French GP: Renault race notes

The Mild Seven Renault F1 Team reinforced its fourth position in the Constructors Championship at the French Grand Prix today, with Jenson Button's sixth place gaining the Team an additional point. Starting from the fourth row of the grid on a two-stop strategy, both drivers lapped competitively with the leaders for the early part of the race, even though Felipe Massa delayed Jarno Trulli during the opening laps. The race progressed without incident from this point onwards until Trulli's retirement following his second stop owing to an engine problem. Holding a significant lead over his nearest competitor, Jenson Button made an unplanned third pit stop late in the race because of difficulties with his third set of tyres.

Jenson Button, 6th position

"It's good to score another point for Renault, and particularly here in France. I was managing to keep up with the leaders at the start of the race, even though I had a little less fuel onboard. After my first stop, I was delayed by Heidfeld, who was much slower. As for the extra stop, I had major oversteer on the third set of tyres, particularly into turn three. Given that we were a long way in front of the next car, we made sure of getting to the end of the race and changed tyres. I'm pleased to have scored more points, but there's still a gap to the top three teams."

Jarno Trulli, retired

"What can I say? Of course, it's extremely disappointing to retire here at Magny-Cours. I made a very good start, but it was all for nothing after Massa nearly pushed me off the track thanks to his jump start. He then held me up for five or six laps, which obviously cost me time. After he was penalised, I managed to lap at my true pace, which was significantly more competitive even though I encountered traffic before each stop. Following the second of these, the car was really well balanced before the engine problem forced me to retire."

Jean-Jacques His, Managing Director, Renault F1 Team France

"On the positive side, we managed to demonstrate a good level of performance during the race, which saw us lapping close to the times of the quickest teams. Jenson drove a very good race to finish in the points. However, we must also recognise the mechanical problem experienced by Jarno. The race gives mixed results for us: one more point for Renault, but another engine problem as well."

Mike Gascoyne, Technical Director, Mild Seven Renault F1 Team

"It's good to score a point at our home race after running competitively, especially in the early stages. We lapped consistently during the opening stint, but backmarkers cost us time following the first stops. After Jarno's retirement, we wanted to make sure of Jenson's sixth place, which is why we stopped for a third time. After changing tyres, he once again set competitive times. Overall, a good solid race, but we still need more performance in order to push the teams in front, both in qualifying and the race."

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