Expecting a big fight - Alonso
The Mild Seven Renault F1 Team is looking forward to the European Grand Prix at the Nürburgring in Germany. Alonso took the win in last year's European Grand Prix and hopes to do the same this season with his brand new B spec engine.
"Absolutely. I went there saying that second would be a good result for me, because Ferrari have always been strong in Imola. They were competitive, like we expected, but I think that in the race, the Renault was very close in performance – and maybe even a bit quicker in race conditions. So far, I have had perfect reliability this season, and we are working hard to make sure that continues – while adding performance as well. This has been a dream start for me, because there is such a high level of competition in the field. I hope it will continue!"
Looking at the Nürburgring, what are the important characteristics at that track?"I think the most important thing is that you need good traction. There are a lot of slow corners, which means lots of hard acceleration out of the turns. With the V8 engine, this will be less of a problem. That’s because we have less power this year, so the car is not so much on the limit in terms of the traction. But that is the area we always concentrate on for this circuit, as well as finding a good balance. And we have already seen that the R26 is very strong in both those areas."
Conditions can often be cold at the Nürburgring. Will that be a worry for tyre performance, like we saw in Melbourne where people struggled?"Honestly, I don’t think it will be a problem for us. In Australia, the car was really good in cold conditions and using its tyres well. The same was true in the winter: when it was cold, we were very competitive. So if the conditions are similar at the Nürburgring, it will be good for us."
Are you optimistic ahead of this race?"I am expecting a big fight again. I think the level of competition is much closer than the championship standings suggest, and there will be some big challengers. The Michelin tyres have performed very consistently at every circuit this year, and they have done a great job. It will be the same in Germany, I am sure, so we will see a big push from McLaren-Mercedes at their home race, running on the same Michelin tyres as us..."
And how about Ferrari and Michael Schumacher?"What we don’t know at the moment is how consistent Ferrari will be. So far, they have been strong at the same tracks as in 2005, and not so good at others. It is too early to say if it will be the same this year, so we can’t write them off – and Michael is racing in front of his people too. We must concentrate on our job though, at Renault. I have the new B spec RS26 engine, which is a good step forward, and there are new developments on the car at every race. So I am sure we can be fighting for the win again on Sunday afternoon."
