Trials full of pitfalls for Renault
The French team's first day on the track was marred by a number of technical problems on the cars of Nico Hülkenberg and Jolyon Palmer, who finished 17th and 18th in the second practice session.
The Enstone team had the opportunity to identify a number of areas where they will need to improve in order not to have to forget this Monaco event.
Hülkenberg: FP1 → 19th, No time (3 laps) / FP2 → 17th, 1:14.870 (41 laps)
His Thursday was not at all restful. The former Force India driver stated that he experienced electronic issues with his car during the first practice session. Furthermore, he admits struggling to find grip and balance on the car in the afternoon. We still have three days to resolve these issues.
The winner of the 2015 Le Mans 24 hours nevertheless congratulates himself on the progress he noted in the afternoon: « My mechanics did all the work that was necessary to do (in response to his electronic failure in the morning ed.) ».
Palmer: FP1 → 17th, 1:15.949 (42 laps) / FP2 → 18th, 1:15.616 (8 laps)
On the other side of the garage, the course of events is reversed.
« It was a positive morning but a less positive afternoon » summarizes Jolyon Palmer, whose RS17 power unit went up in smoke during the second session.
The Englishman remains optimistic for the future: “Obviously, we were unlucky this afternoon, but there is still a lot of potential to be exploited for the rest of the weekend.”
Concerns and a hope shared by Nick Chester, the technical director: « We have a lot of work to do but we know where the improvements are ».
Jolyon’s R.S.17 is sending us smoke signals. We believe it means “Not fair, no one left it any brownies for pudding” pic.twitter.com/plMby8eBRq
— Renault Sport F1 (@RenaultSportF1) 25 mai 2017
From our special correspondent in Monaco
