2008 British Grand Prix, Friday
The ING Renault F1 Team's preparations for Sunday's British
Grand Prix got underway at Silverstone today as both Fernando
Alonso and Nelson Piquet took advantage of the three hours
of free practice to complete their Friday programmes.
Fernando Alonso, R28-02
Nelson Piquet, R28-01
Free Practice 1:
P6, 1:20.436, 7 laps
Free Practice 1:
P8, 1:20.653, 16 laps
Free Practice 2:
P15, 1:21.511, 27 laps
Free Practice 2:
P18, 1:21.642, 45 laps
Conditions were ideal for both sessions, allowing the team
to make good progress with its workload. Having already tested
here last week, the team was able to concentrate on fine-tuning
the balance of the car and set-up adjustments. There was also
the opportunity to complete some tyre assessment with the
two compounds of Bridgestone tyres.
By the end of the day Fernando and Nelson had covered a total
of 95 laps between them, building on the work completed last
week, and leaving the team hopeful of a competitive weekend.
The team will analyse the data collected this evening and
look to maximise the final free practice session tomorrow
morning to be in good shape for qualifying.
Fernando Alonso
"It was a usual day of practice, except for a problem
this morning which cost me a little track time. My mechanics
did a remarkable job to fix the car and I was able to continue
normally with my programme in the afternoon. I mainly concentrated
on evaluating the tyres and set-up work based on the information
we collected last week. We must now try and make the most
of the final practice session tomorrow morning, but we are
going in the right direction."
Nelson Piquet
"My day went well as I was able to do lots of laps and
complete my programme. So we end the first day of work with
lots of information, which completes the work we had already
started last week. Our times today were not especially significant
as the main priority was to complete the programme, which
we did. Overall, I am rather optimistic as we approach the
weekend."
Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering
"Having tested here recently, we were aware of what areas
of our investigations needed completing, and looking at the
times of some of our competitors, it seems that they were
in a similar situation. Our focus has obviously been on race
preparation, and the balance of the cars is normal for a Friday."
Denis Chevrier, Head of Engine Track Operations
"Our test engines today had a similar risk to the one
that broke at the last race in Magny-Cours. So the engine
problem for Fernando is something that we were already aware
of and had identified, and that is going to help our understanding
of the problem that is affecting us at the moment. However,
for the race engines, we have already taken a number of precautions
and we are therefore not particularly worried for the race
this weekend."
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