By Renault F1
April 4 2009

Today's qualifying session saw Fernando Alonso and Nelson Piquet qualify in 9th and 17th places respectively for tomorrow's Malaysian Grand Prix.

FREE PRACTICE 3

Fernando Alonso: 16 laps, P14, 1:37.004
 Run 1: 6 laps, new hard tyres
 Run 2: 6 laps, same hard tyres, change to rear suspension
 Run 3: 3 laps, new soft tyres, return to original rear suspension setting

Nelson Piquet: 18 laps, P16, 1:37.032
 Run 1: 5 laps, new hard tyres
 Run 2: 7 laps, new hard tyres, change to aero settings
 Run 3: 5 laps, new soft tyres, more downforce on front wing

 QUALIFYING

Fernando Alonso P10 (starts P9), 1:37.659
 Q1 2 runs on news soft tyres
 Q2 2 runs on new soft tyres
 Q3 1 run on used soft tyres 

Fernando: “I had no temperature this morning so I was in better condition to drive the car. Our result today is a bit disappointing because I expected to be fifth or sixth in qualifying, but overall the car is better than in Australia, although we’re not fast enough and need to improve. We will also have to see what role KERS will play in the race tomorrow.”

Nelson Piquet, P17, 1:35.708
 Q1 1 run on new hard tyres, 2 runs on new soft tyres

Nelson: “This morning we knew that it might be a difficult qualifying session. However it could have worked out better for me this afternoon, but on my final lap I pushed a bit too hard at the end of the lap and lost three or four tenths, which proved costly. I’m obviously disappointed that I couldn’t get the most from qualifying, but I have to put this behind me and think about the race tomorrow.”

 Technical Summary with Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering

Track conditions: “It was a bit cooler as we were running later in the afternoon. The track temperature started at about 40°C and dropped to about 36°C, although the grip seemed reasonably constant throughout the sessions.”

Performance summary: “It was tough to get into the final part of qualifying but we managed to do it with one car this weekend. The performance is not yet where we want it to be.”

Strategy and fuel load: “We have decided to run with quite a high fuel load so that if the weather turns bad tomorrow we will have an advantage. Our strategy will depend on the weather.”

Outlook for the race: “It is going to be very tough tomorrow. Even starting at 5pm will give us high temperatures and high humidity. If the rain comes it will be intense and produce very difficult conditions.”
 

2009 Malaysian Grand Prix Saturday

Discussion started by Renault Rockets (IP Logged), 04/04/2009 14:14

Renault Rockets
04/04/2009 14:14

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