It’s a real engine circuit

Renault driver Heikki Kovalainen’s engineer, Remi Taffin, has confirmed to the French based squad’s official website that this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix at the famous Monza circuit will be the toughest test for the engine this season once again!

What’s so different about Monza?
It’s a real engine circuit, that’s the big difference. More is demanded of it here than on any other world championship circuit. The V8 is under full load 77% of the time over a lap. I’d even go so far as to say that Monza is 50% harder on the engine than any other track. That’s why it is always used to validate the engines on the bench with Spa, which is the other complicated circuit for us, thrown in. So the Monza/Spa tandem is our major challenge of the year.

Does the fact that the engines are limited to 19,000 rpm make your job any easier?
In absolute terms, yes. The 2007 V8 is mostly derived from the 2006 engine but with 1000 revs less. But it has to be remembered that many of the engine’s components are sensitive not only to speed but also to other factors. So, reliability is still a problem.

Can the engine still make a difference at Monza?
Not in terms of maximum revs. There, everybody’s on a more or less equal footing. But again it’s no use concentrating on this factor alone. A more powerful engine will still make the difference; its rev band will come into play.