Formula One news

Alonso keeps Renault competitive

Renault enjoyed a competitive qualifying session this afternoon with Fernando Alonso and Nelson Piquet securing 4th and 12th places respectively on the grid for tomorrow's Japanese Grand Prix.

"We can be happy with fourth place, which is a good result and the work we did yesterday certainly paid us back today," Alonso said. "We had a bit of trouble in Q2, but in Q3 with fuel on board the car felt good, which is encouraging for the race tomorrow and I think we can realistically aim for a top five finish."

Nelson Piquet commented, "I am very disappointed as I made a mistake in Q2 and I wasn't able to make it through to Q3. It's all the more frustrating because the car was really working well and I was feeling comfortable with it. I won't give up, but I know that the race tomorrow will be difficult and so I will do all that I can to try and fight through the field."

Engineering director Pat Symonds added, "Fernando's position on the grid is as high as we could have hoped for and so we are satisfied with our afternoon and hopeful of a strong race tomorrow. Nelson has had an excellent weekend as he showed with his 7th position in Q1, but unfortunately in Q2 things did not really go as we would have wished. Nevertheless, he has been quick and we hope we can have a strong race with him as well tomorrow. "

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