Valencia so we are hoping that this carries true for Silverstone too.

Tyres

Silverstone is quite hard on tyres because of the high speed corners and it's not dissimilar to Barcelona in this respect. There has been some resurfacing to Copse, the highest speed sections of the track which could have an impact on tyre wear. Pirelli decided to bring their soft and hard compound.

Front Wing

You may carry a little bit more front wing than at other places in order to balance the car in the high speed corners. This also helps minimise understeer through Brooklands and Luffield, which is vital for a good entry speed to the following straight and on through Copse and into the Becketts complex.

Track annotations

• New pit complex so a new environment for the team
• Vale is one of the slowest corners, taken at 100km/h
• Stowe is approached at over 300kph
• The bump at Abbey has been 'addressed'
• The new section of the circuit for last year has been well received
• It's essential to minimise oversteer through Lufield to ensure good speed onto the straight, through Copse and into Becketts complex, and onto Stowe
• Drivers will have to remember not to look for the pit boards here!
• Taken almost flat out, Copse is one of the mose daunting corners of the season.
• It's resurfaced this year
• Overall car balance is essential through the Becketts complex which is entered at over 300kph

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