For the Mild Seven Renault F1 Team, the Brazilian Grand Prix weekend began with two solid practice sessions today at the Interlagos circuit in Sao Paulo. Both drivers completed a large number of laps – 39 each – as they worked to determine the tyre choice for the rest of the weekend. The R25 showed impressive consistency on its long runs, and both the new D spec engine and new aerodynamic package are working well at this circuit. Following the tyre selection, the team will concentrate on fine-tuning the car balance tomorrow morning before qualifying and Sunday's race.

Giancarlo Fisichella, P10, 39 laps, 1:13.518

I think it was a pretty good day for us. We still need to improve the overall grip because it was difficult to put in a clean lap today, as the car balance was a little bit inconsistent. But I think a lot of it was down to the track conditions, and they were the same for everybody today. Apart from that, though, we seem to have good consistency and I think we are quite competitive here, maybe more than in the recent races.

Fernando Alonso, P11, 39 laps, 1:13.545

It was a bit confusing today really: we were quick in the first session, and then this afternoon, there were quite a lot of people in front of us. The track conditions were not very good, so we didn't make many changes to the set-up – we just concentrated on doing long runs on the tyres to understand our choice, and we will wait for the grip levels to improve tomorrow, which will definitely help the car balance. The tyre choice is quite close, because Michelin have brought two excellent tyres, so we will have to look closely at the data to make our final validation. But overall, I still have lots of confidence for the rest of the weekend, and I am sure we can be quick.

Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering

We ran through our normal Friday programme today, evaluating the tyres on short and long runs to inform our choice this evening. We are happy with the car's performance, and the new developments are all working well. As is usual, we don't yet have a perfect balance on the car, but we will tweak that tomorrow morning to get it to the drivers' liking. Generally, a good, solid start to the weekend.

Denis Chevrier, Head of Engine Operations

The first task for the engine team today was to check the sound operation of our new engines, which all went smoothly. We have introduced the D-spec for this weekend, and so far we have had no incidents to report while we worked to tune it to the demands of this circuit and its location at comparatively high altitude. As always, our afternoon programme focused almost entirely on tyre work, conducting two long runs with each car to assess the durability of the tyres. We have collected plenty of information, and it will now be down to us to make the best possible use of it through the rest of the weekend.

2005 Brazilian Grand Prix - Main Page
2005 Brazilian Grand Prix - Team and Driver Friday Practice Reports Page

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