2007 Canadian Grand Prix,
A day of mixed fortunes for the ING Renault F1 Team during
the opening practice sessions for the 2007 Canadian Grand
Prix at Montreal's Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
Giancarlo Fisichella (R27-02, T-car)
Free Practice 1: P6, 1:18.639, 24 laps
Free Practice 2: P8, 1:18.130, 40 laps
Fastest Lap on Hard Tyre: 1:18.639
Fastest Lap on Soft Tyre: 1:18.130
Heikki Kovalainen(R27-06)
Free Practice 1: P14, 1:18.977, 26 laps
Free Practice 2: P22, 1:20.519, 13 laps
Fastest Lap on Hard Tyre: 1:18.977
Fastest Lap on Soft Tyre: n/a
Giancarlo Fisichella completed a trouble-free day as he
ran through a technical programme including brake wear evaluation,
tyre behaviour analysis and set-up changes to fine-tune the
handling balance of the R27. He ran in the top ten throughout
both sessions, and on both types of tyre, and was encouraged
by the car's performance and balance. Heikki Kovalainen's
work was cut short by a brush with the wall during the second
session, which left him unable to return to the pits, and
meant he was unable to complete his work. He was nevertheless
encouraged by the car's handling, and remains optimistic of
an improved performance tomorrow.
Giancarlo Fisichella
I think this was a good first day for us, and the performance
seems quite good. Everybody could see that the track was very
dirty and low grip today, so it wasn't easy to work on the
balance as the conditions were changing all the time. But
we made some good improvements, and the car felt good by the
end of the second session. My feeling with the car is similar
to the low downforce test we did at Paul Ricard, and the handling
is much more consistent, which confirms the step forward we
made in Monaco. In terms of the tyres, we had a lot of graining
on the soft tyre, and even some on the hard compound. That
will lessen as the grip improves, but it will still be quite
tough to find the right race strategy, I think. Thank you
once again to the guys at the factory for all their hard work,
because I can feel that the car is improving each weekend.
We have made a good start, and I hope we will be able to race
with BMW, who are our main rivals this weekend.
Heikki Kovalainen
It was disappointing to hit the wall this afternoon and lose
running time in the second session, but this is a demanding
circuit where one small mistake can cost you a lot. Apart
from that small error, though, I think it was quite a good
start to the weekend. The car balance felt pretty good this
morning: the handling was neutral, and I could attack the
braking zones well. My timed lap wasn't perfect, but the package
felt quite competitive. In terms of the second session, there
isn't much to say: I had one run on old tyres, then went out
on the softer tyre but I made a mistake in turn 7, ran wide
on the exit and hit the wall quite hard. It damaged the suspension,
but also punctured the rear tyre, which meant I couldn't make
it back to the pits. I did enough laps today to learn the
circuit, and the challenge now will be to find the right set-up
in the final session, and get comfortable using both types
of tyre.
Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering
Montreal is an arduous circuit in many respects, and particularly
for the brakes and tyres. Our work today therefore concentrated
on running with high fuel loads to see the real potential
of the two tyre compounds, and how our brakes are standing
up to the challenges of this circuit. Giancarlo enjoyed a
very satisfying day on circuit that we know he enjoys, and
our first analysis of the times suggests that the progress
we saw in Monaco seems to be continuing here. Unfortunately,
Heikki's afternoon was spoiled when he understeered into the
wall at turn 7, which brought his work to an early end.
Denis Chevrier, Head of Engine Track Operations
As we are unable to test at this circuit before the race,
our Friday programmes for both cars were full and busy, focusing
on tuning engine mapping, analysing top speeds and selecting
gear ratios. That was reflected by the fact that Giancarlo
completed a significant number of laps, almost completing
a full race distance during the day. The low grip conditions
also meant we saw a number of cars hit the wall, and unfortunately,
Heikki's was among them. That left us with a little less data
than we had hoped for, but it won't penalise us. In terms
of relative performance, it is always hard to judge on Friday,
especially given the unusual programmes that teams sometimes
run at this circuit. But I think Giancarlo's times in particular
were encouraging, with good top speeds for both drivers, and
we will hope to see this confirmed tomorrow.
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