MOTORSPORT: Renault struggle at Silverstone (From Witney Gazette)

MOTORSPORT: Renault struggle at Silverstone

9:02am Wednesday 24th June 2009

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FERNANDO Alonso had an afternoon to forget at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone on Sunday.

In a disappointing day for the Enstone-based Renault team, Alonso was well down in 14th place, with Nelson Piquet jnr finishingin 12th place.

Alonso, who had hoped for a change in fortunes at Silverstone after a poor season so far, said: “Our chance to score points was over from the start as I lost two positions.

“I was stuck behind Nick Heidfeld, who was heavy on fuel, and that cost us a lot of time.

“I’m obviously very frustrated with such a poor result, and it’s clear we need to improve on all fronts before Germany.”

Piquet, who finished ahead of his teammate, added: “The overall result is disappointing, but I think I had a solid race.

“We must continue to work hard and hopefully introduce some new upgrades in time for the next race in a few weeks’ time. I know that I can be competitive if the car is good, but it’s down to me to improve my performance in qualifying.”

Meanwhile, Renault’s director of engineering Pat Symonds expressed his disappointment that they failed to live up to pre-race expectation.

He said: “Our performance did not meet our hopes that we had after qualifying.

“Fernando made a poor start, and that compromised his race, losing so much time in his first stint.

“We need to regroup quickly and improve before Germany.”

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