Formula One news

Renault face up to race fight

The Renault F1 Team qualified strongly for tomorrow's United States Grand Prix this afternoon at Indianapolis, with Giancarlo Fisichella taking third position and Fernando Alonso fifth.

"I am really pleased to be third on the grid because this has not been the best circuit for us so far this weekend," Fisichella said. "I was quite happy with the car today, but we still have grip problems and we don't know why. Looking to the race, I am feeling confident and we have to be optimistic about our chances. We need to fight for a good finish to keep ourselves in a strong position in the championship."

Fernando Alonso commented, "I did the maximum possible today. The car was understeering this morning and we worked to try and correct it during practice. In the end, we were adding front wing during qualifying as well to get a better balance, but it was still difficult to drive and costing me time. The Grand Prix tomorrow will be a long one, so hopefully the strategy will work well for us and help me gain positions. I will be aiming for the podium, and trying to limit the damage in the championship."

Engineering chief Pat Symonds added, "It seemed obvious after practice this morning that we would not be able to race Ferrari this weekend, and it would have been wrong to compromise our race strategy by going for the front row today. Giancarlo put in some excellent qualifying laps today and deserved his place on the second row. We were not able to get rid of the understeer on Fernando's car but although this has compromised his performance today, things may turn in his favour tomorrow with track temperatures expected to be in the high 40s. On the tyre side, the main concern this weekend was the durability of the tyres. The professional engineering approach Michelin took to the problems they experienced last year has solved that, and we look forward to a safe race tomorrow. There is no doubt it will also be a very tough Grand Prix, but we will certainly be racing for the podium."

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