2007 Bahraini GP, Qualifying
Giancarlo Fisichella, R27-04
Q1
1:33.556, P12
Q2
1:32.889, P10
Q3
1:34.056, P7
Heikki Kovalainen, R27-01
Q1
1:33.467, P10
Q2
1:32.935, P12
Q3
N/A
There were mixed feelings for the ING Renault F1 Team this
afternoon at the Bahrain International Circuit, after seeing
Giancarlo Fisichella qualify seventh, while team-mate Heikki
Kovalainen will start twelfth in tomorrow's race.
The midfield battle during qualifying is so close at this
stage of the season that every hundredth of a second counts,
and along with Williams, Toyota and Red Bull Racing, the ING
Renault F1 Team is in the thick of that fight. After the all-important
second knockout round, all four teams had got just one driver
into the final part of the session, with just two tenths of
a second covering eighth to thirteenth positions.
Giancarlo Fisichella made the most of his opportunity in
the final part of qualifying to take seventh spot, the first
car outside the top three teams, to give himself a strong
platform for tomorrow's race. Heikki Kovalainen was just 0.05s
slower than his team-mate in the second part of qualifying,
which meant he missed out on the final shootout, but his almost
identical pace leaves the team optimistic the Finn can race
strongly for a points finish from his grid position.
Giancarlo Fisichella, P7
I feel I achieved our current maximum today. It is so tight
to get into the top ten for us at the moment and in fact,
I was tenth in Q2 by just a few hundredths of a second. After
that, we made the most of the opportunity to qualify seventh,
ahead of our direct competitors. That is the best start for
our weekend. After working hard in practice, I think we have
found a consistent balance for the race, and I am looking
forward to scoring more points tomorrow. That was not the
target at the start of the season, but we need to the best
with what we have at the moment. It is important to finish
the races, achieve our potential and keep on scoring points.
I did that in Melbourne and Sepang, and want to do the same
again tomorrow.
Heikki Kovalainen, P12
From my point of view, there was nothing more I could get
out of the car today. I did my maximum, and I was right on
the limit all the way round the lap, but we didn't make it
into the top ten. I have felt a little bit off Giancarlo all
weekend, and we saw that in qualifying too. Of course I am
disappointed, but we know we are in a very tight battle at
the moment, and we had another reminder of that today. It
will be another tough race tomorrow, but as always, I will
be trying to race to the limit, to be aggressive at the start
– and to try and score points.
Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering
It was touch and go for us as to whether or not we would make
it through the second part of qualifying, and ultimately,
Giancarlo produced an excellent lap to qualify – while
Heikki did the same, and lost out by just five hundredths
of a second. Seventh on the grid for Giancarlo is clearly
a strong performance for us at the moment, but as always,
these things are relative – and we are the first to
acknowledge we are some way short of where we want to be in
terms of our performance. The team in the garage deserve a
special mention today as well. We have had a long, hard trip
to the first three flyaway races, but their commitment and
professionalism have never wavered. That was demonstrated
once again this afternoon, as they successfully replaced Giancarlo's
gearbox, and swapped Heikki to the T-car, between practice
and qualifying. Although the car is certainly under-performing
at the moment, the team are certainly showing why they are
world champions. Looking ahead to tomorrow, we have to aim
to at least maintain our position with Giancarlo, and make
up ground through the field with Heikki.
Denis Chevrier, Head of Engine Track Operations
We knew before this afternoon's qualifying session that we
were not among the top three teams, so Giancarlo's position
is the maximum we could have hoped for. Heikki was a victim
of the exceptionally close battle to get into Q2, and lost
out by the tiniest of margins. Both RS27 engines performed
well and without problem, which was reassuring after a precautionary
swap to the T-car for Heikki following the diagnosis of a
potential fuel pump problem on his race chassis. Clearly,
we are in for a tough fight tomorrow, and our goal has to
be reach our potential by out-racing the cars around us, and
trying to pick up points from the rivals in front.
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