Previews

Renault preview the German GP

Wednesday 8th July 2009

Fernando Alonso hopes for a better start in Germany while team-mate Nelson Piquet is eyeing an improved qualifying session.

Fernando Alonso

Q: You had high hopes for the British Grand Prix, but things didn't work out in the race.
FA: "We thought that Silverstone would suit the car, but after qualifying we realised that we were not as competitive as we had hoped. In the race I made a poor start and got stuck behind [Nick] Heidfeld who was heavy on fuel, which ended my chance of finishing in the points. I still had some fun battles, especially with Lewis [Hamilton], but I prefer to be fighting at the front."

Q: Are you optimistic that the team can make up the performance gap to the leaders soon?
FA: "The position we are in at the moment is similar to last year, but this time all the teams are much closer together and so it's more difficult to take a big step forward. If you can find three of four tenths with an upgrade, it can make a huge difference and put you five or six places higher up the grid. That's what the team is looking for - that magic component which gives us a big boost, but we know it's not easy to find."

Q: It has been a couple of years since you've raced at the Nurburgring, are you looking forward to going back there?
FA: "It's not the most exciting circuit of the year, but it's a good place to go racing as the track has a bit of everything and so the car has to work well in every part of the lap. There are fast corners where you need a lot of downforce and slow corners where braking stability and good traction are important.

"We have some new developments for this race, which will hopefully improve our situation and allow us to get some points in the race, but we know all the other teams will have improved as well. We also need to work on our starts because if you lose ground on the first lap it's very difficult to recover."

Nelson Piquet

Q: Looking back to Silverstone, how do you rate your weekend?
NP: "The end result was disappointing although I think I managed to get the most from the race as our one-stop strategy worked well. Unfortunately my problems started in qualifying as I had a technical issue and had to abort my final run in Q2, which meant I started the race from 14th.

"Starting so far back makes it difficult to score points, but I still pushed hard and made up some ground in the race. Overall it was a pretty frustrating weekend for the team."

Q: Will this be the first time you've driven a Formula 1 car at the Nürburgring?
NP: "Yes, because last year the German Grand Prix was at Hockenheim where I finished second behind Lewis Hamilton. However, driving at the Nürburgring won't be a new experience for me as I raced there a couple of times in GP2 and I've always gone well and enjoyed it. I'm definitely looking forward to driving there in my Formula 1 car."

Q: What are your expectations for the weekend?
NP: "The team have been working hard since Silverstone with some upgrades, mainly to the aero which should give us a boost. After Silverstone I said that it was down to me to improve in qualifying and so I'd love to make it into the top 10, which would give me a realistic chance of scoring my first points of the year.

"You also need to keep an eye on the weather at the Nurburgring as it's near the mountains and conditions change very quickly, a bit like at Spa. We can probably expect at least a couple of showers over the weekend."

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