12/11/2016
NEWS STORY
Renault Sport Formula One Team driver Jolyon Palmer made it to Q2 once again in today's qualifying for the Formula 1 Grande Prêmio do Brasil, securing the sixteenth slot on tomorrow's grid with a 1min 13.258secs lap. Team-mate Kevin Magnussen missed out on Q2 and was just over a tenth behind in completing his fastest lap around the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace. He will start tomorrow's race from eighteenth place.
Kevin Magnussen: "Today's result isn't what we hoped for. We looked good yesterday and I felt comfortable in the car however I struggled with balance all day today and missed out on accessing Q2 this afternoon as a result. We need to understand why and will work on that overnight. I look forward to having a better performance in the race tomorrow."
Jolyon Palmer: "I'm pleased with reaching Q2 again today even though I wish we could be a bit higher on the grid for the race. I had a couple of lock-ups during my last run and had no rubber left on my front right, which is why I ran wide. It is a shame as FP3 this morning was really good and we could have done better still this afternoon; I wanted a little bit more! Nonetheless tomorrow is race day, we will have to see what the weather conditions are first and then we will be pushing to the limit as always."
How was qualifying for the team?
Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director: We had a good practice session this morning, but for whatever reason we didn't seem able to put a good lap together this afternoon. Jolyon went through to Q2 again, as he has been doing recently, only to struggle on both runs there. He had some traffic issues to start with, followed by problems making the front tyres work properly. Kevin suffered with balance in the car today, which we will have to look into ahead of tomorrow's race.
What are the considerations for tomorrow's race?
AP: We are likely to see more rain tomorrow. Temperatures will be cooler and there is a higher chance of rain than today. We're certainly not expecting a hot race and there is every chance of the strategy being affected by rain. We'll have to be alert and ready to evolve our plans as we need to. This is generally a two to three pitstop race here. In these cool conditions however, it may move more towards a two-stop race, while a wet afternoon will make things harder to predict. It all depends on water levels and how the intermediate tyres work.
Check out our Saturday gallery from Interlagos, here.