27 May 2011
Jarno Trulli, Car 21 - Chassis T128-03: "That
was good. We've got a good deal of data from
both sessions and we can use that to put us in a
better position tomorrow. I had a few issues
with traffic during the performance run which
means there is definitely more pace to come
tomorrow so all in all this was a good day.
We've also run reliably in both sessions and
that's what we need to give us the best chance
of fighting in quali so I think it'll be a very
interesting Saturday afternoon."
Heikki Kovalainen, Car 20 - Chassis T128-04: "Not
too bad at all. We completed the whole programme,
worked a bit on fine tuning the balance and I
think with some more work tonight there's a bit
more to come. The degradation levels on both
tyres was better than many people were expecting
and I think both the primes and the options will
give us some interesting strategy options to
play with."
Thierry Salvi, Renault Sport F1 Support Leader:
"This was a good day. We have put a lot of miles
on the cars and with the unique nature of this
track we can have driveability problems so it's
important to set up the engine to give the
drivers something they are happy with. The
feedback we have had so far looks like we have
found a good setup so I think we are set for a
good P3 and qualifying."
Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer: "A very
useful first day of running with no mechanical
issues with either car. The track had its normal
issues with dirt and traffic but overall we're
very happy. Tyre degradation looks to be much
lower than expected and we have accumulated a
lot of data that will be good for the race. In
performance terms we are really quite close to
the cars in front and with the improvements we
expect to see on Saturday I think this has been
another good day for the team."
Riad Asmat, Chief Executive Officer: "That sort
of performance is very encouraging. It is good
to see that we have we had another day without
reliability problems and today everything went
how we wanted it to. Finishing around half a
second from the guys ahead gives us something to
fight for in qualifying and I think the
experience we have in both cars, and throughout
the team, should give us a good chance of having
another good day on Saturday."28 May 2011
Heikki Kovalainen, Car 20 - Chassis T128-04: "Before
I talk about the sessions today I want to say
that it's good to hear that Sergio is conscious
and talking. I've had a big accident myself and
know what it's like for the team, friends and
family as you wait for news, so I hope he's back
on track soon.
"In quali it was quite a tricky session for me
today, but I'm reasonably pleased with where I
ended up. My first run didn't really go to plan
- I definitely didn't get the best out of the
tyres so I had to really go for it with the
second set and that was definitely better, but
not quite enough to get into Q2. But the gap to
the cars ahead is pretty close and I think we'll
be ok tomorrow."
Jarno Trulli, Car 21 - Chassis T128-03: "That
was a bit unlucky for us. The car's not been
responding as I'd like all day and the tyres
were behaving strangely - the first set was mega
and the second set were really poor, so I'm not
too sure where we're going wrong. I know I could
have gone much quicker on the second run with
more rubber on the track but for some reason I
was only marginally faster which is why we ended
up where we did. Tomorrow in the race we'll keep
our heads down, run to our plan and see what
happens around us. I'm sure there will be places
to pick up so let's wait and see. I also want to
say that I hope Sergio is ok. That was a massive
shunt and I hope we have more good news about
him soon."
Thierry Salvi, Renault Sport F1 Support Leader:
"During FP3 we worked more on the driveability
of the engine which is the most important aspect
of engine behaviour here. We had good feedback
from the drivers who were both happy, especially
in the slow speed corners where the engine is
reacting in a good way but unfortunately in
qualifying we were not able to get into Q2, but
were pretty close. Both cars were very close to
each other so we have clearly found a good,
consistent setup, but I think we struggled a bit
with the tyres and that is what has stopped us
pushing into Q2 today. I also want to echo what
the whole team has said about Sergio - I hope
he's ok and recovers soon."
Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer: "Firstly
we obviously hope that Sergio Perez is in good
shape following his accident. Our best wishes
are with him and the whole Sauber team. For us
that was a reasonably good qualifyign session.
Jarno was reporting more grip than in the
morning but he couldn't get the most out of his
second set of tyres, but overall we are close to
the group in front and we look forward to a
strong race tomorrow."
Riad Asmat, Chief Executive Officer: "To begin
with I want to say that I hope Sergio Perez
recovers quickly. He had a big accident and the
early news is that he's taken a knock but is ok
so that's encouraging.
"On track I think we knew we would probably
struggle to get into Q2 here as the performance
difference between the tyre compounds doesn't
give us the same chance we had in Spain to play
with the strategies. Despite that we have had a
good, reliable weekend so far and the aim is
definitely to have both cars cross the finish
line tomorrow. We have obviously had a couple of
pieces of good news so far this weekend so
perhaps tomorrow will bring us something else to
cheer."
|
