Saturday: Renault places only one car in the top 10

Renault participated today in the fifth qualifying session of the 2009 World Championship. Fernando Alonso qualified in 8th position while Nelson Piquet will start from 12th place for tomorrow’s race.

Q2 was barely reached for both drivers. The Brazilian will not manage to climb an additional step to join his teammate. Renault aimed for both cars in the top 10 yesterday, but only one made it in the end. The maximum points are expected by the national hero in the person of Fernando Alonso.

Fernando Alonso – 10th and 8th:

« I think we gave our best today. We are fast and have closed the gap with the top drivers, even though I was worried in Q2 with my tenth time. For tomorrow’s race, we know that the seven cars ahead of us are faster. Those behind seem to be heavier on fuel and could overtake us during pit stops. It will be difficult to maintain our position. However, we need points and will do our best tomorrow to score. »

Nelson Piquet – 15th and 12th:

« A new session was highly contested because all the cars were really very competitive today, especially in Q1. I was satisfied with the balance of our car, which we had improved in the morning. Unfortunately, I missed entering Q3 by a tenth of a second, which is disappointing. That said, starting from 12th place on the grid is not so bad, and I have the option to choose my fuel load for the start. This should help us gain positions in the race. »

Pat Symonds – Executive Director of Engineering:

« Everyone was eagerly awaiting Barcelona to observe the changes in hierarchy caused by the technical developments of each team. In the end, it seems that Ferrari has made a step forward, while the other relative performances haven’t changed much. Fernando [Alonso] once again did a good job. He will start from a good position for his home Grand Prix. Nelson [Piquet], on the other hand, missed the top 10 by a very small margin and is close to Fernando’s performance. He will be able to have a very solid race tomorrow. »

According to a statement from the Renault F1 Team