Formula 1 News

2008 French GP, practice: Renault quotes 

Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering: “We had an engine problem this morning, which was unfortunate, but at least it happened towards the end of the session and so it didn’t have too much of an impact on our programme. We spent most of the day evaluating various different approaches for the race, and while it’s always good to see your car at the top of the timesheets, we know that this is not always a true indication of our ultimate level of performance. Nonetheless, both cars completed their programmes today and we have some useful information, which is a good basis for the rest of the weekend.”

Nelson Piquet: “The day has gone well. We have been able to do a lot of running and as a result collected lots of data, which I hope will allow us to continue improving after we have been through it this evening. We still need to make some small changes to improve the behaviour of the car, but overall I am satisfied with this first day. It’s certainly a good start to the weekend.”

Denis Chevrier: “We had an engine problem this morning with Fernando, which is never a good thing, but it only happened in the final ten minutes of the session, and so it did not have too much of an impact on our programme today. We completed most of what we wanted to and so we end the day with some interesting data. Our two drivers have made good progress and we have learned a lot of things, which leaves us in good shape to continue our progress tomorrow.”

Fernando Alonso: “We had a small engine problem at the end of the morning session but my mechanics did a remarkable job to fix the car and we were able to continue our free practice programme this afternoon without any problems. We tried several new elements that we ran in the test last week and everything went well and we completed our programme. Looking ahead to qualifying tomorrow, I think that our level of performance is rather encouraging.”

source: Renault