Renault are celebrating getting both cars into Q3 for the second race in succession after Vitaly Petrov and Bruno Senna qualified seventh and tenth respectively for the Italian Grand Prix in Monza this afternoon.
“I am extremely pleased to qualify in P7,” said Petrov. “It was a tough start to the practice session this morning, as we had a few aero issues to cope with. The team then came into the qualifying session having prepared a very good car for me, and they made the right decisions.
“It looks like we have brought the right downforce package to this race, although we will have to wait until the race tomorrow before we see full evidence of that. We are very, very happy to be lining up on the grid with both cars right up where they should be, and I'm optimistic of having a good race tomorrow.”
Bruno Senna scraped through into Q3, narrowly beating Force India‘s Paul di Resta into the top-ten shoot-out. He did not set a time during Q3 and is free to choose the tyre compound on which he will start tomorrow’s grand prix.
“I am satisfied with my performance because this was only my second qualifying session this year, and it was definitely a close shave getting into Q3,” said the Brazilian. “I was glad to have Vitaly as my reference today because I was struggling to find the right braking points in Q1 and Q2. I put a very respectable lap together at the end of Q2, and I was pleased that I was able to handle the pressure and slot into 10th position.
“If I had ran in Q3, I would have needed to use two sets of tyres, so I'm glad I was able to save them and hopefully that decision will stand me in good stead come tomorrow's race. I would also like to thank the team for providing such a competitive car this weekend.”
