A difficult race - Dassas

The President of the ING Renault F1 Team, Alain Dassas, acknowledges that he is disappointed by the result of the Australian Grand Prix at Melbourne, but states that the season consists of seventeen rounds.

“It was a difficult one. Heikki was not very comfortable in qualifying and then made a few mistakes in the race. But we can’t take it out on him. He’s a young driver and he was under heavy pressure: he’s still got a lot of learning to do. He’s got a long way to go but I’m sure he’ll get there. Giancarlo Fisichella drove the kind of race you’d expect from someone with his experience. His was a good, steady performance and he did not wilt under pressure from Massa at the end. He did what we expected of him.”

“I’m down like the whole team. But I’m far from being out!”

“Not at all. We knew that we were tackling this championship as challengers and not favourites. We’re going to make up lost ground and improve the engine, chassis and drivers. The development programmes have been launched; we’re going to do our very best.”

“Ferrari, of course, was very quick in Melbourne. The McLarens were behind, just a bit off the pace but quicker than us. We were a few lengths behind this leading duo battling with BMW. Again there’s no sense of panic in the Renault camp. Our aim is still to defend our world titles. There’s a long way to go with another sixteen grands prix and a lot’s going to happen between now and the Brazilian event.”