13/06/2004
NEWS STORY
The Canadian Grand Prix ultimately proved a disappointment for the Mild Seven Renault F1 Team. The team suffered its only double retirement of the season so far, Jarno Trulli retiring on lap one after losing power soon after the start, while Fernando Alonso was running in a promising fourth place when he suffered driveshaft failure at the start of lap 45. The team nevertheless maintains its second position in the World Constructors Championship.
Fernando Alonso: "The left driveshaft failed on the car - as I came down the straight I could feel the car pulling to one side, and I had to stop. The result is not good for the team in particular, but the car performed well during the first two stints of the race. The tyres were not quite as consistent as we had expected, but we were quick even so. I had a problem at the first stop when the fuel nozzle did not engage properly but even with that problem, we could have easily finished on the podium."
Jarno Trulli: "My race was over as soon as it had started. I got a normal start, and then suddenly it felt like the rear suspension failed - perhaps because of a driveshaft failure. I pulled off straight away and that was it. Obviously, it's a big disappointment - Fernando showed today that we had the track position and the speed to win."
Flavio Briatore, Managing Director: "This is a bad weekend for us. It was encouraging to see the cars perform well at this circuit, and we had the speed to race competitively against Ferrari today. But as we have seen already this season, reliability is the key to success. We hope not to repeat this."
Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering: "It is a bitterly disappointing to suffer a double retirement after looking so good during practice, and having been confident of a podium finish. The indications we have so far are that both cars suffered similar transmission problems."