Renault left Shanghai on Sunday disappointed as Fernando Alonso suffered a high speed spin that cost the Spaniard a chance of points while Nelson Piquet struggled all weekend with his standard specification R29."To come away with no points was a disappointing end to a really positive weekend where we showed a lot of potential," Alonso said with reference to new diffuser fitted to his car on Friday night. "The new parts we added to the car gave us a big step forward and the team did a great job to get them to China and fitted on the car in time for qualifying."
"To qualify on the front row showed the progress we’ve made and it was a boost for the whole team," the double world champion continued. "Unfortunately I started the race light on fuel and I made my first stop under the safety car, which pretty much ended my race as I went from the front row to the back of the pack. It was just one of those days when the decisions we took didn’t go our way."
With four points on the board after three races, Alonso hopes that he can add to his tally this Sunday to remain within fighting distance of the championship leaders.
"Hopefully we can repeat the performance we showed in China so that we can reach Q3 and fight for points in the race," he said. "It’s still an early stage in the year and already the team has made incredible progress, which gives me the belief that we can still fight for the championship. We will have more updates when we get back to Europe, but at this stage in the year it’s important that we score as many points as possible at each race so we can be in the fight at the end of the season."
Nelson Piquet's stats for the season make pretty grim reading and things got no better last Sunday in Shanghai where he finished 16th. The Brazilian, now in his second season of Formula One believes that the rain was one factor for his difficult Sunday drive.
"After the wet race in Malaysia I was hoping for a dry weekend in China, but then it started raining before the start so I knew it would be a difficult race," Piquet said. "The visibility was really poor and the car was aquaplaning on the standing water which caught me out a couple of times and damaged the car. Hopefully we can put the disappointment behind us and fight back in Bahrain where I should have some updates for my car."
Qualifying has been especially difficult for Piquet who was 17th fastest in Australia, Malaysia and China. Having yet to break into the second round of qualifying, Piquet knows this is one area where he needs to raise his game and is even talking of a top ten start with the new diffuser fitted to his R29 in Bahrain.
"I really need to make sure I qualify well so that I can pick a good strategy for the race," he said. "If we get the new parts on my car in time for this weekend then I think reaching Q3 will be possible, which will put me in a good position to score points in the race. I’m sure we will be more competitive in Bahrain where I will be ready to take any opportunity that comes my way."
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