The teams’ tales after the Korean Grand Prix (Part 9)
Renault
Robert Kubica
The newly-built Korean International Circuit has proved quite lucky for the Renault driver. The practice sessions saw the driver do very well, and although he was not as brilliant as expected during the qualifying, yet he bounced back nicely on the final
race day.
His 5th place finish was quite encouraging not only for the team but also for himself. Besides the fact that the pointless finish of three of the top five drivers left a lot of space vacant, yet one cannot ignore the good driving skills demonstrated
by the racer on the tough and slippery track.
While talking about the race now he said that it was a very challenging round and he is happy that he had been able to grab some good points for the team. He described the race as being divided into two different halves and the first one being tougher than
the second. The driver explained saying, “The first part was very tricky for me, because I had big problems warming up the tyres. I had no grip at all and couldn't push - I was just concentrating on keeping the car on the track. For the second half, though,
I think it was very good.”
Despite of all the ills and odds of the day, Kubica believes that he would remember it for long because of all the challenge and adventure he had on the track.
Vitaly Petrov
The day turned out to be a very poor one for the driver as he was unable to finish his race. However, as the race ended he very openly admitted that it was ok with his performance as this has been his entirely first experience to drive in such tough conditions.
The driver shifted to intermediate tyres very soon at the start of the race therefore by the time the second Safety Car period started, they were completely worn out which served him poorly. While he was still trying to push hard to keep the cars behind
him he lost control over his own and crashed out of the race.
“This was my first experience of such extreme conditions in F1, and I think the FIA did a good job to let us run behind the Safety Car and understand the circuit before starting the race,” the driver told as the day ended pointless for him.
He finally said that he is definitely disappointed yet he is looking forward for two stronger rounds before the season ends.
Team Principal Eric Boullier
The team principal said that the day ended with an amalgam of feelings for him. At one side he was happy to see Kubica end strongly at fifth place while at the same time he was sad for Petrov had to retire poorly.
He eagerly added that the team tailored a very strong strategy but of course the track conditions were tougher than it was thought and every minor mistake proved fatal for the team. He said that he was looking for a very strong finish for Petrov as well
but then the driver tried to take care of his tyres which diverted his focus from the track.
On the other hand, he believes that Robert gave his best performance of the year this Sunday, not only because he finished at fifth place but majorly because he was able to do so well in such tough conditions.
He described Kubica’s race saying, “He managed his intermediate tyres well, and was catching the cars in front of him in the final laps - and would have passed them on track, had he not pressured them into mistakes. His fifth place was the plus point of
our afternoon."
To be continued...
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