2008 British Grand Prix, Saturday - 5 JUL 2008
The ING Renault F1 Team enjoyed a competitive qualifying
session this afternoon as Fernando Alonso and Nelson Piquet
qualified in 6th and 7th places for tomorrow's British Grand
Prix at Silverstone.
Fernando Alonso, R28-02
Nelson Piquet, R28-01
Q1
1:20.998, P11
1:20.818, P8
Q2
1:19.992, P7
1:20.115, P10
Q3
1:22.029, P6
1:22.491, P7
Overcast conditions were the order of the day with the threat
of rain remaining throughout the qualifying hour. Some light
rain did fall towards the end of the Q1, but the track soon
dried out to leave good track conditions for Q2 and Q3.
Both Fernando and Nelson progressed comfortably through to
Q2, and then confirmed their strong practice pace to reach
Q3 for the top ten shoot-out, where they secured their third
and fourth row starting slots. Those positions leave the team
well placed to make the most of its local race tomorrow with
rain showers once again forecast.
Fernando Alonso P6
"It was a difficult qualifying session with changeable
track conditions, wind and rain. But we have done our maximum
and so overall it's a satisfying result for the team. If the
race tomorrow takes place in normal conditions, we can hope
to have a strong finish. If it rains, the race will be open
and anything can happen. I must now prepare for that and will
give my all once again to achieve a good result."
Nelson Piquet P7
"I'm very happy with today's qualifying session. The
car felt good and we were improving lap by lap. I struggled
a bit at the end of Q3 with Heidfeld, but it worked out OK
in the end and so it does look promising for tomorrow. Now
I'm looking forward to the race and I hope we can put on a
good show in the team's local race."
Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering
"An exciting qualifying session, with one eye on what
the cars were doing and one eye on the weather. But overall
it was a very satisfying session with both cars solidly inside
the top ten on good fuel loads. Tomorrow is going to be exciting,
mainly due to unpredictable weather, but we've put ourselves
in the best position to exploit anything that may come."
Denis Chevrier, Head of Engine Track Operations
"It was essential to secure ourselves some good grid
positions today, especially as we can expect changeable conditions
tomorrow and an eventful race. We made it through to Q3 without
any problems with both cars, which is satisfying, especially
for Nelson who has shown that he is able to manage the demands
of a competitive qualifying session. I think that we can have
high hopes for the race tomorrow, and hopefully we will be
in a position to realise them."
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