Giancarlo Fisichella and Pat Symonds have given a mixed appraisal of Renault’s uncompetitive showing at the 2007 opener.
Symonds, the French squad’s veteran engineering chief, admitted that the reigning champion team’s beating at the hands of McLaren and BMW in Melbourne was a “major surprise”.
“We believed that we could race BMW, and that we were not far off McLaren on race pace,” he lamented, after Fisichella finished a lowly fifth in Australia, more than one minute behind Kimi Raikkonen’s dominant Ferrari.
Roman Fisichella told f1.com: “For sure Ferrari are one step ahead, but I would be very surprised if Renault did not come back to challenge McLaren and BMW for the next race in Malaysia.”
The 33-year-old, however, had worryingly told reporters at Albert Park last Sunday that the R27 felt balanced and quick in a straight line.
“Nothing’s wrong with the engine,” he confirmed, insisting that the switch from Michelin to Bridgestone tyres has hurt Renault most.
“We lack grip, or at least (we) did in Melbourne.
“(But it) is an odd track and results (there) can be misleading. So let’s wait for the next two races and see.”
Fisichella will not test at Sepang next week, as Heikki Kovalainen has been promised all three days to improve for Malaysia after his disastrous debut.
