Saturday: Positions 10 and 14 for Renault, quite fair!

Renault participated today in the eighth qualifying session of the 2009 World Championship. Fernando Alonso qualified in 10th position, while Nelson Piquet will start from 14th place for tomorrow’s race.

For the Spaniard who finished in the top 8 this morning in practice, his 10th place in qualifying can be explained by having perhaps more fuel in his car. The weight of the cars will be revealed in a few hours. He hopes to pit as late as possible in the race tomorrow. As for Piquet, it seems that an element broke in Q2, preventing him from doing better. Renault is examining his car tonight to come back stronger tomorrow.

Fernando Alonso – 8th and 10th:

« Today, we went out a bit heavy on fuel for Q3: we decided that this solution was better than going out light and losing positions at the first refueling. I think it will be possible to get into the points, but for that, the strategy will have to work in our favor when it comes to pit stops. The most important factor tomorrow will be tire management, as Silverstone is tough on them. We will need to preserve them, especially the softs, during the long stints. »

Nelson Piquet – 13th and 14th:

At the beginning of the session, the car seemed good and we had improved its performance since the morning’s free practice. However, something did not seem to work properly at the rear towards the end of Q2, and I had to abandon my lap. I would have liked to finish a bit higher, but we needed an extra two tenths to make it into Q3. Tomorrow, the race looks difficult as overtaking is not easy here, but with a good strategy, we can aim for the points.

Pat Symonds – Executive Director of Engineering:

« The car seemed competitive this morning with a fuel load similar to what we had planned for qualifying. Unfortunately, we did not reach our goal this afternoon. Something broke at the back of Nelson’s car at the end of Q2, we are currently analyzing the problem. »

According to a press release from the Renault F1 Team