Formula One news

Renault pleased with Friday progress

On the first day of an important race weekend, which will see the team's title partner and race sponsor ING host over 13,000 guests during its three days, team drivers Giancarlo Fisichella and Heikki Kovalainen complete a total of 113 laps equivalent to two and a half race distances. 

As in Monza, the objective was to run as many laps as possible in order to establish good baseline set-ups, but also to take full advantage of the free engine mileage during Friday practice, given that Spa is second only to the Italian circuit in the severity of the V8 engine's duty cycle. Both drivers made consistent progress in improving the car's handling through the two sessions, and while there is still work to do, they are optimistic of a competitive showing tomorrow.

"This was a good day for us," Giancarlo Fisichella said. "We got a good answer comparing the two types of Bridgestone tyre, and in terms of the car's handling and set-up, our situation is getting better and better. There is still some work to do tonight after we have analysed the data, but I think we can say "so far, so good" at this point."

"We got a lot done today, working on the set-up and comparing the two tyres," Kovalainen added. "The timesheets didn't reflect the car's full potential, because I had traffic on my quickest lap at the end of the session, and I think there is more to come from the set-up as well as I work with my engineers this evening. I think we made a good start to our programme, and we can continue in the same way tomorrow."

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