Thank you for your support over the weekend. Having finished the Canadian Grand Prix, the F1 series returned to Europe for the second half of the European Round. Panasonic Toyota Racing accomplished its first double–points finish of the season in Montreal, and we came to the French Grand Prix intent on keeping our momentum. Without further ado, here is my report from the eighth race of the 2008 F1 season, the French Grand Prix.

The team installed the new aero package that tested so well in Barcelona. The team worked toward a car setup that balanced both downforce and top speed in the long straights–features of the Magny–Cours circuit.

Bringing an aero package proven at the Barcelona tests

As the team announced previously, former Panasonic Toyota Racing principal Ove Andersson passed away while participating in a classic car rally prior to the French GP. Ove Andersson served as team principal for the first two years of Panasonic Toyota Racing’s participation in F1 (2002 through 2003), and the entire team was saddened this weekend by the loss. Respecting the wishes of Mr. Andersson, we came to the French GP with a renewed sense of determination.

On the technology front, we brought a new aerodynamic package with us to the race. We successfully tested this new mid–downforce specification at the Barcelona joint tests held immediately prior to the French GP. Our goal coming in was to qualify right in the middle of the top 10 cars, finishing the race somewhere between P4 and P6.

Magny–Cours, with its 180–degree turn and high–speed chicanes, is a circuit that punishes tires. The load on tires is tremendous with a heavy fuel load on board, and Timo in particular had trouble with tire graining.

A smooth practice program; Jarno potentially quicker by 0.3 seconds

Both drivers turned in more than 30 laps during Friday morning free practice, with Jarno (Trulli) driving an additional 43 laps during the afternoon–the most of any driver on the day. Timo (Glock) added 39 laps of his own, allowing the team to complete our entire program as planned. We worked on car setup during the morning, and used our time during the afternoon to test downforce and perform tire comparisons. At this circuit, you want to get as much speed as you can in the long straight following the second corner (Estoril), but on the other hand, you want a good amount of downforce in the high–speed corners and high–speed chicanes. Of particular importance is how to prevent performance losses due to rear tire wear during the race, making for a difficult choice in adding or removing downforce. The new front and rear wings we brought with us seemed to be providing superior overall performance in this respect, so we made the decision to use these parts on Saturday and Sunday.

Both of our drivers were out of the top 10 on the time charts at the end of Friday’s practice sessions; however, Jarno’s time was affected by traffic during his attack run. We believed Jarno could have taken another 0.3 seconds off of his time, so we were not overly concerned. We were actually quite confident going into the weekend, given the pace we demonstrated during long runs.

Meanwhile, Timo fought tire graining during the entire day. Jarno experienced some tire graining as well, but the issue was resolved by the start of the afternoon session. Timo, on the other hand, experienced graining on long runs during afternoon practice, which significantly affected his times.

Our performance was the result of the development of the “French GP spec” aero package, the settings that took advantage of the specification, and the pit work and team staff that supported the race strategy.

Both cars again qualified in the top 10; an overall score of 85%

After the Malaysian GP, this marked the third time this season that both cars made it through to the final qualifying period, but I think our overall score was still only about 85 out of 100. The 15% difference was due to the fact that we couldn’t put Timo onto a more satisfactory attack. According to feedback from Timo, the cause of the problem was that the soft tires were “moving” (twisting) under the heavy fuel load on board, leading to instability in the corners.

Jarno had a spin before his attack in the last qualifying period, but this was completely due to his testing the limits of the car under a heavy fuel load. Jarno’s actual time attack demonstrated his tremendous ability to concentrate, pushing him to P5. With Lewis Hamilton (McLaren), who qualified P3, being penalized 10 spots on the starting grid, Jarno moved up to P4 to start the race. Further, Heikki Kovalainen (McLaren), who qualified P6, was assessed a five spot penalty, which meant that Timo would be moving up from P10 to P8 on the grid.

Rather than concerning ourselves about the podium at this point, we were more focused on maintaining our position after the start of the race.

Never distracted for a second, Jarno fought through to a P3 podium finish, dedicated to Ove Andersson. Jarno showed why he has earned the title of “veteran,” driving wheel–to–wheel with the world’s best through a late–race drizzle.

All factors combined for a podium appearance

Our podium finish at the French GP–the first for Panasonic Toyota Racing since the 2006 Australian GP–owes much to the efforts of the team staff who worked so hard to develop the new aerodynamic package. That the new package performed as expected was certainly a significant factor in our result. There were also several other factors that we had to clear to enable us to reach the podium.

The first such factor was being able to maintain our position after the start of the race. With both drivers moved up in position on the grid, each started the race from the dirty side of the track. Accordingly, we changed our engine mapping to take a slight slip into account at the start. The strategy worked flawlessly, allowing both cars to not only defend their starting position off the line, but gain position as well.

The second factor was our work in the pits. We shouldn’t forget that the stops were performed error–free, getting the drivers quickly back out onto the course. The third factor was the precision of our race strategy. Our strategy to take longer second stint after our first pit stop was, in my opinion, the best strategy for the French GP today.

And more than anything, what guaranteed our result was the efforts of our drivers. I felt a little panic when a sprinkle of rain started to fall with 10 laps left, but I believed that if anyone could hold off the competition, it would be Jarno.

Timo moved up to P6 right after the start of the race and looked good for a points result for a while, but he started to experience tire graining after the first pit stop, which prevented him from picking up his pace, and resulted in his losing position on track to several cars that had pitted after he did. But based on his performance in qualifying and his start off the grid, we have high expectations for Timo at the upcoming British GP.

Our podium finish wasn’t a gift from another team stumbling to let us in, but rather was the direct result of our efforts and ability. We will be racing the British GP with an updated version of the aero package we used this weekend in France. Our results here at the French GP have lit the way for the upcoming British and German Grand Prix races. All of us at Panasonic Toyota Racing are determined to continue the momentum, racing for a top finish at the British GP. Please cheer us on!