Formula 1
Malaysian GP: Renault race notes
The Mild Seven Renault F1 Team lies third in the constructors' championship after the Malaysian Grand Prix. The Mild Seven Renault F1 Team departs Malaysia in third place in the Constructors' Championship, with a total of fourteen points. A ...
Published: Mar 22, 2004, 6:06 AM
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The Mild Seven Renault F1 Team lies third in the constructors' championship after the Malaysian Grand Prix.
The Mild Seven Renault F1 Team departs Malaysia in third place in the Constructors' Championship, with a total of fourteen points. A difficult race saw drivers Jarno Trulli and Fernando Alonso finish fifth and seventh respectively, a respectable result after starting from eighth and nineteenth on the grid.
Jarno Trulli finished fifth after a dramatic race. A good start saw him climb to fifth position, and he then battled with Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello during the first stint. He ran strongly during the second stint, and was fourth when he made his second stop, but the car had already begun to suffer from understeer. This worsened during the rest of the race, leaving him to claim fifth place.
Fernando Alonso started in the penultimate position on the grid, but had climbed to tenth by the end of the opening lap. Surrounded by slower cars, he was switched to a two-stop strategy in order to allow him to climb even higher. However, the gamble didn't pay off and he finished seventh.
Jarno Trulli, 5th
"It's a satisfying result, given that I started eighth and all our competitors were very strong today. I got a very good start, but must apologise to Jenson: I touched his car on the way to the first corner. I had a good battle with him and Rubens in the first stint, very clean, and I was enjoying the race. However, after my first stop, the front tyres started graining, and I lost time in the second and third stints relative to my closest rivals. The car was understeering a lot during this part of the race. Having said that, we were reliable and once again have two cars in the points: we can't be too disappointed."
Fernando Alonso, 7th
"I am pleased to score two points after what happened yesterday. Obviously, everything changed for us after qualifying and in that perspective this is a pretty positive result. However, our strategy didn't really work out and I think I could have finished even higher up. The car was competitive, but quite tricky to drive: the balance wasn't particularly good during the race. It is always difficult here in Malaysia, and our mistakes during the weekend didn't make life any easier. But when you finish seventh after starting last, things could be worse."
Flavio Briatore, Managing Director
"It is a disappointing result for us after we had expected to fight at the front here in Malaysia. When Fernando was stuck in the pack, we decided to change his strategy but unfortunately, the result didn't match up to our expectations. As for Jarno, he had an eventful race and he fought well for his fifth place. The team worked very well all weekend, and we will learn from our mistakes in order to achieve our full potential in Bahrain in two weeks' time."
Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering
"Both cars made good progress early in the race, climbing quickly through the field. Jarno found himself among very competitive opposition, and when everybody is running similar strategies, it is hard to be creative. Fernando soon found himself among potentially slower cars and we decided to change to a two-stop strategy to try and help him past them. Unfortunately, this didn't work, but neither did he lose any positions."
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