The sixth round of the 2002 season provides the eleven F1 teams one of the most challenging tracks as far as car set-up goes, with fast straights demanding engine power but also tight corners demanding maximum downforce. Who will gain and who will lose out? Atlas F1's technical writer Craig Scarborough analyses the upcoming weekend

The F1 circus continues its punishing fortnightly race schedule and arrives in Austria at the A1-Ring. Based 700 Metres up in the mountains in Austria's Spielberg region, only Brazil's Sao Paolo circuit is as high in altitude, and the track features some climbs and slopes between the corners. The circuit replced for the fearsomely fast Osterreichring, and while the new layout retains the fast circuit's character, the inclusion of tight bends make the current track slower and shorter, at 4.326 kms long. Coupled with the high speeds, the lap times are the quickest of the year.

Set up and Layout

Williams chief engineer Sam Michael summarises the track as "three long straights rewarding engine power and then two sections of maximum downforce." Renault's Pat Symonds adds: "There are three big stops from over 300km/h right down to second or even first gear, placing a real premium on braking stability and traction out of the slow corners."

To get the best time around the lap there are some kerbs that can be used in the fist three slower corners. These corners also provide the overtaking spots and place a huge lateral load through the tyres, leading to understeer and tyre graining.

This strange mix, of tight corners and fast straights, makes the car's configuration for this weekend unique - the engine's throttles are fully open for 60% of the lap, which makes it similar to super fast tracks like Hockenheim, but the high downforce and braking requirement compare it more to Monaco or Hungary.

Toyota Designer Gustav Brunner provides some interesting insight into the circuit's environment: "the circuit is situated in the mountains which means that the air is thinner and aerodynamics are not as important as in Barcelona. There's less downforce for all the teams, which obviously favours cars with less downforce." Altitude also saps power from engines, so expect to see Ferrari and BMW run a lot closer than in Barcelona.

The other trick the circuit plays on the teams is the super smooth, bump-free surface. Last year's race was the second to run with the newly legalised traction control, and the surface caught the teams and drivers out. The cars were understeering off the circuit everywhere as the teams puzzled with the effect the electronic aids had on the car's handling. This shouldn't be a problem this year, though, with over 12 months of development on the systems.

As well as smooth, the surface is gripless early in the weekend as with street circuits, but as rubber is laid on the track over the weekend the track's characteristics will change, becoming more grippy and reducing faster lap times. Friday's practice sessions on the fresh track shouldn't be regarded as a barometer for the team's true performance on Sunday, and equally heavy rain over the weekend will return the track to its clean state leaving the teams to revise their set-up accordingly.

Most of the teams have been testing since the Spanish race two weeks ago, but as no testing is allowed at the A1-Ring, they will have to arrive with a baseline set-up calculated from last year's race and computer predictions.

As we about a third of the way around the calendar, the order of the teams is well established and this circuit should do little to change it. The nature of the circuit means that the power from the engine and effectiveness of the brakes and aerodynamics will again limit the drivers' ability to better their lap times, and the teams should qualify in pairs.

Tyre wear and degradation will be low in the race, fresh tyres are less of a benefit, but running on a lower fuel load to increase pace and ease the load on the brakes will be the only advantage of multiple stop strategy over the preferred one stop strategy.

Last year, Ferrari were out-raced by McLaren due to the F2001's limited fuel range. It is believed the F2002 has a smaller tank than the F2001, but there are indications that this might be compensated by better fuel economy. Either way, this weakness can be tested by Williams and McLaren if they can run close behind Ferrari coming up to the pitstop, as both teams have proven they can run much longer than Ferrari this year.

A lap of the A1-Ring with Jarno Trulli

"The approach to the first corner is up a relatively steep hill, which limits the top speed to 295km/h in top gear before braking into the second-gear first corner, which I take at 110km/h. The exit of this corner is quite tricky and also very important, as it leads onto a long straight on which I will be at full throttle for 11 seconds and get up to 300km/h in top gear.

"From this, I brake hard down to first gear and 65km/h for the second corner, which is one of the places where I will look for the opportunity to overtake. Out of turn two, I come onto another reasonably long straight with ten seconds at full throttle and I reach a maximum speed again of just under 300km/h before braking to around 90km/h in second gear for the apex of turn three.

"The exit of this is a gentle curve that I can easily take flat and I will arrive in fifth gear at 265km/h for the tricky double left-hand corners at turns five and six. The first one is taken at over 160km/h in third gear and then I accelerate up to 235km/h in fourth gear and hold that for the second left-hand corner, which I hope to apex at 125km/h.

"The exit of this corner brings me back uphill rising up to 290km/h in top gear before entering turn eight, which is extremely quick, at 185km/h in fourth gear. Exiting this corner I almost immediately drop to third gear and 145km/h for the long final corner that leads back down the hill and completes the lap."

Tyres

Austria's smooth surface is easy on tyres, which will encourage the suppliers the bring softer compounds. But the high loading in the corners demands stronger tyre construction than usually found in soft tyres, which will help prevent the outer edge of the groove wearing out and producing the dreaded graining effect on the tyre's surface. Both suppliers have developed a hybrid tyre to provide both the stickiness and the stiffness to cope with this paradoxical track.

Careful attention will be given to tyre usage. In Qualifying, the Michelins may well need a gentle run on the out lap to maintain their freshness for the timed lap, then for the race they will need to be scrubbed in to reduce the graining. Bridgestone runners are more confident that they will not need to be so careful, but the long one stop strategy has proven to be perfect for Michelins so far this year, and Bridgestone's customer teams will hope the development that favoured Ferrari so well in Brazil will benefit them here.

Team by Team

Ferrari

A full testing schedule since Spain has seen the team on two tracks with three drivers. Test Driver Luciano Burti was completing a tyre test in an F2001, while Luca Badoer at the wheel of an F2002 was working on unspecified car developments. Both test drivers ran at Monza, in long and short formats, in preparation for Canada. The test also included rain which allowed the team to complete some wet weather testing ahead of the next race. Race driver Rubens Barrichello completed a two-days testing in Mugello, in preparation for Austria.

The team go to Austria as clear favourites, and Michael Schumacher has publicly stated that the feels the F2002 can win on any circuit this year, in comparison to last year where the stronger BMW engine or McLaren aerodynamics could outshine him. For the remainder of the year, unless the other top two teams can make a leap in performance, we must be looking to each race to see how close they can get to Ferrari and how reliable Ferrari will be.

The other aspect to look for is Barrichello's improved form in the F2002. Despite his failure to start the Spanish race, the Brazilian was quite positive about the weekend as he clearly had been equal to his teammate throughout the weekend. This pattern should continue in Austria as well.

Williams

Since the beginning of the year, Williams have been realistic about their chances against Ferrari, and the expectations that the Grove based team will dominate were Williams's making.

Moreover, stories are now brewing that the team will unleash an FW24B specification car in the mid-season, but hese stories are little far fetched: Williams have an established development program and are not likely to debut a new gearbox or Twin Keel chassis before the end of the year just to keep up with Ferrari's trend. There's little doubt the Williams needs to be more aerodynamically efficient and gain some downforce, but this should be seen in the form of a revised sidepod and wing package later in the year.

The development programme continued last week with four full days a Valencia, working on tyres, engine mapping, aerodynamics and the new brake ducts, with Juan Pablo Montoya and test driver Antonio Pizzonia on duty. Again rain provided the Michelin shod team some time to evaluate the latest wet weather constructions.

If Michelin can provide an equal tyre to Bridgestone this weekend, Williams can enjoy a closer race, as their slight power advantage and aerodynamics will be less compromised by the altitude. "We will be closer to Ferrari in Austria," Ralf Schumacher stated, "simply because the circuit suits our car. We will have some new parts which should make us more competitive on the A1-Ring with its long straights and high speed corners." Since the German has brought the fight to Ferrari with more lasting results than his teammate, it is long overdue for Montoya to turn in a strong race drive this Sunday.

McLaren

As the season progresses, the finger points away from the Mercedes engines power output and more towards the McLaren chassis or the team's set-up of it. Every race has the drivers struggling to find the elusive balance throughout the lap, and this could be down to a mismatch between the aerodynamics and mechanics of the suspension, or the suspension not working in conjunction with the new Michelin tyres. This is not to say the suspension's dramatic twin keel design is the culprit, but rather that Adrian Newey's MP4-17 design allowed more freedom to change the suspension set-up, than with the previous, Bridgestone shod, McLaren.

It's hard to predict the suitability of the track to the McLaren. If the car's set-up works well with the Michelins, then they could no doubt pressure Ferrari as they did last year. But if things do not go so well they could find themselves fighting with the Saubers and Renaults. And, while Kimi Raikkonen is driving around the car's inadequacies better than David Coulthard, it is the Scot's experience that might bring the better overall result in Austria.

Renault

After the unreliability disappointment in Spain, Renault again head off to the race expecting to finally have an edge over McLaren. But the crucial test for the team this weekend will remain bringing both cars to the finish. The failures from Spain have been identified and solutions that were not already in development have been found.

As Technical Director Mike Gascoyne points out, there are few tracks this year that will not suit the R202. The car has a powerful engine and a fine chassis, and the team have been working for four days in Valencia on the traction control set-up, before moving on to yet more tyre testing.

Sauber

Sauber now find themselves in a similar position to Renault: the car is working well and - as proven at the start of the season by Ferrari - the 2001 spec engine is still a match for most of the grid. But, whereas Renault need to prove reliability, Sauber need to reinforce their pace over the midfield.

Running only three days of the recent Valencia test, the team prepared developments for Monaco, some of which - related to traction control - will help in Austria as well.

Jordan

After the management restructure and a poor performance in Spain, Eddie Jordan was at the Silverstone factory, motivating the staff. New technical director Henri Durand, replacing the ousted Eghbal Hamidy, explained the development path for the rest of the year: "it is clear that our current performance is unacceptable. But now we have a number of developments in the pipeline. Our car is not weak in any specific area so we are working on a number of fronts to develop it."

Persistent reliability problems with the hydraulic systems have been solved since Imola, but the solution was not ready for Spain and thus will be fitted this weekend. However, despite an additional power hike for the Honda engine this weekend, the power nature of the track means Jordan should not expect to challenge Renault or Sauber.

BAR

Like Jordan, BAR are focussing on the basics; they have worked for three days in Estoril with both race drivers and test driver Anthony Davidson. Reliability is improving, according to Olivier Panis, but it needs to be proven in the race. Only then can BAR start to find more performance from the car, which will take yet more time.

Jaguar

Jaguar remain in limbo, as work in the new wind tunnel has commenced with the first step of correlating the track data to the wind tunnel. This is taking up valuable testing time for the team, as yet more aero data gathering work was completed in Valencia this week, alongside a tyre development program.

From this starting point the team will be able to design, develop and test the new aero components that the car is so badly in need of. Until the that time, expected to be around the British GP, and aside from the higher specification Cosworth engine for the race, the team can only hope that a measured approach to the car's set-up over the weekend will gain them performance.

Toyota

A mammoth three day test for the team in Estoril resulted in new F1 test driver Ryan Briscoe completing over 270 laps in a program aimed at mechanical set-up, clutch and electronics development, and - as with most teams testing last week - some wet weather running contributing to traction control development.

Despite the team being new to F1 in 2002, they were able to test at the A1-Ring last year with the TF101, so they have some experience of the circuit. While the data is not necessarily as relevant as other team's annual data, the team additionally feel the car is suited to the track. The Toyota engine is well up on power and despite the car being light on downforce and grip, the chassis should go well - dependant on the Michelin tyres.

Consistent with the team's pessimistic goals, they are "aiming once again to get both TF102s past the chequered flag." In real terms, they still need to get two cars up on the pace and improve race reliability.

Arrows

After the positive outcome of Spain and the chance to run the updated spec Cosworth engine for the race as well as qualifying, the A1-Ring should be another good track for Arrows. The car's design has naturally good downforce and not prone to understeer, should get the most out of the tyres. Heinz Harald Frentzen's early season struggles are now well behind him, but Enrique Bernoldi is due for some more reliability or luck in the race.

Minardi

After the worrying consequences of the wing failures in Spain, Minardi were relived to announce the rear wing failure suffered by Mark Webber was a one off manufacturing fault. Still, the team have added modification to the wings and tested up to three times the normal loading to ensure no more failures occur.

While the relief of the wing saga is welcome, the team arriving at a power circuit with the lowest output engine on the grid will not signal any more good news. They will clearly struggle here, since unlike most power circuits they cannot simply back off the wings to reduce drag on the straights - downforce is still so vital over the rest of the track. The tricky nature of the track is bound to catch Alex Yoong at least on Friday, and Mark Webber has nothing but reliability to realistically hope for.