Renault delight in surprise pole

Renault delight in surprise pole

By Andrew Benson
Motorsport editor

Trulli celebrates as Renault's success becomes clear

Renault's performance in qualifying for the Malaysian Grand Prix was a fair reflection of their potential, according to technical director Mike Gascoyne.

The French team sprung a major surprise by locking up the front of the grid, with Fernando Alonso and Jarno Trulli qualifying first and second ahead of Michael Schumacher's Ferrari.

Gascoyne denied that Renault's speed had been brought about by using a low fuel load.

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Teams this season are not allowed to refuel between qualifying and race, opening up the possibility for them to run a lower fuel load in qualifying to set a faster time.

But Gascoyne, who had predicted before the weekend that Renault would be strong in Malaysia, told the BBC Sport website: "The car has been quick all weekend and we didn't do anything particular aimed at being on pole position.

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"We expected to be in the top six, but both guys did the perfect lap and that made the difference.

"We've been competitive in every session and we have gone into qualifying with what we consider to be the quickest strategy for the race.

"And the higher up you qualify, the better that is for the race strategy, because you are less likely to be compromised by other people."

He added: "The engine is not up there yet, although it's coming. But the chassis is good, and this is a handling circuit."

Alonso set a stunning lap of one minute 37.044 seconds - 0.173secs ahead of Trulli and 0.349secs quicker than Schumacher.

Trulli's lap of Malaysian GP track

Renault have taken the softer of the two Michelin tyre options, Gascoyne said, while McLaren - who are fourth and seventh on the grid - are on the harder one.

And Gascoyne believes Ferrari's Bridgestone tyres may be less durable in the race than the Michelins.

"Michael Schumacher did a long run in this morning's practice session and the Bridgestones appear to have quite a lot of degradation. If that's the case, it's good for us," he said.

It was Alonso's first pole position and it also made him the youngest man ever to set pole in a world championship Grand Prix, beating Brazil's Rubens Barrichello by six months.

The Spaniard said: "We have been very strong all weekend and I was pretty confident in my lap and qualifying. But I didn't think we would get pole or the first row."