2007 British Grand Prix, Saturday
The ING Renault F1 Team this afternoon continued its run
of improved qualifying form, as it placed its two cars seventh
and eighth on the grid for tomorrow's British Grand Prix at
Silverstone.
Giancarlo Fisichella, R27-05
Heikki Kovalainen, R27-03
Q1
1'20.842, P12
1'20.570, P8
Q2
1'20.077, P6
1'20.042, P5
Q3
1'20.775, P8
1'20.721, P7
For the third consecutive race, both Renault drivers qualified
comfortably inside the top ten, confirming the team's recent
progress in terms of outright performance. From the perspective
of the constructors' championship, the team's race tomorrow
will once again be with BMW – and like last week in
Magny-Cours, the two German cars sandwich the two Renaults
on the grid. The target will be to maintain the strong qualifying
speed of the R27 throughout the race, and to make the most
of well-executed race strategies to try and claw back points
from BMW by the chequered flag.
Heikki Kovalainen, P7
When you come out of qualifying, you always think you could
have done a little better on the last timed lap – and
for me, I felt I made a small mistake that cost me some time.
But once again, our result this afternoon shows we are heading
in the right direction, as I got into Q3 for the third consecutive
time. Toyota were the surprise for us this afternoon, as they
have been much stronger than they were in France – and
we will need a good strategy to beat them. For me, the first
target for tomorrow is to get round the first lap without
any problems, unlike in Magny-Cours. Then we need a consistent
performance from the car all through the stints, and a good
strategy. I'm confident we will have that, and that we can
make up positions in the race.
Giancarlo Fisichella, P8
It was a very tight session all the way through the field,
but it was very clean for us, with no problems and the car
working well. My only problem came on the most important lap,
the last timed one, when a small problem with the brakes meant
I missed the line through turns four and five – which
probably cost me a couple of tenths. Looking ahead to the
race, the car performed consistently on the long runs yesterday,
so I think we can feel positive for tomorrow afternoon. After
that, we will have to race hard, and try to take points away
from BMW.
Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering
Our aim at the moment is to qualify and race with BMW, and
we appear to have achieved that this afternoon. The windy
conditions are still making life difficult for the drivers
and engineers, but the recent improvements we have made to
the driveability of the car have undoubtedly helped us cope
with this factor. As always, tomorrow's race will be hard-fought,
and tough for both the drivers and the cars on such a punishing
circuit. But I feel confident that we can race strongly all
the way through, to achieve a good result.
Denis Chevrier, Head of Engine Track Operations
Silverstone is well-known as a selective circuit for the cars,
so it is not particularly surprising to see the top ten positions
on the grid filled by just five teams. Judging by recent form,
the unexpected factor is to see Toyota among those top five
teams – and Ralf, in particular, could be troublesome
in tomorrow's race starting from the third row. This is a
tough circuit in every respect: for the engines, for the chassis
under high aerodynamic load, and physically for the drivers.
We will need to be at our best in every area tomorrow afternoon,
to try and maximise our points score behind the two fastest
teams – and to try and pick up any crumbs that should
fall from their top table, should they encounter problems
in the race.
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