2008 Australian Grand Prix, Saturday
It was a difficult afternoon for the ING Renault F1 Team
and there were mixed feelings after seeing Fernando Alonso
and Nelson Piquet qualify 11th and 21st for tomorrow's Australian
Grand Prix in Melbourne's Albert Park.
Fernando Alonso, R28-03
Nelson Piquet, R28-01
Q1
1:26.907, P14
1:28.330, P21
Q2
1:26.188, P11
N/A
Q3
N/A
N/A
As expected, the competitiveness of the midfield pack was
confirmed, making for an intense battle to reach the final
part of qualifying. Fernando found himself on the cusp of
the top ten, and due to some technical problems, narrowly
missed out on the final part of qualifying.
It was a case of unrealised potential for Nelson, with the
effects of yesterday's problems depriving the young Brazilian
of valuable mileage. He will start his first Grand Prix tomorrow
and look to fight through the pack and gain valuable experience.
Fernando Alonso P11
"As expected the times were very close and while I was
reasonably satisfied with the performance of my car this morning,
a failure of the differential upset the balance and made it
extremely difficult to drive. I am sure we can bounce back
in the race and we will work hard tonight to make sure that
is the case."
Nelson Piquet P21
"I was not able to do much running throughout the weekend
for different reasons, and that was evident this afternoon
in qualifying. I am disappointed because I was hoping to do
better for my first Grand Prix, but I will try my best tomorrow
to move through the field and above all to learn as much as
possible."
Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering
"A very disappointing day. Nelson has really suffered
from lack of mileage all weekend and we saw the result of
that this afternoon. With Fernando we thought we were comfortably
in the top ten and in good shape, but a problem with the differential
appears to have compromised his lap and put him on the wrong
side of what is a very competitive group of cars."
Denis Chevrier, Head of Engine Track Operations
"The session was very competitive and I think that it
will be like that for the rest of the season. The gaps were
very small and all the drivers pushed hard, which caused some
of them to go off the track and even interrupted the qualifying
session. Fernando had some problems with the differential
and despite giving his all in the final part of qualifying,
was unable to make the top ten. Nelson did not cover as many
laps as we would have liked over the weekend and that made
it difficult for him today. We must now hope to make a good
start tomorrow and try to make the most of our grid positions."
|
