China Saturday quotes: Renault
Fernando Alonso - 4th: "I'm very happy with my qualifying session. We had a few problems with the balance of the car this morning, but everything went well this afternoon and the car was much easier to drive. I know it will be very difficult to fight for the victory tomorrow, but my grid position means that I can hope for a great race and I will be ready to make the most of any chances that come our way."
Nelson Piquet - 11th: "It's frustrating to miss out on a place in Q3 by just seven thousandths of a second as I would have really liked to reach this part of qualifying. I am going to work with my engineers this evening and I'm hopeful of a strong race tomorrow. I will do my best in any case."
Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering: "This morning was very difficult, but not just for us because the grip for all the cars seemed to be surprisingly low. We didn't make major changes for this afternoon, but the circuit seemed to come to the car. Just 0.007s would have put Nelson into Q3 but Fernando's starting position looks good for tomorrow."
Denis Chevrier, Head of Engine Track Operations: "Fernando had a very good qualifying session and even though Nelson did not make it through to Q3 today, the potential was there and it was a good effort from him, especially his last attempt in Q2. Everything is open for the race tomorrow, but we have confirmed our overall performance from Fuji and we can now hope for a great race tomorrow afternoon."
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
What could have been: When Villeneuve’s shock return thwarted an F1 rookie
Friday favourite: Renault's original F1 title-winner that began the Alonso era
Why Renault's survivor wasn't part of Alpine's plans
Norris: McLaren can win races in F1 2024 if it gets everything right
Leclerc: Sainz simply doing a better job in recent F1 races
Alonso: Stroll more sensitive to Aston F1 car handling issues I drive around
Magazine: The potential shocks to come in F1's 2025 driver market
What's been going wrong for Leclerc in F1's tiny margins qualifying game
What the Chinese GP's highlights reveal about its first F1 race for five years
The secrets of F1 turbocharging explained
Why Alpine’s rigorous training camp yields telling insights into its juniors
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments