|
2008 Santander British Grand Prix
Team Quotes - Sunday 6 July
Only five points for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro in the British Grand Prix, thanks to a fourth place for Kimi Raikkonen, while Felipe Massa was classified thirteenth. The turning point in the race was the decision not to change tyres at the first pit stop. Kimi was particularly penalized by this, having followed Hamilton into the pit lane, but thereafter being unable to post competitive lap times up to the point when he made his second and final stop nine laps later, fitting a set of new tyres. Felipe was struggling with a lack of grip on his car right from the start and he too paid a heavy price for the decision not to change tyres at the first stop. This result sees Felipe and Kimi both equal on points with Hamilton in the lead of the Drivers' classification, while the Scuderia continues to head the Constructors' Championship.
Stefano Domenicali: A Sunday to forget as quickly as possible in terms of the result, although we must remember certain elements of this weekend, as there were mistakes made that we cannot afford to repeat. We could have won this race with Kimi but we made a key mistake at the first pit stop, choosing to stay on the same set of tyres. The rain did not ease off and lasted longer and our drivers – Felipe had also gone for the same choice – found themselves in difficulty. With hindsight it's easy to say we should have changed tyres, but Formula 1 is not an exact science: sometimes strategic choices pay off and sometimes they don't. All the same, we have to admit that, this weekend, we did not operate to our usual standard. We made mistakes at every level and even our performance did not match our expectations and now we have to work out why, but calmly without panicking. We have reached the mid-point of the season: both our drivers are on equal points in the lead with one other driver in the Drivers' classification and we head the Constructors' Championship. We have lost a few opportunities to pick up a greater number of points, but we always knew this would be a very closely contested championship. Now we will concentrate on the coming rounds and will try and do better.
Luca Baldisserri: We are very disappointed with the way things went today. Kimi was having a great race and he had every chance of fighting for the win, but we made a wrong choice at the first stop. We had banked on the weather getting better and it didn't and in fact the rain actually intensified for a while, which put our drivers in great difficulty. Clearly, looking back, one could say we should not have made this decision, but it was not just a shot in the dark, as seen from the fact that we were not the only ones to make this choice out of all the drivers who stopped around this time. Felipe was struggling right from the start because of a lack of grip and his race was immediately compromised, and then it is very difficult to drive in these conditions in the middle of the pack. We are all very disappointed because once again, we have lost valuable points. Now we have to stay concentrated and must work even harder to improver our performance and to make sure we don't make any more of these mistakes.
After a flawless drive and numerous good overtaking manoeuvres Nick Heidfeld took second place for the BMW Sauber F1 Team in what was a wet and fairly chaotic British Grand Prix. This was his third runner-up spot of the season, and the team's seventh podium. While everything, including the right tyre choice at each pit stop, paid off for Heidfeld, his team mate Robert Kubica slid off the slippery track after his second pit stop.
Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director): It was a very dramatic race which was dictated by the weather conditions. In some periods of the race the lap times varied by as much as ten seconds depending on the tyre choice. With Nick our strategy worked out perfectly. He performed very strongly and carried out some spectacular overtaking manoeuvres. After things have not gone his way recently, I am very happy for him he climbed from fifth on the grid to second with a good mixture of intelligent racing and fighting spirit. For him it is the third second place so far this year, and for our team the seventh podium. Robert was doing well, having climbed up to third, but then went off during a rain shower. Compliments to him as well as it was a strong team performance under these difficult conditions.
Willy Rampf (Technical Director): That was a tyre lottery, as there was a permanent question over which ones we should use. The critical period was when the drivers were fighting very hard to keep the cars on track after the heavy rain. Nick managed to do this very well. Unfortunately Robert was aquaplaning and went off. Nick deserved his place on the podium as he drove a very smart race. Congratulations on a great performance and compliments to the pit stop crew, because we made the tyre choice decisions at very short notice.
It was a British Grand Prix of mixed fortunes for the ING Renault F1 Team as Fernando Alonso finished in sixth, while team-mate Nelson Piquet retired from the race.
Conditions at Silverstone were wet throughout the day with frequent rain showers hitting the Northamptonshire circuit. Both Fernando Alonso and Nelson Piquet started the race on wet weather tyres and ran strongly towards the front in the opening stint of the race.
At the first round of pit stops, Fernando opted to keep his wet weather tyres on lap 20, while Nelson took a new set of wet weather tyres a couple of laps later. Ultimately the latter decision proved more fruitful because Fernando lost pace on his older tyres and pitted for a fresh set of wets on lap 26.
A heavy rain shower a few laps later caused confusion with spins all the way down the field. It was this that saw Nelson aquaplane off the circuit at Abbey. Fernando survived the shower, but as the race unfolded his pace became less competitive and he slipped to sixth at the flag, securing three points for the team.
The team's attention now turns to the German Grand Prix and the test that will take place in Hockenheim next week.
Flavio Briatore, Managing Director ING Renault F1 Team: Once again it was a race the looked promising, but we were not able to make the most of our chances. The first part of the race showed that Fernando and Nelson were very competitive and we must make sure that we build upon this potential in the second part of the season.
Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering: Our pace at the start of the race seemed reasonable, but it was obviously a mistake to leave the tyres on Fernando's car at the first stop. Later in the race we were clearly uncompetitive and we need to find the reason why.
Predictably extreme weather conditions promoted one of the most eventful races of the season today at round nine of the Championship, the British Grand Prix. Kazuki Nakajima drove his FW30 through the challenging conditions to a points-paying eighth place finish for AT&T Williams at the team's home Grand Prix. Despite starting from the pitlane and an unscheduled stop for a new nose following an incident prompted by the wet track, Nico Rosberg climbed his way through the field to finish the race in P9, just outside the points.
Sam Michael, Technical Director: It was a mixed race for us, really. After a difficult first part, the pitwall made some good calls on the tyres in the changing weather conditions, which enabled us to progress up the field in the middle of the race, certainly enough to get both cars into the points. Unfortunately, we only managed to get one car into the points, so at the end of a difficult weekend, we will now look to the next race to a better job than here.
Christian Horner: A hugely disappointing day. Mark unfortunately spun on the first lap, but thereafter had very good pace. At his first stop we opted for him to stay on the same set of intermediates, as the rain had not yet arrived, and then fuelled him to the finish at the next downpour. Unfortunately a further spin left him outside of the points today. For David, not much to say, he went for a gap that closed on him, which finished his race prematurely. All in all, a lost opportunity.
Fabrice Lom, Renault Principal Engineer, Track Support: We are very sad that we didn't put into points the performance that we showed yesterday. Mark did a great qualifying performance and had good pace in the race, but today wasn't our day. We'll have to wait until next time.
Tadashi Yamashina - Team Principal: "Jarno showed excellent spirit again today and came away with a good result given his grid position. He stayed out in very difficult conditions on the standard wet tyre and he kept the car on the track doing good lap times. It was very important for him to score points because we have struggled in the past in this type of race. Today we stayed out on the standard wet tyre rather than switch to extreme wets because we felt the weather was going to improve. That choice worked out reasonably well in the end. We must still analyse how to make the best use of the tyres in changing conditions but you have to make an instant decision. Timo struggled to keep the car on the track when it was at its wettest but Jarno's settings were better for these conditions. The pit crew also did a great job for the whole of practice, qualifying and the race. This result moves us up to 4th in the constructors' championship but we are still looking to make further ground. Next we head to Hockenheim, where we have a major new aerodynamics package so we are expecting a good result."
Franz Tost: Both drivers had bad starts, losing places from their grid positions, obtained in a very good qualifying session yesterday. Vettel didn't even complete one lap after being clipped by Coulthard and ending up in the gravel. Bourdais survived a spin and we made the right decision to switch to full wets to bring him home eleventh, even if he could have finished a bit higher. We have reached the mid point of the season and we can approach the second half with confidence, having seen our pace here in qualifying. I am convinced that, in the right circumstances, we can put ourselves in the points scoring positions.
Rubens Barrichello delivered a podium finish for his Honda Racing F1 Team today after a brilliant drive in the dramatic British Grand Prix was rewarded with third place - the 62nd podium of his Formula One career and his first for the Honda team.
The 60-lap race was wet throughout, however the amount of water on the track varied significantly and some excellent strategy calls helped to propel Rubens up the order from his 16th position on the grid. At one point, after fitting extreme wet tyres, he was the fastest driver on the track and he even overtook eventual race winner Lewis Hamilton, before settling for third place.
No rain was falling as the cars lined up on the grid, but with a damp track Rubens and Jenson started on the Bridgestone Potenza wet tyre. Both had excellent starts with Rubens making up six places on the opening lap, and Jenson five, and from there the foundations of their races were laid.
The two Honda RA108s ran nose-to-tail for much of the opening stint of the race, before Rubens pitted for new wet tyres on lap 24 and Jenson on lap 25. Heavy rain began to fall at half distance and a quick decision was made to bring in both cars on lap 35 for extreme wet tyres. A problem with the refuelling rig at Rubens' stop delayed both drivers, however the Brazilian still had to make a third stop on lap 46, by which time he had climbed up to second place. The stop dropped him to third place, and despite this he crossed the line just 13 seconds behind the second placed car.
Jenson meanwhile had a snap of oversteer on lap 38 when he hit standing water in the middle of Bridge and went off the circuit, bringing his home race to a premature end.
A dramatic race in changing conditions has brought Rubens' first podium for Honda. You must be very pleased?
Ross Brawn, Team Principal: "We are delighted with the result from today's race and Rubens' first podium for Honda is very well deserved. He did a magnificent job out there, providing great information to help put together exactly the right tyre calls and strategy today. Without the fuel rig problem that we had at the second pit stops, he would certainly have finished one position higher in second place. We were aware that rain was forecast for today, and we had compromised our qualifying settings yesterday to be better prepared for the wet conditions, a decision which fully paid off in the race."
What does this result mean for the team?
RB: "Scoring our first podium of the season is a huge boost for the morale of the entire team, everyone here at the track today and all the people who work so hard back at the factory. It is doubly rewarding to have achieved this result at our home race, so close to both of our UK facilities at Brackley and Bracknell. Additionally, we have secured six extremely valuable points which opens up the potential to chase for sixth place in the Constructors' Championship over the rest of the season."
Heavy rain showers, wet track conditions and standing water all contributed to an extraordinary British Grand Prix today at Silverstone, with just 13 finishers and only three cars finishing on the lead lap. Unfortunately, however, the very same conditions also conspired to bring the Force India Formula One Team's race to a disappointing double retirement.
Adrian Sutil and Giancarlo Fisichella both raced competitively in the first half of the race, but spins into the gravel trap on laps 11 and 27 respectively put an end to the duo's challenge.
Adrian, who started 19th, was up to 11th position in the opening stages and racing with Bourdais and Button until he aquaplaned on a puddle of standing water coming down the Club straight and went off into the gravel.
Giancarlo climbed into the top 15 from his 20th slot on the grid, however moving off line through the Becketts complex to let a lapping car through caused a lack of traction and grip on the ice-like surface and he too went into the gravel.
The team will now regroup with a further three-day test next week at Hockenheim in advance of the German Grand Prix in two weeks time. Adrian will test the first two days, with Giancarlo finishing the test on Thursday.
Mike Gascoyne, chief technical officer: 'A very disappointing end to the weekend. It is important in these sort of conditions to get cars to the end and pick up whatever places are available but unfortunately both drivers got caught out by the conditions. On a positive note though, our pace certainly seems better with the modifications we made and we have some further updates for Hockenheim, so we need to move forward and have a better weekend there.'
Dr Vijay Mallya, chairman and managing director: 'What a race today. It is the first time in many years that the winner - a very deserving Lewis Hamilton - lapped all up to third position. It is also astonishing that a car that qualified just two tenths away from us has finished on the podium. If we had finished then who knows what would have been possible? Of course we didn't, but the conditions were extremely difficult and, as we saw, most drivers experienced some sort of problem. We should not dwell on this too much though, but rather move on to the next test in just two days' time and then the German Grand Prix, where I am sure Adrian will want to put on a good show in front of his home crowd.'
Vodafone McLaren Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton won the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, the first of the team's two home races. After an eventful race over 60 laps (308.355 kms) in changeable weather conditions, he lapped all but two drivers and came home 68.5sec ahead of Nick Heidfeld (BMW Sauber) in second place. Lewis's team mate Heikki Kovalainen, who had started from his first ever Formula 1 pole position, ended up fifth. Both drivers were on two-stop strategies. Lewis came in on laps 21 (8.0sec) and 38 (7.3sec); Heikki pitted on laps 19 (7.9sec) and 34 (6.6sec). Halfway through the championship, after nine out of 18 Grands Prix, Lewis is back in the lead with 48 points; he is tied on points with Ferrari drivers Felipe Massa and Kimi Räikkönen. Heikki is sixth overall with 24 points. In the Constructors' Championship, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes is third with 72 points; Ferrari leads with 96 points. It was Lewis's third win of the season, the seventh in his 26 F1 races so far, the 55th of the McLaren Mercedes partnership and McLaren's 159th grand prix victory.
Ron Dennis: "To win your home grand prix is always special, and so today is indeed a special day for Lewis. It's also a special day for all at Vodafone McLaren Mercedes. But above all it was a magnificent grand prix, full of drama, and it was won by a man who mastered the treacherous conditions faultlessly. Lewis's was one of those drives that will live in the memory for a long time - but it should be remembered that, fabulous though Lewis's performance was, it was also the result of brilliant teamwork by our engineers and mechanics. As for Heikki, he qualified superbly yesterday and clearly showed that he too is truly world-class. He shouldn't feel too disappointed today because he demonstrated once again that his racing skills are beyond question. His time will come."
Norbert Haug: "Lewis managed a superb and most impressive win and over the 60 laps, he was on average more than one second per lap faster then Nick Heidfeld in second place and he lapped all drivers behind third place. We are back in the title fight and that's great! Unfortunately Heikki suffered from understeering throughout the longest part of the race. It's a pity because he had a very good set-up in qualifying which helped him to achieve his first Formula 1 career pole position. Lewis is back in the lead with 48 points; he is tied on points with Felipe Massa and Kimi Räikkönen. We are now focusing on our second home Grand Prix in Hockenheim in two weeks' time. Please come there to the Mercedes grandstand and watch Lewis and Heikki there will be a first class programme for all the visitors behind the grandstand. To all team mates my sincere thanks for achieving this result today - let's try to do the same at Hockenheim when our next home Grand Prix takes place."
Lewis Hamilton has won the ninth round of the FIA Formula One World Championship from fourth on the grid after using Bridgestone's wet weather Potenza tyres in the difficult and variable conditions of the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.
Hamilton won his home event by over a minute from BMW Sauber F1 Team driver Nick Heidfeld, who also used only Bridgestone's wet weather tyres during the race. Rubens Barrichello made his 62nd appearance on the podium by finishing in third position, making use of the extreme wet tyres as well as the wets during the race.
Finishing in fourth place was Kimi Raikkonen whilst pole-sitter Heikki Kovalainen finished fifth and Fernando Alonso finished in sixth. Jarno Trulli finished in seventh, overtaking eighth finishing Kazuki Nakajima on the final lap.
Only the top three drivers finished on the lead lap after a very eventful race. Rain was a frequent factor meaning that track conditions changed lap by lap. Most of the drivers were caught out at least once during the course of the race and spins were numerous. Neither compound of Bridgestone's dry grooved tyres was used today.
Many different tyre strategies were employed during the race, and the fastest lap, a 1min 32.150 secs, was set by Raikkonen on lap 18. Leaving Silverstone, Hamilton leads the drivers' championship, although Raikkonen and Massa are both tied with him on 48 points. Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro lead the constructors' championship with 96 points, ahead of the BMW Sauber F1 Team on 82. Vodafone McLaren Mercedes are in third place on 72.
Formula One teams will be testing next week at Hockenheim on July 8-10, using the hard and medium compound Potenza tyres. The next Grand Prix is the Santander German Grand Prix, at Hockenheim, on July 18-20 where Bridgestone's hard and medium compound Potenza tyres will be also be used.
Hirohide Hamashima - Director of Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development: I am very happy with the good performance we saw from both of our wet tyres today, and the data and feedback we have gained will help us develop our next generation of wet weather tyres for Formula One, and ultimately for our road tyres too. The variable weather conditions were very valuable to us for this data collection, and also helped to provide a very enjoyable race for spectators. Congratulations to Lewis for winning his home grand prix. This win came from correct tyre choice and car set-up, as well as patience in the cockpit. This was a very eventful race and there were many good performances from drivers. We now have three drivers on the same points as we enter the second half of the year. The racing season starts now!
|
