Formula 1 News

2008 Hungarian GP, race: Team quotes 

Stefano Domenicali, Scuderia Ferrari: “Today we showed the worth of our team and our drivers, but we lacked the total reliability which is absolutely vital. Felipe drove possibly the best race of his career and we are very disappointed about what happened to him just a handful of kilometres from the end. He made an amazing start, attacking at the right moment and then he was comfortably managing his race in the final stages heading for a well-deserved victory. Kimi’s race was compromised by his poor qualifying result yesterday: when you start further back it’s hard to climb up the order. He was stuck behind Alonso for much of the race, but when he finally had a clear track ahead of him, he showed all his and the F2008′s potential. We have to react to this negative moment in our usual way: with grit, determination and with everyone playing their part. We have three weeks of hard work ahead of us to be as well prepared as possible for the European Grand Prix.”

Pat Symonds, ING Renault: “It’s a great result for the team and probably our best race of the year. Both cars had to race hard and we had to think our way carefully through to the end of the race. The results and points achieved today are a good reward for lots of hard work in the team and at the factories.”

Christian Horner, Red Bull Racing: “A disappointing race. Unfortunately we just weren’t fast enough and it was a circuit that didn’t play to our strengths. Our nearest rivals both had respectable scores today, but we’ll be pushing hard to recover lost ground in the remaining races.”

Ron Dennis, McLaren Mercedes: “One of the oldest motor racing phrases ever coined is: ‘To finish first, first you have to finish.’ Hackneyed it may be, but it’s true nonetheless. Even so, you have to feel sorry for Felipe, who did a very good job. But Heikki drove superbly, scoring his first Grand Prix victory in fine style and converting his excellent qualifying pace, which has been apparent all season, into a thoroughly well deserved win. Lewis’s race was compromised by his losing the lead at the start; but we fuelled him long for the second stint and therefore believed he was well placed to leapfrog Felipe in his final pitstop. Sadly for him, though, it wasn’t to be: damage to his front-left tyre cost him that victory chance. However, from Lewis’s perspective, as bad days go, it could have been a lot worse. But today was Heikki’s day, and a very good day it was, and everyone at Vodafone McLaren Mercedes is absolutely delighted for him.”

Sam Michael, Williams F1: “Being a track like Budapest, it’s extremely difficult to overtake, especially when everyone gets stacked up behind one another. We didn’t have a good first lap, with both cars losing positions. We also had a problem with the fuel rig on Nico’s car, which dropped him behind Kazuki, whose strategy we had changed. Difficult race, but we’ll look forward to the next one. During the break before the next couple of Grands Prix, even though we’re in a balancing act of developing the 2009 car with improving this year’s car, we’ll still be working hard on the FW30 in order to make progress in the remaining races.”

Benteyn Pierre-Emeric, Red Bull Racing: “We’re disappointed not to score any points this weekend. We’ll continue working hard to find more performance in our package and will fight hard to come back soon.”

Ross Brawn, Honda Racing: “Today’s race was never going to be easy from our grid positions. From the first lap both drivers were held up by Heidfeld who was running on a different strategy and this prevented them from using their true pace. The new developments that we brought to Hungary have definitely helped us to improve the performance of the car. As is always the case though, the rest of the field isn’t standing still and we do not yet have the pace to score points on our own merit.”

Willy Rampf, BMW Sauber: “Of course we are very disappointed with today’s performance. Now we need to analyse why we were not able to match our qualifying performance during the race. We shall do this in the factories in Hinwil and Munich because, due to the testing break, we are not able to test before the next race in Valencia in three weeks.”

Flavio Briatore, ING Renault: “Today’s result is a solid and encouraging one for the whole team. Our two drivers did a great job and we are now ready to continue pushing hard in the second half of the season to finish in fourth place in the constructors’ championship.”

Tadashi Yamashina, Panasonic Toyota: “I really can’t find the words to celebrate this result, the best of our season. We had a few difficulties in practice but during qualifying the drivers pushed themselves to the limit and things got better and better. Today Timo did a fantastic race. We saw immediately that his car was quick and and his third stint was almost perfect. He was under threat from Kimi but he was quick in the third sector and he was able to fend him off. Jarno was quick as well and pushed hard but he was blocked for most of the race he couldn’t show his pace until briefly in the last stint. So this is a stunning performance and my thanks go out to the whole team and everyone working in the factory. I’m very appreciative of all their hard work and next we will aim for the centre of the podium.”

Mario Theissen, BMW Sauber: “We were completely off the pace during the race. Neither driver was able to do the lap times we expected after the sessions on Friday and Saturday. It was the same on both tyre compounds. The reason for that is currently not clear, but we shall analyse everything. Congratulations to Heikki Kovalainen for his maiden win in F1 and, of course, Timo Glock for his strong weekend, crowned by finishing second.”Vijay Mallya, Force India F1: “I think we can be pleased with the team’s performance this weekend. On a track where qualifying often determines the finishing position, Giancarlo was able to improve three positions on his starting position through a combination of a bold strategy and his own very polished overtaking maneouvres. Adrian also looked to be racing competitively, despite the problems that started very early on for him. While it’s disappointing to not get two cars to the finish, again we raced very well and finished in front of cars yet again. We’re looking forward to the European Grand Prix now where I hope the introduction of the seamless shift gearbox will move us ever-closer to the midfield.”

Franz Tost, Toro Rosso: “There can be no excuses: this was a bad weekend for the whole team. It seems that Budapest is not Vettel’s place as we had technical problems on Friday and this continued in the race, as he had to retire. At this time, we are not exactly sure what the failure was, but we suspect it was due to overheating. As for Bourdais, he made a good start, moving up from 19th on the grid to 16th. Then, at his first pit stop on lap 32, we had a problem with the fuel system which caught fire. Fortunately it was extinguished in time, but the problem reoccurred at his second stop. On this occasion he had to make a further stop to have the extinguisher foam removed from his visor as he could not see. We must now carry out a full investigation of all the problems on both cars, after what was a very disappointing weekend for the whole team.”

Norbert Haug, McLaren Mercedes: “I’m sorry for Felipe and Ferrari. Lewis had bad luck with the tyre, Felipe with the engine. Heikki’s first win is sensational and he deserves it. We are obviously successful with our Finns; first Mika, then Kimi and now Heikki. Without the damaged tyre, Lewis also had a chance of victory; until then his race went according to plan and his strategy with a later second stop could have put him ahead of Felipe. Congratulations to Timo and Toyota on their second place – today Timo kept the world champion behind him. The podium showed again that the fight for the World Championship will remain very exciting. During the so-called summer break, we will continue to work hard to be well prepared for the next race on Valencia’s street circuit which will be new for everybody.”

Luca Baldisserri, Scuderia Ferrari: “It hurts to see a car stop with a failure just a few laps from the end when you are solidly in the lead. It’s a real shame, because Felipe drove an extraordinary race: a perfect start, always a fast pace and a great management of the situation in the final stages. Kimi was behind Alonso for two thirds of the race and only when he had a free track ahead of him was he able to show what he can do. Today, we showed our package is up to the job in terms of performance, but we lacked the necessary reliability. We must continue to work to improve still further, as indeed our competitors are doing. We can expect some weeks of hard work ahead of the next race where we want to achieve what slipped from our grasp today in the very last moments.”