By role
May 31 2004

The Renault F1 team had a tough day yesterday at the Nürburgring during the European Grand Prix. Jarno Trulli finished 4th after he lost some positions at the start due to a mistake by Sato. Fernando Alonso finished 8 seconds behind the Italian after having to battle with a problem in his steering wheel for most of the race.

Trulli was satisfied after the race though disappointed of not having capitalized after such a good qualifying:

“I made a good start but the race was nearly over at the first corner - if I hadn't opened the door, Sato would have taken me out. I was third behind him and Michael when, two corners later, he made a mistake so I took the inside line through turn 4 but he closed the door. His right front wheel hit my front left and I nearly lost the car - in the confusion, I pressed the pit-lane speed limiter button and that cost me a number of positions. Afterwards, I was stuck first in the traffic behind Raikkonen, then behind slower cars after my first stop. I just pushed for the rest of the race in order to make up positions, and the car balance was good all the way through. I'm pleased with the job I did today: after finishing the first lap seventh, to be fourth at the end of the race is not so bad." Said the Italian.

Alonso suffered problems with his steering wheel most of the race and had a tough time to finish the race:

"It's frustrating to finish fifth having been third on the first lap. Raikkonen held me up a lot during the first stint, which meant that after I pitted I came out among the cars on two stops. Then, the steering became very vague; it caused me to run wide in turn 4, and it took a while to get used to it. After that, I couldn't do anything but protect my position, which I managed to do." He said.

Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering, confirmed Alonso’s problems:

"This was certainly a very difficult race for us. Jarno lost position on the opening lap, putting him in the gaggles of cars stuck behind Raikkonen, and both drivers then lost a lot of time behind slower competitors after their first stop. Fernando had a problem with the steering rack on lap 14, which caused him to run wide. This problem slowed him down throughout the remained of the race. Overall, this is not a satisfying result, but getting two cars to the finish has allowed us to increase the gap to our pursuers in the championship." Said Symonds.

Managing Director, Flavio Briatore, was happy to have enlarged the margin on the Constructors Championship with third placed BAR-Honda:

"Our reason to be pleased today is that we scored nine more points and confirmed our excellent reliability with two cars making it to the finish. The course was solid, rather than spectacular, and the way the race unfolded did us no favours. But overall, we can be reassured that we reinforced our second position in the championship." He added.