Austrian GP Benetton Friday notes

The Benetton Renault Sport team concentrated today on doing set-up work in race trim. It was unable to accumulate as much data as had been anticipated, however, because an engine problem forced Jenson Button to stop with 50 minutes of practice remaining.

Giancarlo Fisichella:
We have to work to improve our performance because we are lacking a lot of grip. The difference is too big between the other teams and us, but there was nothing we could do today.

Jenson Button:
Its a shame that I didnTt get more time on track, but my engine suddenly went bang without warning and so I had to pull over. We donTt know yet exactly what the problem was, or what caused it.

Pat Symonds, Director of Engineering:
Obviously this has been a very difficult session for us. We were running on a particularly high fuel load today because there are aspects of this track that require a specific set-up for the race. Jenson has of course suffered because his car stopped on the circuit. We have to investigate to find out exactly what happened. There is a lot of work to be done tonight to be competitive tomorrow. With Giancarlo we concentrated on looking at our tyre options as well as working on the electronics and the general balance of the car.