The combination of the long straight and the twisting infield section of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s road circuit calls for vastly different chassis setups on the F1 cars, and the engineers and drivers must try to find a balanced compromise.
“The Indianapolis Speedway is fundamentally different from the circuit at Montreal, yet both tracks demand a medium downforce level, ” said BMW Sauber Technical Director Willy Rampf. “In Indy, that is the result of a tricky compromise.
“On the oval section, you have a full-throttle section – the longest flat-out stretch to date on the whole F1 calendar. To achieve maximum top speed, you would want to take the Indy oval (Turn 13 of the road circuit) with a very low wing setting and minimal drag.
“But with a low-downforce package of the kind we use in Monza (for the Italian Grand Prix) there wouldn’t be nearly enough downforce for the 11 turns in the Indianapolis infield section. If you haven’t got sufficient braking stability and traction in these corners, you lose more time than can be gained on the straights. In the infield, where you shift down all the way to first, you want the maximum possible downforce, similar to Monaco or Budapest.
“These radically different demands made by the oval and the infield section turn setup work at Indy into a fine balancing act. In 2006, we made quite a good job of it. For the race, it is also worth noting that there are passing opportunities at the end of the straights. And the transition to the infield the track is so wide that it can accommodate a number of possible lines. ”
McLaren’s perfect record: Vodafone McLaren-Mercedes drivers Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton are the only two drivers this season to complete all 384 race laps and to score points in each of the first six races of the season.
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