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The Spaniard was looking strong this morning and seemed to be on course for the fastest time until he had to lift off in the final sector. Now he has to confirm that performance when qualifying gets underway later this afternoon.

The weather forecast predicted rain, but it was brilliant sunshine that greeted the teams as the third three practice session for the German Grand Prix got underway this morning. It was still quite cool to begin with: 23�C in the air and 23�C on the track, but by the end of the session the asphalt had warmed up nicely to about 30�C.

After the 60-minute session, during which Heikki Kovalainen (McLaren) and Felipe Massa (Ferrari) continually exchanged the fastest time, it was eventually the Finnish driver who claimed the advantage with a best lap of 1:15.621s, with a gap of 0.072s over the Brazilian. He was followed by Lewis Hamilton in the second McLaren. The second Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen was quite a long way back in 9th.

For the ING Renault F1 Team, Fernando Alonso spent a long time concentrating on race preparation. He then fitted some soft option tyres and completed a successful qualifying simulation to set the�4th best time. He was up on the best time in the second sector, but he had to lift off the throttle in the stadium section�to avoid a slower driver. Nelson Piquet confirmed the competitiveness of Renault in Hockenheim by setting the 7th fastest time, just 0.03 seconds behind the Toyota of Jarno Trulli.

The BMWs continued their Saturday morning tradition and ended the�session at the bottom of the times: Nick Heidfeld was 16th and Robert Kubica was last. The team did not seem worried, though - clearly they were focussing purely on the race.

Finally it is worth mentioning the surprising fourth place of Sebastian Vettel in the Toro Rosso. Although it is a promising time, it seems it was set on low fuel as the Italian team tend to run quite light on Saturday mornings.

Well just one hour to qualifying. I was looking at the times from 2006. FA did a 1:15.282 and was 5th, Kimi got the pole with a 1:14.070. I know tyres have changed along with driver aids but worth noting.

Interesting stats Tony. Thanks for sharing with us.

Less than 5 min to go in Q1 and is P20...come on.

Alonso P11, not so confortable.

Alonso P11 into Q2.
Piquet P17 out.

Does Piquet have a problem with his car? Piquet starts in 17th!

Piquet said he was blocked by someone on the last lap.

Quite shocking. Nelson said he was held up by Vettel.

ALonso just made it through Q1. Lets hope for rain tomorrow since Alonso was strong in the wet.

Disaster for Piquet and the team. He has no excuse as he knows this circuit better than any. He made too many mistakes and he is the driver so no excuses. When will he start to shine ??? Also seems FA was not to happy with the car, he got through by the skin of his teeth. Lets now see how the 2 quali goes. RF1pp Somebody needs to give Nelson a good talking to and if no improvement quickly a ticket to drive in the new Formula 2 proposed by the FIA. He may shine there.

What I still do not understand is why wait for the last minute of the qualifying session to try to make the best lap, the only time with the worst traffic???

@manuStudio - quite agree with your comment. I was watching and could not quite understand either. There were quite afew of the back of the grid cars waiting. Surely we do not class ourselves as 'Back of the Grid? or 'Best of the worst'. Please update us RF1PP.

Alonso was the only driver to have the hard tyres.

@9: It's easy to break someone down. Nelson had the expected difficulties at the beginning of the season being a rookie and driving a difficult car.
Lately he showed great pace during quali and in the recent races. He did have a bad quali today but things like this can happen with very changeable conditions and probably was held up by Vettel.

FA = 1:15.222 6th at moment.

I heard Piquet wants to protest against Vettel for blocking him! Will Renault investigate?

im not optimistic now, lol, R28 doesn't suit to this track>..

kubica-heidfeld-vettel will go to top 10, bmw is faster than us so alonso will be 8th-9th, so no podium for tommorow

hahaha

rain can save us, only rain..

but the team does a great job, we're faster than raikkonen in the 3rd sector !!!

not bad

@NandoFan - He is a F1 driver and has experience. There really is no excuse it is the same of all of the drivers. Nelson himself said this circuit he knew very well and would do his best. His best was just not good enough and he should be on the carpet for it.

All is not lost - FA is still up there and will I am sure get into the 3 quali. He has just gone out for another flying lap. Shame Piquet was not with him !!!

Im an idiot, im mistaken, WOW ONLY 0.3 SLOWER THAN THE TOP 3
FORZA RENAULT !!!

Fernando finishes Q2 in 4th! Great job! Onward to Q3!

Well done Alonso, nice one, P4 in front of Kimi. Best S3.

1:14.943 for FA 4th - now that was excellent driving and excellent team work

great work !! woo am shakin ritin this go alonso!!!

Don't get yourself banged up Ayrton!

Wow, interesting, like Tony said, FA did 1:15.282 in with the R26. now 1:14.943 with the R28.

I will obviously apologise for my remarks against Nelson if in deed he was held up by Vettel. But again I did watch him make 2 very bad mistakes on flying laps. In qualifying you cannot do that or you suffer the consequences.

Please guys don't blame Nelson, I think its not his mistake, he must have gone to do more laps earlier in my opinion, he'll reach the points in this GP i thinks

Haaa Trulli took P4 and Alonso is P5, Kimi is P6

FA 5th fastest with a time of 1:16.385. Trulli just infront. Well done.

trulli must have 0 fuel doesnt he?

two tenths is huge difference between nando and him..

Any news yet to see if the team will protest if Piquet was blocked ?

Alonso really need to pass Trulli on the first corner/lap. Kimi being behing will be presure also.
Interesting start for the race.
People still want to see rain?

@ 31 I do not think Trulli will be on any different stategy than FA. Trouble for us is that Toyota have really improved their car. Hopefully FA will find the dirty part of the track better for the start.

Great qualy from Fernando, after he had those difficulties with his setups looks like he found a solution

I just thought that Fernando is literally fighting his way back up there. And he will be fully back one day- no matter what car i guess, he is just that type of driver. I really would love to see the british pearl (sorry) in the R28 and without some magic button sequence and then see what he could do..

Given the in-race speed Toyota usually show, I don't think Alonso will finish in front of Trully and so will Raikkonen. Two Red Bull cars are in the top 10, how do you expect to outscore them?
I have no comment about Piquet.

Just listened to Fernando talking to Antonio from Telecinco. He says he is happy and surprised to be 5th. Says the car goes well on new tyres and low fuel but when the tyres are worn alittle and alot of fuel the car 'dances' abit. Also said he was surprised Nelson did not pass Q1. So am I !!! Explanation please RF1PP

A good qualifying result for Fernando! Lets hope for a good result for tomorrow!

P5, nice job Fernando, very well. Lets score some points tomorrow. Hopefully we don't do a strategic flop as last race... Nelson P17 shame on you!

@ BM - yes that would give us a good idea as to how good a driver he really is !! Put FA in the current McClaren and he would be leading in the points for sure. But that is this year. A driver is a driver and will drive whatever they have under them. FA is in that league. Some drivers are not as good or as quick. Whatever happens this year will happen and 2009 will be a completely different playing field. And yes regarding the buttons Hamilton has to push and the fact that McClaren designed the current computer system what do you expect. That probably why they settled the 100 million dollar fine last year, knowing that they would get it back. I still think any such system should be completely independant from any of the competing teams.

Y R ALL U SUPOST TO BE RENAULT FANS SLATIN PIQUET ? U HEARD IT FRM THE MAN HIMSELF THAT HE WAS BLOCKED AND IF HE WASNT THEN GIVE THE LAD SOME ENCOURAGMENT HE HAD A BAD DAY ... IT HAPENS.. WITH FANS LIKE U WHO PUT SHAME ON U NELSON NO WANDER HE ISNT PERFORMIN THAT WELL. YA NEED SUPPORT UR DRIVERS IF UR A RENAULT FAN ... SHAME ON U MORE LIKE ...

alright, less of the bitterness about Lewis please...as much as I don't like him, we can hardly fault him for getting pole!

I shouldn't be disappointed with 5th, but kinda expected with Kimi having a rought day for him to get 4th or even 3rd. I felt he deserved it too, making no mistakes when all the others were. I was prepared though for either trulli or webber to outqualify Fernando; so actually it's not too bad. I don't think we need to be hugely worried about Trulli, even if he does stay ahead, as Trulli - regardless of the car - is one of those kinds that either have a stunning race or very average. He rarely 'fights' for it in my opinion. So either he'll be out of our touch and we have to retain 5th or 6th place, or Fernando has a good shot taking the place through a good strategy. I think its kubica and the Red Bulls we have to worry about more, because one screw up will hand it to them, while the team have the capacity to hold them all back with perfect strategy and driving.

Lets hope reliability stays as well...

Nelson? Well for once James Allen made a good point; when the likes of a rookie is a couple of tenths off their experienced teammates, but ends up at the back as a result of such a tight field, immediately everyone points the finger - and those couple of tenths can make the difference between keeping a seat and being ousted as not good enough.

F1 has changed so much, that its quite unfair how cut-throat it has become; and those not in the best cars bear the brunt of it the most. I can criticise Nelson for making mistakes as I would Fernando; but I can't criticise his last lap, when he might have hit traffic, and really wasn't all that off pace.

@ alonsonum1 - sorry we live in a democracy and are free to say certain things that are not insulting, abusive, racist etc. The truth is Neson did not do a good job. Truth is not a lie. Accept it - sorry mate !!

HE MITE NOT HAVE DONE HIS BEST LAP EVER .... BUT GIVE HIM SOME CREDIT HES TRYIN HIS BEST... HE HIT TRAFFIC ... WE ALL HAV BAD DAYS BUT JESUS APPARENTLY WE CANT ACCORDIN TO U LOT.. U DISGUST ME U SPOST TO BE FANS... AND ABOUT HAMILTON ... HE RUINED ALONSO LAST YEAR HARDLY GOIN BE HAPPY ABOUT THAT AM I

LOL SIGN OF DEVIL THAT TANIA LOL ... I WISH SOME FANS WUD SEE PAST THEIR NOSES N SEE THAT PIQUET IS A GOOD DRIVER AND U SHUD ALL LEAVE HIM!

@alonsonum calm down please. There is nothing that can be done about it anyway, and like i said, Fernando will be fully back at the top one day, have some faith in him. He knows what he is doing even if sometimes, it doesn't look like it.
And Nelson maybe had some bad luck with traffic, otherwise its his first season in F1 and its up to him to get more experience and find his way. And if he doesn't find it in time, he will know the consequence, so there is a lot of pressure on him already, i don't see any reason to make it worse.

i am calm dont u worry i am very calm ... i no alonso wil be on top one day ... maybe not with renault tho .. he needs be in a ferrari then put him against Lewis Hamilton ... i pray for that day

So I suppose 'alonsonum1' you will abandon this site to follow him. Did you not read what I said - 2009 will be another year. Ferrari went for many, many years and could get nowhere,no podiums, no finishes nothing. The same thing happened to McClaren in the 90's. Renault to my knowledge have for many years always provided either engines or a team and always been there at the top. I did ask RF1PP to update us on KERS developement. Also if I remember correctly was it not Renault that introduced the first Turbo engines in F! back in the early 80's. ??? Do you know RF1

What a shame Alonso hit traffic on his last Q3 lap, for a second I thought he'd make the top 3

nah, he doesn't need Ferrari...just wait and see...2009 is going to be a whole different ball game for the field. There's something in the air and wind about Renault + Alonso + 2009 regs. They needs this one year of 2008 to settle back and and find their feet together while Ferrari and McLaren have the momentum...yet both teams a falling in supremacy from 07...

I might not have much faith in the next race or next, but I have a lot of it for next year when the slate is wiped clean. Until then, best to accept the situation as it is, and deal with it with dignity - our double world champion has, so why can't we?

Be back later - got to get me hair cut....yes I still have some !!!!

i honestly do believe in fernando alonso more than anythin i just get frustrated that he isnt been givin a car that can get him where he deserves to be

Well done to Fernando - P5 - you drove a belter, whoohooo
Bad luck Nelson, not being able to progress further into quali, nevertheless, tomorrow he can still have a good race and pick up some points. Keep the faith people.

Wishing both Fernando and Nelson a great race tomorrow and some much needed points for the team.

Vamos Fernando and Nelson.

P5 for Alonso!! He did a good job! Let's hope for a good start and a good result for tomorrow!

@alonsonum we all fight frustration since last year. Fernando as well, i guess. But like amc stated so well, if he can, we should be able to do it too!

@DiStefano: traffic? They did not show his last lap on ITV (sure) but in his interview he did not say anything about traffic. He said he had perfect qualifying laps and that he was a bit surprised himself to end up in 5th..

@Tony thats incredible- i want a picture for proof (lol)

blackmadonna .. i no we hide frustations am i not allowed to say anythin about them ?? u r but not me ?

@alonsonum i really do understand you. I think i let my own frustration out here many times already, and others too...of course you are allowed, but this is the blog of Renault, and if it gets too much we will get a nice speech from RF1 or one of the other blog members..

i am not been nasty !!

obviously we are all frustrated.
we want podiums and been waiting for them for long but when I see Nando 5th and Piquet out in Q1 I say Nando gives me faith and courage. He's the best and he's with us so keep on waiting if not this year for next year
come on Renault

i am waitin ... if anythin i am stickin up for our drivers .. fans dont slate drivers

you're absolutely right alonsonum1 - whatever else, fans don't slate their drivers...but neither the team?

I think everyone needs to cool down; we're all here for the same cause. The problem is that peole feel frustration at different stages than each other, so one person seems over the top to others at one time, yet at other times that same person is perfectly calm and optimistic when others aren't. I think we need some level of understanding between each other in that respect, and know at the end of the day we all want the same thing for our drivers and team.

Lets all kiss and make up now!

P5 for FA! hopefully, he'll edge out Trulli on the first corner. Too bad Nelsinho could only finish 17th.

Good Luck tomorrow!

just wish it was different ... mwah :P

I, for one have felt enormous frustration this year, but as amc states we have to learn to put up with it as Fernando is doing.
Please, please, stop slamming Nelsinho, the car is extremely sensitive to the changes in weather conditions as we saw in Magny Cours. Piquet felt comfortable in the car in the last tests and suddenly he finds everything turned upside down!! Just for a small temperature change...
Give the boy a chance, in Ferrari they have given all the chances in the world to Massa, and he had been in F1 for two years when they hired him... He seems to be making the most of them, isn`t he?
What all this stuff does is confirm the awesome talent of Fernando, doing the best of a difficult situation.
We may not have the best car, but we do certainly have the best driver, without discussion.
Cheers.

@66 i agree with u .. i said not to slate piquet but i had ppl havin a go at me ...

If you do the subtractions of the Q2 times from the Q3 times to determine fuel loads, then the four drivers ahead of FA are much lighter than he is.

@ BM I'm back, still with a head of hair just less and lighter. Going on me hols next week so got to look my best !! will send a pic of me in the R28 - obviously if RF1PP can organise it. If not it will have to be in a Porsche ( not mine silly ) or maybe a Renault Clio Sport of Campos Racing, yes I will look for the pic.

hmm dont read too much into that ... wot wil be wil be ... i know fernando wil do well 2moz ..

With Nelsinho starting from 17th maybe the team could consider a one stop strategy, he's very quick between mistakes, and he has been making allot fewer of them lately.

Wow, some heated comments, as seems to be the norm on race weekend blogs. I hope you�ve all calmed down now and followed amc�s advice to �kiss and make up�. There�s no point having a tiff with your fellow blog members after all!

I thought I would give you a quick update and respond to some of the comments posted on this blog. Firstly, manustudio was asking why the team went out towards the end of the Q1. Well, part of the reason is that the track tends to get faster as the session unfolds. Remember in the old days of qualifying when nobody would go out for the first 20 minutes? By going out later both drivers should have benefited from better track conditions. They still managed to get two runs in anyway.

As for Nelson, he struggled with the car in qualifying and so didn�t make the Q2 cut. He was a little distracted by the Toro Rosso of Vettel in front of him, and he didn�t quite get the lap together that he needed. But he was only a couple of tenths off Fernando in Q1 and with the midfield being so competitive at the moment, he missed out. He was disappointed, but he can still have a strong race - Hockenheim is one of those tracks where you can overtake, and he�s up for an aggressive race tomorrow as he tries to fight through the field.

And a reminder not to use the blog to post negative comments about other drivers just for the sake of it. Try and keep your focus on the team and the events of the weekend.