Reactions – Renault demonstrates its patience

Renault was in Barcelona again today, at the Circuit de Catalunya, for what was supposed to be its second day of work this week. However, like yesterday, the weather conditions were far from favorable in Catalonia, and it was a wet and particularly slippery track that Fernando Alonso and Nelson Piquet faced throughout the day.

Under these conditions, the team decided to delay its schedule and wait until early afternoon for track conditions to improve. Once again, the team primarily conducted verification tests on the onboard systems and practiced different race procedures in the garage that the members of the Renault F1 Team will soon be performing again.

Fernando Alonso tried driving on a wet track this afternoon, but as was the case yesterday, there wasn’t much to learn from the track conditions available. The team hopes to be able to work tomorrow if the weather is more favorable and will be on the Barcelona circuit next week for three days of running, which will be the last before the Australian Grand Prix, marking the official opening of the world championship.

Fernando Alonso commented: « It’s another disrupted workday, and we haven’t done many laps. The track was too wet this morning, so we waited until early afternoon to run a few laps in those conditions and get a feel for it without traction control to try and improve the car’s behavior. Tomorrow, the forecasts seem more optimistic, and we’ve waited all week for better conditions, so let’s hope that’s indeed the case! »

Nelson Piquet added: « It’s a bit tough to have to wait like this for two days now, but we don’t have much to gain from testing in these conditions, so we’re waiting… I end this day with only one installation lap on the counter, a bit frustrating for sure, but it’s the same for all the team members who, like me, hoped that the track would improve throughout the day. Tomorrow the track conditions should be better, which we hope will allow us to work properly. »

Finally, Christian Silk, Chief Test Engineer concluded: « The weather was very similar to yesterday and so we didn’t really learn much as it was risky to go out on track in these conditions. Fernando performed some checks this afternoon but since the conditions weren’t improving, we decided once again to cut our program short. We will try to make the most of our last day tomorrow, hoping the weather permits! »

According to the Renault F1 Team