Friday – Renault remains discreet for the moment

The Renault team experienced a productive day at Albert Park: Fernando Alonso and Nelson Piquet began their preparation for the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday.

Productive does not always accompany performance since the two drivers are far in the rankings. No top 10 for Fernando Alonso and even less for Nelson Piquet.

Fernando Alonso – 10th and 12th:

« Finally, after many trials, waiting, and comments, we have started our 2009 season. Today, we focused on the car’s setup in hot conditions, without really worrying about the competition. »

« We have collected some interesting information and we will, as usual, analyze it tonight. We are lacking grip but we have ideas on how to overcome the issue. Therefore, I remain confident. We should perform better tomorrow. »

Nelson Piquet – 18th and 19th:

A somewhat difficult day. I struggled to find the right balance on a track that was still green and had little grip, which I don’t particularly like. However, the adjustments tested today did allow us to identify interesting development paths for tomorrow, and I remain positive.

Pat Symonds – Technical Director:

Track conditions: « As always in Melbourne, there are a lot of side races and the track was rather clean when the tests began. That said, since the sessions took place quite late in the day, the asphalt temperature tended to drop. We had to take this phenomenon into account. »

Chassis balance: « The car is not as balanced as we wanted. We encountered a lot of oversteering today, and this is what we focused on. »

Use of tires: « The hardest tires are rather difficult to bring up to temperature. The soft tires offer a satisfactory level of performance from the first lap but then fall victim to a fairly significant graining phenomenon. »

Problems encountered: « We encountered an electrical issue with Fernando’s car this morning, which slightly reduced his track time. Otherwise, the R29s had no issues.

Outlook for the rest of the weekend: « Our goal is to focus on the balance of the car in order to overcome the oversteer on this demanding circuit. »

According to a statement from the Renault F1 Team