Williams drivers split on Eau Rouge

[Mr V]

From www.autosport.com

Williams drivers Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya are at odds over whether the famous Eau Rouge corner at Spa-Francorchamps deserves its status as one of the greatest in Formula.

"The once popular Eau Rouge corner has lost a bit of its glamour," reckons Ralf. "Today you can drive it without any concern, as the cars remain stable. There are certainly other corners in F1 that raise my heartbeat higher."

Montoya in contrast, believes that it's one of the few corners left in F1 that tests a driver's nerve to the max.

"Of course Eau Rouge is a true test!" he counters. "I did take it flat three or four times last year."

No wonder they have differing views, during JPM's pole lap last year, he went a whole 10mph faster than Rafe through Eau Rouge!

[Sato san]

Originally posted by mr v
From www.autosport.com

[
"The once popular Eau Rouge corner has lost a bit of its glamour," reckons Ralf. "Today you can drive it without any concern, as the cars remain stable.

except Jacques car of course !

[SL]

Pity Ralf did not expand on what corners raised his heartbeat a little.

Sure Eau Rouge is easy to drive through, I could do it, at 30mph. But to drive through flat out seems to be a different matter.

SL

[paulzinho]

Well if Ralf is that much slower than JPM in todays cars without the barrier, what would he have been like in the days of less grip and a nice barrier for you to smash into if you got it wrong?

[R]

The two Williams drivers do seem to have differing opinions on a lot of subjects. I mean, Ralf even liked the new "Hockenheim"... *shudder*

[Lee Janotta]

Originally posted by mr v
"The once popular Eau Rouge corner has lost a bit of its glamour," reckons Ralf. "Today you can drive it without any concern, as the cars remain stable. There are certainly other corners in F1 that raise my heartbeat higher."

Try taking it without lifting!

Originally posted by mr v
"Of course Eau Rouge is a true test!" he counters. "I did take it flat three or four times last year."

That's my boy!!!

Still the greatest corner. Come out of La Source trying to keep the back end under control, floor the throttle, hug the pit wall, then swing wide over the painted stripe, then... Left! Right! Left! Clip the curbs at each apex, three in less than a heartbeat! Do it right and you'll pull clear of whoever's chasing you, or get a fantastic run down that huge straightaway.

And it's still merciless. You probably won't die going off there anymore (as Jacques has proven), but there's no getting out of that gravel, your race is over if you go off.

[Russfeld]

Taking Eau Rouge flat usually means you have too much downforce or not enough power. Though with tire speeds this year they probably can all take it flat.

I have to say I agree, its a bit overrated. Its just a high speed chicane with a hill. Blanchimant seems like a pretty cool corner, or 130R at Suzuka.

[f1manoz]

There was a time when Eau Rouge was THE most fearsome corner in grand prix racing, particularly when the barrier hugged the track and one tiny error could have meant a colossal accident - Zanardi in 1993 for instance.

However, though it's still a wonderful corner, there is no real hint of danger, but can still cause massive accidents - Villeneuve in the past few years for instance!

[mac]

Zanardi's crash in '93 was a monster - due to the Lotus' active suspension failing. He was lucky to escape that one.

[Nicholas]

Perhaps this might explain JV's drop in performance- he's setting his car up to make the ride as scary and white-knuckle as possible for when he's bored running midfield.

[Mr V]

With regards to Eau Rouge, JV has always set up his cars so he can take it flat, usually to the detriment of the rest of the lap (but thats only in free practice i believe)

[Nicholas]

But he's not there to enjoy himself, he's supposed to be risking his life...oh he is. Never mind...

[Peter Mallett]

Originally posted by Lee Janotta
And it's still merciless. You probably won't die going off there anymore (as Jacques has proven), but there's no getting out of that gravel, your race is over if you go off.

There is no gravel anymore. They've blacktopped the run off. Before you could cross the gravel at the top (Radillon) and get away with it but now you have to avoid some very big kerbs. I'm afraid that if you do lose it there, where once you might have got away with it, now you'll most likely destroy the car.

But from my experience the most daunting part of the circuit is Blanchiment. However I don't have as much grip as F1 cars so maybe its easy for them.

[Jordi]

I guess the difference between Montoya and Jacques is a well-designed 2001 Williams and a not-so-good BAR in 1999, as Zonta also crashed super hard.

What about Salo in 1998?

[Nicholas]

Villeneuve manages to stuff it almost every year, he did it either in 2000 or 2001, I can't remember.

[Mr V]

Originally posted by Jordi
I guess the difference between Montoya and Jacques is a well-designed 2001 Williams and a not-so-good BAR in 1999,

I don't remember JV going off in '96 and '97, so he can do it also when he has a well designed car.

[Tristan]

Oh Eau Rouge is still big. But I still think 130R is bigger. I mean there is NO runoff there. Stupidly dangerous corner.

[Mr V]

130R and Blanchimont are massive corners, but they have one direction, Eau Rouge is different imo because there is a change of direction...i.e left, right, left.

[BootsOntheSide]

I think both Ralf and Monty are right, to an extent. Its not quite the brilliantly challenging corner it was 10 years ago, but I think its still one of, if not the, best corner on the schedule, taking extreme skill and commitment, I always look forward to watching onboard footage of the best going through there. and I guess Ralf's lacksadaisical approach to it could explain hs slower laps there last year.

[Sato san]

130R is damm good still , im not sure which one is better....Eau Rouge is better to look at , as its gradient is much steeper , but 130R is still as mighty .

[Jordi]

Of course Jacques can do it. He did not crash in 1996, 97, 2000 and 2001... 6 tries, two crashes.

[Jordi]

Tristan, isn't there a little bit of runoff at 130R? I think there's a gravel trap, not huge, but it's something

[Tristan]

Agreed, but it's nothing compared to Blanchimont and Eau Rouge. If you loose it in the compression at the bottom of Eau Rouge you are going backwards for some time before you hit anything. I'm not saying it's nice or anything! It's savage alright! But at the 130R there's just a wall into which an F1 car would just spear. Plus which the exit's blind. At least with Eau Rouge it's kinda "there". You can see it all.

[kdr]

i think ralfs heart was beating a little faster into turn one, lap one...hungaroring

[Tye]

I remember Jacques Villeneuve and Patrick Head had a little personal wager on taking the 130R corner flat.

Listen to Patrick Head:

"Whereas with Jacques,at Suzuka last year,it amused him to go through 130R absolutely flat.He set that as his target.Until last year I'd never seen anyone do it,but after he'd done a 1minute 38.9 seconds he was grinning all over his face.He came up to me and said:'I told you.It is flat!'

"I said:'No it isn't.'But when I went to have a look at the throttle trace,there wasn't one ripple before the corner.He'd come out with half of his tyres in the dirt on the outside and had absolutely no margin at all.With Damon,there was a lift.He had decided to leave a margin."

Mention it to Villeneuve now and he laughs."Yeah.After Patrick Head had seen the throttle trace,he also checked to see if I'd left-foot braked before the corner,but I hadn't.He simply didn't want to believe I'd done it.That was fun.There wasn't much room there,I can tell you.It felt good."

I would say that there have been many drivers who have claimed to go through some of F1's very fast corners flat,but I think many of them had a foot ever so slightly on the brake,happens all the time.

Again,just think of some of the drivers that Williams have had over the years and to think that Jacques was the first driver that Patrick Head saw do this is saying quite a lot I'd say.

Chip off the old block,I suppose.

Tye