After the trials, Renault may have some regrets

After a final and particularly productive practice session where Fernando Alonso set the fastest time, the team approached the qualifications for this final event of the world championship calmly, knowing that the times would be very close and the spots in Q3 particularly contested. While the Spaniard and Nelson Piquet comfortably entered Q2, the young Brazilian missed out on a place in Q3 by just a few hundredths, while his teammate secured the sixth fastest time.

6th and 11th on the grid, the drivers of the Diamond can hope for a great race in the final round of the 2008 championship.

While knowing the capabilities of Ferrari and McLaren-Mercedes, Fernando Alonso stated: « We knew that it would be very tight this afternoon and we were not wrong. We knew it would be difficult to catch the Ferraris and the McLarens, we did our best and secured 6th place. I now hope that the strategy, the tires, everything will work as planned and we can then have a great race tomorrow. »

With a few regrets, Nelson Piquet continued: « It is obvious that I would have liked to enter Q3 today. The car was responding well, I was comfortable and pushed to the maximum but it wasn’t enough! The times are very tight as we had expected, now I must focus on tomorrow’s race where I will do my best to climb up and score points. »

Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering added: « As always on such a fast circuit, the times are very close. Nelson was really unlucky this afternoon as he deserved his place in Q3, he was just slightly slower than his teammate in Q2. Fernando as always did a remarkable job to secure a good spot on the grid with a reasonable fuel load. We are now looking forward to seeing what happens tomorrow! »

Denis Chevrier, Head of Trackside Engine Operations, somewhat realistic concluded: « After this morning’s tests, we could reasonably hope to enter Q3 with our two cars. Nelson misses his spot by a few hundredths, which is frustrating for his home Grand Prix, but he will have the freedom to work with tomorrow’s track conditions, which won’t be the case for the drivers ahead of him. Over a 71-lap race, the gaps in terms of strategy and therefore fuel load created bigger gaps in Q3. We now have to wait for tomorrow, but we can hope to have a great race! »

According to a statement from the Renault F1 Team