Trulli 4th at US GP!

By role
September 29 2003

It was a difficult race for many of the teams yesterday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Tough also for the Renault F1 team that saw how they had to settle for 4th when they had one of th most competitive cars of the field.

However, changing weather conditions meant that Trulli could not reach the podium even if he was able to make an impressive drive in the last stages of the race trying to catch up the Sauber of Heinz Harald Frentzen.

Trulli was however pleased of the 4th position and the balance of his car in the last stages of the hard fought race:

"The car became more and more competitive during the race and, towards the end, it was really fantastic. The conditions made things more complicated today, but as a driver, you need to attack whatever the conditions, and that is what I
did today. We were quick in both the dry and the wet, but I think the real damage was done by my mistake in the warm-up yesterday. I should have got pole yesterday and, had I done so, we could have looked for a much better result. I'm pleased with the performance today, but it could have been better." Said Trulli.

On the other hand Alonso had a difficult day. His start was compromised from some clutch problems and then he did a brilliant drive. He also experienced some tyre problems that made him loose some valuable time. When things were looking positive again his engine broke down and he had to retire:

"It's only the fourth time I have retired this year, but it is particularly frustrating because, with Ralf and Rubens both going out as well, I could have taken fourth place in the championship. We were competitive today, but I still wasn't happy with the car: it has been difficult to drive since the start of the weekend. We now have to look towards Suzuka, which should suit our package well." The Spniard said.

The team manager, Flavio Briatore was also dissapointed that the result did not reflect the real potential of the cars yesterday:

"Jarno drove an impressive race, and his lap-times right up until the finish demonstrated our real level of competitiveness this weekend. In view of that, we can only be disappointed to get a single car to the finish in fourth place. We will now work hard to get the best from our package in Japan, and finish the season
on a high." Flavio added.