Bahraini GP,
The World Champion Renault F1 Team and Fernando Alonso started
their title defence in the best possible way this afternoon
at the 2006 Bahraini Grand Prix, with the Spaniard taking
victory in a hard-fought battle with Michael Schumacher. However,
there were also mixed feelings in the team, as Giancarlo Fisichella
was forced to retire on lap 21 following an hydraulic failure
on his R26.
Fernando Alonso's victory centred on three key moments: on
lap 8, when he narrowly avoided an accident with Felipe Massa
after the Brazilian spun behind him into turn 1; and then
two moments around the second pit-stop, both in the laps before
his stop when he was able to gain vital time on Michael Schumacher,
and then exiting the pits, as he battled wheel to wheel with
the German into turn 1, to secure the track position that
gave him victory. After this moment, on lap 40, he controlled
his performance and the gap to the Ferrari all the way to
the flag.
Giancarlo Fisichella started the race from his original P9,
after the team had changed a large number of peripheral components
on the engine in order to try and resolve the power loss he
had suffered in qualifying. Unfortunately the problem continued,
leaving the Italian around fifty horsepower short of his potential
maximum throughout the opening part of the race. He made his
first pit-stop on lap 16, but was forced into retirement five
laps later after an hydraulic leak.
Fernando Alonso, P1
This was a good, fighting win and I want to dedicate it to
the mechanics and the team, for some fantastic pit-stops and
the right strategy. There was a funny incident in the early
stages, and I came very close to going out when Massa spun
past me in turn 1. After that though, things went smoothly,
and I knew that the key time would be around the second stop.
I looked after the tyres at the start of the stints, so that
I had something left at the crucial moment, and I was very
confident that we would be able to do it. After that, I managed
the performance, the car was running beautifully and I just
concentrated on making no mistakes. The backmarkers were very
fair today as well. I think the competition is a little bit
closer than we thought overall, but this is the perfect start
for the season.
Giancarlo Fisichella, Retired Lap 21
I had the same problem as in qualifying, with a big loss of
power on the engine. It was OK for the start of the race,
but then I just lost power all the way through the rev range
and the car was much slower on the straights. I was still
able to fight with the cars around me, but I was a long way
from the potential we could do with full power. Then I had
an hydraulic problem which forced me to retire. The good thing
is that we have another race in one week's time, and the car
is clearly very quick. I want to bounce back strongly in Malaysia.
Flavio Briatore, Managing Director
Thank you to the entire team and our partners for this fantastic
victory. Fernando did an incredible job, and managed his race
perfectly to win. We can only apologise to Fisico, who had
an engine problem all the way through the race and then was
forced to retire. The team did an awesome job: the pit-stops
were exceptional, and helped Fernando get back out in front
of Michael at the end. This was an emotional race, and a fantastic
show. We are all very happy.
Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering
This was a great race for Renault. From the driver onwards,
our team showed what it is made of today. It was obviously
very, very close around the second stop between Fernando and
Michael, and we had known from the start that the laps around
the second stop would be crucial. Our best chance of victory
this weekend came from running a bit longer on our stints,
to exploit the performance we found on the Michelin tyres.
It worked, but only just! Our apologies must go to Giancarlo.
The engine problem he suffered in qualifying had not gone
away as we hoped, and seriously compromised his performance.
In the circumstances, he did an exceptional job. Ultimately,
though, an hydraulic leak stopped the car and forced him to
retire.
|
