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A top Formula One team assesses the key challenges awaiting the squads at the fifth round of the 2009 World Championship in Barcelona.

The grand prix circuit near Barcelona is one that every F1 team knows well from the hundreds of kilometres of testing carried out there over the winter.

Few venues offer such a variety of medium and high-speed corners and it is widely acknowledged as the definitive aero circuit that provides a stern test of an F1 car.

With few big braking zones and so many high-speed corners, overtaking remains extremely difficult and a good qualifying performance and sensible strategy are paramount for a successful weekend.

Aerodynamics

Aerodynamic efficiency is always a key factor at Barcelona, although the introduction of the chicane at the end of the lap in recent years has replaced on of the most critical high-speed parts of the lap and means the track is not as demanding as it once was.

Even so, the circuit remains the ultimate test of a car's aero package and teams will run with high downforce levels to ensure competitiveness over the whole lap.

Fernando Alonso: "There are lots of high-speed corners where good aero performance is critical. A good example is turn nine, a fast right-hand corner taken in fifth gear. You have to be very precise with the car as there is there is no room for error on the exit and it's important to carry good speed on to the back straight."

Suspension

With the suspension we have to find the best compromise to give the drivers a well-balanced and responsive car. This means we will use relatively stiff settings at the front of the car to get a good change of direction, while the rear will be slightly softer in order to get the best possible traction out of the slower corners, such as turns 14 and 15.

Nelson Piquet Jr: "The end of the lap used to be fast and flowing, but the introduction of the chicane a couple of years ago means it is now a low-speed section where you need good mechanical grip and traction.

"Getting a good exit out of turn 15 is especially important as it leads immediately into the final corner and on to the kilometre long straight. Lose speed in 15 and you will be under pressure and vulnerable to attack down the front straight."

Ride height is also an important parameter to consider as generally we can run the car quite low in order to gain maximum aerodynamic performance.

Engine Performance

Barcelona is not generally thought of as an 'engine circuit' as the engine is not under particular stress as any point and only 61 per cent of the lap is spent on full throttle.

There are relatively few hard acceleration zones from low revs as the engine spends most of the lap accelerating from the middle of the rev range.

As such, the priority is for the power delivery to be progressive and driveable in order to maintain the best handling balance, and limit tyre wear.

Tyres

Barcelona is well-known for being demanding on tyre wear because it includes so many long, high-speed corners and has a fairly abrasive track surface. The most demanding corner is perhaps turn three.

Alonso: "Turn three is a very demanding corner: we spend two or three seconds at 250kph, and it's hard work for the neck muscles. The key to getting the corner right is finding the correct line as there is no margin for error on corner entry.

"If you get it right, then you can get all the way through this long corner with a good level of grip in the car, and it's not too difficult. But if you miss the entry by even just a little bit, you will be fighting understeer then oversteer, hurting the tyres and losing time all the way round the corner."

The tyres are therefore under high loadings, particularly the front left which has to work hard through turn three as well as turn nine.

As a result Bridgestone will supply the hard and soft compounds this weekend, and the team will need to pay close attention to the wear and degradation during free practice to determine which compound to use for the majority of the race.

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Renault F1 / Eurosport