United States GP, Saturday
The Renault F1 Team qualified strongly for tomorrow's United
States Grand Prix this afternoon at Indianapolis, with Giancarlo
Fisichella taking third position and Fernando Alonso fifth.
Both drivers endured a difficult morning, struggling to get
rid of an understeering car balance, and Fernando in particular
continued to battle against this during the qualifying session.
Giancarlo Fisichella completed a pressured qualifying hour
in style with competitive laps in the final part of the session
to put him third on the grid, while Fernando Alonso will start
fifth – with hopes of racing for a podium finish tomorrow.
In the face of particularly strong competition from Ferrari,
the team's objective will be to score the maximum number of
championship points possible in order to preserve as large
an advantage as possible in the constructors' chase.
FA
Heat 1: 1:12.416
Heat 2: 1:11.807
Super-Pole: 1:12.449
GF
Heat 1: 1:12.287
Heat 2: 1:11.200
Super-Pole: 1:11.920
Giancarlo Fisichella, 3rd position
I am really pleased to be third on the grid because this has
not been the best circuit for us so far this weekend. I was
quite happy with the car today, but we still have grip problems
and we don't know why. Looking to the race, I am feeling confident
and we have to be optimistic about our chances. We need to
fight for a good finish to keep ourselves in a strong position
in the championship.
Fernando Alonso, 5th position
I did the maximum possible today. The car was understeering
this morning and we worked to try and correct it during practice.
In the end, we were adding front wing during qualifying as
well to get a better balance, but it was still difficult to
drive and costing me time. The Grand Prix tomorrow will be
a long one, so hopefully the strategy will work well for us
and help me gain positions. I will be aiming for the podium,
and trying to limit the damage in the championship.
Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering
It seemed obvious after practice this morning that we would
not be able to race Ferrari this weekend, and it would have
been wrong to compromise our race strategy by going for the
front row today. Giancarlo put in some excellent qualifying
laps today and deserved his place on the second row. We were
not able to get rid of the understeer on Fernando's car but
although this has compromised his performance today, things
may turn in his favour tomorrow with track temperatures expected
to be in the high 40s. On the tyre side, the main concern
this weekend was the durability of the tyres. The professional
engineering approach Michelin took to the problems they experienced
last year has solved that, and we look forward to a safe race
tomorrow. There is no doubt it will also be a very tough Grand
Prix, but we will certainly be racing for the podium.
Denis Chevrier, Head of Trackside Engine Operations
Last weekend in Montreal, our grid positions made us favourites
for the race; today, we are much more clearly the challengers,
with very strong opposition ahead of us on the grid. On the
engine side, the weekend has unfolded normally and the RS26
engines have performed strongly. Our straightline speeds are
competitive, which leaves us in a strong position for the
race, and we are confident in our strategy. It will be an
extremely hot Grand Prix, which could have consequences for
the reliability of all the engines on a circuit where they
are under extreme duress. We expect a race full of difficult
challenges, but one in which, if we perform to our potential,
we can still score plenty of points.
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