Q&A WITH DAVE LAMB

What challenges does this circuit present for the engine?
Montreal is a track that is hard on engines as the power sensitivity is high when compared to other circuits. There are two long straights, so a high percentage of the lap is spent at wide open throttle. Equally there are some slow corners and hairpin turns which require heavy braking, meaning it is important to keep the rear of the car stable with a low downforce setup. To achieve this we tend to use a high amount of engine braking support, which can help the driver. Gear ratio selection is also a challenge to get right as the wind can change direction down the long straight. If you get this wrong, you will have an end of straight speed deficit.

The weather was very wet today, but is predicted to improve later in the weekend – is this an issue for you?
It does not change greatly the actual way you use the engine. Fortunately we still got an accurate gauge on fuel consumption during P2, and we will correct these figures for the race conditions.

What was the programme for today?
It was very wet in FP1 so we changed the programme accordingly and carried out all our tests in FP2. Pastor had a big accident in FP1 when he went into the wall at turns 3 and 4, but fortunately he was fine. Engine wise we did not try anything particularly new; we instead concentrated on keeping the engine performance stable so the team could look at the overall car performance. Valtteri tried some new engine overrun settings in FP2 that he seemed happy with and we will carry this forward into tomorrow. The pick up out of the hairpin was also good, so from our perspective it was a positive day.

Will you be running new engines tomorrow?
Yes, on both cars. Montreal has one of the highest power factors of the year so having some extra horsepower will be useful. This is on target with our engine plan established at the beginning of the season.

Qualifying Notes
• Valtteri Bottas qualified 3rd with Pastor Maldonado 13th for tomorrow’s Canadian Grand Prix.
• Valtteri showed consistently strong pace in the changeable wet conditions, finishing in the top four in all three qualifying sessions and securing his best qualifying position of the season so far.
• A red flag in Q2 prevented Pastor from finishing his fastest lap, and heavy traffic at the end of the session hindered him from setting a time that could challenge for a place in Q3.

Mike Coughlan, Technical Director: The conditions were changeable today making it difficult for all teams. We feel that we have made another step forward in performance, but ultimately today we were able to capitalise on the conditions. We worked well as a team to get the best position on track at the right time, and P3 was the result. If it is dry tomorrow it will be difficult to hold that position but we will be fighting hard for points with both cars. It’s a well-deserved result for Valtteri and for the whole team and it gives us all a real boost after all the hard work everyone has been putting in. Pastor is starting just outside the top ten as he couldn’t complete his quickest laps in Q2 due to the red flag and traffic, so he will also be pushing hard to bring home some points tomorrow.

Valtteri Bottas: It’s a great feeling to qualify in third place and the team did a really good job today. The showers made the track very slippery but this suited us as the car handled the conditions well. We were on the right tyres at the right time which was so important today. If the conditions are dry tomorrow then it will be difficult to stay where we are, so I will be hoping that we see some rain. The whole team has been working hard to improve our performance and we have been making steady improvements with each race.

Pastor Maldonado: Today the conditions were very challenging for all the drivers as the track was changing with every lap and you needed to be out at the right time on the right tyre. We were more competitive today and I think the conditions really suited us. I was unlucky in Q2 because I was on my best lap when the red flag came out, and when the session resumed there was a lot of traffic around me. Valtteri qualifying in third place gives the whole team a boost and hopefully we can score points tomorrow.

Race Notes
•    Valtteri Bottas finished 13th ahead of Pastor Maldonado in 14th in this afternoon’s Chinese Grand Prix. 
•    The team opted to split strategies with both cars running a three-stop race but with Pastor starting on the soft option tyre while Valtteri started on the prime, choosing to run the option for his final stint.
•    The soft tyres proved much quicker in the closing stages and Valtteri was able to move ahead of his teammate into the hairpin on the penultimate lap.

Mike Coughlan, Technical Director: We planned to do three stops with both cars today but decided to run one car on the option to start and one to finish, as our main race tyre was the prime medium tyre. We knew that both strategies, if the drivers weren’t caught in traffic, would be very similar as seen by ours cars finishing just 1.6 seconds apart at the end. The option tyres were much quicker at the end so Valtteri made a clean move to finish ahead. We got the maximum we could out of the FW35 today, but we know we still need to find more performance, and we will be focusing on this for the next few races.

Valtteri Bottas: The team did a good job with the strategy today and we made the most out of what we had. I think it was the best race I have done this season but we need to find more pace to get closer to the front. I knew it was going to be close with Pastor at the end, so I was pushing hard in my final stint on the medium tyres. I was then right behind him on the faster option tyres and so able to make a move on the penultimate lap. It was a nice end to the race but we still need to improve so we can race for points.

Pastor Maldonado: It was a difficult race from the beginning. We lost a lot of time on the option tyres in the first stint and we just didn’t have the pace. We didn’t have a chance to fight for any higher positions and we know we are still far away from where we want to be, but we will keep our focus on improving.

Laurent Debout, Renault Sport F1 team support leader: It’s clear we were not where we would like to be today. Bahrain is a different type of track with lots of different speed corners that should play to the strengths of the Renault RS27 engine so we will work with the guys in Grove to get back to full form as soon as we can.