Pressiteade
The double top five effort means the team takes home 22 pointsfrom Italy, the best return from a Grand Prix weekend since Fernando Alonso’svictory in the 2008 Japanese Grand Prix.
For Daniel, fourth place is his best result in Renault colours,while Nico equals his best finish for the team in fifth.
Nico made the brighter start at a raucous Monza, passing Daniel onthe outside of Turn 2 on the opening lap and later Sebastian Vettel at Turn 4to hold fourth position.
Vettel regained the place soon after before Daniel overtook Nicoon the main straight. Both drivers then advanced a position after Vettel’sspin.
Nico pitted first on Lap 30 for Medium tyres, with Daniel boxing alap later for the same compound. From there, Daniel enjoyed a quiet run to theflag with Nico holding on to fifth at the end.
Nico Hülkenberg, started P6, finished P5:
“I’m very pleased after that result. It feels nice to have afinish like this and hopefully it will bring some momentum for the remainingseven races. The team deserve it as it’s been a tough year for us with somedifficult results and moments. It’s a nice reward for everyone involved for thehard work. For me, it was a straightforward race. I made a strong start withtwo overtakes and managed to hold good track position. From there it was aboutmaintaining that, making no mistakes and keeping calm. I had some pressure atthe end but I managed to fend that off. It was largely quiet and controlled anda very good team result with Daniel just ahead!”
Daniel Ricciardo, started P5, finished P4:
“We deserved that today. It matches my best ever result here inMonza and to do it with Renault is great. I saw the battles happening at thefront and I thought there could be a big opportunity to score strong points.I’m really happy for myself and also for the team. To get the team’s bestresult since returning to Formula 1 in fourth and fifth at a power circuitreally complements Renault and their hard work. The race pace was really goodand it’s a nice reward for the team. The result is long overdue this year; I’mvery satisfied now!”
Cyril Abiteboul, Team Principal:
“Today’s result is not only the best combined result for the teamsince its re-entry to Formula 1, but also a demonstration after Montréal and Spathe clear progress of the team and in particular on the power unit side thathas been so openly criticised in the past. It is a demonstration thateverything is so fluid with a competitive package. It is also an invitation torepeat these types of emotions, when our season has been far from a smooth rideso far. Our drivers have shown what they can do with a competitive car. Theyhave been remarkable all the way through including in tricky situations. Thisresult is good for the team as we also know there are very challenging circuitsto come this season where we will be less competitive. But let’s take this fornow.”
