Mixed feelings - Permane
The ING Renault F1 Team’s chief engineer, Alan Permane, talks about the session from the team’s point of view. Giancarlo Fisichella will start tomorrow's Monaco Grand Prix from 4th position and Heikki Kovalainen from 14th position, after being blocked in the qualifying session.
“Well yes and no is the short answer. Yes because in Monaco the main priority is to give the drivers as much track time as possible. When it rains you do fewer laps. Technically speaking, it did not hinder us too much. We had a very productive day on Thursday and we had a lot reliable information to base ourselves on. It was important to run in the rain this morning as no one really knows what other surprises the weather holds in store for us this weekend.”
How did qualifying go?“We have mixed feelings. On the one hand we’re delighted with Giancarlo’s performance, which is even better than we’d hoped for. He’s been driving incredibly well since the start of the weekend, and he’s been on the pace since his first lap on Thursday. On the other, Heikki was held up by David Coulthard on his quick lap in the second part of qualifying. The latter was penalised for it. Without that incident he’d have made it into the top ten. It’s a great pity because after a cautious start Heikki really began to push this morning.”
Is this weekend’s progress down to the development work carried out on the R27, or is the Monaco track too specific to judge the progress made?“Bit of both, I reckon. It’s a circuit on which the driver can really make the difference, and where he has to be able to take advantage of the tiniest opportunity. On the other hand the car has a new front wing, which gives more downforce and consistency. It’s made a difference. The R27 has a real potential. It’s just that it lacks grip on certain circuits and Monaco hides that deficiency.”
Two McLarens and a Ferrari are in front of you, how will you tackle the race tomorrow?“Attack! All through the weekend the McLarens have shown that they’re very competitive and they’re a bit quicker than us. However, Massa’s Ferrari is within our reach. I think we’re on level pegging with it. In qualifying we were in front until Ferrari decided to send him out with new tyres at the very last moment. As for Heikki, he’ll have to be careful: above all in the first corner!”
Source Renaultf1
