Renault impatiently awaits Jerez

Vitaly Petrov was able to take the wheel of the Renault R30, this Wednesday, while Jan Charouz took his first steps in the pit as a Renault driver F1 Driver Program. After Robert Kubica, on Monday and Tuesday, Vitaly Petrov led the R30 on the Ricardo-Tormo circuit in Valencia, covering 75 laps. The Russian was making his first run aboard the Renault but also aboard an F1, and was able to measure the power gap with the GP2 single-seaters.

« I really enjoyed this first day in the car, attests Petrov. Everything went well. The car is very impressive compared to a GP2 car and I enjoyed being able to test the power and quality of the brakes. After thirty laps, I started to feel comfortable and understand the limits of the car. It was also my first opportunity to work with the engineers and everything went well, I am happy with this day. »

For Renault, the work of validating the characteristics of this R30 continued, before being able to think about settings and adjustments. It was also about discovering the car to a private reference driver since he is inexperienced in F1.

« It was Vitaly?s first day in the R30, says Alan Permane, chief race engineer. We focused on making him feel good, getting familiarconnection with the car. He had a lot to learn in terms of braking, power and aerodynamic downforce. He adapted well, he did a good job. »

Over the course of the week, Renault believes it has undertaken a large part of the work to validate the main principles and characteristics of this R30. “ Overall, this first week with the car was a success, continues Permane. We leave with a lot of valuable data about the car. We now look forward to building on this to work well in Jerez next week. »

This week, Renault was able to collect data on 263 laps of the Valencia circuit, the best time having been set on Tuesday by Robert Kubica, in 1:12:426. The best time of the week was set by a former Renault driver, Fernando Alonso (Ferrari), in 1?11??470.