Development will be the key - Alonso
The Mild Seven Renault F1 Team is heading to Imola with a good feeling. The team has won the first three races of the season. According to World Champion, Fernando Alonso, the key in the upcoming races will be the development of the cars. Here follows an interview with the Spaniard.
"Yes, a fantastic start. The R26 performed really well, we had no mechanical problems, and it is always important to score a lot of points at the start of the year. We know Renault is the team to beat at the moment, the reference. I am really happy with our position, and very confident for the coming races."
So where has the advantage come from?"The package altogether is competitive. There are no particular problems with the car, you can feel everything works well together. The driveability of car will probably be the strongest point of the season, and fingers crossed we can finish all the races with no reliability problems."
You said in March that there were four teams fighting at the top – is that still the case?"Yes, we have very strong opposition this year. Ferrari, McLaren and Honda are all good enough to win races, and we need to work hard if we want to beat them."
What will be the key factor in the coming races?"The development of the cars. We are in a strong situation, and we know that the team that develops most, with a strong finish to the year, will probably be champions. The drivers have a role too, because we need to tell the engineers where the car has to improve, which is what we are doing at the moment."
Tell us about Imola – it was a famous win for you in 2005…"It became maybe the most talked-about win of my career so far I think. For me, it was a win like the others – a special achievement. But when you are fighting with Michael, then I think the media talk about it in a special way, and make it something bigger. I enjoyed the final laps of the race last year, and it was an important race to win. But if I can do it again this year, on my own, a long way in front, then that’s even better!"
It’s a tough track though…"It is very difficult for the drivers, with the chicanes and the kerbs, and the car bumping over them. That makes it hard for us to take the same line twice in any corner, and every lap you have to feel things a little bit differently. It is tough physically, but also for the car because there is a lot of stress over the kerbs. This is a hard race to finish."
You have said Renault is the team to beat. Who will be the competition?"Ferrari and McLaren will be our main opponents. Ferrari dropped down in the last two races, but I think they will be back. Their tyres work well at this circuit, and it is their home Grand Prix, so I expect them to be extremely competitive."
Source Renaultf1
