Formula 1
French GP: Renault race notes
Double retirement and severe disappointment for the Mild Seven Renault F1 Team after the French Grand Prix. The team's cars ran sixth and seventh, Jarno Trulli leading Fernando Alonso, for the first half of the race before retiring on laps 44 ...
Published: Jul 6, 2003, 11:08 PM
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Double retirement and severe disappointment for the Mild Seven Renault F1 Team after the French Grand Prix. The team's cars ran sixth and seventh, Jarno Trulli leading Fernando Alonso, for the first half of the race before retiring on laps 44 (Alonso) and 46 (Trulli).
Jarno Trulli, retired, engine command problem:
"Retiring is always frustrating, and even more so when the team has both cars in the points. I ran well from the start, and managed to keep up with Michael and the McLarens ahead of me; the car had a good balance and was handling well. Five or six laps after my second stop, I suffered a loss in engine performance. It got worse for several laps before the car stopped completely. It's a real shame, because it was a very good race for us until that point."
Fernando Alonso, retired, engine failure:
"I don't know exactly what the problem was, the engine simply failed as I was approaching the hairpin, just after I had moved ahead of Jarno. Of course, it is disappointing: we were both in good positions to score points today."
Flavio Briatore, Managing Director:
"The weekend had gone well for the team until the problems in the race. We were quite competitive, and could have scored some important points, instead of which we leave empty-handed. We will now work hard to solve these problems, and concentrate on the next race at Silverstone."
Mike Gascoyne, Technical Director:
"A frustrating end to a competitive race, which saw both cars retire for the first time this season. The drivers performed well, especially Jarno who had the edge today. He suffered an engine command problem, which caused an initial loss of performance, before he had to retire the car. Fernando's engine let go suddenly. It is extremely disappointing finish the weekend like this, and more so because it is our home race."
Denis Chevrier, Engine Operations Manager:
"Fernando's car suffered a sudden engine failure, which we discovered at the same time as everybody else. We have several ideas as to the problem, but cannot reach a firm conclusion before inspecting the engine. Ascertaining Jarno's problem is more difficult: he was suffering from a performance loss, whose cause we cannot yet determine. Without an examination of the car, we are unable to confirm any of our numerous hypotheses."
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