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2006 Italy GP
Team Quotes - Sunday 10 September
The Renault F1 Team departs Monza with mixed feelings after enduring a controversial and difficult weekend at the Italian Grand Prix.
Fernando Alonso had climbed from tenth position on the grid to third place following his second and final pit-stop, when an engine failure his first in nearly three years forced him to retire on lap 44. In the second R26, Giancarlo Fisichella drove a strong, consistent race with a one-stop strategy to finish fourth. The Italian's five points saw him gain ground on Felipe Massa in the drivers' championship, and he now sits in fourth position, trailing the Brazilian by just five points.
Although the final round of the European season presented the team with numerous obstacles, it also contains reason to be optimistic for the final races of the championship. Michelin's strong qualifying and race performance would have been sufficient for Alonso to race for the victory had his weekend not been handicapped by off-track events, and the overall competitiveness of the R26 was extremely encouraging as both drivers made up a significant number of places during the race. As the teams head to the final three flyaway races of the year, each championship is delicately poised, with Alonso leading the Drivers' title by two points and Renault trailing Ferrari by three points in the Constructors'. It promises to be a fascinating final leg of the championship as Renault races flat out to secure both titles.
Flavio Briatore, Managing Director: Nobody is ever happy to break an engine, but that is part of the sport. The problem comes when it is not just the sport that influences the outcome of races and championships. Fernando did the maximum possible from his grid position, and would have finished on the podium easily. The team did a fantastic job in the pit-stops to get him out in front of Kubica; in fact, they performed faultlessly all weekend. Giancarlo drove a strong race too, and his points will be important in the constructors' championship. Now, we have to prepare properly for the three final races of the season. The team is strong, and we are still fighting very hard.
Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering: This was a tough weekend for the team in every respect. We all feel very sorry for Fernando, who endured troubles on and off the track here in Monza. It was a bitter blow to lose an engine for the first time in nearly three years with a failure in the bottom end, and especially after he had overcome his qualifying penalty to secure a podium finish. Fisi drove a strong race today, and his fourth position is well deserved. Looking at the standings, things are clearly very tight. At Renault, we have nothing to lose, and will be racing aggressively until the last lap of the last race. We know the car is quick, and that we have plenty of upgrades coming in the weeks ahead. To all intents and purposes, the World Championship starts here.
Team McLaren Mercedes driver Kimi Raikkonen finished today's Italian Grand Prix in second place after starting the race from pole position. Team mate Pedro de la Rosa was forced to retire on lap 21 with an engine failure. Both drivers were on two-stop strategies with Kimi stopping on laps 15 (8.9 seconds) and 38 (5.9 seconds) and Pedro on lap 14 (10.1 seconds). Team McLaren Mercedes remains third in the Constructors' World Championship with 97 points. Kimi is fifth with 57 points, Juan Pablo Montoya seventh with 26 points and Pedro 11th with 14 points.
Ron Dennis: A good drive from Kimi. A single lap of more fuel in the first stint could have turned second into a possible victory but that's racing. Pedro suffered a rare engine failure, which meant an early end to his race. The result shows how the team's relentless efforts and disciplined approach throughout this weekend led to a positive result. Irrespective of the announcement of Kimi's future and of course we wish him all the best the entire team will continue to focus on the balance of this season where race wins are still possible as illustrated by today's result.
Norbert Haug: Second position, pole position, fastest lap and finishing as best Michelin team is a good job by the team and Kimi. We have been close to Michael Schumacher and not too much was missing to win today. Congratulations to Michael. For me it is sad to learn that he will retire after this season. With his retirement an era of Formula One racing ends. As already stated in our separate press release we all wish Kimi who will leave us at the end of the year all the best. Unfortunately Pedro suffered an engine failure, the cause of which is currently investigated. We will now work hard before the last three overseas races in order to do one better than today.
Seventh win of the season for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, the sixth courtesy of Michael Schumacher. This is win number 190 from 738 races entered by Ferrari, the seventeenth in the Italian Grand Prix. Michael Schumacher recorded his ninetieth victory from 247 Grand Prix starts and his fifth at this track.
Jean Todt: I don't know if I should start by talking about my feelings after this fantastic victory or about those that stem from the announcement of Michael's retirement. Of course, I had known for a while that this was his decision, but the news breaking alongside this great win makes today special. It is very gratifying to win here, in front of our Ferrari colleagues who packed out the grandstand at the Parabolica and in front of all our fans. The car, the Bridgestone tyres and the team were all great. This result sees us move into the lead in the Constructors' classification and it also considerably reduces the gap between Michael and the leader of the Drivers.' I am sorry for Felipe: an unplanned stop prevented him from bringing home a good result in a race where he never really managed to get the most out of the car because of traffic. It's a shame, because all weekend he had been very competitive. Now both championships will be decided over the three races. We are up against very strong opposition but we are very determined and motivated to win both titles. We must remain concentrated and united to make Ferrari even better and to bring to a close in the best possible way this magnificent chapter in our history, which began eleven years ago when Michael arrived.
Ross Brawn: Winning the Italian Grand Prix on the day Michael announces his retirement is the best possible way for this news to be delivered. He drove brilliantly and was always in control of the situation. The car went well, helped by fantastic Bridgestone tyres, not forgetting the valuable support from Shell. We knew that our tyres, while possibly giving a little away in qualifying, would be superb in the race. This win is the result of the great work carried out over the past few months by our partners and our test team. It's a shame for Felipe, who never really had the chance to push as hard as he could, being nearly always stuck in traffic. Now there are three races to go which we will tackle giving our all. We have many new parts coming, including a new aerodynamic package that we will test over the next two weeks. I am confident about this final part of the championship and we will fight right to the end to try and win both titles.
Panasonic Toyota Racing will leave Monza with two points courtesy of Jarno Trulli's strong drive at today's Italian Grand Prix. On a sunny day at the circuit situated near the city of Milan, temperatures again approached 30 degrees Celsius. Jarno and team-mate Ralf Schumacher faced a hard day's work from their respective grid positions of 11th and 13th. Toyota opted for a one-stop strategy for both cars in a bid to make up positions. Jarno maintained a strong pace throughout the race and ended up taking 7th place. Ralf was less fortunate, spending much of the day in traffic and settling for 15th. Toyota now heads to the British circuit of Silverstone for testing this week in preparation for the last three races of the season in China, Japan and Brazil.
Tsutomu Tomita Team Principal: "We came here expecting unsettled weather but in the end all three days have been fine. We also expected more from this weekend but we struggled with the performance of the car on Friday and Saturday. It was a pity that we missed out on Q3 and it meant today was always going to be hard work. But today was much better and our pace was closer to what we expected from the whole weekend. Given our grid positions the only sensible choice was to go for one pit stop and everything worked well. Jarno had been happy with his balance on the first two days but he was short of top speed. But today he had a very strong race considering his grid position, so well done to him for going up to 7th from 11th. He made no mistakes and pushed hard all through the race on his way to the points. Ralf spent most of the race in traffic so it is difficult to judge what he could have achieved but he still brought the car home. Our tyres were consistent and reasonably fast so we have achieved the best we could have managed today. The car configuration we will use at the last three races of the year will be different and we are confident that we will be able to improve our level of performance. We will head to Shanghai with a target of challenging the top cars again."
Sam Michael, Technical Director, WilliamsF1: "Mark had a good start and drove a consistent race all afternoon to finish p10, which is where the car is currently at. On Nico's car, we had a problem with a driveshaft and he lost drive, the exact cause of which is not yet known and we will investigate this later. Nico was looking good for a points finish, but it was not to be. Apart from that, we still have some work to do to close the gap to the front."
Mike Janes, Team Leader, F1 Track Support, Cosworth: "Although it was frustrating not to score any points today, this was tempered slightly by achieving our engine performance targets as planned with respect to Mark's engine for this weekend without any major issues. His CA012 has reached the end of its two event life having run to our most aggressive duty to date, while Nico's engine, run to a similar duty, has plenty of performance left in it for Shanghai."
Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello delivered a double points finish for the Honda Racing F1 Team for the third successive race today, boosting the team's points tally by another seven championship points after finishing 5th and 6th respectively.
The pair adopted differing strategies for the 53-lap Italian Grand Prix, in which Rubens made a single pitstop with Jenson stopping twice. The team delivered three faultless pitstops to make the most of every opportunity to end the European season on a positive note before heading into the final three long-haul races.
Gil de Ferran - Sporting Director: "I think we can feel reasonably happy with our result today. Another double points finish for our team in a weekend that started with some difficulties. We decided on different strategies for Jenson and Rubens, but in the end they were as closely matched this afternoon as they were yesterday. The balance of our cars was not quite as good as it was during practice and qualifying therefore we lacked a little pace to put up a stronger challenge for higher positions. Otherwise we have no problems to report; the engines ran well and the pitstops were smooth and fast. We leave Europe reasonably satisfied with the progress we have made but still pushing for further improvement in the last three races."
Christian Horner: Unfortunately Christian headed a not particularly fast Red Bull train today, with 11th and 12th being the net result for our two drivers. This circuit was always going to expose our inherent weakness within the current package, but the important thing is to learn from it and act upon the lessons learnt for next year. So, a disappointing race with the only positive factor being that we got two cars to the finish.
The BMW Sauber F1 Team celebrated the second podium finish of its first season in Monza. Twenty-one-year-old Robert Kubica came third in Italy, while the first podium was for Nick Heidfeld in Hungary. Despite a drive through penalty in the race, Nick finished eighth and scored a point. This excellent result has promoted the team to fifth in the Constructors' Championship.
Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director): Third and eighth in the race are the crowning glory of a fantastic weekend for our young team. In qualifying our cars were quick with and without fuel, and we confirmed this in today's race. I am particularly happy with our second podium within five weeks because it also justifies our decision to put Robert in the race car. Nick also drove a strong race. Unfortunately he broke the speed limit during his first pit stop, but despite the penalty he managed to score a point. Compliments to our team in Monza, Hinwil and Munich
Willy Rampf (Technical Director): A fantastic result for the entire team. Robert made an excellent start, improving from sixth to third. Later he was under big pressure from Massa and he withstood it without making any mistakes. He drove a perfect race and got us our second podium. After a diffcult race Nick also managed to get one point. Both cars not only ran trouble free over the entire weekend, but were also very competitive. This is thanks to the superb preparation work by the entire team.
The newly renamed Spyker MF1 Racing team endured a difficult afternoon of racing at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza.
Christijan Albers was climbing up through the field before a punctured rear right tyre and transmission problem dropped him to the back of the pack. He nursed his car home in 17th position.
Tiago Monteiro was forced to abandon the chase after 44 laps due to brake issues.
Colin Kolles, Managing Director: "I think the performance of the cars was very good. Christijan's puncture ruined his chances for a good result, and Tiago had some brake problems that prevented him from finishing. But if you look at their times, they were quite competitive. Considering this is supposed to be the worst circuit for us, that's quite encouraging."
James Key, Technical Director: "This was a difficult race, which is a shame, because obviously today is a special day for the team, with our new owners being introduced. Christijan was racing extremely well at the beginning and was able to run with the cars around him - the Red Bulls, the Toyotas and the Toro Rossos. He was battling to overtake Klien when he suffered a puncture. He came in and then there was an issue with the clutch that delayed him going back out. We're not sure what it is - whether it's a sensor problem or the clutch itself - but that led to him effectively losing a lap. Tiago was following a long first-stop strategy and doing quite well, but then he developed braking issues toward the end of the race. We brought him in a couple of times to have a look, but then we thought it would be safer to just retire him. An unfortunate race, really. It could have been better given the pace we'd showed in the beginning, but we'll see what we can learn from this and move on with more optimism for the last three races."
Johnny Herbert, Sporting Relations Manager: "Today was a disappointment. It's never a good thing to be going through problems, and we seem to having more than our fair share lately. Christijan had a puncture early on when he was racing well, but obviously that put us completely out of contention. Tiago had his own set of issues and he eventually had to stop because of brake problems. It was just a shame, really, because I think we had to pace to finish well today. But, we move on, and hopefully we'll have a stronger race in China."
Gerhard Berger: Both our drivers did a good job and given that this is our performance level and not many cars ahead retired, we could not really expect more. We showed good speed through the race and both cars finished, so well done to everyone in the team- a good effort. Schumacher's retirement? It is a pity for Formula 1 to lose such a great champion, but the time to stop comes to everyone. He put on a fantastic performance again today and because of what happened to Alonso, everyone here and all the fans are going to be treated to a great end to the championship.
Super Aguri had a challenging race at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza today. A hydraulic problem on the way to the grid forced Takuma to start the 2006 Italian Grand Prix in the T-car from the pits. Both Takuma and Sakon made good race starts, however Sakon also experienced a hydraulic problem in his SA06 and had to retire from the race on lap 18. Later in the race Takuma struggled with the handling of his car after the floor suffered delamination. Although his pace was then greatly reduced, he drove a solid race to bring his SA06 home ahead of the teams nearest rivals.
Aguri Suzuki, Team Principal: Taku had a tough race today and did a good job to bring the car home. Sakon suffered a hydraulic problem and I am sorry that once again he was unable to finish the race. We will work hard at the coming Silverstone test to try to solve the problems that we are encountering with the SA06 so that we can look forward to the last flyaway races and especially our second home race in Suzuka.
Seven time world champion Michael Schumacher has announced his retirement from racing at the end of the 2006 season after winning his fifth Italian Grand Prix in front of thousands of adoring fans. The momentous announcement signals the end of an era for a driver who today took the 102nd win on Bridgestone tyres. Following the retirement of Fernando Alonso from today's race, the result also signifies a considerable closing of the gap between the two title protagonists with Schumacher just two points behind in the drivers' standings with three races left to run. In the constructors' championship Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro has now moved ahead of Renault with just three points separating the teams. Schumacher's teammate, Felipe Massa, had a luckless race, finishing in ninth place after needing to come in for an unscheduled third pit stop. Nevertheless, it has today been confirmed that Massa's contract with the team has been extended a further two years and that he will be joined at Ferrari by Kimi Raikkonen. Aside from the post race announcements, today's 53-lap Italian Grand Prix produced plenty of excitement. Of the Bridgestone runners, Italian Jarno Trulli will be pleased to have claimed two points for his Panasonic Toyota Racing team after a tough one-stop race.
Hiroshi Yasukawa, Director of Bridgestone Motorsport: On behalf of us all at Bridgestone Motorsport I would like to extend our congratulations first of all to Michael on winning today's Italian Grand Prix. However, we will be extremely sorry not to see Michael racing again after the end of this season. Michael is certainly one of the greatest racing drivers in history and we all feel privileged to have worked with him throughout his career, from karting to Formula One. Our wish now is to see him end his career as world champion and we shall do all we can to help him achieve this goal.
Hisao Suganuma, Technical Manager of Bridgestone Motorsport: There were a lot of mixed feelings after today's race. On the one hand we were delighted to see Michael win the Italian GP and we were pleased with the performance of the Bridgestone tyres but on the other hand we are all sorry to hear that Michael is retiring at the end of this season. We have had a very long relationship with him and he has played a large part in the development of and success of Bridgestone's tyres over the years, for which we thank him immensely. Looking at the race itself, which was very tough on the tyres due to the high track temperatures, we are pleased to see their strong and consistent performance. It was a shame that Felipe had to pit again in the closing stages as he could well have been on the podium. Jarno Trulli had a strong race and we are pleased he was able to do this on our tyres with a one-stop strategy. Mark Webber narrowly missed out on a points finish but he did cross the line in tenth from near the back of the grid.
Ross Brawn, Technical Director Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro: Winning the Italian Grand Prix on the day Michael announced his retirement was the best way it could have happened. He drove a great and untroubled race with Bridgestone tyres which had fantastically consistent performance. We had worked hard in the test prior to this weekend and we knew the tyres had better race performance than qualifying performance. Today however that was just what we needed. We shall now be looking to really concentrate on reclaiming the championship titles.
Pascal Vasselon, Senior General Manager Chassis Panasonic Toyota Racing: Given our grid positions today we had to do a one-stop strategy which of course was very demanding for the tyres. But the Bridgestones were fine, without any unexpected degradation or blistering and were fine even for the demands of a one-stop race.
Kimi Raikkonen was the leading Michelin runner in today's Italian Grand Prix at Monza. The Finn held the early advantage after starting from pole position, but dropped behind Michael Schumacher during the first round of stops and eventually finished a strong second.
World championship leader Fernando Alonso was on course to finish third after fighting his way through from 10th on the grid, but a late-race engine failure forced him to retire. He continues to lead the world championship and holds a two-point advantage over Schumacher. Rookie Robert Kubica put in a stunning drive in only his third F1 grand prix and completed the podium finishers. Giancarlo Fisichella, Jenson Button, Rubens Barrichello and Nick Heidfeld also scored points on Michelin tyres.
Nick Shorrock, Michelin F1 director: "After today's result it looks ever more certain that the world title battle will go all the way to the wire. It is always disappointing not to win, but we produced a good range of tyres this weekend a mixture of hard, soft and medium compounds and all of them worked very well.
"Kimi Raikkonen clearly did a very good job and I thought Robert Kubica put in a stunning performance in only his third grand prix, particularly when it became clear how much fuel he had on board at the start. It's a pity that circumstances prevented Renault making its usual push for victory, but Fernando Alonso was very quick and made significant progress on a day when overtaking clearly wasn't easy.
"It has been a day of mixed fortunes, but six Michelin drivers scored points and overall I'm very satisfied with our performance this weekend. Technically we have taken a step forward since Istanbul and that gives us an excellent platform for the final three races of the season."
Martin Whitmarsh, CEO F1, Team McLaren Mercedes: "Obviously we come to races with our eyes on victory, so we feel a tinge of disappointment. We had a good race against Michael Schumacher but ultimately traffic prevented us being able to compete. We had a great tyre during qualifying and it ran very well throughout the race. We will now work with Michelin to develop products for the final three races and I'm sure we'll be competitive in all of them."
Dr Mario Theissen, BMW motorsport director: "We have had a very competitive package this weekend, both inlow-fuel qualifying trim and with racing fuel loads on board. Tyres clearly played a very important role in that package and ours were very good this weekend. I'd like to extend my thanks to Michelin."
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