After the end of the European season, Formula One crosses the ocean to return to the historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the penultimate round of the 2002 season, where Ferrari will aim to score another victory as their rivals try to stop them. Craig Scarborough previews the upcoming weekend

Formula One moves from the historic With Monza circuit in Italy to yet another historic venue - the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, for the United States Grand Prix.

Despite having hosted a Formula One Grand Prix only twice before, the fast and wide track at the Indianapolis is the second oldest permanent circuit on the calendar. There has been racing on the circuit since 1909, when the track surface was made up of bricks - hence the tag given the track of the Brickyard - and the circuit commemorates this fact with a yard long run of bricks laid into the start/finish straight.

While there is high emotion at the history of Indianapolis, the hybrid oval\road course F1 track fails to live up to expectations. The track is split into two distinct sections: the banked section, which starts with a curve that the cars enter at speed before going onto the main straight, then the slow infield section, starting with a first gear corner approached by heavy braking from the straight. The fussy infield section doesn't test the drivers and the super fast-banked section doesn't see the cars enter one of the banked corners at sufficient speed to test cars.

Moreover, the high speed banked corner opening up on the straight may provide F1 cars the unfortunate opportunity to meet the latest safety feature in motorsport. Earlier this year the outer walls of the banked oval course were lined with SAFER barriers. These "Steel And Foam Energy Reducing" (hence SAFER) barriers were designed to protect drivers in the event of high-speed impacts.

In Oval racing, the outer walls are usually made from reinforced concrete in order to contain the impact rather than let the car pass through into the grandstands. Therefore, any resulting impact does not see the wall absorb any of the impact, and instead the car has to dissipate the energy of crashes at over 200mph. Indy cars (in both the CART and IRL series) have much heavier impact protection than F1 cars for this reason. The new barrier is designed to both contain the accident and absorb some the impact to lessen driver injuries.

Set-up and Layout

The two sections of the circuit require totally different demands from the cars and engines. The banked has the longest straight in F1 - cars are continuously flat out along the straight for 23 seconds, which means low drag and lots of horsepower are required.

The infield section is made up of tight, twisty corners with two taken in first gear, and this requires lots of downforce and driveability from the engine. Seeing as the cars can only run one wing and engine specification per lap, compromise has to be sought, downforce will be low to medium and teams will ensure engines are as drivable as possible. The banked section is wide and allows for overtaking. Surprisingly, running the cars on a banked track has little effect on the car, but the teams will run a higher top gear in order to allow for slipstreaming without over-revving the engine. Teams without good top speed on Sunday will be eaten up on the straight even if they are much faster through the infield section. Heavy braking is demanded into the overtaking zone at the end of the main straight. With the engine being flat out for so long, engine reliability will be a factor worrying many teams.

The last few corners of the infield section are in first gear, so time cannot be made up there but the corners must still be covered in a competitive time to make up a good lap. Moreover, it's a place where errors can be made. The infield section needs a good rhythm to get the best time; if a car is not balanced, errors in one corner will multiply in the following corners, eventually compromising speed on to the main straight. These tight corners also demand good traction and supple ride over the kerbs.

Strategy will be twofold: firstly, the set up of the car will alter between qualifying and race. Downforce will be taken off the cars for the race to maximise straight-line speed and other set up changes will be required to keep the car balanced with less downforce. Then, in the race, strategy is usually a one-stop, as tyre wear is minimal. Nevertheless, some teams may opt for a riskier two-stop strategy, depending on their grid positions and likely race pace.

The previous races at Indianapolis have seen wet weather, and the flat infield section will allow standing water whereas the banked section will drain more easily. The cars will need to have well tuned traction control to stay on the road and still remain competitive on the infield section. This infield section also has a different surface to the banked section, this makes the car's response different between the two sections, even in the dry.

A Lap of Indianapolis with Jenson Button

"I approach the first corner at the maximum speed I reach on the circuit, which is around 325 km/h, obviously in top gear.

"The first right-hand corner is quite tight, and I have to brake very hard in order to get my speed down to around 115 km/h, and drop down to 2nd gear. I hold 2nd gear through turn 2, but am able to increase my speed to about 130 km/h.

"Turn 3 is actually taken flat and presents no problems: I will apex in 3rd gear at 190 km/h. Turn 4 is extremely difficult, as I will approach it in 4th gear at 240 km/h but need to brake deep into the corner with a lot of lateral acceleration on the car, getting down to 135 km/h in second gear. I need to be very careful not to lock the inside front wheel under braking for this corner. Exiting turn 4, I can quite easily take turn 5 flat, at between 240 and 255 km/h in 4th gear. I actually reach 265 km/h, still in 4th gear, before approaching the very long turn 6.

"This is taken in 2nd gear at around 120 km/h, but it is an extremely long corner through which I will be experiencing over 2g lateral acceleration for around five seconds.

"Before turn 7, I will only just reach full throttle at approximately 170 km/h before braking again, and going through this turn at around 110 km/h. I will be looking for a clean exit onto the back straight, along which I will reach just over 300 km/h in 5th gear before going into the next, very tight part of the circuit.

"At the end of the straight, I will need to drop down to around 105 km/h in 2nd gear for turn 8, and will briefly touch 150 km/h in second gear before turn 9. This is the tightest corner on the circuit, and I will take it in 1st gear, apexing at just 60 km/h.

"I can hold 1st gear right up to turn 10, reaching around 100 km/h and then dropping back to just under 70 km/h for the corner itself.

"The short straight leading to turn 11 will see me in 3rd gear, at around 210 km/h, before braking for the corner, which I will take in 2nd gear at 135 km/h.

"The exit of turn 11 is the most critical part of the circuit, as it leads back onto the speedway section, which although it contains two corners is taken flat out. The first of these I will take in 4th gear at 250 km/h and accelerate all the way through, exiting in 5th gear at 295 km/h. The final corner, which is steeply banked, will see me in 6th gear at around 315 km/h before coming back to the pit straight.

"I am completely flat on the throttle from the exit of turn 11 right through to turn 1: this represents over 22 seconds of full-throttle running, which, along with the run from La Source to Les Combes at Spa, is the longest of any circuit we go to."

Team by team

Ferrari

The F2002 makes for a predictable race result - such is the car's pace and reliability. In fact, it is possible for the team in their record-winning run, that they complete the next two races in one-two formation and probably gain the record for that too.

In the previous two races, Ferrari won once and lost a win the second time due to unreliability. Furthermore, the sight of a Ferrari engine failure at this track last year might be significant, but such is their record that it will probably only happen to one driver and that is most likely to be Rubens Barrichello.

The team's monotonous testing routine saw Luciano Burti and Luca Badoer at Mugello carrying out tyre and electronics testing, using two F2002s and one F2001. Michael Schumacher joined them for two days of testing and to shake down the two test cars before they were packed up and flown out to Indy.

Williams

The team completed a major four-day test in Barcelona, with Ralf Schumacher joined by Antonio Pizzonia and Marc Gene. This test was significant as it saw the debut of the 2003 engine, the P83. As with last year, the engine was able to fit into the current chassis and was run well before the end of the year. Two of the engines completed nearly 200 km each, and BMW motorsport boss Mario Theissen said he was "pleased with the outcome." Also on the schedule during the test was work on the current P82 engine, tyres, aerodynamics and traction control.

For Indy, BMW will again run the latest spec 19,000rpm engines and may race them if they run well over the first two days of the weekend. This should put Williams at a great advantage on the fast-banked section. With reliability, Williams will be challenging for the win and Pole position should the Michelin tyres allow it.

McLaren

A poor weekend in Monza suggests that Indy will not be a great weekend for the Mercedes powered team. Of course, the car's response to Michelin tyre selection and the track's temperature will improve their pace, but the basic package will not suit the high speed straight.

David Coulthard needs a strong finish ahead of the Williams drivers to preserve his chances of gaining third in the Championship - a contrasting race strategy might be called for to outrace Williams. Kimi Raikkonen, meanwhile, needs a strong race after he was hit by the majority of the race engine failures, and a run to the flag will do him good.

Renault

Renault had a hectic test session at Silverstone last week with unscheduled test drivers. Jenson Button was on hand to carry out set up and tyre work, but he started to feel ill and withdrew from the test. Ex-Pacific F1 and pace car driver Oliver Gavin was called to replace Button, as he is of a similar build and height. 2003 Renault driver Fernando Alonso was carrying out other work, including damper, fuel and engine work. He also tried the HANS collar, which required a special seat be fitted to the car.

Renault's lack of power stems from their unreliability and this showed at Monza. Indy demands the same outright power from the engine, and while the car should fare better on the in-field, it will be a tough race for the team. They will have to hope that new aerodynamic and engine improvements and Michelin's supremacy will aid their pace.

Jarno Trulli's better race performance in Monza after stalling on the grid will boost his confidence and silence his critics, while Button is still ahead in the Championship standings in seventh but unlikely to gain on Raikkonen in sixth. Renault will want to match their two car points finish in Monza to consolidate their well earned fourth place in the Constructors' Championship.

Sauber

Felipe Massa's altercation with Pedro de la Rosa's Jaguar in the Italian race resulted in a ten grid position penalty being imposed by the race stewards. This penalty apparently affects the driver and only for the following race, so Sauber has seen a loophole in this ruling and have chosen to replace Massa for one race with Heinz Harald Frentzen, who will not be subject to the penalty and Massa could return for Suzuka without a penalty needing to be taken.

This bizarre set of circumstances saw an eventful week for Frentzen last week, when he was called by Peter Sauber on Monday, had a seat fitting on Tuesday and was in the car on Thursday at Silverstone, where the team had been testing. The aim of the test was to allow Frentzen to get used to the Sauber's handling and electronic systems, and indeed it was the electronics that gave Frentzen his first "moment", when he approached his pit box too slowly and the car's electronics stalled the engine, sending the German driver into an embarrassing skid across the pitlane.

Thereafter, Frentzen was on the pace - despite a seating position that was far from ideal both for comfort and aerodynamics, as the taller driver's head was obstructing the airbox inlet. At the end of the day, Frentzen hit a hare on the approach to the fast Stowe corner. The impact wrecked his front suspension and sent him off the track and into a heavy rear impact with the barriers. He was able to step out of the car himself but was taken to the medical centre for a check up and subsequent precautionary checks on his lower back at the local hospital.

The previous two days of the test saw both of the normal race drivers in the car for a day each, completing aerodynamic tests of the existing wing packages and also some tyre development work with Bridgestone.

With Sauber's bad performances in the past two races, Indianapolis is not expected to suit the cars, unless the problems afflicting the cars has been cured, because on paper Sauber have the chassis and engine power to lead the midfield. With Frentzen temporarily in the second car, Nick Heidfeld has a chance to get an accurate idea of how competitive he is, having driven alongside Raikkonen and Massa for the past two seasons. Frentzen himself can only be expected to perform moderately well, as he had so little time getting comfortable in the car.

Jordan

Despite under performing in Monza, Jordan can expect to do well in America. The Honda package lacks power and is particularly sensitive to tyres, but should Bridgestones produce a better tyre than Michelin then the car has the pace to lead the midfield. Moreover, the improved Honda engine from qualifying in Monza will be the race engine for this weekend, but reliability is always a factor for all Honda users.

Giancarlo Fisichella completed two days of testing at Silverstone, with brakes, control systems, aerodynamics and tyres being tested. With Takuma Sato still without points and smarting from being outraced by a Minardi at Monza he should be focused on the race weekend.

Fisichella is stuck in a battle with all the midfield drivers, so scoring points at Indianapolis will put him clear and potentially into eighth in the Championship. Likewise, the team could snatch fifth in the Constructors' Championship with points from the next two races.

BAR

As with most Bridgestone runners, Monza was not a great weekend for BAR and last year's race at Indianapolis saw the team in disarray as the car refused to respond to set up changes. Nevertheless, this year's car is a much better one than last year's car was at this stage of the season.

Both BAR drivers are tied in thirteenth in the Championship on three points each, and the team are placed behind all their true rivals. Even with the new Honda engine for the race no points can be expected in a normal race, so perhaps the team should hope for rain or a multi car incident to spice up their chances in the race.

Jaguar

A great result for Eddie Irvine in Italy suggests the team will be competitive if the Michelins are competitive. The R3 is not yet a viceless car, but the simpler track at Indianapolis should allow the Cosworth power and good traction to bring Jaguar forward from their more usual low grid placings this year.

With race drivers still undecided for 2003, yet another driver was tested in the car at Barcelona last week. Italian Antonio Pizzonia was joined by Pedro de la Rosa for tyre testing. No new developments were tested nor are any expected to be seen on the car this weekend.

Toyota

The German-based team have yet to run at Indy - their test car programme last year would not allow a test there. Nevertheless, Toyota's test programme in 2002 is continuing at a pace. A major test at Paul Ricard saw the 2003 engine, the RXv-03, and an all new seven speed gearbox run in a modified car for the first time. Driven by team test driver Stephane Sarrazin, the hybrid car ran for several days, while ChampCar driver Helio Castroneves was invited to drive the 2002 car.

In Monza, events conspired against the team when they were looking their most competitive for some time, so Indy could see resurgence for the powerful Toyota engine. Determined drives from both drivers could be realistically rewarded with points in the race.

Minardi

Another test for Minardi shows there is some money left in the team, although the funds to test Russian Sergey Zlobin for one day at Mugello may have come from his sponsors. The test was largely to acclimatize Zlobin to F1 rather than develop the car. As with Monza, Minardi are hopelessly underpowered and can only expect to fight amongst themselves if Alex Yoong's competitiveness remains improved.