Adapted from Renault F1 Team
Now that the F1 season has come to a close, do you think the teams are in wind-down mode?
In reality, though, nothing could be further from the truth with the birth our 2011 challenger edging ever closer. In little over a month’s time, nearly all the components will have been manufactured ready for the car-build phase in early January.
Having said that, the next few weeks before Christmas will give the travelling race team the chance to take some holiday. After 19 races all the guys certainly deserve a good rest. The final leg of the season was particularly tough with so many long-haul flights between Europe and Asia. Plus, in the last five weeks, most of the guys have worked three races and a test session, which takes its toll.
But before the mechanics disappear on holiday, they will need to unpack all the freight which is due back from Abu Dhabi later this afternoon. That includes both chassis, which will be stripped and rebuilt ready to become next year’s demo cars.
At Renault all the other spare chassis are heading for retirement and probably won’t be driven again. Instead they’ll become museum pieces travelling the world as show cars.
This period is definitely one of the engineers favourite times of the year. The factory is working at full capacity and there is such a buzz in all the departments as the new car takes shape.
The composites lab is particularly busy at the moment – which isn’t surprising when you consider that 80% of the car is made from carbon fibre.
Now that the F1 season has come to a close, do you think the teams are in wind-down mode?
In reality, though, nothing could be further from the truth with the birth our 2011 challenger edging ever closer. In little over a month’s time, nearly all the components will have been manufactured ready for the car-build phase in early January.
Having said that, the next few weeks before Christmas will give the travelling race team the chance to take some holiday. After 19 races all the guys certainly deserve a good rest. The final leg of the season was particularly tough with so many long-haul flights between Europe and Asia. Plus, in the last five weeks, most of the guys have worked three races and a test session, which takes its toll.
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| Photo: McLaren Group |
But before the mechanics disappear on holiday, they will need to unpack all the freight which is due back from Abu Dhabi later this afternoon. That includes both chassis, which will be stripped and rebuilt ready to become next year’s demo cars.
At Renault all the other spare chassis are heading for retirement and probably won’t be driven again. Instead they’ll become museum pieces travelling the world as show cars.
This period is definitely one of the engineers favourite times of the year. The factory is working at full capacity and there is such a buzz in all the departments as the new car takes shape.
The composites lab is particularly busy at the moment – which isn’t surprising when you consider that 80% of the car is made from carbon fibre.