Renault team principal Eric Boullier played down his team’s chance of beating Ferrari again in Malaysia this weekend.
Vitaly Petrov finished in front of the Ferraris in Melbourne but Boullier said: “It reflected the order in Australia, to be honest.
“Today’s development rate is important and the capacity for the technical team to deliver a new package to the car is crucial in the fight for the championship.
“I think in Malaysia the order will be different, and for the race after that there will be another new order, so it’s not representative for the whole season, no.”
He added he was “100% confident” Nick Heidfeld will have a better second race for the team in Malaysia this weekend.
Boullier said: “I’m 100% confident he will bounce back because he’s a fighter and a racer with a great deal of experience. He will be even more determined to give a great performance in Malaysia.”
Heidfeld failed to progress beyond Q1 in Melbourne and his race was spoiled when he suffered heavy damage to his right sidepod on the first lap. He said driving the car was “very difficult” after that:
“The balance obviously wasn’t what it should have been; the grip was very low and that made it difficult to keep the tyres alive.
“But I still tried my very best because you never know what can happen in a race and there is always a chance to score points, so I kept pushing.”
Heidfeld echoed Sam Michael’s thoughts that the Drag Reduction System will make more of a difference in Sepang: “Yes, I think it should have a bigger impact there.
“Overtaking has always been easier in Malaysia because of the circuit design. You have long straights followed by slow apex corners and we should see more action.”
Technical director James Allison said the R31 will have “a moderate upgrade package worth several tenths of a second” including changes to the front and rear wings.
2011 Malaysian Grand Prix
Browse all 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix articles
Image © Renault/LAT
OmarR-Pepper (@)
4th April 2011, 14:29
It’s too early in the season to take Heidfield down, he will recover for sure, but we must wait to see how well he races as Kubica replacement
Fixy (@)
4th April 2011, 15:11
I’m sure Liuzzi would have beaten him had he been in his seat.
GQsm
4th April 2011, 19:19
Heidfeld’s an average driver and proves it regularly. I’d like Petrov to put the nail well and truly in the Heidfeld coffin by the summer break so everyone can move on and the Hulkenbergs, B Sennas and Grosjeans can get a race seat to show if they are worthy or not. 1 year, half in the case of Grosjean, is not enough time to see what a driver is made of, 11 years however is plenty.
Mike
5th April 2011, 5:30
Such a nice young man…
GQsm (@gqsm)
5th April 2011, 11:55
The context is an F1 race seat point of view, not literally wishing ill on him.
I forget that this site is internationally popular and English is not always the native tongue. I’ll try to word my comments with non Brits in mind next time.
BasCB
5th April 2011, 12:23
Yeah, good idea. All those guys from AUS, India, Bangladesh and the USA have trouble getting it ;-)
BasCB (@bascb)
4th April 2011, 14:38
I am pretty sure Ferrari will show better form in Malaysia. And Heidfeld could hardly do worse. But hard to guess how it will all pan out really. With rain expected even the standart Vettel pole is not guaranteed anymore, let alone the win.
RIISE (@riise)
4th April 2011, 14:46
I would still expect Vettel to take pole, of course not by the margin he did at Melbourne but I don’t think the race pace will be as strong. It’s going to be a real challenge for Vettel to hold off the inevitability of the McLaren’s and Ferrari’s breathing down Red Bull’s neck.
And I honestly expect Heidfeld to do better this weekend than Petrov. You should never write him off.
Klaas
4th April 2011, 19:56
I really don’t think Sepang is gonna help McLaren, Ferrari and whoever is running behind the Bulls… This circuit should suit RBR even more than Australia. I expect (and hope) Vettel to do what Button did in 2009 until the rivals catch up.
US_Peter (@us_peter)
5th April 2011, 1:30
The only chance the other teams are going to have will be if Red Bull continue to have problems with KERS.
vjanik
5th April 2011, 15:52
i dont think the lack of KERS hampered red bull much in australia.
it is not a guaranteed lap time advantage with the instability under braking and the higher tyre wear. i think red bull should focus on refining what they have and win the championship without KERS.
vjanik
5th April 2011, 15:54
i think the only chance the other teams have is if red bull install KERS and it makes them slower and less reliable.
Cacarella
4th April 2011, 15:25
Could Renault be the first team to copy the flexi-wings?
Dan Newton
4th April 2011, 15:29
Might be, they seemed to make one every three or four days last year. Time will tell.
bananarama (@bananarama)
4th April 2011, 16:47
They already have a flexing nose like RB, just that its operated by Petrovs giant feet .. and that is why Heidfeld can’t keep up with him yet.
More seriously, a moderate upgrade that brings a few tenths? Either its a major update or it doesn’t bring tenths, otherwise what would a major update bring?
If they have spare frontwings laying around, they could give some to Mercedes, everything must be better than the wing they are running since the early 50s.
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
5th April 2011, 6:33
They didn’t do it last year. Renault’s upgrade it likely to be a planned one, not a reaction to Red Bull in Melbourne. If they can get a flexing wing to work, they’ll use it, but if development of it interferes with their schedule, they’re not going to waste too much time on it.
alexf1man
4th April 2011, 15:40
“Overtaking has always been easier in Malaysia because of the circuit design. You have long straights followed by slow apex corners and we should see more action.”
Isn’t this down to the runway-like width of the track?
Todfod
4th April 2011, 16:04
Malaysia hasn’t traditionally had a lot of overtaking in dry conditions. In fact I went to see the race in 2007, and it was quite a dull race to be honest. I think the DRS will liven it up a little as there are back to back straights
Mike
5th April 2011, 5:34
I agree about Malaysia, the long straight and sharp corners haven’t helped in the past.
However, I think the DRS will prove very effective on this track. Just hope they don’t choose a useless spot for the passing zone.
davey (@djdaveyp87)
4th April 2011, 15:40
Petrov for the title!
RIISE (@riise)
4th April 2011, 16:17
Optimism at its fullest.
wasiF1 (@wasif1)
5th April 2011, 2:49
But he will end up to be the best driver in the team.
Palle (@palle)
7th April 2011, 15:25
I wouldn’t bet on it. Especially with this weather forecast Heidfeld is more likely to prevail in sepang – he went from far down the field to number 2 in 2009, due to heavy rain, and his own personal call to the pit asking for the right tyre at the right moment.
GeeMac (@geemac)
4th April 2011, 15:43
So that will be Renault front wing iteration 765,986 Since the start of 2010…
Eggry (@eggry)
4th April 2011, 16:02
Unlimited front wing
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
4th April 2011, 22:19
Well I think it is a little optimistic to see the R31 so high in the future but they did do a great, consistent job in Melbourne with Petrov and I hope he can deliver again.
wasiF1 (@wasif1)
5th April 2011, 2:51
I do agree with Eric despite having a good car they also need to have good updates every race & their driver to be consistent in every race. They are just ahead of Ferrari but given Ferrari’s resources & management they will fight back in Malaysia.
vjanik
5th April 2011, 15:46
i think we will not see much of DRS in action in the race because it will be wet.