Renault misses top 10 in qualifying
Nico Hülkenberg and Joylon Palmer failed in their bid to start from the top half of the grid on Sunday. The German was only 13th and the Briton a disappointing 17th.
Nothing went right for the Renault drivers today. Warmer temperatures and strong winds hampered the performance of the yellow cars.
Despite good times in the three free practice sessions, Hülkenberg was unable to capitalize on his good form this afternoon: « The conditions encountered this afternoon did not play in our favor. There was a lot of wind and higher temperatures that hampered our aerodynamic performance. Since we were quite satisfied this morning, we didn’t change much on the car. The real difference, therefore, came from the atmospheric conditions. I wasn’t as satisfied with the car as I was in free practice. »
Same sentiment from Jolyon Palmer, who was very disappointed with this new underperformance: This afternoon is very disappointing, especially when we remember our performances from yesterday with the 7th and 8th fastest times. We truly lacked performance and we need to understand what happened to us. The wind was very strong and it certainly affected the behavior of the cars. We need to know why our car was so sensitive to this parameter. We are going to work with the engineers to better prepare for tomorrow’s race.
It is therefore frustration that dominates in the French camp. It’s frustrating because two tenths less would have put us in a position closer to our usual standards. The fight was very tight in the midfield and we find ourselves in the wrong place today. There was no particular problem with a car or a specific area; it’s just that we lacked grip. That’s why we weren’t able to show a better pace, concludes the Sporting Director, Alan Permane.
