Fernando, first all-Renault front row of the season with the World Constructors' Championship in the balance, a good start to the weekend?
Fernando Alonso: Yes, a perfect start for us. I think qualifying has been quite good for us. I think we have a good strategy for us tomorrow as well. I am a little bit surprised to be on the pole position but the car was perfect. All weekend we didn't use full power until now, in qualifying and the result is this. It is a fantastic package that we have found here in China and we are on the first row.

You showed your pace in Japan and this is a continuation of that. In terms of fastest laps you were right there with Kimi at Suzuka.
FA: Yeah, as I said there, I think I had quite a competitive car in Suzuka, equal to McLaren maybe. I was ready to fight them, now I have another possibility, so hopefully I can have a chance to fight with them for the victory.

And for the first time this year, an engine that only has to do one Grand Prix. How does that feel?
FA: It feels great at the moment. We have a new spec here and everything has been very positive all weekend. All the tests we did with this engine were also really, really positive so I am full of confidence for the team for tomorrow.

Giancarlo, the first all-Renault front row of the season, reflecting the speed of the car since Japan.
Giancarlo Fisichella: Yes, it's good. Honestly I was struggling a little bit with the car balance yesterday and this morning. Then we made a couple of changes for the qualifying session and I have to say it was better, definitely; and the first row for Renault is very good, very promising for tomorrow. We are fighting for the Constructors' Championship, and we are ready for this so we will do our best. We are in a good position and we will go for it.

Virtually identical to Fernando in sectors two and three, but a little bit slower in sector one.
GF: Yeah, I was a little bit conservative in turn one. I made a small mistake in turn two and then the rest of the lap was quite good, so I am happy about that and I am looking forward to tomorrow.

Kimi, how was your lap? It looked as if you had a little bit of a problem under braking at the first tight right hander, turn four.
Kimi Raikkonen: Yeah, the car was not exactly perfect but it has been very good all weekend. We have a little bit of difficulty to get the tyres working on the straight but for sure in the race it is going to be good. I think we are going to be very strong in the race, so there is not much to worry about.

With team mate Juan Pablo Montoya starting fifth, a reasonably good result for the team, your thoughts on the race in terms of the Constructors' Championship and also on the engine situation? You're using your Suzuka-winning engine here.
KR: Yeah, but we have been using engines that have won two races, so I don't think there should be any problem. I think we are in a very good position as a team to try to win the championship for the team and for sure we knew before qualifying that we might not get the pole but we are looking for a race win, one and two, so that's the main thing.

Returning to Fernando, I don't know if you are aware of it Fernando but this is the 100th pole position for Michelin, very fitting that it should be secured by you for the French Renault team, of course in Pierre Dupasquier's last race as head of the Michelin race division.
FA: I didn't know that, but it is great. It has been a great season for the Michelin teams, and we all have to say thanks for the success we've had this year and of course thanks to Pierre as well for the job he has done in all his career and I think hopefully we can offer another win for the Michelin guys tomorrow.

Press Conference

Fernando, a perfect lap?
FA: Yes, I think so. I don't think I can imagine where I could have found some more time. I drove every corner as fast as I could and the car surprised me in every corner as to how good it was, so I was just getting more and more confident, corner after corner and did the best lap of the weekend so I was lucky because it was the important lap.

Has the pace been building all weekend?
FA: Yeah, I think the track improves every five minutes here in China, and the car itself as well. We made a good number of changes this weekend in the car, in the set-up and we found the right direction of course. I think we have help also from the engine side. We have a good engine this weekend, coming for this last race, only one race and we took all the advantage, at the moment so far in qualifying and hopefully in the race tomorrow.

How much can you feel the difference in the engine?
FA: We can feel it, all the steps we have in the engine, even if they are small, all the drivers can feel it and this one as well. I think all year we have been conservative because the advantage in the championship was really nice and there was no time to risk and now we have proved that when we want to risk and we are on the first row we have the potential in the team to do a good job.