Renault drivers, Carlos Sainz and Nico Hulkenberg, remain optimistic about their Canadian GP chances despite both suffering setbacks during practice on Friday.
For the Hulk, a gearbox problem left him stranded on the circuit early in the morning necessitating a red flag to remove his car despite several attempts to reset the system from the steering wheel.
With confidence key to a good lap time in the somewhat claustrophobic surroundings of the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, the German would only be 14th fastest in the second session but he does think the situation is improving.
“It was a pretty quiet morning for me once I found my way back to the garage, but the afternoon was far more productive,” he said.
“We weren’t able to run through all of our usual program because of the missed track time, but we still made progress and know what has to be done to get the car more to my liking for tomorrow.”
Meanwhile, for Sainz, he caused the second red flag of the day after sliding into the barrier at Turn 7 and leaving debris on the circuit even if he was able to drive back to the pits.
“I was pushing a bit quicker than the previous run, and the tyre was just not up to temperature and it didn’t give me enough rear support,” the Spaniard explained.
“We still learned a lot, still feel confident for tomorrow. We have a good baseline to go and attack the top 10 tomorrow.
“Obviously we would have liked to have completed a bit more, but I think we are happy enough to get together a good baseline, a good car for tomorrow. Up until the crash, I think I was feeling pretty confident.”
