Italian GP: Renault Saturday qualifying notes

An afternoon of two extremes for the Mild Seven Renault F1 Team following second qualifying at Monza. Jarno Trulli exceeded expectations with sixth place, while Fernando Alonso suffered a major electrical failure at the beginning of his timed lap, thus depriving him, most notably, of his traction control system. He consequently spun on the exit of the first chicane, and will start last on the grid tomorrow.

Jarno Trulli, 6th, 1:21.944

"It was a good lap and I am happy with the result, particularly here at my home race. Having said that, I think I could have gone a little faster: the car had the potential to be a bit quicker. I have got a good balance, and the new engine spec ran well: from the driver's seat, you can feel the difference. I am confident we can score points tomorrow."

Fernando Alonso, 20th, 1:40.405

"There's not much to say really. I went into the first chicane as normal, but the car spun on the exit because the traction control was not working. As you would expect, I am disappointed, but tomorrow is another day. We know it is possible to score points starting from the back, so it's not over yet."

Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering:

"A great effort from Jarno, which has given us a better grid position than expected. The new Michelin tyres are performing very well in race trim, and this strong starting position gives us confidence for tomorrow. Fernando, on the other hand, was extremely unlucky. It appears there was a major electrical failure on his car as he started the timed lap, which effectively knocked out all the control systems. Without warning that this had happened, he lost control of the car as he exited the first chicane."

Denis Chevrier, Engine Operations Manager:

"Mixed feelings for the team after qualifying. Jarno's performance has put us in a competitive position for the race, although Fernando unfortunately suffered an incident which will make things a little more complicated for him. Overall, I think we can note that our level of performance in race trim is better than we were able to show in Friday qualifying, and that at least one of our drivers can fight for points tomorrow."

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