Germany Sunday quotes: Renault
Fernando Alonso - 5th: "We were not competitive this weekend, but I did the maximum I could and so did the team. I think that without the blistering we experienced, the podium was a possibility for me today - even from seventh position. I got a good start and passed both Hondas, but the tyres then blistered in the opening stint and I lost too much time to be able to fight for third place
"Things were much better in the second and third parts of the race, and I was still pushing hard in the final laps when I went off because there was a chance of catching Button. When you look at the level of performance over the weekend, and consider the blistering, then the result is not too bad.
"But we did not have enough to fight Ferrari here, and that was the problem for us. Now, we need to think positive and look to Hungary. The tyres we use there are totally different to what you need for Hockenheim, and I have confidence in Michelin to give us the right products. We need to improve our performance for next week, and fight back strongly.
Giancarlo Fisichella - 6th: "Both of the Renaults had the same problem today with tyre blistering, and for me it came in the second stint. After just a few laps, the car had become nearly undriveable. We need to investigate everything to find out why, but we also saw some other Michelin cars that were quicker than us today, and we were missing something in terms of performance all the way through the weekend.
"On the positive side, we stayed reliable, got both cars to the finish and managed to score points on a very tough weekend for us. Now we need to look ahead to Budapest. Everything starts again for us on Friday, and we will be going there hoping to fight for the podium.
Flavio Briatore, Managing Director: "The important thing after a difficult weekend like this one is to stay calm: we are still leading both championships but we are in a tough fight, as we expected at the start of the season. This was a difficult weekend for the whole team from beginning to end, and Fernando and Giancarlo did a great job to bring the cars home in the points.
"Now, we need to regroup at Enstone and Viry, analyse with Michelin what happened this weekend, and push hard to get back on top in Budapest."
Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering: "It goes without saying that this was an extremely difficult race for us. We have not had the pace we would have wanted all weekend, and the tyre management in the race was even more difficult than anticipated with both drivers experiencing severe blistering at different points.
"With the next race only one week away, we need to use the coming days to make careful analysis of what has happened this weekend, and do everything in our power to rectify the situation for Hungary."
Share Or Save This Story
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