Zoom Lost opportunities last time out in Singapore

Fabrice Lom, the man who oversees Renault’s engines at Red Bull Racing looks back on Singapore and ahead to the Japanese Grand Prix.

Fabrice, what did you make of the last Grand Prix?
"Our level of performance wasn’t great from the beginning of the weekend, but we were able to seize our chance when Nelson had his accident. Our cars were at a point on the circuit that allowed us to refuel before the safety car came out and we found ourselves at the front when the race restarted. Unfortunately, while it seemed to be going perfectly for us, things got complicated."

In what way?
"First of all, Mark, who had not had any mechanical problems in a race this season, had to retire, which was a big blow because he was in contention for a podium. Then David was distracted slightly when Fernando came out of the pits from his second stop and was overtaken by Hamilton. When he came in for his second stop, a misunderstanding between the mechanics lost him a few seconds – not an enormous amount, but enough to let some cars slip past. So we finished 7th, which is a little frustrating as we could have scored more points."

A Renault engine won the race, does that lessen the disappointment?
"I’ve got mixed feelings. At the time I was disappointed with the result for Red Bull, yet truly happy to see the Renault engine on the top step of the podium. But I know it would have been possible to have two of our engines on the podium, in two different chassis...

We remain in Asia for the Japanese Grand Prix at Fuji. How are you approaching this race?
"First of all we are hoping that we don’t get the same weather conditions that we had last year, even though we were very close to achieving a great result. The Fuji circuit has a long straight but it’s not a big problem in terms of reliability and there’s nothing too difficult about the place. The key is to be well prepared and not to make any mistakes during free practice."

Where are David and Mark in their engine cycles?
"David will use the engine he used in Singapore at Fuji. Mark will have a new engine."

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