Formula One news
Imola chassis preview
20 April 2006Imola is famous for its kerbs, and particularly the challenges of the Variante Alta and Variante Bassa chicanes. Teams must find the right compromise between the optimum soft suspension settings for riding the kerbs, and the stiffer set-up they naturally want to ensure the car has a good change of direction in these chicanes. Some bodywork elements such as the diffuser and front wing, can be damaged by running over the kerbs, and we have to carefully monitor their condition throughout the weekend.
The teams use relatively high levels of downforce, in order to give the drivers as much confidence as possible in the car. The short straights mean overtaking is difficult, so a top speed deficit is not a significant penalty if they decide to add more downforce.
The circuit includes numerous phases of hard acceleration from low speed, which means traction is at a premium and teams need to monitor carefully rear tyre wear. However, Imola is not a particularly abrasive circuit, meaning the levels of degradation are generally lower than those encountered at many other circuits.
The violent use of the kerbs around the lap puts the cars under particular strain, and Imola often sees a high retirement rate. As well as the vibrations generated by using the kerbs so aggressively, the transmission experiences significant 'shock loads' when the cars land with their wheels spinning, which can often lead to failures.
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