Saturday – The regulations are driving Renault crazy

Renault took part today in the first qualifying session of the 2009 World Championship at the Albert Park circuit in Melbourne, Australia. Despite satisfactory track conditions, the team did not achieve its objectives.

Fernando Alonso and Nelson Piquet had to settle for 12th and 17th performances. Despite this disappointment, Renault remains focused and hopes to stand out tomorrow, particularly thanks to the use of its energy recovery system during the race.

Fernando Alonso – 17th and 10th (qualified 12th):

« We arrived here thinking we would fight for the podium, but that will certainly not be the case tomorrow. We were close to the times that would have allowed us to enter Q3, just two or three tenths off, but I made a mistake trying to gain time in the last corner. »

« I am disappointed because I thought I could finish 5th or 6th today. Last year, however, I finished 4th starting from 12th on the grid. If the race is lively tomorrow, I can still achieve a good result. »

Nelson Piquet – 19th and 14th (qualified 17th):

I knew the day would be difficult because the weekend hadn’t started very well. At the beginning of qualifying, the car seemed OK, then I started having problems. Albert Park is not a track I particularly like. I pushed a little too hard and made a mistake in the final sector.

Pat Symonds – Technical Director:

Track conditions: « They were rather good today with fairly high temperatures despite the fact that the qualifying took place quite late. This did not pose any problems for us. »

Performance: « We are disappointed, of course, but the performance of all the cars is very close, and our position doesn’t necessarily reflect where we will finish the race tomorrow ».

Strategy and fuel load: « Our positions on the grid will certainly lead us to use a fairly conventional strategy, as will be shown by the fuel levels we will use tomorrow. »

Predictions for the race: « I think we are not very far from the teams we need to fight against and we hope that our KERS system can provide us with a decisive advantage in race conditions tomorrow. »

According to a statement from the Renault F1 Team