2009 Hungarian Grand Prix Friday

The ING Renault F1 Team completed a busy day of practice at the Hungaroring today in preparation for this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix.

Fernando Alonso, R2904
 Free practice 1: 28 laps, 1:23.001, P9
 Run 1: New hard tyres
 Run 2: Front ride height and front anti-roll bar change
 Run 3: Adjustment to front wing

Free Practice 2: 37 laps, 1:22.793, P12
 Run 1: New hard tyres
 Run 2: Front and rear ride height change
 Run 3: Front and rear ride height change
 Run 4: New soft tyres
 Run 5: New soft tyres with front wing adjustment

Fernando: “It was a fairly normal day of practice, although it wasn’t easy to cope with the constantly evolving track. The morning was all about getting used to the car again and in the afternoon we concentrated on understanding the two different tyres, which gave us some useful information for the race. We managed to complete our programme and I think we can be happy with the job we have done today. For tomorrow morning we need to get ready for qualifying as grid position will be very important for the race.”

Nelson Piquet, R2903
 Free practice 1: 22 laps, 1:23.678, P17
 Run 1: New hard tyres
 Run 2: Front ride height and front anti-roll bar change
 Run 3: Weight distribution change

Free Practice 2: 36 laps, 1:22.927, P15
 Run 1: New soft tyres
 Run 2: New hard tyres
 Run 3: Scrubbed soft tyres
 Run 4: Front and rear ride height change
 Run 5: New soft tyres

Nelson: “It wasn’t an easy day because I had to learn about the new parts that I have on my car this weekend, as well as working on the set-up. As Fernando already had these updates in Germany, I’ve been able to get some set-up feedback from his data. Generally the Hungaroring is a circuit where it’s quite difficult to find the right set-up, especially as the track is so dirty and bumpy. So far we have lots of data that we will look over this evening to prepare for tomorrow. It’s difficult to say if it’s possible to qualify in the top ten, but we’re doing everything we can to have a quick car for tomorrow.”

Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering
 “It was quite a straightforward day of practice for us. As usual, we concentrated on understanding the tyres, particularly as we have the super-soft compound here, which is generally more difficult to use than the other compounds. However, today it was extremely satisfactory, for both short and long runs, so we feel confident for the remainder of the weekend.”