Saturday: Renault deserves better than places 12 and 18

After today’s qualifications in Suzuka, Fernando Alonso and Romain Grosjean will occupy the 12th and 18th positions on the starting grid of the Japanese Grand Prix respectively. However, these positions are not yet official, at least for the Spaniard. Indeed, with Buemi’s second accident, yellow flags were deployed and some drivers did not slow down. These drivers managed to enter Q1 at the expense of Alonso, for example. This is why he could benefit from penalties.

Romain Grosjean doesn’t have much hope. He will have to settle for his 18th place on a track where he doesn’t feel comfortable and lacks practice.

Fernando Alonso – 13th and 16th (12th time):

This qualifying session was really bizarre. The track conditions were good and all the drivers were pushing as much as possible but there were incidents during this session, especially Glock’s accident which I hope he’s okay. I’m disappointed not to have entered Q3, but the yellow flag was deployed during my flying lap. The race stewards asked to see me because they saw that I had set a fast sector under the yellow flag. I explained that at the exit of turn 14, the track was filled with dust, and my visibility was significantly reduced. This dust was caused by Buemi’s off-track excursion. Then, I saw the wing on the track which I immediately avoided. That’s when I saw the yellow flag and I slowed down immediately, and I drove very gently back to the pits. Tomorrow, for the race, I hope we can improve our position a little and be in a position to score some points.

Romain Grosjean – 11th and 17th (18th time):

« With yesterday’s rain, we only had an hour this morning to prepare for the qualifications. I couldn’t do many laps on this track, which I’m discovering, so it’s really a shame. We’ll see what kind of strategy we can adopt tomorrow to have the best race possible. »

Bob Bell – Team Director:

To be frank, this session was disappointing. As it turned out, Romain couldn’t make it past Q1: he wasn’t comfortable enough with the car. We were more optimistic for Fernando and thought he could make it to Q3, but the yellow flag caused by Sébastien Buemi’s exit forced him to slow down during his second flying lap. He lost time and only managed to record the 12th fastest time.

The final starting grid order for tomorrow’s race has not yet been published.

According to a press release from the Renault F1 Team