Eric Boullier blames new part in R31 for Friday’s failure of both drivers – Formula 1 news
Renault team principal Eric Boullier has explained the problem that hindered the outing of both their drivers in the First Practice session of the 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix.
He said the failure was due to the new part which was installed to enhance the performance of the car. Boullier said that the backup was ready which was used in the second Free Practice session.
Nick Heidfeld’s outing in the First Practice session was hindered when his car’s suspension system caused problems and he was back into the pits. Much was expected from Petrov after coming straight from a podium finish in Melbourne, but he disappointed as
well when his car’s brakes failed in the opening session and he damaged his car’s nose and suspension after entering the gravel.
Boullier explained that the first session did not go as expected.
“Today was a bit erratic. At first we thought we had brake problems which was very difficult to understand until we had a proper diagnostic,” said Boullier.
He explained that a new part was installed in the car to enhance the performance of the car but it turned out that it was causing problems for both drivers.
Nevertheless, Renault team did a good job to quickly diagnose the problem and fix it before the second free practice session where Heidfeld managed to be in top ten positions, three seconds off the pace of Mark Webber of Red Bull. Vitaly Petrov finished
the second practice session in 12th position but had a smooth run in the modified R31.
Boullier said that the new parts were removed from the car and the backup plan was run which made life easy for the drivers in FP2.
Petrov, on the other hand, commented that despite having problems, Renault can do well in Sepang.
“When I did finally get out the car felt fine, but the time we had was very limited and we didn't really manage to do any set-up work. However, tomorrow is a new day and I think we can still have a good weekend,” said Petrov.
The Final Free Practice session is underway in Sepang where all the teams will fine-tune their cars for the Qualifiers later on Saturday.
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