By role
April 26 2004

The Renault F1 team showed satisfaction on their effort yesterday at Imola after scoring nine points with a 4th and 5th by Fernando Alonso and Jarno Trulli. Imola has never been a great ttrack for the Anglo-French squad and the result at the end was better than previously expected. Fernando Alonso fought a hard race and he was able to overtake Jarno rulli and Rubens Barrichello on the pits and Ralf Schumacher on the track on a pass that almost took both drivers off the track. Alosno was happy after the race:

"A very good result after a tough race for me. I made a bad start, the car just lacked traction, and then Coulthard almost took me out at the first corner: some parts actually hit my helmet! By then, though, I had lost too many places to be able to fight with the leaders, so I followed the cars in front and made the most of my opportunities around the stops to pass them; the car was a little bit nervous, but I still managed to push. As for the incident with Ralf, from where I was sat he just closed the door on me, but fortunately it didn't damage the car. Overall, I am pleased to have finished fourth at this track, and happy we have maintained our position in the championship." He said.

Jarno Trulli finished 5th after keeping the Ferrari of Rubens Barrichello at bay even despite some problems with tyres and brakes on thelater stages of the race:

"I am more than pleased with this result: I started ninth, and managed to make up four places at a circuit where it is very hard to overtake, as well as keeping one of the Ferraris behind me. At the start, the engine just didn't accelerate and I could feel from then on that it was a bit down on power. I pushed to the limit during my stints, but had no luck with traffic: the Minardi's alone cost me 5 seconds! During the last part of the race, the car became very hard to drive - I had brake problems and the rear wheels were locking, which made it quite nervous. I think the result is in line with what we had expected, and once again, we take home a good number of points for the championship." Said Trulli.

Team Manager, Flavio Briatore, was also pleased with the result and to maintain the 100% reliability:

"This was a difficult weekend for us, so to get two cars to the finish in the points, maintain our 100% reliability and strengthen our championship position is a very pleasing outcome. The team worked well this weekend, and we got the strategy right. Both drivers put in solid performances, and we can be happy with the results of our work." Said the Italian.

Pat Symonds was happy with the effort put by his drivers though quite annoyed by ralf Schumacher move on Alonso that could have cost him the race:

"After a very difficult first lap, everything was left to do this afternoon, so to finish fourth and fifth and reinforce our championship position is quite satisfying. Both drivers did an extremely good job and the strategy played out as expected. Fernando's aggressive drive nearly came to nothing after another dubious manoeuvre by Ralf, but I hope the stewards will come to the right conclusion." He said after the race.

The race was won by Michael Schumacher on his Ferrari 2004 followed by the BAR Honda of jenson Button and the BMW Williams of Juan Pablo Montoya.

Alonso was able to show a great pace ionce he was off traffic and after overtaking Ralf Schumacher he was able to get behind the Colombian though he couldn't ovetake the South American.