US GP: Renault Saturday notes

The Mild Seven Renault F1 Team experienced a mixed day during qualifying for the US Grand Prix. Jarno Trulli and Jenson Button qualified eighth and fourteenth respectively under sunny skies in Indianapolis, with track temperatures rising to a maximum of 35°C, the highest of the weekend so far.

Jarno Trulli finished the session in eighth position. After finishing free practice in fifteenth, he made significant progress with his engineers before qualifying and was able to make the most of this package during the crucial hour.

Jenson Button will start tomorrow's race from fourteenth, having been unable to find a consistent balance over a whole lap during qualifying.

<B>Jarno Trulli, 8th position

"I'm pleased with this position and happy for the team. I wasn't happy with the balance this morning and I worked hard pwith my engineers to improve it. I really think I got 100% out of the car in qualifying. Everything is going very well at the moment and I'm getting on very well within the team. Eighth is definitely a promising result because I think we will be competitive tomorrow in race conditions."

Jenson Button, 14th position

"I'm not at all pleased with fourteenth. I couldn't find the right set-up on the car: first it would understeer, then get oversteery towards the end of the lap. It feels like I've lost grip with the higher temperatures - I had the same problem yesterday. It's going to be a tough day tomorrow."

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

"As we have seen in the past, qualifying times in Indy are quite close and a small difference can mean a lot of grid places. This is in fact what we have experienced today, with Jarno achieving a satisfactory position in a car that was working well while Jenson struggled to find the balance he required, which is reflected in his position. However it is a hard race and our car is good on fuel: there is no reason not to achieve a good result tomorrow."

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

"The week-end is continuing to be productive: we have had no problems and after correctly anticipating the effect of the change in conditions from this morning, we managed to perform roughly according to our expectations. It is disappointing to see such a gap between the drivers, but that just goes to show how difficult it is to fine-tune the set-up here. We go into tomorrow's race with the real hope of being competitive."

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