Qualifying - German GP report: Renault F1

Renault Sport Formula One Team driver Jolyon Palmer entered Q2 for the first time since the season-opening Australian Grand Prix by setting the sixteenth best time for qualifying for the German Grand Prix. Jolyon was just 0.080secs faster than team-mate Kevin Magnussen in the first qualifying session; Kevin was the seventeenth fastest today.

Kevin Magnussen

“My lap wasn’t the best and I lost out by the smallest amount from getting into Q2. Both cars were very evenly matched and it was Jo that got the upper hand today. We didn’t seem to be able to pick up the pace between FP3 and qualifying as much as our rivals however our long run pace does look more favourable and that’s what we need for a stronger result tomorrow.”

Jolyon Palmer

“It’s good to be back in Q2! The car is improving overall, there is clear progress. We were close to Q2 in Silverstone, we should have been there for Hungary and now here we are in Hockenheim. I’m looking forward to the race; we had better pace in Budapest but started lower in P17 than here. I was driving pretty well in Hungary bar one corner, so if I can drive well around the Hockenheimring for every corner then I should have a good chance to score points.”

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director

How was qualifying for the team?

It was a step in the right direction. We always want more but it was good for Jo to get through to Q2 especially with the lap times so very close here. If we can unlock just a little more pace from the car we’ll continue to work our way up the order so it’s been a positive day.

What are the considerations for tomorrow’s race?

We seem to have better long run tyre performance even than in Hungary on the same compounds of Pirelli’s tyres so this bodes well for us. It looks like the weather will continue to be dry so there’s good scope and potential for both cars climb through the field.