2008 Spanish Grand Prix, Saturday
The ING Renault F1 Team enjoyed its best qualifying performance
of the year this afternoon as Fernando Alonso and Nelson Piquet
qualified in 2nd and 10th places for tomorrow's Spanish Grand
Prix.
Fernando Alonso, R28-02
Nelson Piquet, R28-01
Q1
1:21.347, P3
1:21.409, P5
Q2
1:20.804, P4
1:20.894, P8
Q3
1:21.904, P2
1:22.699, P10
Weather conditions were ideal as the Circuit de Catalunya
witnessed another fiercely competitive session. Both Renault
driver carried their good form into qualifying and progressed
comfortably into the top ten shootout.
In the final part of qualifying Fernando and Nelson continued
to demonstrate the progress the team has made in recent weeks,
with Fernando securing a front row starting slot in the final
moments of the session. The team now turns its attention to
tomorrow and will look to carry the momentum into the race.
Fernando Alonso P2
"Today's result made me very happy. The best day for
me of the 2008 season and I hope there are many more like
this to come. The team has been doing a tremendous job since
Bahrain. We have had a difficult and disappointing start to
the season, and today is the first step ahead. We have an
aggressive approach for the races to come in order to return
to the level we should be at. It is not the time to relax,
and instead we are even more motivated to work hard to get
where we need to be."
Nelson Piquet P10
"We have worked well with the car this weekend and after
a great Q2 I am happy to reach Q3 for the first time. Nevertheless,
I have the feeling that we could have done better. The gaps
between the cars are very small, which means that we can expect
a very competitive race on a circuit where it is difficult
to overtake. But I am determined to have a great race tomorrow
and to attack to the maximum."
Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering
"A great result today, which vindicates all the hard
work that has gone on back at base in the first few months
of the year. It's great to see both cars in the top ten and
Fernando's position at his home circuit is particularly welcome.
But let's not forget the great job that Nelson has done –
he's been with Fernando all the way through the weekend and
makes it a great team result."
Denis Chevrier, Head of Engine Track Operations
"We now have a better idea of our performance relative
to the other teams and the result is one that the team can
be satisfied with. We knew as early as the start of the session
that Fernando was in a position to get the most from his car
and we worked hard to give him a car that would match his
talent. There is still a lot we need to do to progress, but
this is already a first step and that is encouraging. As for
Nelson he had a super qualifying session, and was very solid
in Q2. It remains to be seen what will happen tomorrow in
the race, but the gaps between the teams are very small and
so we need to seize our opportunities to try and score some
points."
|
