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F1: Symonds Confident Despite Renault’s Problems
Written by: RACER Staff   http://www.racer.com
03/15/2007 - 07:00 PM
Melbourne, Australia
 


Fisichella managed the fourth-best Practice 2 times despite suffering fuel pressure problems; Kovalainen had to settle for 18th due to the same issue. (LAT Photo) ยป More Photos

Renault engineering boss Pat Symonds says he is pleased with the performance of the R27, despite a gremlin that stopped both cars in afternoon practice.

Giancarlo Fisichella finished the day in fourth place, some 0.6s off the Ferrari of Massa and 0.1s from the McLaren of Lewis Hamilton. However, the Italian stopped on the circuit after suffering a loss of fuel pressure, not long after teammate Heikki Kovalainen was sidelined by an identical problem. Kovalainen had to settle for 18th place after missing half the session and not getting a run on soft tires.

"I thought Fisi's long run was very, very good," Symonds told SPEEDtv.com. "And he bunged in a good time with new tires at the end, so I'm pleased with where we are competitive-wise. We've got a basic balance on the car, but we found we've got a fuel pressure problem. I think we
know what it is, but I'm not 100% certain. They were the same failure."

Symonds said that the unexpectedly cool weather had complicated the tire situation, and made the softer tire less favorable over a long stint. The problem for all teams is that the rules force them to use both types of tire in the race, so they have to make both work.

"I think we learned a bit about the tires. Just enough, not everything we wanted, but enough. The soft tires have got a first lap advantage, and therefore it's the preferred tire for qualifying. What we saw today was that it wasn't so good over the long stints, with the graining on it, but it was rather cool.

"It may be a little bit different when there's a bit more rubber on the track and the track temperature is up a bit. It's a little early to say at the moment. There was nothing unexpected."