All set and ready to go for Renault F1

By role
March 20 2003

After a strong showing at the Australian Gp Renault is all ready to go this weekend at the Sepang circuit to try to maintain its 3rd position on the Constructors Championship.

After a strong showing on the Australian GP, Renault F1 is fit and ready for a strong showing this weekend at the Malaysian GP.

Jarno Trulli has stated on Renault F1 web page the importance of training for such a demanding GP:

“Malaysia is generally a very difficult, humid, hot race. It’s crucial to train in similar conditions and to complete lots of aerobic fitness work: that’s what I’ve been focusing on since Melbourne.”
The Italian stated: “I like this track a lot. It’s got a wide variety of range of slow, medium and fast corners. Each of them is a challenge!”

Jarno has expressed how happy he is with this year's car:

“From a mechanical and aerodynamic point of view, it’s a gem. The car’s easier to drive than the R202 and better-balanced. In race conditions, it is predictable and performs consistently.”

Number 2 driver, Fernando Alonso, started to show why the team chose him over Jenson Button for this season. He qualified 10th at the Australian GP, ahead of his more experienced team-mate, and showed during the early stages of the race great skills by overtaking several drivers to go up to 2nd before the safety car joined the track after Barrichello's crash.

Now he is quite optimistic and ready to continue to impress the F1 world this weekend:

“I’m very, very pleased to have scored points in Melbourne,” he smiles. “We were very competitive all weekend, and the result was good for the whole team. But I think we need to wait before we can say exactly how competitive we are compared to the competition. We’re definitely among the six best teams, that’s for sure!”

Is he afraid of the demanding Sepang circuit? “It’s a very technical circuit, definitely one of the most complicated along with Suzuka and Monaco now that Spa isn’t on the calendar any more,” he said. “You need total concentration to set a competitive lap time. What’s more, no one corner is more important than another: you can’t make any mistakes at all if you want to set a good lap time.”