ING Renault F1 Team Fan Site

The two ING Renault F1 Team drivers reflect on their first day of work in Hockenheim.

What did you learn from the first day of free practice?

Fernando Alonso: We have not had any specific problems today which allowed us to continue the work we started last week�at the test. But the conditions were quite different as we found much cooler�weather today, and a poor level of grip. On this track you have to have good straight-line speed and because the grip is poor in the slow corners, you need a good mechanical set-up to make up for this. There are still some details with the set-up to improve, but I am satisfied.

Nelson Piquet: I think that we are in good shape, and the fact that we have driven on a wet track in the first session could turn out to be valuable considering the weather conditions we can expect for the weekend. The circuit is very physically demanding, with some big braking zones which also require good traction on the exit of the corner, therefore I have concentrated on getting a car that is as well balanced as possible.
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What will be your objective in qualifying?

FA:To reach the third part of qualifying, as we have done for the last eight Grands Prix, and to aim for the best position possible on the grid in the top 10 to start the race with real hope of a�podium.

NP: After having achieved my best qualifying performance of the season in Silverstone�(7th), I hope to reach the top ten once again. The European part of the season will�allow me to show my abilities on circuits that are familiar to me. I hope I can use that to my advantage.

Will the second�half of the season work to your advantage?

FA: That is the objective�and we are putting all our energy into achieving that. We are not yet at the level of the teams that are fighting for the title, but we are well on the way to getting there. We are making progress, but we now have to convert this into results and to try and finish on the podium, which we have missed recently.

NP: I definitely want to be in the points as regularly as possible. I'm still learning, I'm improving as a driver on a daily basis and as the car is more and more competitive, I have to be as a driver. The whole team is motivated and determined to finish the season on a high, and I will do all I can to make sure we do.

RF1PP, have fernando done a qualifying simulation this afternoon ? thank you for your response

Now Fernando is talking of a podium again? I thought from his last interviews, that he had given up on that...funny.
My only hope is that he will make a good race, no spins or mechanical problems, no incidents and i will be satisfied with some points and wait for better times to come...and, of course, for a really working strategy this time.

Hi user-21, Fernando concentrated on getting the car sorted for Sunday. So general race preparation.

This is from Fernando's interview on AS, i know i have to be careful here with quoting articles- so its only a small part of it:

Fernando Alonso (Renault), said this afternoon at the Hockenheim circuit, stage this weekend of the GP of Germany, that the R28 is difficult to drive and it has been this way all year.

"The car was difficult to drive, it has been this way all year and still is, what happens is that when you put new tyres all deficiencies or defects in the car are covered a bit by the grip they offer, but from the second or third lap where you don't have that grip, you start to see the deficiencies of the car", Fernando Alonso said.

For Alonso: "You always learn. When time comes to drive a car like this is more difficult, you have to be more careful, you keep more concentrated on the race, you learn to continuously go to the limit. I can not make any mistake, nor the q1, or q2, because I know if that happens, I'm out. Last year, perhaps I was more relaxed and obviously when I have some day the chance to go back to fight for victories, I'll be more prepared to go to the limit".
The driver said today that "it's not bad, the best time I've done was 16.2 in the third or fourth lap, we miss a bit of consistency, making all laps in low 16 or 16.5 would be the ideal. Let's see if we can achieve this at the third session of free practices tomorrow with some more modifications".

Fernando Alonso also noted that "the truth is that almost everything had been already tested last week, it has been a Friday a little more relaxed, where you don't need to test too many things, the car has behaved a little different from last week, I had a bit more oversteer, we tried to change some things and we haven't found the perfect setting, but now we have all the afternoon ahead to continue analyzing the data so tomorrow we can be a bit better".

How can we find out about future RF1 roadshows? Is there a schedule on the site?
I try to look but can't find any.

I found this, but its 2007.
http://roadshow.ing-renaultf1.com/

now I found this:

2008 Provisional Calendar
17 � 18 May: Marseille, France
31 May � 1 June: Central Europe
14 � 15 June: Europe
26 � 27 July: Johannesburg, South Africa
16 � 17 August: Europe
20 � 21 September: Eastern Europe
25 � 26 October: Europe
November: South America
End of season final: Asia

But, Europe is a bit big, any updated details please.

hmmm...every weekend it's all about building hopes on evident potential - only for it to all come crashing down on Sunday. I'll hold my breath more silently this weekend...

On another note, thanks to whoever mentioned F1Racing...it made me go out and get it today as I wouldn't have otherwise known about Fernando's interview.

Even aside from the interview, it was even better an issue - one of the best recently - because the main driver features were on 3 of my favourite F1 drivers of recent year, 3 good genuine F1 friends of today (Kubica, Alonso, Fisico), and the sincerest of answers from them.

In terms of Fernando's interview, I have to admit that I thought whoever said on another blog that it almost reduced her/him to tears was being slightly melodramatic (sorry!) - but I have to say, it really was touching, and movingly sincere and down to earth. Above all, it gave him an opportunity to put some things straight in front of a mass audience, with the help of the interviewer...bless ya Bradley!

toma renault!
you guys can reach the podium, come on, we're double world champions and we leave the bmw pass us?

we can reach the podium i think and i hope

with good quali and a lot of fuel nando or nelson can do it