Alan Permane is disappointed… very disappointed

Alan Permane, chief engineer at Renault F1, comments on the diamond’s last race of the 2007 season.

The two retirements of Fisichella and Kovalainen darken the progress made by Renault in the second half of the year and summarize a catastrophic post-Alonso era.

« It’s one of those tough days… Both of our drivers had an issue on the first lap. Giancarlo was hit in the first corner, we think it was by Tonio Liuzzi’s Toro Rosso. That damaged his diffuser. Then, he was struck by Sakon Yamamoto’s Spyker: his race ended there. Heikki was a victim of the first corner chain reaction. Ralf Schumacher sent him off track. When he came back into the race, Heikki immediately noticed he had a puncture. He completed the entire first lap with a flat tire… » comments Permane.

Heikki [Kovalainen] had the right pace but he was far behind. When he returned to the garage after the first lap, we put on hard tires and filled the car with fuel. Under these conditions, his performance was satisfactory. Unfortunately, a technical problem caused him to violently go off the track. It’s disappointing.

Renault will quickly forget their 2007 season to focus on their 2008 season. « We will conduct some private testing sessions in the coming weeks. They will primarily be aimed at evaluating electronics, an area that will be significantly revised for next season. Then, we will concentrate on the R28. The wind tunnel numbers are already very encouraging, and our ambition is to return to the front. The 2007 season was challenging, but we are determined to fight. »

According to the ING Renault F1 Team