2006 Japanese GP, Friday
Weak sunshine broke through the clouds during the final ten
minutes of this afternoon's second practice session in Suzuka,
allowing the Renault F1 Team to complete its only meaningful
running of this opening day of practice.
After completing just a single installation lap each during
the morning session, Fernando Alonso and Giancarlo Fisichella
completed five and eight laps respectively this afternoon
in drying conditions at Suzuka. Both drivers were able to
run with dry tyres, Fisichella finishing fastest and Alonso
fourth, while Fisichella also completed a single run earlier
in the afternoon on intermediate tyres – also topping
the times at that point of the session.
As always, though, the conclusions from Friday practice are
incomplete – and even more so after such a disrupted
day. The competitive times of the two cars seem to be an initial
confirmation of the Renault's hoped-for speed at this challenging
track, but no more than that.
Giancarlo Fisichella, P1, 8 laps total, 1:34.337
The conditions meant we didn't do many laps today, but I think
we are in good shape. The car felt good to drive on the intermediate
tyres, and while we had a bit too much understeer on dry tyres
at the end, the times were still competitive. It was a good
feeling to be quickest on the track each time I ran today,
so I am feeling very confident for the rest of the weekend.
Fernando Alonso, P4, 5 laps total, 1:34.863
On the track, this was a normal Friday for me. We did very
little running because of the conditions, but the R26 felt
good, although there was a bit too much understeer everywhere.
Off the track, I was surprised by the strong reaction to what
I said yesterday in the press conference. I expressed very
clearly that these were only my personal feelings, and that
I completely understand and accept the team's decisions. Last
night, I explained that to the team and to Fisi, and there
is no problem. Every single person at Renault is fighting
to the maximum to win the championship. I don't know what
people see from the outside, but within the team, we have
a fantastic atmosphere right now. And we are determined to
come out on top.
Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering
Our programmes today were essentially condensed to ten minutes
at the end of the second practice session. In that time, all
we could really get were first impressions of how the car
is performing. Those impressions were favourable, but we cannot
deduce much more at this stage.
Denis Chevrier, Head of Engine Operations
For the engine team, the drying conditions we saw today still
give us the chance to fine-tune the parameters we need to
optimise for this weekend. Both engines performed normally,
without any problems, and while you can never complete your
work when track conditions are changing all the time, we have
been able to begin our programmes. Shanghai was a comparatively
easy race for the engines owing to the wet conditions, and
it meant that both our drivers only used around 80% of their
allocated performance potential during the weekend. As a result,
they come here with 120% of that potential available, and
we full intend to put it to good use tomorrow and during the
Grand Prix on Sunday.
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