Strong qual for Renault!

By role
July 10 2004

The Renault F1 team has put both drivers on the top 6 todays at qualifying in Silverstone. Jarno Trulli will start from fifth today after a strong lap. Fernando Alonso finished 6th but will start tomorrow 15th after he had to change the engine in practice earlier during the day.

Jarno Trulli was sattisfied with hbis lap that gives him a chance to finish on the podium:

"I did my best on the lap: the car was well balanced, but I lost some time in the first sector through Becketts. After that though, I managed to claw some time back in the second, and then did very well in the third sector. It was windy, but I don't think it was much different for me than the other drivers. I am pleased with fifth, and we now need to say how the strategies play out tomorrow." He said.

Alonso was disapointed to have to start at the back of the grid after the engine change but happy with his lap:

"It was a day of two halves for me. My problem this morning was bad luck and it is disappointing, but I can't do anything about it now. In terms of qualifying, I found the wind very difficult and the car balance was changing in every corner, but I also knew that with the grid penalty, I really had to push. I didn't leave any margin for error, and took quite a lot of risks - it would have been easy to make a mistake. Tomorrow, I think I will need some unusual incident in the race or unpredictable weather to finish high up, but I will still be looking to score points." He said.

Pat Symonds commented on the rare first qualifying in which some teams decided to slow down in order to avoid a possible rain at the end of the second session:

"Undoubtedly, there will be much discussion about what happened in the first qualifying session, but it should come as a surprise to no-one. The rules have been like this for a long time, and the consequences were understood by the teams when they were first published. It only goes to reinforce our view that there is nothing wrong with single lap qualifying, but that the first session is unnecessary. Both drivers did excellent qualifying laps with no major problems. However, as is usual for Silverstone, the variable wind kept the drivers on their toes throughout. It is unfortunate Fernando must drop ten spots after his problem this morning, but we know he will race strongly from wherever he is on the grid." He said.