2007 British Grand Prix,
The ING Renault F1 Team reached the halfway point of the
2007 season with a double points finish for Heikki Kovalainen
and Giancarlo Fisichella, in seventh and eighth positions
respectively.
The drivers started from the same positions, and ran aggressive
two-stop strategies. However, Heikki and Giancarlo struggled
with tyre performance at different points of the race, costing
them time relative to the team's rivals in the constructors'
championship, BMW. However, this was just the second time
in the 2007 season that both Renault drivers had finished
in the points, and the basic pace of the R27 confirmed the
improvements that have been made to the car in recent weeks.
With further developments due to come on-stream at the forthcoming
races, the team is optimistic that it will be able to close
the gap to BMW in terms of race pace – and begin reducing
the 25 point gap that now separates the two teams in the championship.
Heikki Kovalainen, 7th position
This was a race of two halves for me. I had a good start and
managed to get past Ralf, which meant I was running P5 after
Massa stalled on the grid. Quite quickly, though, the rear
tyre performance began to drop and I was really struggling
with the car, especially in the slow speed sections. I used
hard tyres for the second stint too, and the same thing happened.
It was only really in the final stint, when I got onto the
soft compound, that the car felt better and more consistent
on a long run – and strangely, it seemed to be the opposite
for Giancarlo. To finish P7 is not where the team wants to
be, but there is no magic recipe for going forward from here.
We need to sit down, analyse what went wrong, eliminate the
problems – and carry on improving the car. It's what
we have done very well so far, and I know the team will carry
on pushing, beginning with this week's test in Spa.
Giancarlo Fisichella, 8th position
I had a tough race this afternoon. I got Ralf at the start,
but Nick passed me in the first corner. However, I managed
to get a good run on him through Becketts, and overtook him
on the run to Stowe. The first stint was pretty good, and
the second one too, when I was using the hard tyres. Then
we stopped for the final time and put on the soft tyres –
and the car felt like it had much less grip. It was very inconsistent,
hard to drive, it was almost like I had a problem with the
car. The situation was very unusual, but I was not under threat
for my position, so I could just bring it home. It's another
point for me, but we have lost ground to BMW the last two
weekends. Everybody is working very hard to turn that situation
around, hopefully starting with the next race in Germany.
Flavio Briatore, Managing Director
This is where we are at the moment. The championship shows
we are in fourth position and today, on a circuit that really
tests the cars, we were fourth quickest team. Now we have
to get back to work in the factory, and on the test track,
to make another step forward. The team has shown the ability
to overcome its problems, and stay motivated during that difficult
time. The second half of the season will be the time for us
to accelerate our development, to try and catch up our rivals.
Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering
We cannot be satisfied with the results of this race. The
last two weekends have shown that if we are to fight with
BMW, we need a significant improvement in our race pace. It
appeared today that our relative performance varied according
to the type of tyre we fitted, although not in the same way
on both cars. In spite of this, we continue to show progress
in our performance. Silverstone is an extremely demanding
circuit for the cars from an aerodynamic perspective, and
there is no doubt that only a few weeks ago, it would have
been hard to get in the points. Now, it is time for us to
take another step forward.
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