Formula One news
Seventh best for Renault
14 April 2007 / Results / PhotosThere were mixed feelings for the ING Renault F1 Team this afternoon at the Bahrain International Circuit, after seeing Giancarlo Fisichella qualify seventh, while team-mate Heikki Kovalainen will start twelfth in tomorrow's race.
"I feel I achieved our current maximum today," said Fisichella. "It is so tight to get into the top ten for us at the moment and in fact, I was tenth in Q2 by just a few hundredths of a second. After that, we made the most of the opportunity to qualify seventh, ahead of our direct competitors. That is the best start for our weekend. After working hard in practice, I think we have found a consistent balance for the race, and I am looking forward to scoring more points tomorrow. That was not the target at the start of the season, but we need to the best with what we have at the moment. It is important to finish the races, achieve our potential and keep on scoring points. I did that in Melbourne and Sepang, and want to do the same again tomorrow."
Heikki Kovalainen commented, "From my point of view, there was nothing more I could get out of the car today. I did my maximum, and I was right on the limit all the way round the lap, but we didn't make it into the top ten. I have felt a little bit off Giancarlo all weekend, and we saw that in qualifying too. Of course I am disappointed, but we know we are in a very tight battle at the moment, and we had another reminder of that today. It will be another tough race tomorrow, but as always, I will be trying to race to the limit, to be aggressive at the start â€" and to try and score points."
Engineering chief Pat Symonds added, "It was touch and go for us as to whether or not we would make it through the second part of qualifying, and ultimately, Giancarlo produced an excellent lap to qualify - while Heikki did the same, and lost out by just five hundredths of a second. Seventh on the grid for Giancarlo is clearly a strong performance for us at the moment, but as always, these things are relative - and we are the first to acknowledge we are some way short of where we want to be in terms of our performance. The team in the garage deserve a special mention today as well. We have had a long, hard trip to the first three flyaway races, but their commitment and professionalism have never wavered. That was demonstrated once again this afternoon, as they successfully replaced Giancarlo's gearbox, and swapped Heikki to the T-car, between practice and qualifying. Although the car is certainly under-performing at the moment, the team are certainly showing why they are world champions. Looking ahead to tomorrow, we have to aim to at least maintain our position with Giancarlo, and make up ground through the field with Heikki."
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