Alan Permane felt disappointed with the outcome of qualifying for the Brazilian Grand Prix after watching drivers Jolyon Palmer and Kevin Magnussen qualify sixteenth and eighteenth on Saturday.
The Trackside Operations Director of the Renault Sport Formula 1 Team was disappointed that both drivers had issues during qualifying, and although Palmer made it through to Q2 he was unable to put a clean run together, while Magnussen struggled with the balance of his car and was eliminated in Q1.
“We had a good practice session this morning, but for whatever reason we didn’t seem able to put a good lap together this afternoon,” said Permane. “Jolyon went through to Q2 again, as he has been doing recently, only to struggle on both runs there.
“He had some traffic issues to start with, followed by problems making the front tyres work properly. Kevin suffered with balance in the car today, which we will have to look into ahead of tomorrow’s race.”
Permane knows the team will have to be alert to make the most of the conditions at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace that present themselves on race day, with everyone predicting that rain and a cooler track will play a part in proceedings.
“We are likely to see more rain tomorrow,” said Permane. “Temperatures will be cooler and there is a higher chance of rain than today. We’re certainly not expecting a hot race and there is every chance of the strategy being affected by rain.
“We’ll have to be alert and ready to evolve our plans as we need to. This is generally a two to three pit stop race here. In these cool conditions however, it may move more towards a two-stop race, while a wet afternoon will make things harder to predict. It all depends on water levels and how the intermediate tyres work.”
