2006 Brazilian GP, Saturday - 21 OCT 2006
The Renault F1 Team negotiated a trouble-free qualifying
session this afternoon at Intelagos to place its cars fourth
and sixth on the grid for tomorrow's season-ending Brazilian
Grand Prix.
In the highest track temperatures seen so far this weekend,
the Renault drivers showed competitive form throughout the
hour-long qualifying session, consistently setting times among
the top 6 fastest runners. As ever in Interlagos, the short
lap means the gaps are extremely close: for example, the six
hundredths of a second separating Fernando and Giancarlo equated
to two grid positions this afternoon.
After the session, both drivers said they were pleased with
the handling balance of the R26, and the weekend's practice
sessions have shown the car is competitive on long runs on
used tyres. As ever, the shape of the grid reflects varying
fuel loads as well as the pure pace of the different cars,
and the team is confident that its solid work throughout the
weekend will pay off in tomorrow's race.
FA GF
Part One 1:11.791 1:12.042
Part Two 1:11.148 1:11.461
Super Pole 1:11.567 1:11.629
Fernando Alonso, 4th position
The target this afternoon was to be in the top five, so I
am very happy with this position. Starting from the second
row is perfect for our approach this weekend, and so far everything
is going to plan. Obviously, the problem for Michael is another
bit of help for us, not just for me but for the team as well
in the constructors' championship, and we will take anything
we can get. So things are looking better for us, for sure,
but we cannot write him off and it doesn't change my approach.
Tomorrow, my aim will be to get a good start and fight at
the front. We know that the R26 has the pace to do it.
Giancarlo Fisichella, 6th position
The times are really, really close this afternoon, and I am
not totally happy to be back in sixth because the target was
the second row. Obviously, I am fighting with Massa for third
place in the drivers' championship, so it means I have a harder
job for the race. Considering what happened in Suzuka, I managed
to finish on the podium starting from sixth, so we are confident
that the car will have good race pace. It is a long and demanding
Grand Prix here and there are usually plenty of incidents,
but we cannot count on that. I will need an aggressive race
tomorrow to try and beat Felipe.
Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering
Our day went reasonably to plan – the aim was to have
the cars around the second row and we are in a good position.
I think both cars are on competitive fuel loads relative to
those around us, and they demonstrated strong pace in practice.
Considering our targets this weekend, it is naturally pleasing
to see Fernando starting ahead of his main rival. But we have
sympathy for Michael's situation, and plenty of respect for
him as well. We know that he can still be a danger to us from
tenth position and we are not discounting him at all. Tomorrow's
race has all the ingredients to make it a worthy finale to
a thrilling championship.
Denis Chevrier, Head of Trackside Engine Operations
This morning's running in practice, coupled with the early
stages of the qualifying session, made it clear that we were
not able to fight for the front row. Once we had recognised
this, the second or third row was our logical objective, unless
we were going to seriously compromise our race strategy in
a bid for glory. We did not do so, and as usual focused our
work on tomorrow's race. We saw that the car was quick in
the early stages of qualifying, and the performance was also
there in practice, so we can be confident of a strong showing
in the Grand Prix. From an engine point of view, the cars
demonstrated competitive top speeds and we had no incidents
on either V8. But this afternoon's qualifying session gave
us another object lesson in how quickly the balance of power
can shift, and there will be no complacency as we work towards
our target tomorrow.
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