Friday: Renault has no doubt about the rest of the weekend

Renault is not off to a very good start this Friday. Poor positions that do not reflect the real performance of the R29.

The new diffuser should arrive tomorrow with improved performance. The targets are the final parts of the qualifications and optimism is essential despite a balance that needs improving.

Fernando Alonso – 9th and 19th:

« Looking at the time sheets, our positions are not flattering, but that doesn’t worry us. We focused on our race setup today. We will aim for performance in free practice tomorrow, so I believe we must remain optimistic. For qualifying, our goal should be to get into Q3, as we did in Malaysia, and then score as many points as possible on Sunday. Today, we lacked a good setup. We’ll have to work hard to achieve our goals this weekend. »

Nelson Piquet – 20th and 16th:

The track conditions were difficult at the beginning of the day, but things improved afterwards. We improved the car’s handling between the two sessions, but we still need to find performance, and I’m not yet satisfied with the chassis balance. Therefore, the program will be busy tomorrow to get the best out of the qualifying sessions.

Pat Symonds – Executive Director of Engineering:

Track conditions: « The asphalt was a bit dusty this morning, but things quickly improved. »

Chassis Balance: « The car is a bit too oversteering, but we have worked on this point and have made progress. »

Tire Usage: « The ultra-soft performs better than we thought. The hardest compound will be the most suitable for race conditions, however. »

**Problems encountered:** None

« We still have a lot of work to do, but we are going to make some improvements to the car tomorrow. So we think we can move up in the rankings. »

According to a statement from the Renault F1 Team