A great weekend for Heikki - Taffin

ING Renault F1 Team driver Heikki Kovalainen's engine race engineer, Remi Taffin, reviews an impressive performance from his driver. Kovalainen finished the United States Grand Prix in 5th position, after the McLaren's and Ferrari's.

"He had an almost perfect weekend, “almost” because I suppose a perfect weekend is when you win! It was a great weekend, and I am really pleased for him because since the start of the season, we have been having problems at each race… we are not making excuses, but this was the first weekend when everything went smoothly. When it does, everything improves! We finished 5th, behind the top four guys, and I think it’s the first place in the ‘second division’. However, we should stress that the gap to Ferrari was only 20 seconds, so we’re far from out of the hunt… we will continue working, just like Heikki. I am really pleased with what he did today."

"I would go even further. Fisi had a really good strategy plus a great start, which gave him the kind of position our strategists had wanted. Perhaps he could even have beaten Heikki. Unfortunately, that small mistake ruined his afternoon, but that’s racing, it happens. It’s a shame though, because we could have closed the gap on BMW even more."

"Everything’s a bit better! We have two drivers performing to their maximum, driving quickly and consistently. Fisico made a mistake in this race, but he has been fantastic all season, we can’t criticise him for it. The car is improving, it’s not yet the fastest but it’s consistent, easier to drive and the drivers can take it to the limit. You can see that much on track. We were close to the leaders in the opening stint, with more fuel. We led five laps, which shows we had more fuel and makes our qualifying performance look even better. It means we should be in good shape for our home race in Magny-Cours, especially because we often perform well there."