French GP, Practice
The Renault F1 Team began the French Grand Prix weekend in
optimistic mood and diligent fashion today at Magny-Cours.
As usual, both drivers completed a tightly focused programme
of tyre evaluation aimed at assessing the relative performances
of the two types of Michelin tyres selected for this weekend.
Track temperatures at the rose to over 50°C this afternoon,
comparable to the conditions predicted for Sunday's Grand
Prix, and on a circuit that is demanding both in terms of
traction and also high speed handling in turn three, tyre
performance will be a critical factor in the race. Both Fernando
and Giancarlo are running the new C-spec RS26 V8 engine this
weekend, an evolution whose full potential was successfully
approved during testing last week in Jerez. It completed two
incident-free sessions today as the engineers conducted their
usual fine-tuning of the mapping.
Fernando Alonso, P2, 14 laps total, 1:17.498
It was a normal Friday for me here today, working on the tyre
programme and making a few small set-up changes. I think we
have a good picture of the directions we need to take tomorrow,
both in terms of the Michelin tyres and the car set-up. The
new C-spec engine feels like a good step and has performed
without any problems so far, which is encouraging. Magny-Cours
is a circuit I always enjoy, because the two high-speed chicanes
that give it something unique for the drivers, and even today
we could see plenty of our fans and colleagues from Renault
in the grandstands. There will be even more tomorrow and Sunday,
and I hope our performance will live up to their expectations.
So far, so good!
Giancarlo Fisichella, P5, 13 laps total, 1:17.916
This was another good start to the race weekend for me, which
is encouraging after my strong performance in Indianapolis.
I started out the session with a bit too much oversteer so
we had to make some changes to the car, but we calmed it down
and it began to feel easy to drive and consistent. We still
have some room for improvement tomorrow, but I am happy with
the situation so far and I think we have got some good ideas
for what we need to do in the race. This was a promising start
for me.
Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering
From the engineers' point of view, this was a normal day of
Friday practice spent evaluating tyre compounds and tuning
the handling of the cars. After some work during the second
session, the R26 now seems to have a reasonably consistent
balance for both drivers, and the times certainly seem competitive.
We ran both types of Michelin tyre today, and the first impressions
are that we are back on track after the anomaly of our performance
in Indianapolis.
Denis Chevrier, Head of Trackside Engine Operations
With weather conditions similar to those predicted for Sunday's
race, this afternoon's practice session proved an ideal opportunity
to begin tuning engine mapping, adjusting cooling levels and
conducting our usual test work. We completed both programmes
without incident, and have collected plenty of data for analysis
this evening. The C-spec engine evolution is performing as
predicted, making this a positive day from the technical perspective.
A quick analysis of the timesheets also suggests we are in
a strong position from a competitive point of view, so we
can say it has been a good start to our home Grand Prix.
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