Very tight - Chevrier
Only a week after the F1 drivers came in action at Montreal, the F1 engines roared at the Indianapolis Speedway, the venue of this weekend's US Grand Prix. The ING Renault F1 Team’s engine chief, Denis Chevrier, decodes the tightly-packed timesheets after a busy first day of practice.
"It was a good, solid, hard-working day. We had no major incidents, which is what you really want from a Friday. We did lots of laps, particularly in the afternoon with over forty laps for each driver, with the usual tyre comparisons, and set-up work on the chassis and aerodynamics. In a word, a day of race preparation, without particularly chasing a quick time."
How were things on the engine front?"Good. Indy isn’t a new circuit for us. What’s more, some of the parameters used in Montreal can be transposed onto this track. The important thing once again was that we had no unwelcome surprises…"
The times are very close. Where are you within the group?"We’re clearly not the favourites for this Grand Prix. There are four drivers fighting for the 2007 championship, and I expect them to be up front. Behind them, I think we can race strongly with the R27 on Sunday. To summarise where we are today: it’s very tight, and the combination of good tyre management and a strong qualifying performance will bring us a good result on Sunday."
Source Renault
