After a streak of good performance and acceptable results on paths favorable, Renault arrives on the toebox of your shoe, the circuit of Monza, a track where the dependence on aerodynamics is relegated to the power pure, and exposes the maximum of the deficiencies of the French manufacturer. In the absence of times more representative, the results of the free Friday have not been encouraging, because none of their cars has managed to finish among the top 10.
To all of this, there has been added to certain drawbacks that have impeded the program of the day for both drivers. Nico Hülkenberg was the reference of the team in the two sessions, being 17th in the morning and 13th in the afternoon, but the German rider had to finish his race simulation ahead of time, something that the chief technical officer Bob Bell justified “as a precaution, for a small problem with the hydraulic system”.
, Jolyon Palmer finished just behind his teammate in the two batches of free: to six-tenths in the first, and only 45 thousandths of the 1:23.272 of the German in the second. In your case, the interruption was less problematic, since it is a puncture in your tire, and was able to complete the program later without further complications. The team, in general, exhibited a better shape in the long run than in short.
We’ve had the typical challenges of Monza. The tip speed is not our strength.
Hülkenberg described his day as “a Friday very standard” and commented briefly on their impressions after only 14 laps in the afternoon session and 31 in total: “The balance was a good feeling, but we’ve had the typical challenges of Monza. The tip speed is not our strength, so we have to see how we can address this for the Saturday and Sunday”.
Palmer, for his part, was more generic, though somewhat more optimistic, having completed 55 laps: “In general, the car is going well, although we are not yet as competitive as we would like. We knew that Monza was not going to be the circuit more easy for us; that said, we know that the car still can give more”.
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