British GP: Renault race notes

Fernando finishes a disappointed tenth while Jarno escapes unhurt from a violent accident.

A disappointing but nonetheless reassuring result for the Mild Seven Renault F1 Team at the British Grand Prix this afternoon. Fernando Alonso finished tenth after a tough race, while Jarno Trulli escaped unharmed from a violent crash.

Fernando Alonso started the race from sixteenth position, on a three-stop strategy. Unfortunately, the Spaniard had a difficult race and was delayed by traffic in every stint, which prevented him from running at his true pace. Disadvantaged by the appearance of the Safety Car following Jarno's accident, he finished tenth on a day when he could have scored points.

Jarno Trulli suffered a violent accident on lap 40 on the exit of Turn 13, Bridge. The Italian escaped from the car unharmed following the accident, which may have been caused by a rear suspension failure. He was taken to the medical centre as a precaution.

Fernando Alonso:

"I think we could have done better today but we missed the opportunity to pit straight after Jarno's accident. We only had two corners in which to react, but we didn't manage to - otherwise, I could have been in the points. Having said that, when you start from the back you know that it will be a hard race. I was held up by traffic in every stint, first behind Heidfeld, then Webber, then Da Matta. I only did a few laps on my own, but when I did I was very quick, and the car balance was good. But today, circumstances prevented us from making the most of our speed."

Jarno Trulli:

"First of all, I want to let everybody know that I am OK. It was a big accident but I gave the marshals the thumbs up straight away. Everything happened very quickly, but I think it was a rear suspension failure. However, we will only be able to confirm that when we get back to the factory. Even before the crash, though, things were not going well. I was very heavy in the first two stints but even taking that into account, I was struggling to be quick. The car was tricky to drive, and I had trouble holding position."

Flavio Briatore, Managing Director:

"Although today's overall result is disappointing, we are all pleased that Jarno is OK after his accident. It was frustrating to see Fernando come so close to scoring points, but he was never able to run in clean air at full speed. This wasn't our best circuit though - we will be hoping to do better in Germany."

Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering:

"This was a very disappointing result for the team. Jarno did not seem to have the speed we expected, though we do not know why at this stage. The important thing, however, is that he was not injured in his accident, which we believe may have been the result of a rear suspension failure."

"Fernando was always going to have a difficult race, and we did everything we could to get him out of traffic but to no avail. The deployment of the safety car happened while Fernando was at an unfavourable point on the circuit and we didn't react fast enough."

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