17 April,2007 (Tue)

Thank you for your support over the weekend. Here is my report from the Bahrain Grand Prix, following close on the heels of last week's Malaysian Grand Prix.

Improved aerodynamic characteristics, even with no break between races

Since the Bahrain GP is held the week following the Malaysian GP, we did not introduce any new aero parts for our cars. We did, however, make one change, continuing to improve the roll hoop wing located near the induction pod after reviewing the changes we made going into Malaysia. Specifically, we made changes to reduce air drag, shortening each end of the wing to gain aerodynamic efficiency. We plan to introduce some major improvements in advance of the Spanish GP, but we will be active in making any improvements we can in the meantime.
Being the third race of the season, both cars were equipped with a fresh engine that features several improvements from the standpoint of drivability.

We participated in joint testing here at the Bahrain International Circuit last February, but we experienced quite a bit of trouble with the wind. Later, we were able to find our direction for car setup during a round of private tests we performed prior to the opening race of the season in Australia. Even so, given our history of trouble at the circuit during the joint testing session, we approached the Bahrain GP with mixed feelings of anticipation and uncertainty.

Jarno runs smoothly, Ralf switches to the T-car

Slowly but surely, the TF107 is starting to show its true performance capability. Still, I admit to being nervous about how the car would perform in Bahrain, a circuit we had so much trouble with in testing only two months ago.
After the start of the first free practice session, I knew my worries were groundless. The wind is what gave us so much trouble two months ago. Our rivals were able to keep stability in the wind, but for some reason, we could not find a suitable setup.
Immediately after the start of the first free practice session, Jarno reported back that the wind was strong, causing the car to lose stability at times. But as far as we could see from the lap times, there was no performance drop-off to the extent we experienced in February, and our times were trending the same as our competition. Perhaps the key to our success was our decision to not be overly picky about the setup, so as not to be influenced by the wind.
However, we ran into quite a bit of difficulty in finding the right setup for Ralf. After Friday morning's practice, Ralf switched to the T-car, taking it out during the afternoon free practice session. Still, we could not find a setting that met our needs. Despite the trouble, both cars completed the session without any troubles, and we decided to carefully verify our data before challenging Day Two of the weekend.

A strong result, with Jarno qualifying in the top 10

Continuing the trend from Friday, Jarno's setup work progressed smoothly, and we were able to put the medium compound tires on his car for an attack lap to simulate what we planned to do in qualifying. Jarno finished practice 14th on the time sheet, but this was because a yellow flag came out when Red Bull's David Coulthard had his car stop near the side of the course. We all believed that Jarno would be faster in qualifying.

Meanwhile, Ralf went into his second day of practice still using the T-car, which started developing rear suspension trouble during the third practice session of the weekend. We were so busy addressing the problem that we had to give up on the idea of putting medium tires on Ralf's car for an attack lap.
I think Ralf's qualifying performance suffered from the aftereffects of all of this trouble. While Jarno posted the sixth-fastest time during Period 1 of qualifying, Ralf was 15th, struggling to just get by into Period 2. Unfortunately for Ralf, Qualifying Period 2 developed into quite a fierce battle, with the eight drivers between positions seven and 16 being within one second of each other. With only a few minutes left in the period, Ralf took off on his second attack lap, but suffered from understeer throughout, unable to best his earlier Sector 1 time, and finishing 14th.
This left Jarno to advance by himself on to Period 3, having finished Period 2 by belting out the seventh-fastest lap at 1m 32.429s. We projected that Jarno was fast enough to finish Period 3 at P7, and maybe even squeeze ahead of one of the BMW Sauber cars for P6 if things went well. Unfortunately, Jarno suffered from understeer tendencies during this final period, and finished P9 in qualifying.
Considering the situation at our joint testing two months earlier, a top 10 qualifying spot is something to be proud of. If we could keep this momentum during the race, we knew we had a chance to capture points at our third race in a row.

Suffering the effects of the wind, but Jarno secures points for the second race in a row

We were able to accomplish our goal going into the race of winning points. Our seventh-place finish is completely due to Jarno's driving.

The wind was strong on Sunday in Bahrain, and Jarno's car had slightly stronger downforce than the competition, which meant that he could not match the top speeds of the other cars driving into the wind along the straights. During the first stint of the race, Jarno was able to drive very aggressively, taking advantage of being behind a group of cars. Since Jarno was able to use the slipstream effect, he was able to avoid excess air drag, and his greater downforce helped him outbreak the competition in the corners, allowing him to overtake both Renault cars one after the other. However, once he passed the two Renault cars, Jarno was standing at the lead of a group, and he started to suffer the effects of being hit by the wind directly. The heated pursuit of Jarno by Giancarlo Fisichella during the last stint of the race was not due to any trouble with Jarno's car, but rather the greater air drag caused by being out in front. Even so, Jarno was faster out of the corners, and he drove like the veteran he is, keeping the competition out of his slipstream and defending his position at P7.
Still, we are concerned with the widening gap between us and the top three cars. Having said that, we did capture points in the first three races of the season, and both cars completed the entire race. Further, at a circuit where we thought we were at a disadvantage, we were able to hold off the Renault cars, and finished fourth after the top three teams. I think these results prove our steady improvement.
We will be introducing an updated aero parts package at the joint testing session in Barcelona the week after next, and then continue on to the European Round of the season. Please continue to cheer us on at Panasonic Toyota Racing.

Noritoshi Arai at the Bahrain GP. While the team encountered difficulties when testing at this circuit previously, Panasonic Toyota Racing was able to confirm steady improvement at the GP. Still, the gap with the top three teams is significant. Panasonic Toyota Racing will continue taking on the challenge throughout the European Round of the F1 World Championship.