I would love to do well at the team's home race - Piquet Jr.
The ING Renault F1 Team prepares for the eighth round of the 2008 Formula 1 World Championship: the French Grand Prix. Nelson Piquet Junior is still searching for his first championship point and he hopes to score some at the team's home race this weekend.
"Yes, we could have scored points there, but we had some problems as so we couldn’t finish the race. Having said that, there are positives that I take from the race as I have gained some more experience, learnt a new track and my race was going well until I had to retire. We have seen that the car has the pace to be competitive and so we are focussing on that and will keep pushing hard for the next stage of the season."
How have your preparations gone for Magny-Cours and how do you expect the car to perform this weekend?"My approach to racing has not changed since the beginning of the season as I am remaining focussed and will head to Magny-Cours determined to do the best I can for the team. The car should work well there because it is a circuit where you need good aero, and our car was good in Barcelona and Istanbul, where aero is especially important. It’s a smooth track, but you need to be able to ride the curbs, so I need to work well in free practice to find a good set-up with my engineers to put me in good shape for qualifying."
It’s a home race for the team – does that add extra pressure to do well?"As a home race for the team I would love to do well, but I don’t think there is extra pressure because I always expect the most from myself at all the races and always push to the limit. After two street courses in Monaco and Montreal, it will be a change to get back to a more traditional style of circuit in Magny-Cours, especially as it is a circuit that I know well from my time in GP2."
What are your hopes for the French Grand Prix?"It’s an important race for the team and I would love to get my first points on Renault’s home ground, so that has to be my target. We had a good test last week in Barcelona and have some new things on the car which will help. I’m sure there will be a lot of support for the team and I will try and draw on that. I will need to qualify well as it’s a difficult track to overtake on, but if I can do that then I think we can have a strong race."
