James Allison: Renault’s exhaust system responsible for poor performance at Singapore GP – Formula 1
Renault GP team’s technical director James Allison has held the 2011 front-facing exhaust system responsible for the team’s poor performance at the 2011 Singapore Grand Prix at Marina Bay Street Circuit.
The exhaust system was introduced to the R31 earlier this season with the idea to outperform the rest of the teams and give it a technical edge over all the other squads.
Recalling his earlier decision about the revamped exhaust system, Allison said, “At the point when I made the decision about the forward exhaust system, it was a very exciting concept and one which was outperforming our rearward blown system.”
Except for the few races that were held at the start of this season, the Enstone-based outfit could not get much out of its new exhaust design. The plan did not turn out to be as fruitful as Allison had envisaged it to be. The later races at circuits like
Monaco, Monza and Marina Bay did not prove to be that beneficial for the team.
Allison described the reason for exhaust system’s failure as, “The concept costs the team performance in slow speed corners because of a lack of downforce at the rear of the car, heavily reducing traction.”
He believes the team could not deliver the kind of results he was expecting it would, probably because of the low-speed tracks that they had to race on at the last few races.
Renault currently stand at 5th position on the constructors’ standings after the Singapore race with 70 points to its credit.
Allison said, “This weekend, we were plagued by rear wing and floor issues that all seem to be even more sensitive at very low speeds than they are at the higher speeds where our car is more comfortable.”
Allison expects the team to fare better in the remaining five races and has plans to rectify the exhaust design for the next season.
Let’s see how the team performs at the upcoming race at the high-speed Suzuka circuit scheduled for October 9, 2011.
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