Formula 1 News

2010 Monaco GP, race: Team quotes 

Sam Michael: “That was not a good day for the team after a promising start for Rubens. Nico had a problem with the clutch paddle on the steering wheel during the formation lap. He then had a failure with the front wing mounting on the first lap of the race. Rubens had a fantastic start and was running in sixth when he started to experience poor handling after his stop. 11 laps after his pitstop, he had a failure at the rear end of his car. We need to get all the parts back to the factory in order to identify correctly what components on both cars caused the failures. We have quite a bit of car damage to repair, but we’re making progress with performance and look to further that in Istanbul.”

Ross Brawn: “For parts of the race today, we were able to demonstrate the potential of the car here which was very frustrating considering what happened in qualifying. Losing a place to Rubens at the start with both drivers made it very difficult for us and we couldn’t run at our full pace which is the usual problem around Monaco where overtaking is so difficult. Thereafter Michael and Nico drove very well this afternoon. Nico was particularly impressive with a clear track and was the fastest car out there at that time. However the windows didn’t quite open for us today. It shows the subtlety of Monaco, you can have a fast car but if it’s not in the right place, then you can’t do anything with it. I would like to compliment our team on the fastest pit stop of the race which was crucial to get Michael out ahead of Rubens. With regard to the penalty given to Michael, we believed that the track had gone green and the race was not finishing under a safety car when article 40.13 clearly would have applied. The reason for the safety car had been removed, the FIA had announced ‘Safety Car in this lap’ early on lap 78 and the track had been declared clear by race control. This was further endorsed when the marshals showed green flags and lights after safety car line one. On previous occasions when it has been necessary to complete a race under a safety car, full course yellows are maintained, as in Melbourne 2009. On the last lap, we therefore advised our drivers that they should race to the line and Michael made his move on Fernando for sixth place. We have appealed the decision of the stewards.”

Norbert Haug: “To start with the positives, we showed good speed here in Monaco, our best of the season so far, and hopefully we can take this forward into the next races. It was therefore bad that we had traffic problems during Q3 yesterday in addition to some self-inflicted issues. Today we suffered when Michael and Nico got stuck behind a slower car. Once Nico and Michael were in clean air, they showed good pace. Now we will concentrate on the next race in Turkey and hopefully we can develop a performance in Istanbul in two weeks time that will be as competitive as we could have been here in Monaco.”

Eric Boullier: “To get a podium here in Monaco is a great result for Robert and the team. Starting on the front row we certainly had high expectations and we are all very happy with this third place. Robert drove a fantastic race and the performance of the car was very strong, which allowed us to keep the pressure on Red Bull and stay ahead of the other teams. I’d like to say a big well done to the whole team who can be very proud of their hard work recently, which has contributed to this result. And of course, it’s great to see three Renault engines on the podium. As for Vitaly, his race was made difficult after his accident in qualifying yesterday, but things became even tougher when he got a puncture, which ended his hopes of points. Looking ahead to Turkey, we will keep pushing hard with our development, which is really starting to pay off. The car has shown its’ strengths on slow, bumpy tracks and we need to work hard to be as quick on the upcoming circuits. Overall I’m very happy with how things are progressing.”

Alan Permane: “Although it’s great to finish on the podium, there is a little bit of frustration that we lost a place to Vettel at the start because the car was very quick today. Certainly on the prime tyres I think we were as quick as him but, as we all know, it’s almost impossible to overtake at Monaco and we had to settle for third place. Vitaly’s race was spoiled by a right rear puncture, which meant he had to drive almost three quarters of a lap on three wheels and that made it very difficult for him to recover. Looking ahead to Turkey, we’ve got some more aerodynamic updates coming and hopefully we can build on the momentum of today’s result.”

Remi Taffin: “We have finished on the podium in Monaco, which is a great result after the hard work by the team and drivers this weekend. Unfortunately, Robert lost a place at the start and despite his best efforts we remained in this position until the finish. Vitaly did his best, but he was the victim of a puncture and then had to retire with a technical problem near the end of the race. I also want to say big congratulations to Renault engines for their 1-2-3 today. On the engine side there were no concerns with our V8s, one of which completed its’ second race and the other its’ third.”

James Key: “A disappointing end to a tough weekend, and one we wouldn’t want to repeat. It was frustrating in many ways because our drivers were being held up in the race, and there was more to come from the car. We felt that a strategic call could help us to overtake some cars ahead. We split the strategies of our cars to take advantage of safety car situations. So we had left our options open for the race, but then we saw on the data that we had a significant increase of hydraulic temperatures on Pedro’s car. Pedro reported that the steering had become particularly heavy. We pitted him and wanted to see what the problem was, but there was clearly a hydraulic pressure problem. We couldn’t diagnose it quickly enough to get him back out again into the race. Just a few laps later there was a gearbox issue on Kamui’s car. He lost a gear and then couldn’t select the next one, which caused him to stop on the track. That problem is currently under investigation. We shall learn what we can from this weekend, but look forward to tracks where we think the car will work better and hope for a much more promising showing in Istanbul.”

Vijay Mallya: “I am delighted with today’s results. At the start of the season we said we wanted to be regular points’ finishers and to date that’s exactly what we have done, but to do so with two cars is a real step up. Adrian and Tonio drove brilliant races, keeping focussed despite the numerous safety car periods and yellow flags, and really deserved to get in the points. It’s very pleasing to see us keeping pace yet again with the larger teams on merit and we can now take this result away with us, build on it and come back even stronger in Turkey.”

Mike Gascoyne: “This was our strongest performance yet compared to the midfield, so obviously mixed emotions for where we finished. Heikki had a very strong race and in the middle his performance was particularly good compared to the midfield group. It’s a shame we had a problem on his car – the steering joint failed, something we’ve not seen before – but overall it was a very positive weekend for him. For Jarno, he had a much more difficult weekend, clearly struggling with the balance of the car and I think as a team we have to take a look at everything to be able to do a better job for him. Obviously he was compromised by the slow pitstop, which dropped him down the field and affected his whole race. He was capable of going much faster and when he made the move he unfortunately fell victim to the nature of the Monaco circuit. So I leave feeling pleased we showed such good pace, and we move on to Turkey.”

Tony Fernandes: “I take a lot of positives from the race today and it was another one where we had at least one car classified. Most importantly Heikki made a great step forward and it was fantastic watching him race with Petrov. He and the whole team felt it was the best race of the season for him and that boosts confidence further for the season ahead. We’ve got some more new parts coming which will continue to take us forward, and hopefully Jarno’s luck will turn, but even with that we’re all pleased. It’s also great to see so many of our fans out around the track – hopefully we gave them some good racing today, and in years to come we’ll give them some good results as well.”

Franz Tost: “First of all, congratulations to Red Bull Racing for a fantastic job: to finish first and second in Monaco is really exciting and something special. As for ourselves, our race here was compromised by our qualifying performance, as everyone knows overtaking is quite difficult here. Therefore, I did not expect much more than this result. We can take some satisfaction for getting both cars to the finish at this difficult circuit. It was also very important for Sebastien as because of some bad luck at the previous races, today’s result was his first finish of the season. Jaime will also benefit from his 78 laps this afternoon, which will be good experience for him when he returns next year. Now, we hope to put ourselves into points scoring positions on a more regular basis, starting in Turkey at the next round.”

Stefano Domenicali: “First and foremost, I want to congratulate the team and the drivers who did a perfect job today. Felipe drove impeccably, pushing hard when he could and running at the same pace as the leaders. Fernando produced an amazing climb through the field: starting from pit lane and finishing sixth is a great result, which came courtesy of a drive that was as aggressive at the start as it was well judged at the end. The chosen strategy, to immediately stop and change tyres proved to be absolutely the right one. After a Saturday that was not up to our expectations or potential, today we showed what we could do. Even if one team has the edge in terms of performance, both championships are still very open. We must continue to develop the car and work hard to reach our objectives.”

Chris Dyer: “A difficult race as usual at this track. Felipe started fourth and finished the race in the same position: overtaking is almost impossible here. There was a bit of degradation on his softer tyres and we stopped a few laps earlier than planned, but we still managed to maintain position. Fernando got a great result. We had planned right from the start to stop on the first lap to change tyres and we managed, also thanks to the race being neutralised, to make up several places when other drivers pitted, after also passing a few cars on track. Then, for Fernando, the main job was to look after the tyres and the car, given that he did practically the whole race on the same set of tyres. He did it perfectly and always remained in touch with the quickest guys, ready to make the most of any eventual problems.”

Christian Horner: “A tremendous result for the team today – I think Mark Webber’s had the week of his life. To win two GPs in a row including the Monaco GP, which is probably the most prestigious on the calendar, is a very proud day for the whole of Red Bull Racing. And we didn’t only win Monaco, but finished first and second so it’s a great day for the team. It puts us first and second in the Drivers’ Championship and first in the Constructors’ Championship. It’s a great result and testimony to all the work that goes on behind the scenes, which goes to make results like today’s possible. Congratulations also to Renault on their one-two-three finish.”

Fabrice Lom: “A perfect day and it happened in Monaco, so it’s even more enjoyable. We got a one-two for Red Bull and a one-two-three for Renault, so we are ecstatic within the engine team. We are so proud to be part of Red Bull Racing, which is really excellent and so proud to be part of Renault Sport, which gave us a really good engine for this track with excellent tuning. So, one-two-three, we cannot expect more. We are also now in a very good position for both Championships – it really is a perfect day.”

Nick Wirth: “Timo experienced a right rear trackrod failure for reasons that we will need to investigate next week. Lucas’ right rear wheel came loose immediately after the pitstop, losing drive and causing him to stop. We actually experienced problems with the left rear wheel in the pitstop and early analysis after the race shows that there are problems with all the wheels fitted during the stop. We’re all very disappointed with our first Monaco Grand Prix but I’m sure we can address these issues quickly and look forward to the debut of the second revised VR-01 in Turkey.”

Colin Kolles: “As anticipated, it was a difficult race for us, but we all put in a great effort and came close to seeing both cars make the finish. Unfortunately, Bruno Senna retired with a hydraulic failure on lap 58 while Karun Chandhok walked away from an accident at the Rascasse corner. It was a real pity as it would have been possible to finish 13th by that point and was just four laps from the chequered flag. We are the best classified of the new teams. I am disappointed for the team that we narrowly didn’t finish our race and because the accident happened under blue flag. We look ahead to the next race and are determined to bounce back in different conditions. Both drivers did a very good job.”

Martin Whitmarsh: “Lewis scored a useful 10 points as a consequence of his solid run to fifth place – which, since overtaking is notoriously difficult here at Monaco and since there was no attrition in front of him, was as good a result as he could realistically have hoped for from his fifth position on the grid. He drove faultlessly, in fact, looking after his brakes and tyres throughout. Jenson’s afternoon was very disappointing one for him, through no fault of his own. Human error caused a cooling cover to be left off the left-hand radiator on the lap to the grid – and, despite our best efforts to recover the situation, the components underneath the car got too hot, and Jenson was forced to switch the engine off when a small fire developed.”