Nelson Piquet previews the 2009 Chinese Grand Prix

Renaults Nelson Piquet previews the third race of the season, this weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai for the ING Renault F1 Team and reflects on the Malaysian Grand Prix as well as the mood of the Renault team.

Nelson Piquet: “I’m sure we will get stronger throughout the season”

Nelson, it was a chaotic race in Malaysia – sum up your race for us?
I had a good start and made up four positions, so things were looking quite good during the first stint, especially as I had a lot of fuel in the car. The car had a good balance in the dry, but then it rained and we had to pit early. The wet conditions were really bad and it was almost impossible to drive the car because of the poor visibility and aquaplaning. It was difficult to call the right strategy and the team did a good job, but races like that are always a lottery. It’s a shame we couldn’t restart the race, but the conditions were the worst I can remember at a Grand Prix.

After two races what is the mood like in the team?
The team is very motivated and determined to do a good job in China. We improved the car between Australia and Malaysia and we need to continue in this direction to try and get more from our package in China. I know the guys back at the factory are working really hard to prepare upgrades for later in the year and I’m sure we will continue to get stronger and stronger throughout the season.

You finished in the points in China last year as a rookie – what are your targets for this year’s race?
After two races we’ve seen how close all the teams are, but I will still aim for the points this weekend. I need to make sure I improve my performance in qualifying so that I can reach Q2 or Q3 and have a good strategy for the race. We also need to see how the different tyres perform because Shanghai is quite a tough circuit for the tyres and we will need to do a lot of evaluation on Friday to make sure we are well prepared for the race.