German GP: Renault Saturday notes

Following a difficult start to the weekend, the Mild Seven Renault F1 Team achieved a satisfying result during qualifying for the German Grand Prix. At a sunny Hockenheim, with the highest track temperatures seen so far at this race, the team succeeded in qualifying one of its cars in the top ten.

Jarno Trulli qualified eighth after a challenging session. Thanks to the hard work of his engineering team, he succeeded in tuning the car's set-up according to the changing circuit conditions, making solid progress before claiming his final position on the last run of the afternoon.

Jenson Button lost half this morning's free practice following an error at the first corner. The consequent spin and engine failure meant he sat out most of the second session as the engine was changed. During qualifying, he therefore had to make up this lost set-up time as well as following his usual programme, with thirteenth place in the final standings being the result.

Jarno Trulli, 8th position

"It was a tough qualifying session for me. The engineers worked hard on the set-up all the way through, particularly for the last two runs when we changed quite a lot on the car. The track got better and better throughout the session, and we had to change the car to suit that. We have been struggling a bit this weekend, and eighth is a very good result which should allow us to fight for points tomorrow."

Jenson Button, 13th position

"After what happened this morning, thirteenth is not too bad. I want to thank the boys for all their work - they did a great job today. I made a couple of small mistakes on my last run, which meant I couldn't improve my time. The car isn't exactly how I want it, but we haven't had enough running time to solve the problems."

Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering, Mild Seven Renault F1 Team

"We have struggled a little bit this weekend to get grip and balance. However, the team has worked solidly and Jarno's eighth place is a reflection of this. Unfortunately, Jenson paid the price of a mistake this morning by having to qualify with an older specification engine. The race tomorrow will certainly be hard, but we feel well prepared for it."

Denis Chevrier, Head of Race Engineering (Engine), Mild Seven Renault F1 Team

"Today we made a good recovery compared to yesterday's performance and saw our hard work pay off. We built up our level of performance during today's sessions, culminating in eighth place on a very tight grid. It's worth noting that our competitors have experienced a disparity in performance between their two cars, which suggests some difficulty in optimising set-up for this circuit. Having said that, finding the optimum race set-up will be another fresh challenge, especially as we don't yet know how the circuit is likely to change during the race."

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