Interview with Fernando Alonso

The double world champion talks about his weekend so far at Silverstone.

Fernando, talk us through your weekend so far?

It's not been too bad. We knew that the car would be quite competitive here because the circuit has lots of high-speed corners, which generally suits the R29. Also, the braking zones are quite small which helps us. The free practice sessions showed that we were on the pace, and yesterday we were even higher up than usual. We were happy with that, but knew we would have to work hard today to stay there.

Things have been more difficult today?

The track temperature stayed low and the wind was quite strong, but that was expected, so there were no surprises. In free practice we managed to improve the car, especially changing the rear suspension settings, and we were rather optimistic for qualifying. The tenth place is therefore a bit disappointing.

What do you think is possible for the race?

It's no secret that we are starting with a bit more fuel than usual as we are taking a different approach to the race. In Istanbul, we chose the opposite strategy and it didn't work out because when you start the race light you have to stop earlier and rejoin the track in the middle of the pack, which costs you a lot of time. With the strategy we plan for tomorrow, we can hopefully challenge for some points, but that will depend on what happens at the first pit-stops.

What will be the key factor in the race tomorrow?

There are two things. We must keep an eye on the weather, which hasn't been fantastic since the beginning of the weekend. Then the management of the tyres will be crucial for the final result. We must make sure we look after the softs on the long stints so they don't wear out too quickly.

Source: ING Renault F1 Team