Report: Fifth place, a very good surprise for Renault

Renault scored four points at the Spanish Grand Prix with Fernando Alonso’s fifth place. Nelson Piquet finished the race in 12th place.

However, the French manufacturer had little hope. The Spaniard qualified only 8th with little fuel but benefited from a good start and race conditions to move up in the standings.

His teammate wasn’t so lucky; he narrowly avoided the starting accident, but his car was hit as the performances are not up to par. All he can do now is look toward Monaco along with the rest of his team.

Fernando Alonso – 5th:

« A good result. We weren’t very optimistic before the start and thought we would finish 9th or 10th. However, I had a good start and gained two positions before the first corner. The car performed well during the race, I was able to maintain both competitive and consistent lap times, and that allowed me to overtake Felipe Massa on the last lap. I think the spectators had a good time watching this Grand Prix. »

Nelson Piquet – 12th:

« I was lucky because I wasn’t involved in the incident at the start. The car’s performance was disappointing, that said, and I didn’t benefit from all the technical innovations this weekend. I hope that will be the case for the next race. »

Flavio Briatore – General Manager:

« Today’s result and our race pace demonstrate our potential and the effectiveness of the improvements made to the car. Fernando [Alonso]’s lap times, in fact, were very close to those of his rivals. We now need to continue our process of improvement in order to place both cars in the points at the end of the upcoming races. »

Pat Symonds – Executive Director of Engineering:

« The Barcelona circuit is known for not offering an exciting Grand Prix, but that wasn’t the case today. It was a fight to the end, and Fernando’s result is excellent. Nelson [Piquet] was lucky not to be involved in the incident at the second corner. From that point on, his car did not have the expected pace, and we think it was damaged. »

Remi Taffin – Renault F1 Team Track Coordinator:

« Today we achieved a better result than expected. We had great ambitions at the start of the weekend, but our competitors also made improvements to their cars, and the balance of power remained largely unchanged. Therefore, we still have some way to go to get back to the level of the leaders. However, we worked well and secured a nice 5th place after a solid race. We are on the right track and continue our efforts. »

According to a statement from the Renault F1 team