Malaysian GP: Renault Saturday qualifying notes

Malaysian Grand Prix qualifying proved disappointing for the Mild Seven Renault F1 Team, with Jarno Trulli placing eighth after a lap which did not demonstrate the full potential of the package. Fernando Alonso will start last tomorrow, having spun after a mistake under braking for Turn 14.

Jarno Trulli:

"I am disappointed with my result. We had expected to do better, but I made a number of mistakes on my lap and that cost me several tenths. Nevertheless, I'm optimistic for the race: the car will be quick on the long runs, and I think we can get back tomorrow, what we lost today."

Fernando Alonso:

"I made a mistake under braking for Turn 14, lost the back end and the car spun. Of course it's frustrating, particularly for the team who have worked hard this weekend, but I'm still confident. We know the car is quick and even starting last, I think we can fight for points. You can be sure it will be an aggressive, attacking race."

Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering:

"This was certainly not the way we anticipated finishing qualifying. It does not appear that Jarno was able to reach the full potential of his car. Fernando's lap looked good for second position until he spun. However, motor racing is not about 'ifs'."

Denis Chevrier, Engine Operations Manager:

"Naturally, we are disappointed with the result from qualifying. The sessions this morning demonstrated that the fight would be close at the front of the field, so our objective was to finish in the top eight: in that light, we rather seem to have drawn the short end of the stick.

However, all is definitely not lost: as we saw in Melbourne, our start advantage should be worth several positions to Jarno, and we mustn't forget that last year, cars which were running at the back at the end of the first lap - including Jarno - managed to finish in the points. The car will perform strongly in race conditions, and we will extract the maximum from it to get a good result tomorrow."

Fernando Alonso
Qualifying 1: 1st, 1:33.193
Qualifying 2: 20th, no time

Jarno Trulli
Qualifying 1: 2nd, 1:33.264
Qualifying 2: 8th, 1:34.413

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