Skip to main content

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Recommended for you

From the archive: When Niki Lauda led an F1 driver strike in 1982

Feature
Formula 1
From the archive: When Niki Lauda led an F1 driver strike in 1982

'Antonelli and Sinner, Sinner and Antonelli' - Italy should handle its latest sporting hero with care

Feature
Formula 1
Miami GP
'Antonelli and Sinner, Sinner and Antonelli' - Italy should handle its latest sporting hero with care

Sky Sports extends F1 live broadcast contract

Formula 1
Miami GP
Sky Sports extends F1 live broadcast contract

The intrigue sparked by Red Bull's Miami sidepod design

Feature
Formula 1
Miami GP
The intrigue sparked by Red Bull's Miami sidepod design

MotoGP confident it will "reach an agreement" with manufacturers over commercial cycle

MotoGP
Catalan GP
MotoGP confident it will "reach an agreement" with manufacturers over commercial cycle

How over the course of two decades GT3 became modern motorsport’s greatest success

Feature
GT
How over the course of two decades GT3 became modern motorsport’s greatest success

Why time is running out to make bigger F1 power unit changes for 2027

Formula 1
Miami GP
Why time is running out to make bigger F1 power unit changes for 2027

Where will ‘yo-yo’ F1 racing return?

Feature
Formula 1
Miami GP
Where will ‘yo-yo’ F1 racing return?

Europe Sunday quotes: Renault

Heikki Kovalainen - 8th: "There is not too much to say about this afternoon, to be honest. We took some gambles, especially with the wet tyres during my final stop, and they didn't pay off. I had to look after my wet tyres on a dry track until the rain came, and it just took too much out of them to be an advantage

"But from the position we were in, with one stop still to make, it was a gamble worth taking. This hasn't been a good day for the team, but we managed to score one point at least. There is an important test coming up this week, the last before the summer break, and it will be important to get some good answers there, to help us find the right track again in Hungary and Turkey."

Giancarlo Fisichella - 10th position: "We had the opportunity to do well today, but we didn't take advantage of it. I lost positions with an extra lap on slicks at the beginning, and then queuing in the pits behind Heikki too. After that, we had to run with some heavy fuel loads, and although the car balance was OK, the performance wasn't really there.

"It has been a tough weekend since Friday morning, and we will be working hard before Hungary to make sure we are in a better position when practice begins in Budapest."

Flavio Briatore, Managing Director: "This was a bad race for the team. We arrived here optimistic that our new developments would help us gain in performance, but we failed to take advantage of the changing conditions during the race, and lost more ground to our rivals. Our job now is to analyse everything back at the factory, understand our mistakes and start moving forward again."

Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering: "Changeable conditions require teams to react quickly and effectively to the challenges they present. Clearly, we failed to do so this afternoon, and while both drivers performed strongly, we didn't give them the opportunity to shine.

"This has been a difficult weekend for the whole team, and we appear to have lost some ground to the midfield group that was chasing us in recent races. This week's test at Jerez will be an important opportunity to understand how and why that happened, with a view to regaining our advantage, beginning with the next race. "

Previous article Kovalainen: no regrets over gamble
Next article Winkelhock enjoys his moment in the sun

Top Comments