Renault caught a cold in Canada

After a qualifying session that had allowed Fernando Alonso and Nelson Piquet to rank fourth and fifteenth respectively, the team hoped to score big points this afternoon for the seventh round of the world championship.

A first appearance of the safety car on the 16th lap allowed the pack to regroup and Fernando and Nelson to refuel. However, the Brazilian’s race was shortened due to abnormal brake wear, which must now be analyzed by the team to determine the cause. Fernando, competing for significant points, continued his effort but an off-track excursion eventually compromised his hopes shortly after mid-race.

The team is now focusing on its national Grand Prix in about two weeks at Magny-Cours and will be testing this week in Barcelona, at the Circuit de Catalunya.

Fernando Alonso – Retirement:

« It’s a terrible missed opportunity today. I am, of course, very disappointed just like the team. Our strategy was apparently not the most suitable and this shows us that we still need to work to position ourselves as challengers and aim for big points. »

Nelson Piquet – Retirement:

« I conclude this weekend with a retirement, which is once again disappointing, but I want to stay positive. The car was responding well today, the team did a good job, and our strategy seemed promising. The start of the race was rather hectic, which I was prepared for, but I eventually had a brake problem and had to retire. It’s a shame because I think I could have fought to get into the points today. Now we have to look ahead and prepare for the French Grand Prix. »

Flavio Briatore, Managing Director Renault:

« After a very good level of performance in qualifying, we had other hopes for this afternoon’s race. The early deployment of the safety car forced us to revise our strategy and significantly penalized us, especially with Fernando. He then got stuck behind the BMW, and we lost all hope before eventually having to retire. »

Pat Symonds – Executive Director of Engineering:

Nelson had to retire this afternoon due to a brake problem and we are now looking to find out what caused this abnormal wear. With Fernando, we opted for the same strategy as Kubica at the first stop but unfortunately, we got stuck behind Heidfeld, which made our race more complicated before ultimately having to retire.

According to a Renault F1 press release