Encouraging - Permane
The ING Renault F1 Team’s chief engineer, Alan Permane, talks about today’s qualifying session for the French Grand Prix. The team had his best qualifying performance of the season so far and that in front of the employees of Viry.
"I think it’s a good performance for the team. Of course, we always want to do better and it’s a pity that both BMWs are not behind us. Kubica managed to get up into fourth and that’s a shame. This being said we had a pretty hectic session as Heikki lost his power-assisted steering at the end of part 2, and he qualified in part 3 with this problem."
Did you feel the effects of the new floor and rear suspension?"Yes. They’ve given more aerodynamic downforce. We’re creeping ever closer to the quickest and that’s encouraging."
What are you hoping for in the race?"We’ve been very consistent over the long runs so we could get in front of the BMW."
Have you noticed a marked difference between the two compounds this weekend?"When the track is cold like yesterday, there’s not much difference between the hard and soft compounds: I’d say about 0.2s. But when the asphalt heats up like in qualifying the gap widens, and goes up to 0.4 or even 0.5s in the early laps with the soft rubber being quicker."
Should it rain what can the teams change on the cars?"Not a lot really: the front wing angle, the size of the brake ducts and the cooling arrangement."
Source Renault
