Pat Symonds talks drivers!

By role
February 6 2004

Renault Executive Director of Engineering, Pat Symonds, has recently described the track ability of his two lead drivers Jarno Trulli and Fernando Alonso, as well as test driver Franck Montagny.

On the new Renault F1 official web page Pat Symonds talks about Italian Jarno Trulli:

“Jarno is quite a “cerebral” driver. He is extremely talented, and also seeks to understand everything, to analyze everything in order to give himself the best possible set-up. He likes to feel the car matches what he needs 100% in order to give his maximum. Generally, Jarno is a delicate driver: he brakes in a straight line, hits the apex and then accelerates in an impressively tidy manner. His style is natural and flowing: as such, he makes less use of the driver aids”

Fernando Alonso is described by Pat Symonds as:

“…a pure product of the new generation of racing driver. His driving style is very aggressive: he brakes later and harder than Jarno, and makes big inputs with the steering. He has huge talent, and an incredible ability to adapt to whatever the car is doing: he knows how to get 100% out of a car that isn’t perfectly set-up. Finally, Fernando tends to use the traction control a lot: on the exit of slow corners, he gets his foot flat on the floor as soon as possible.”

“We are lucky to have a driver line-up in which all three drivers have similar styles. Jarno and Fernando can cope with a little oversteer on the corner exit, and like a neutral front end on entry: exactly like Franck.” Says Symonds of Renault’s test driver. “Our new test driver has a very good style, and it will evolve significantly during the year. Franck will complete thousands of kilometers in 2004, and has already shown enough promise to indicate that he will develop quickly”.