Formula 1 News

2010 Italian GP, race: Team quotes 

Ross Brawn: “We achieved a very respectable result today with two cars in the points which is just the kind of race that we need to have for the rest of the season. Nico and Michael made great starts, showing their experience and maturity, and then drove strong races. Whilst we were not on the pace of the front-runners, we were the strongest of the group behind and Nico did a fantastic job to try and keep Vettel behind but it just wasn’t quite possible. Michael had a very good race to get up into the points and with good work in the pits by the team, this led to another double-points finish.”

Norbert Haug: “We scored points with both drivers today which is good. After a great start, Nico drove a strong race which moved him up two positions to fifth place and he posted the third fastest lap of the race, quicker than three of the four guys ahead of him. Michael improved from 12th place on the grid to ninth position at the finish. Needless to say that we are not satisfied with such positions in the longer term but I am definitely satisfied that the team achieved the best possible results today. Thank you to everyone for all of their hard work here in Monza.”

Stefano Domenicali: “This victory was a team effort, which came at the end of a very busy week, which culminated this afternoon. It was fantastic to be on the podium, singing the national anthem along with all our fans: it’s the sort of feeling that gives you goose bumps! It was an extremely close race from the first to the last lap, fighting against a very strong opponent. The win has come at just the right time and at the right place. It is the result of all the work from the Gestione Sportiva and our technical and commercial partners, first and foremost, Philip Morris, Santander and Shell, who always provide us with vital support. This season continues to throw up surprises: after the knock back in Spa, it might have looked as though we had had it, but we were not ready to think that way. We have always said we are not the sort to throw in the towel. Now the championship situation has opened up again, even if we are still up against very strong opposition. We will enjoy this victory for one night and from tomorrow morning we will be back at work, preparing down to the smallest detail for the next of these finals, namely the one in Singapore.”

Chris Dyer: “A fantastic result for the team. We had a difficult weekend, a fortnight ago in Belgium, but after that everyone put in 110% effort to make up for it and be as well prepared as possible for this race. Everyone gave their all, on the track and at home over the past three days, starting with the drivers. It was not easy, as we had to adopt choices that were far from obvious, especially in terms of aerodynamic downforce and the set-up of the car. Then yesterday, Fernando produced a masterpiece in qualifying, which put us in the best possible shape to go after the win. There was a tense moment at the start and on the opening lap, but after that, we knew we had to wait and stop after our rivals to make up ground. We did just that, thanks to a combination of a perfect lap from Fernando and the fact the mechanics did an exceptional job in the pit stop. Felipe also drove a great race and it was nice to see both our drivers on the podium here in Monza. We know that if we can manage a perfect performance in the next five races, then we have a chance of winning.”

Franz Tost: “We have made a step forward here and the performance was good from Friday onwards. Buemi got a fantastic start, moving up four places to tenth position. However, prior to the pit stop, he lost time behind Glock and then on his out lap, it took a while for him to get the new tyres working properly, which meant he lost a place to Barrichello. But he did a really good job throughout the weekend. Alguersuari, apart from getting a drive-through penalty for cutting the chicane, also produced good lap times. I feel quite confident and optimistic for the final few races, because both the team and the drivers have made progress, while the most important aspect is that updates we introduced on our car here seem to have delivered a better performance level.”

James Key: “It was a disappointing race. We felt we might be in a position to score points, but unfortunately there was a problem on Kamui’s car, which appears to be an ECU problem. We need to look into it further to understand it, but the problem caused damage to his gearbox on his out lap. We changed the ECU, but the gearbox was too badly damaged. We decided to start him from the pit lane, but immediately he felt the gearbox was a problem, so he had to stop, which was a shame. Pedro started on used option tyres, and we decided to bring him in early and change to a new set of primes, which looked good in practice, but the tyres didn’t come in and unfortunately he lost places. It was a difficult weekend. We are now looking forward to the tracks which are coming up.”

Eric Boullier: “It was an extremely tight race today where every detail counted and the smallest mistake was penalised. The team did a good job with the strategy and we made the right call with Robert, but a slow stop cost us two positions. We must focus on getting all of these details right if we are to catch Mercedes in the championship, especially because they stretched their lead over us today. As for Vitaly, he had little hope of scoring points. He drove well but just could not make up enough places.”

Alan Permane: It was a difficult day for us. Robert made an excellent start and gained three positions, but unfortunately at the pit stop Hulkenberg got in front of us and we then lost another place to Webber in the same fight. Vitaly did a credible job to come from P20 to P13, but scoring points from that far back is always very difficult. We now look forward to going to Singapore, a track that I’m sure will be far more suited to our car, and where we hope to challenge at the front.”

Remi Taffin: “We were missing a little bit of pace today compared to Rosberg and the top three teams, and unfortunately we lost several positions during the pitstop. On the engine side, it was more or less a trouble-free race. We used two brand new units, both performed well and I expect we will be using them again in Singapore.”

Vijay Mallya: “Although we’re disappointed not to have scored points today we’ve got to look forward. The car was competitive enough to finish in the points today, with a good overall pace, which is what we have to focus on in the coming races. Both drivers were unlucky: Tonio’s qualifying issues made it difficult to score points and then with his problems on the first lap Adrian found himself too far down the field to be able to make in roads to the top 10. It’s a shame but we’ll pick ourselves up and take the challenge back in Singapore.”

Dieter Gass: “A bit of an unfortunate race today after a strong weekend. Heikki lost position at the start – he managed to pass di Grassi but couldn’t get past Timo after a good fight. Jarno had a strong race until we ran into gearbox trouble. He lost second, then the whole gearbox, which brought his race to an end. Now we move on to Singapore and we’ll fight back there.”

Tony Fernandes: “One has to be philosophical after today’s race, and focus on the fact we had a very good weekend. It’s obviously disappointing that we had yet another gearbox failure on Jarno’s car as he was comfortably pulling away from his nearest rivals until he had to pull over. Heikki had an unfortunate start, and that meant his whole race was compromised as he was stuck behind Timo and couldn’t pass. Despite that, it’s been a good weekend for the team. We’ve made some important decisions about next year, and we’ll build on what we’ve learnt here and come back fighting.”

Sam Michael: “Nico had an excellent drive today and delivered throughout the weekend and the team is really happy with his performance. Rubens was stuck in traffic for most of the race which cost him dearly, but he did manage to score a point. We had no problems on either car today and it was good to see us running competitively with the front runners.”

Martin Whitmarsh: “Today Jenson drove a truly fantastic race, coolly and consistently absorbing enormous pressure all afternoon, and holding a secure but slender lead until the pitstops. The timing of pitstops is always an inexact science – but, once we saw that Robert Kubica was immediately lapping quicker on Prime tyres after his pitstop, we resolved to put Jenson on Primes straight away. That was a logical and therefore sensible thing to do. But, even so, Fernando [Alonso] was just able to squeeze ahead when he in turn made his pitstop. It was incredibly close, and I’m sure it made edge-of-the-seat TV viewing, but on this occasion it went our opponents’ way rather than our way. But that’s racing. Like Jenson, Lewis made a very strong start, and was his usual forceful self on lap one. We’ve often seen that trademark lap-one forcefulness herald an equally combative race drive from him, but on this occasion he got involved in what I’d describe as a racing incident. But, again, that’s racing. I was asked after the race why Lewis didn’t pull over to the side of the track after the impact, and my answer was: ‘Lewis is a racer, and racers keep driving till the wheels fall off – literally.’ And we wouldn’t want him any other way. Looking forward, there are five more rounds of the 2010 FIA Formula 1 World Championship to go, and the points situation in both the drivers’ world championship and the constructors’ world championship is extremely close. So it’s all to play for, and you can be well sure that we at Vodafone McLaren Mercedes will be giving it absolutely everything we’ve got.”

John Booth: “A very strong race for us today in which Virgin Racing once again finished as the best of the new teams. This is the sixth occasion where both cars have been classified and so we are also leading the newcomers in terms of two-car finishes. The whole team has done a great job this weekend and can feel justifiably pleased with our car and operational performance. Particular congratulations to the pit stop crew today, who performed two very slick stops which made all the difference in securing today’s result. It is sad that we have to say goodbye to Europe now but we still have plenty to look forward to in the long-haul races.”

Mark Herd: “A good day today. Timo had a strong drive to finish as the highest placed driver of the new teams, helped by good strategy and a fast pit stop . Lucas struggled with the balance on his first set of tyres and then suffered an apparent suspension problem right at the end. Our thanks also to Cosworth, whose engines ran strongly all weekend at this particularly demanding circuit.”

Christian Horner: “As a team performance today it was a great effort – especially after difficult starts and first corner where positions were lost. Both drivers produced excellent races and I think that the strategy and pit stops were well optimised. The unfortunate thing today was the time that Mark lost behind Hulkenberg, who went off the circuit a few too many times in our opinion. But we got very valuable points. Our objective prior to the weekend was to try to limit the damage, so to come out of the weekend back in the lead of the Drivers’ Championship with Mark, while extending the lead of the Constructors’ Championship is more than we could have expected.”

Fabrice Lom: “What a difficult race for us. We had bad starts with both drivers, so we were far back in the field at the beginning, but we stayed focused. We were very strong during the race and little by little we went up the order. We also tried a different strategy with Sebastian that worked well, so congratulations to our strategy guys. It meant Sebastian went up to fourth place. Mark made some great moves to overtake Michael Schumacher and Nico Hulkenberg and finished sixth. We took more points from McLaren and more points than Hamilton, so it’s a very good result for us today.”

Colin Kolles: “There was an incident with a member of our team during Sakon Yamamoto’s pit stop. First aid was immediately on the spot and he was taken to hospital for further check-up. He remained conscious and was talking to the doctor. We wish that he will recover quickly. In the race, Bruno Senna had to stop the car on track due to a hydraulic failure. Sakon Yamamoto instead did a good race performance and finished 19th. We could carry on as in Spa and the gap to the team ahead was quite small compared to earlier races.”