Turkish GP, Saturday
The Renault F1 Team locked out the second row during qualifying
for this afternoon's Turkish Grand Prix, with world champion
Fernando Alonso lining up third – just ahead of team-mate
Giancarlo Fisichella.
After suffering problems with tyre graining yesterday, the
team switched overnight to the other available specification
of Michelin tyre. Diligent work by the drivers and their engineers
during this morning's practice session saw them find a good
balance for the R26, and the car's intrinsic performance was
demonstrated during the qualifying rounds when both drivers
were consistently among the front runners.
Weather conditions today proved slightly cooler than expected,
with scattered cloud keeping the track temperature slightly
lower than forecast. This is expected to disappear tomorrow,
meaning the drivers will be in for a long, demanding afternoon
– and where the team hopes that the consistent performance
of the Michelin tyres will pay dividends.
FA
Heat 1 1:27.861
Heat 2 1:26.917
Super-Pole 1:27.321
GF
Heat 1 1:28.175
Heat 2 1:27.346
Super-Pole 1:27.564
Fernando Alonso, 3rd position
Third position was a good result for me today. We knew that
we would not have enough to beat the Ferrari package over
one timed lap, but we do believe in the consistency of the
Michelin tyres and what they can bring us in the race. Our
preparations have been focused on the race since yesterday
morning, so it is a good result for us to be high up in qualifying.
I think it will be an exciting start to the race and that
we will see a group of cars running together in the opening
laps. But we also know that the most important thing tomorrow
will be to finish, to bring home points in both championships.
Giancarlo Fisichella, 4th position
We knew all weekend that Ferrari would be quick, and that
it would be a tough battle to get on to the front row, but
we are in the next best position. The car felt much better
today on the other type of Michelin tyre, it was easy to drive
and the performance was consistent on longer runs. We know
that it will be a tough race tomorrow, but we will be fighting
all the way.
Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering
Things went pretty much to plan for us. We chose to switch
to the other specification of tyre after our problems yesterday,
and that has undoubtedly been confirmed as the correct decision.
Making that change gave the car a good, driveable balance
that we managed to fine tune during practice this morning,
while our running on older tyres confirmed that the tyres
will be consistent in tomorrow's race. Ferrari have been very
quick all weekend, and certainly were in qualifying as well.
I think they seem to have an advantage on the first lap, but
we have seen the balance of power switch overnight already
this season. Starting from the second row, we are in the right
position to race them hard for the win.
Denis Chevrier, Head of Trackside Engine Operations
I think we can consider this to be a strong team performance,
with ourselves and Ferrari standing out as the two teams who
have managed to get their drivers performing equally at the
front of the grid. We are clearly the challengers for tomorrow's
race, but starting from the second row means we will be in
a straight fight with the Ferraris from the opening laps.
Both engines appeared to perform normally throughout qualifying.
Giancarlo felt his unit might have been a little down on power,
but we could not see anything on the telemetry during the
session. Of course, we will be looking at the data closely
this evening to make sure. Now, we need to wait and see how
the different race strategies unfold…
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