31/10/2008
NEWS STORY
The ING Renault F1 Team was back in action today to begin its preparations for Sunday's season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix at the Interlagos circuit in Sao Paulo.
Cool and overcast conditions greeted the team this morning with the threat of rain in the air as the opening free practice session got underway. Some light rain did fall, but both sessions were held in largely dry conditions allowing the team to complete maximum mileage and collect important data.
Both Fernando Alonso and Nelson Piquet enjoyed productive sessions as the team worked through its technical programme of set-up work and tyre evaluation. Both drivers were comfortably in the top ten in both sessions, with Fernando topping the timesheets in the afternoon. The team will look to build on the work completed today in the final practice session tomorrow to be in good shape for qualifying.
Fernando Alonso: The day has gone well. We have been able to complete our programme without any problems and we have recorded lots of interesting data. We still need to work hard to improve the car in time for tomorrow, but I'm pleased with my day.
Nelson Piquet: I did lots of laps today, which was what I wanted as I needed to find the limits of the circuit. The initial information we have is interesting, but the track was very slippery today and so I think I can still find some more speed and I can still improve the set- up of the car with my engineers. But on the whole the result from this first day of practice is encouraging.
Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering: It was a typical Friday for us. We covered lots of laps and have been able to complete our usual programme, which included set-up work and tyre evaluation. The data looks encouraging, although the general balance of the car is not yet where we would like it to be.
Denis Chevrier, Head of Engine Track Operations: We achieved our objective for today, which was to run as much as possible and to complete our technical programme. It's difficult to understand the pecking order from today's sessions, but we are satisfied with the work we've done and we're in a good position heading into the qualifying session tomorrow, which will determine the rest of our weekend.