09/10/2011
Guillaume Biondi, Formula 1 Technical Coordinator, TOTAL, gives and insight into TOTAL’s involvement with LRGP.
What is your job at a Grand Prix?
GB: On track I’m in charge of the technical coordination of the technical assistance we provide for the team. We have analysts on track to analyse lubricants and fuel. We undertake this so the team is clearly aware of what is going on inside the engine.
The fuel is strictly regulated by the FIA so we have to ensure we stay within their regulations at all times and this is a crucial aspect of my job.
I also have regular meetings with the team to inform them about where we are in terms of fuel developments, lubricant developments. This includes all the other products that we supply to the team such as cooling fluid and hydraulic fluid. All these products can make the car faster and more reliable, so it is vital that the team knows what areas we are developing.
How much benefit can TOTAL bring to the team?
GB: Since 2007 engine development has been frozen, so that is why lubricants and fuel became one of the major areas where global performance from the car. Clearly, with the fuel we can work on performance of the engine and we can work on fuel consumption so these are two strong areas where we can bring benefits.
Fewer engines are available per driver than previously so ensuring that the engine performance is maintained over the life of the engine is an area where we can bring dividends. The lubricants have to maintain the engine performance for longer than before, so we work hard in this area.
How much of a technical challenge is Formula 1 for TOTAL?
GB: Formula 1 is a fundamental focus of our development in our technical department. At Total the Formula 1 project is built on the complete sharing of information between our road product development and our Formula 1 product development.
We don’t have a specific team dedicated to Formula 1 – we have designed the project to ensure that the personnel involved also play a part in road product development so we can maximize the learnings between the two.
Formula 1 is clearly a key element for us to develop new technology, to learn new innovations in the very competitive conditions of the race track. These new technologies we bring to road cars and on the other side of it there are many things we can learn from our road car product technology such as fuel optimisation which is relevant to our Formula 1 products. For example, our additives used in our road car pump fuel a large element of this technology is used in Formula 1 and we use this to develop new additives for our next generation of fuels.
Credit: Lotus Renault GP (www.lotusrenaultgp.com)
No comments:
Post a Comment