Renault Hoping to Benefit from Dry Running

Italian Jarno Trulli was pleased with the work carried out by his Renault team today despite finishing in 16th position in first qualifying.

"A strange qualifying session today," said Trulli, one of several drivers who had to complete his flying lap in the wet. "I made some mistakes on my flying lap, which cost me some time, but they were linked to the prevailing conditions at that time, as well as the tyre choice.

"In spite of my position at the end of the session, I think we have worked well today."

The French squad, racing at home, were one of the few teams who could work on a dry track thanks to the Heathrow testing agreement, which allows them to test for two hours prior to the practice session.

Spaniard Fernando Alonso, who finished in 19th position today, believes the team will benefit from today's work.

"The timed lap was OK," said Alonso. "In changing conditions, you always make some small mistakes, and today was no exception in the first and last sectors. Having said that, we ran on a dry track this morning, and that will be an advantage later in the weekend; we also did a good amount of running in the wet. I think we are pretty strong for the rest of the weekend."