Formula 1 News

2008 German GP, race: Honda quotes 

Ross Brawn: “Well unfortunately we weren’t very quick today. At Jenson’s first stop, when we put on his second set of tyres, we lost all performance, which was unexpected. We lost a lot of grip and started to fall down the field. So when the safety car came out following Glock’s accident, we took the opportunity to change the tyres back to the options. We didn’t struggle quite so badly with Rubens’ car but he needed to push through the field because he had one more pitstop due. Unfortunately he collided with Coulthard and the resulting damage ended his race. So a disappointing outcome this weekend. We have a four-day test in Jerez next week when we will be evaluating our new rear suspension, which we are optimistic about. We also have the latest update to our aero package, so I think those two elements combined should enable us to make a step forward in Hungary.”

Rubens Barrichello: “The race began well today as I gained a couple of positions at the start and our strategy was to run as long as possible. Unfortunately we didn’t have the pace to be competitive and we were really struggling with the traction. Our strategy was good but if we had been able to run for just another few laps it would have made my day, just as it did for Piquet Jr. Congratulations to him on his podium. The incident with Coulthard which ended my race was just unlucky. I was trying to force him to take a wider line on the outside through turn nine so that on turn 10 I would be able to come up the inside, but unfortunately he didn’t see me on the inside and we touched. The team could see at the stop that there was too much damage to the front bargeboards to continue and that ended my race.”

Jenson Button: “A frustrating race today and it is obviously disappointing to finish in 17th position. We pitted early for my first stop to prevent Rosberg overtaking and I lost a lot of time there to both him and Rubens because we had no performance on the prime tyre after my stop. The traction was really poor and I was losing so much time out of the corners. When the safety car came out, we immediately pitted for tyres to enable us to switch back to the option tyre as soon as possible and unfortunately that meant that although I was a lap down, I was not able to overtake the leader. I’m very disappointed, particularly after a stronger qualifying performance than in recent races, but we’ll learn from our mistakes today.”

source: Honda Racing