6 May 2011
Karun Chandhok: "The wet weather meant we
limited the morning runplan but despite that it
was good to get back out on track. I didn't get
a chance to push but I'm enjoying working with
the team and the more time I spend with everyone
the more I can see how far this team can go.
There's a great spirit across the whole garage,
and back in the factory, and with the constant
progression towards the midfield this is a great
place to be working in."
Heikki Kovalainen (car 20): "That was a
reasonable session for me - I had a DRS issue
that definitely cost me some time but I think
the balance was pretty good and we got through
some decent setup work so I think we'll be ok
tomorrow."
Jarno Trulli (car 21): "I'm pleased in general
with today. It's been a positive, trouble free
day and we managed to run through a number of
options that give us a good direction for
tomorrow and the race. We have made an
adjustment to the power steering and that's
definitely improved things in the cockpit for me
but there's more to come from that and the whole
car so I think we can go into tomorrow in good
shape."
Thierry Salvi, Renault Sport F1 Support Leader:
"We didn't manage to do much running in P1 this
morning due to the weather so we had to work a
lot harder during P2 this afternoon, especially
with specific engine mapping. I hope we will
have good feedback from the drivers and can take
another step forwards on strategy. I think there
is more to come from the whole package tomorrow
so this was a pretty good start to the weekend."
Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer: "A
pretty good day. Obviously we had limited
running this morning in the wet conditions as we
wanted to save tyres in case we have to use wets
in the race. Unfortunately that limited the
running Karun and Jarno could do but this
afternoon we completed the whole program without
any real problems with the performance levels we
showed I think we are looking at having a pretty
good weekend."7 May 2011
Heikki Kovalainen, Car 20: "I'm happy with
that. We only have to find a little bit more to
join the fight in Q2 but today we had a good
strategy and got everything that we could from
the tyres. I'm pleased with my own performance -
the quick lap was right on the money with no
mistakes so it's a good feeling to keep edging
closer. We're all looking forward to the
Barcelona upgrade package where hopefully that
will deliver a greater performance gain compared
to what the opposition will bring but we're
nearly there so for now it's just about keeping
up the effort and putting in another strong
performance tomorrow."
Jarno Trulli, Car 21: "I'm pretty much satisfied
with my run today. Unfortunately I had a DRS
issue which obviously costs a lot of time on a
circuit like this but I think that all round we
did as good a job as we could today. Our race
pace definitely gives us a chance to fight with
the cars ahead so hopefully we can sort out the
DRS issue and replicate what we did in the race
in China."
Thierry Salvi, Renault Sport F1 Support Leader:
"It was quite a good day when you look at the
result, especially for the engine because the
weather yesterday had limited our running. This
morning we worked on the driveability
characteristics of the engine and have had some
very good feedback from the drivers on that, so
that's another step forward. Cooling-wise, the
car was okay because it was colder today than
the usual ambient conditions in Turkey, so the
engines ran well in the qualifying session."
Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer: "I think
we can be reasonably happy with qualifying and
both drivers got the most they could out of the
car. Unfortunately we went into qualifying
knowing that we had a problem with the DRS on
Jarno's car and that costs quite a lot of time
around Istanbul Park which explains his final
position. However, we know that we are kinder on
the tyres in the race than the cars in front of
us so I think we can have a very competitive
Sunday and take the fight to the cars in front."
Riad Asmat, Chief Executive Officer: "We keep
edging ever closer. Half a second now from Q2 is
another improvement and I think it's a measure
of our ongoing development that we keep pushing
the teams ahead. We're still 18 months old and
the fact we have, relatively, made the biggest
performance gains of any of the teams this
season is a sign of the fact we are now an
established team ourselves and will keep
progressing to make good on that title as the
season progresses."
8 May 2011 Jarno Trulli, Car 21 -
qualified 19th, finished 18th: "That was a
reasonably good race, particularly in the early
laps. I had another incredibly good start but
was blocked in the first corner so couldn't
really exploit how well I'd got off the line.
Early on I started fighting with the tyres so we
changed to a three stop strategy which
eventually worked out pretty well. However, the
result today doesn't really show how we have
improved our performance so I think that when we
get to Barcelona with the whole new package on
the car we'll really be able to fight with the
midfield teams."
Heikki Kovalainen, Car 20 - qualified 18th,
finished 19th: "That was a pretty tough
afternoon. I had a couple of mechanical issues,
with a small hydraulic leak which affected the
DRS and the diff, and I think the strategy
didn't work out how we would have liked. Despite
that it's been another good weekend for the team
and a two car finish was always a major goal
here, but now it's about looking forward to
Spain and we're all focusing on taking a big
step forward there."
Thierry Salvi, Renault Sport F1 Support Leader:
"That was a good race because both cars finished
so for us it was okay reliability-wise. That is
the second time we have done that and that is
the first job of the team, so that is a good
result for us. We struggled a bit with Heikki
today but I think it was a bit easier for Jarno
and even though we can see that we need some
more time to be able to catch the teams ahead I
am sure that will come soon."
Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer: "The key
goal today was for both cars to cross the finish
line and I am pleased we achieved that and it is
pleasing to see that both drivers performed very
well all weekend, and the whole team. With
Heikki we tried to stick to two stops but the
degradation of the tyres was higher than we
expected so we switched Jarno to a three stop
plan. Heikki's car then developed a hydraulic
leak and we were concerned that he would not be
able to get to the end, and that if his tyres
went off he would be unable to stop again but we
were forced to keep him on two stops and turn
off the differential and clutch off which made
his car very difficult to handle. Without that,
I think we would have been able to beat
Maldonado on the track. Jarno drove a good,
strong three stop strategy but reported quite
high tyre degradation so we have to look at why
he is suffering more than Heikki. However,
overall it is good to get two cars to the finish
and we look forward to Barcelona where we will
have our big update and I hope that we can take
the fight to those in front."
Tony Fernandes, Team Principal: "This has been a
good weekend for us and we are all happy that we
got two cars to the finish. Heikki had some
hydraulic issues and if they had not affected
his race I think he would have given Maldonado a
much better fight. Looking at the laptimes I am
very happy that we keep improving every weekend.
The whole team is excited about the updates we
have for Barcelona, but for now I am very
pleased with this weekend. Here in Turkey last
year neither car finished so this is another
positive development in our growth. We keep
making small steps and moving forward and that
has always been the plan - grow in a measured,
controlled way that gives us the best
foundations for future success."
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