Renault raring to succeed at Monaco!

Renault is ready
By role
May 27 2003

Renault Technical Director, Mike Gascoyne, has declared that the team is raring to succeed at Monaco after the poor results at the Austrian GP. Alonso had to abandon with a broken engine and Trulli complained of balance problems is his quest to finish 8th on the race.

Austria was therefore difficult for the Renault F1 team:

"The race at Austria was both hard and, in terms of the end result, disappointing. Throughout the whole weekend we were pleasantly surprised by our level of competitiveness, given that the track didn't really suit us. Having said that, it was a tough weekend because we didn't manage to get out cars in the right shape to complete the race. So it was a Grand Prix to forget, but also one that's made us even more raring to succeed in Monaco! "

The team has said time and time again that Monaco is their target circuit and that they expect to be on the front:

"Since the start of the season we've been aware that this circuit should suit our cars well. Last year we were very competitive here and we hope that will be the case again this year. To do well on this track, there are two key elements: chassis behaviour and downforce. We've made a lot of aerodynamic changes to the cars for this race, which have made me pretty confident about the level of performance we'll be able to reach at Monaco."

Gascoyne thinks the R23 is perfectly suited for the Monaco track:

"At Monaco, aerodynamics is essential to get the maximum downforce, and that's where you can leverage the maximum effectiveness. This was already the case at Barcelona where, with the right aerodynamics, we managed to get very good downforce. And, of course, you need a chassis that's mechanically effective. "

Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering, is clear that the 2 extra hours that renault drivers will have on Thursday will indeed benefit the team:

"These two hours will definitely be vital. Monaco is such a unique, special circuit that even though the drivers love racing here, they still need to spend as much time in the car as possible. The drivers often use the free-test sessions at Monaco to get in as many miles as they can in order to familiarise themselves as much as possible with the track. But despite that, I think the advantage of the extra two hours on Friday morning will be on the one hand that our drivers will be able to get more used to the track and adapt to it, and on the other hand it will give us the chance to fine-tune the race strategies we might use."