French GP
The Renault F1 Team emerged from a demanding French Grand
Prix with a strong second place finish for Fernando Alonso
after a consistent, attacking drive and sixth position for
team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella.
Conditions remained exceptionally hot throughout the afternoon,
as they had been all weekend, and prior to the Grand Prix
the team had hoped to exploit the consistent performance of
the Michelin tyres to its advantage over the race stints.
Going in to the Grand Prix, the team gave itself the option
of running either a two or three-stop strategy according to
the drivers' track position as the first stop approached.
In the end, they opted for two stops to gain ground over three-stopping
competitors and this strategy worked well for Fernando Alonso,
who was able to move ahead of Felipe Massa to take second
position. Unfortunately, Giancarlo Fisichella was hampered
by graining in his second stint and was therefore unable to
take advantage of the car's performance during this long middle
part of the race. Fernando's second place finish means he
concedes just two points to Michael Schumacher, and his championship
lead now stands at 17 points. The Renault F1 Team maintained
its strong scoring record with a haul of 11 points, and possesses
a 21 point advantage in the Constructors' Championship.
Fernando Alonso, 2nd position
That was a long, tough race for me but in the circumstances,
a perfect result. We went into the race with two possibilities
on the strategy, and once we saw that Ferrari would be three-stopping
then we knew it would be hard to pass them on the track. So
we chose to rely on the consistent tyre performance, and make
two stops. The car balance was consistent all the way through
the race, and I pushed hard to make sure I could get ahead
of Felipe in the final part of the race. Given where I started
on the grid, I think second is everything I could have hoped
for because we knew that Michael was a bit quicker this weekend
– like in Imola and the Nürburgring. Back then,
everybody thought that Michael would win all the races after
two wins in a row, and we responded very strongly. Hopefully,
we can do the same at Hockenheim in two weeks' time.
Giancarlo Fisichella, 6th position
This wasn't a great race for me to be honest. The car was
getting more and more difficult to drive during the race,
with tyre graining in the second stint that meant I couldn't
build a gap over Ralf and Kimi to stay ahead, and then a lot
of problems under braking in the final part of the race as
well. We need to have a look at what happened, but you have
to take the positive part from the results. I finished in
the points, I am still third in the championship after a tough
weekend and we completed a second race on the C spec engine
without any problems. I am optimistic for the next races,
and confident we can regain our advantage.
Flavio Briatore, Managing Director
This turned out to be a difficult weekend for us, and Fernando
got the best possible result from it. Giancarlo struggled
in qualifying and in the race too, but he still scored valuable
points. Of course, it is disappointing not to win the race
in front of the 6000 Renault personnel who were at the race
today, but we are staying calm about the championship and
we still have a good advantage. The team is working hard to
develop the car and engine at Enstone and Viry, and we know
what is coming in the next few weeks. Michelin will be pushing
even harder to regain the advantage in Hockenheim, and I am
confident we can come out on top in Germany.
Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering
Fernando's race this afternoon was essentially determined
by the time he had completed the opening lap. He fought hard
to find a way past Massa, but wasn't able to do it and therefore
lost any chance he might have had of challenging Schumacher.
We had gone into the race with an open mind about doing two
or three stops, but having lost time in the first stint, it
was obvious that two stops was the way to go to ensure we
at least finished second. Giancarlo's race was always going
to be hard from seventh, and the graining he experienced in
the second stint meant he was unable to exploit the strategy
to make up ground. We are now looking forward to Germany,
where we will have substantial revisions to the aerodynamics
and engine. We lost two races to Ferrari earlier in the season,
and bounced back strongly. That's what we intend to do again,
beginning in Hockenheim.
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