Friday: Alondo expands the Renault team

Renault completed its first day of work at Silverstone with free practice sessions, in preparation for the British Grand Prix. Once again, it was Fernando Alonso who delivered the performance, as he finished 5th for the entire day. Far ahead of his teammate…

And for good reason, Nelson Piquet is still missing in action, with a slight hope for a 10th place this evening after a 17th position in the morning. He was testing his new front wing today in rather windy conditions.

Fernando Alonso – 5th and 5th: « A rather normal Friday for us. We still need to improve the car’s handling but, especially in the second session, I was satisfied with the result. We know that qualifying will be very competitive tomorrow and that a tenth of a second can make a big difference on the grid. So we will try to gain performance to maximize our potential. Today, however, we went in the right direction. »

Nelson Piquet – 18th and 10th:

The day was busy and we accomplished significant work, including the tire adjustment and evaluation processes. As always at Silverstone, the wind played its part, but it did not cause too many problems and we were able to improve the car’s behavior, especially this afternoon. We also tested the technical developments brought this weekend, including a new front wing. We must now analyze today’s data and make the most of the last practice session tomorrow.

Pat Symonds – Executive Director of Engineering:

« I am satisfied with our level of performance today. We thought that the fast corners would be advantageous for us, and the sectors indicate that we are competitive in the sections negotiated at high speed. In the end, our times allow us to occupy a better position than usual. That said, we know that qualifying will once again be very tight. We will therefore try to extract more speed from the car. »

According to a statement from the Renault F1 Team