Assessment: Renault could not take advantage of its good pace!

The French team Renault had a mixed afternoon, with Fernando Alonso and Nelson Piquet finishing 7th and 13th respectively in the German Grand Prix, held at the Nürburgring.

Alonso found the pace after 10 laps of the race. The Spaniard was stuck in traffic but once free of all constraints, he was able to reveal the full potential of the R29 to set the fastest lap in the race. Satisfying for the Spaniard, who has good hopes for the future.

Piquet Jr., for his part, is frustrated with his performance. According to him, he didn’t have all the equipment needed to secure a better position. He started 10th and finished 13th, struggling a lot to get his car up to temperature.

Fernando Alonso – 7th:

« The race was difficult. First of all, my start was disastrous, and I lost quite a few positions in the first corner. Then, the race was very competitive. I was stuck in traffic, but the car is much faster. I set the fastest lap in the race, and that’s a good result. The most important thing this weekend is that we are now competitive. So we are very optimistic for the upcoming races. »

Nelson Piquet – 13th:

The race was not easy for me and I am disappointed not to have achieved a better result. I lost ground at the start because I struggled to get my tires up to temperature. Then, I got caught in traffic, which made my progress very difficult in the second part of the race. I pushed hard all afternoon, but I couldn’t match Fernando’s performance, whose car benefited from the latest technical developments.

Flavio Briatore – General Manager:

We only scored two points today, but the weekend was positive for the whole team. Fernando’s pace was excellent; he even recorded the fastest lap in the race and was able to gain several positions. It’s a shame to have lost out significantly in qualifying yesterday due to the rain. Now that the car is competitive, we need to continue in this direction and make further progress throughout the second half of the season, just as we did last year.

Pat Symonds – Executive Director of Engineering:

The car seemed much more competitive this weekend. Fernando’s problem during qualifying yesterday, combined with the team’s issue at the start, made the race difficult. However, when the track was clear ahead of him, he was able to demonstrate the exceptional pace the car was capable of thanks to the technical innovations it had received. With Nelson, we opted for a very long first stint, and upon seeing the track temperature rise before the start, we decided to use the hardest type of tire. He also had a problem at the start and with getting his tires up to temperature. Under these conditions, it was almost impossible to capitalize on his grid position.

Remi Taffin – Track Coordinator Renault F1 Team:

Overall, the weekend was quite disappointing. We had brought a lot of technical developments but we weren’t able to make the most of them: we didn’t have a good qualifying session, nor did we get a good start. That said, the car performed much better, even though we could only show our potential during the second half of the race. In the end, even if we are disappointed with the result, the car’s competitiveness makes us optimistic for the rest of the season.