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2008 Grosser Preis Santander von Deutschland
Team Quotes - Sunday 20 July
Nine the number of points picked up by Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro in the German Grand Prix, thanks to a third place finish for Felipe Massa and a sixth with Kimi Raikkonen. After the first ten races of the season, Felipe finds himself second in the Drivers' classification, with Kimi third, four and six points respectively off the leader. The Scuderia continues to head the Constructors' Championship. Next week, the F2008 will be on track at Jerez de la Frontera, for four days of testing: on the first of these, Luca Badoer will be at the wheel, followed by Kimi (two days) and finally Felipe.
Stefano Domenicali: "This was not a good day and there's no point denying it. Our rivals were stronger than us and we have to work out why, without however getting caught up in nebulous and superficial analysis. For the first time this season in a race, we did not have the pace we had expected to run at, with both Kimi and Felipe. We suffered constantly from a lack of grip and, in the final stages, Felipe's brakes were also overheating which complicated still further the management of his car. The Safety Car offered us the opportunity to give it another go and all things considered, I think we made the right choice in terms of strategy, but when your pace is inadequate, it is therefore difficult to get a good result. We have to work well over the coming days to react in the right manner to return to the level we were at just two races ago."
Luca Baldisserri: "This weekend, to be honest, we were not competitive enough to fight for the win. Again today, we did not have the speed to go up against our main rivals. When the Safety Car came out, we opted for a double pit stop and I think that was the right decisions. Then in the final stages of the race, Felipe did not have the right grip level and furthermore, he had problems with his brakes which first prevented him from attacking Piquet and then from adequately fighting off a closing Hamilton. We have to carefully study our situation to try and understand how to return to being as quick as we had been up to a short time ago."
Nick Heidfeld just missed a podium position at the German Grand Prix. The German BMW Sauber F1 Team driver, who started from 12th, set the fastest race lap and finished fourth. Meanwhile Robert Kubica wasn't able to gain any advantage from a safety car period halfway through the race. The Pole finished seventh, which was the same position he started from.
Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director): If you start from seventh and 12th on the grid and end up collecting seven points you can be very satisfied. Of course the safety car period influenced the race quite a lot. Due to that Robert lost his strong fourth place, whereas Nick profited from this. Neither of our drivers made any mistakes. On top of that Nick set the fastest lap, which makes me very happy for him. However, there is some work for us to do to get back to the front of the grid.
Willy Rampf (Technical Director): This was an exciting and thrilling race for our team! Robert made a good start and was able to move up to fourth in the first corners. He was able to consolidate this position, but in the safety car period his strategy meant we had to bring him in for a pit stop. Nick was on a higher fuel load and, therefore, could stay out. When the Safety Car came in again, Nick drove several very fast laps and was able to make up time on his direct competitors. In addition, the pit crew did a perfect job which enabled him to also overtake Heikki Kovalainen in the pits. Robert was struggling with the heavy car and warming up the prime tyres properly, so as a result was not in a position to set the best possible lap times anymore. We can be pleased we scored seven championship points today under difficult circumstances.
The ING Renault F1 Team came away with its best finish of the season today as a brilliant tactical drive saw Brazilian rookie Nelson Piquet take second place in the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim. Teammate Fernando Alonso endured an eventful race coming home in 11th place.
As the race got underway, both Fernando and Nelson had difficult starts, with Fernando dropping to the tale end of the top ten after a combative first stint. Nelson was fuelled heavy for a long first stint as the team adopted a one stop strategy and pitted just after half distance, shortly before the safety car was deployed on lap 36.
The majority of the field, including Fernando, headed for the pits to make their second stops under the safety car, while Nelson remained out on track, gaining track position and rising through the field. When the race resumed, Nelson's one stop strategy continued to play into the team's hands as he emerged in the lead of the race in the closing stages.
In an exciting climax to the race Nelson held strong at the front, but the pace of Lewis Hamilton's McLaren proved too much as he passed the Brazilian 7 laps from home. Nelson came home in 2nd, taking his first ever podium in Formula 1 and scoring 8 points for the team.
Attention now turns to the Hungarian Grand Prix and next week's test session in Jerez, where the team will look to carry this momentum into the next stage of the season.
Flavio Briatore, Managing Director ING Renault F1 Team: Nelson had an amazing race. He proved to be very fast towards the end of the race and was able to remain strong under enormous pressure. He was not able to hold off Hamilton who was much faster, but he was able to defend his second place strongly. I am delighted for him and for the team who really deserve this result.
Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering: Today we were lucky, but I still believe we made our own luck and our decision to go long with Nelson paid off as the safety car came out at the ideal moment! Nelson's driving after that was impeccable. He was under pressure and did everything we asked of him. I'd like to congratulate him and hope this is the start of a better time for him. While Nelson had some luck today, it totally deserted Fernando. He had a difficult race and none of the breaks went his way, but we know Fernando always gives his best. Today's race will make him even more determined for Hungary.
The AT&T Williams team had an unrewarding German Grand Prix at Hockenheim today, despite making modest improvements by the end of the race over its grid positions, but ultimately making insufficient progress to claim any points. Both drivers dropped time behind slower cars early on, but made some advances after a mid-race safety car period brought the field together. Nico rounded off the top ten and Kazuki finished the 67 laps in P15.
Sam Michael, Technical Director: It was an unrewarding race in terms of the results. With such a tight grid, it is very difficult to make progress once you are back in the pack regardless of strategy and obviously the safety car in the middle of race didn't really help matters, but that's just the way it is. We will now head back to the factory and prepare for the next race in Budapest.
Christian Horner: An extremely disappointing race. Both drivers didn't have a fantastic first lap and lost positions. Thereafter, our strategy was looking reasonable. The pace car came at a pretty bad time for us and we had to pit both cars due to Glock's accident. Mark unfortunately collected some debris, which damaged the oil cooler and caused engine oil loss. That resulted in us retiring his car. With David, after problems on the first lap, he was making progress through the field, but was compromised by the pace car and was then was hit by Barrichello, which meant the end of his afternoon.
Fabrice Lom, Renault Principal Engineer, Track Support: A very disappointing race with both cars out of the points and one retirement due to an oil leak. It was a bad day. Congratulations though to Nelson – it was a very good result for him.
Tadashi Yamashina - Team Principal: "For us the priority is that Timo is okay. At the moment it is too early to determine exactly what the cause of the incident was but of course we are investigating. He was doing a strong race and was looking set for another points finish so it was a real pity. Timo's accident brought out the safety car and that was a key point for Jarno, because he pitted and changed to prime tyres. He was not happy with the balance of the car after that and his pace suffered. Here as well we have to analyse more the reasons for this because, after the outstanding pace we showed earlier in the weekend, this was unexpected. It has been a difficult day but we must look forward and fight to have both cars in the points at the next race."
Franz Tost: Vettel's best race to date. He got a good start passing Webber, running consistent lap times to stay ahead of him. The guys did a fantastic job in the pit stop as it got us ahead of Alonso. He fought very well against Alonso, in an entertaining fight. The Safety Car worked against us, as it meant Piquet got ahead of us, having stopped before it. From then on, Vettel defended his position in a fantastic way and deserved this point in his home race. Bourdais also did a great job. Towards the end, he was closing the gap on Alonso and might even have passed him with a couple more laps. Well done to the whole team for a good day's work.
An eventful German Grand Prix ended in disappointment for the Honda Racing F1 Team after a series of incidents involving both drivers resulted in only Jenson Button taking the chequered flag in 17th position.
Both drivers made good starts, each gaining a position on the opening lap. Rubens went on to make another place on lap two, when he passed Nakajima for 16th. Jenson was fending off Coulthard's advances in the first stint of the race but on lap 14 he got the better of him into turn 2, demoting Jenson to 15th position.
Jenson made his first pitstop on lap 28, rejoining the race in 17th. Rubens followed him into the pits four laps later and rejoined just ahead of Button. Having switched from the option tyre to the prime, Jenson was struggling for grip and losing a lot of time and when the safety car came out the team brought him in to change back to the option. When the race re-started on lap 41 he was back in 18th place from where he was able to gain only one place and he finished the race one lap down.
Rubens was fighting hard in 15th but his race ended on lap 50 when he and Coulthard collided at turn 8, forcing the Honda driver into retirement.
Sum up the team's performance during the German Grand Prix weekend?
Ross Brawn, Team Principal: "Well unfortunately we weren't very quick today. At Jenson's first stop, when we put on his second set of tyres, we lost all performance, which was unexpected. We lost a lot of grip and started to fall down the field. So when the safety car came out following Glock's accident, we took the opportunity to change the tyres back to the options. We didn't struggle quite so badly with Rubens' car but he needed to push through the field because he had one more pitstop due. Unfortunately he collided with Coulthard and the resulting damage ended his race. So a disappointing outcome this weekend."
What can you do to improve for the next few races?
RB: "We have a four-day test in Jerez next week when we will be evaluating our new rear suspension, which we are optimistic about. We also have the latest update to our aero package, so I think those two elements combined should enable us to make a step forward in Hungary."
The 2008 German Grand Prix yielded another double finish for the Force India Formula One Team, with Giancarlo Fisichella crossing the line in 14th position and Adrian Sutil in 16th.
The 67 lap race was marked by a heavy crash from Toyota's Timo Glock, which led to the deployment of the safety car on lap 36 and dictated strategy from that point on. Adrian and Giancarlo had been running strongly until the safety car period, racing with eventual podium finisher Piquet, Nakajima and Barrichello. After the first round of stops Adrian was 17th and Giancarlo 19th, within striking distance of the group in front, but the safety car period turned the order on its head.
Force India will now briefly return to its HQ before a three-day test in Jerez next week from Wednesday 23 to Friday 25 July, where it will test its new quick shift gearbox.
Mike Gascoyne, chief technical officer: 'After a disappointing qualifying yesterday, once again we had a better race pace and performance. Obviously the strategy was dominated by the safety car and we were able to use it to gain some places. Adrian in the first part of the race had a better pace, but unfortunately the way the safety car period panned out meant he dropped behind Giancarlo but, even so, his pace was excellent throughout and he deserved more. Giancarlo struggled more with the balance but did it well to bring it home, but overall we did the best we could do with our car here today. Unfortunately Giancarlo was handed a 25 second penalty for We now we have to move on and look forward to the test next week where we will use the seamless shift gearbox and can look forward to another step in the races to come.
Dr Vijay Mallya, chairman and managing director: 'It was a tough race to call this time out as the safety car period came at a critical moment. For Giancarlo, it worked to his advantage, but unfortunately for Adrian it dropped him down the order. This is - as we always say - racing and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. What I am however clearly very pleased about is that we were racing other cars and staying with them, plus our reliability was very good. This clearly bodes well for the future, and if we succeed in testing and then introducing our new gearbox then we could finish in front of some people on merit.'
The second home Grand Prix victory in a fortnight and the second consecutive race win for Lewis Hamilton and Vodafone McLaren Mercedes. Lewis’s supreme win in the Santander German Grand Prix was the team’s first at Hockenheim in a decade, marking 10 years since Mika Häkkinen won in a McLaren-Mercedes MP4-13 in 1998. After 67 laps (308.9km), Lewis finished 5.5sec ahead of Nelson Piquet (Renault) and Felipe Massa (Ferrari). Heikki Kovalainen, whose race was disrupted by the Safety Car, finished fifth. Both Lewis and Heikki ran two-stop strategies, Lewis pitting on laps 18 (9.0sec) and 50 (6.6sec); Heikki pitted on lap 21 (9.2sec) and 38 (8.3sec). As the Formula 1 World Championship commences its second half, Lewis now leads the series with 58 points. He lies ahead of Ferrari drivers Felipe Massa (54 points) and Kimi Räikkönen (51). Heikki is sixth overall with 28 points. In the Constructors’ Championship, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes is third with 86 points; Ferrari leads with 105 points.
Ron Dennis: "Today's victory topped-off another magnificent weekend for the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team. I stress the word 'team' because our win was very much a team effort. The deployment of the Safety Car presented us with a difficult decision: should we or should we not bring Lewis in for a pitstop? We decided that, since he still had quite a lot of fuel on board, we would leave him out until lap 50. We'd expected the track to be cleared of debris a little faster than it was, which would have allowed the Safety Car to come in a bit earlier. As a result, Lewis was unable to rejoin the race in the lead. He responded majestically, however, and scored another fabulous win. Heikki was troubled by oversteer in his first stint, which we attempted to correct at his first pit stop, but he still struggled a little in his next stint. That being the case, he wasn't able to match Lewis's pace today. But it's the mark of both his professionalism and his sportsmanship that, aware of his situation relative to Lewis's, he made it relatively straightforward for Lewis to pass him. As I've said before, Heikki's time will come. In difficult circumstances he raced tremendously well today - his overtaking manoeuvre on Robert Kubica was just sensational - and once again he showed a winner's grit and determination. It's a joy to have two drivers who are not only super-competitive but also super-cooperative."
Norbert Haug: "A sensational victory for Lewis with some great overtaking - he was in a class of his own in the team’s second consecutive home Grand Prix. His speed was better than I had ever dreamed of. After we let him continue during the Safety Car period we saw two of the most exciting overtaking manoeuvres of the championship. I am really happy about this convincing win - thank-you Lewis. I also want to thank everybody in the team for doing a great job; not only in the garage but also to everybody on the marketing, press and organisational side. Finally, I want to thank all our friends and guests who enjoyed a fantastic day at the Mercedes grandstand where they all saw a lot of action and enjoyed the great atmosphere."
Lewis Hamilton has won the tenth round of the FIA Formula One World Championship from pole position after using a hard - hard - medium tyre strategy in an exciting and tension-filled German Grand Prix at Hockenheim.
Hamilton won the race at the same location where the 100th race win on Bridgestone Potenza tyres was achieved in 2006. He crossed the finish line 5.5 seconds ahead of ING Renault F1 Team driver Nelson Piquet, who made a single pit stop to change from Bridgestone's hard to medium compound tyre on way to his first Formula One podium finish. He was the only driver to make a single stop.
Felipe Massa finished in third position, using a hard – medium – hard tyre strategy, illustrating the diversity of tyre strategies possible in this race. Nick Heidfeld finished in fourth, ahead of Heikki Kovalainen. Sixth place went to Kimi Raikkonen, seventh was taken by Robert Kubica and the final point was taken by Sebastian Vettel.
Today's race had looked like it would be an easy race for Hamilton, who comfortably displayed superior pace. However, a safety car brought out by the high speed exit of Timo Glock meant that the field was bunched up, and Hamilton's advantage was extinguished. Following his final pit stop, Hamilton blasted past his opposition, using the medium compound Potenza tyre to his advantage. Piquet's second place came from taking full advantage of the safety car to complement his one stop strategy. Today's fastest race lap, a 1min 15.987secs, was set by Heidfeld, using the medium compound on lap 52.
Leaving Hockenheim, Hamilton now leads the drivers' championship with 58 points from Massa on 54. Raikkonen was in third place on 51. Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro lead the constructors' championship with 105 points, ahead of the BMW Sauber F1 Team on 89. Vodafone McLaren Mercedes are in third place with 86.
Formula One teams will be testing next week at Jerez on July 22-25, using the medium compound dry grooved Potenza tyres as well as two compounds of 2009 specification slick tyres. The next race is the Hungarian Grand Prix, at Budapest, on August 1-3 where Bridgestone's soft and super soft compound Potenza tyres will be used.
Hirohide Hamashima - Director of Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development: As predicted, today's race was very exciting in terms of tyre strategy, especially after the appearance of the safety car. Lewis Hamilton's McLaren Mercedes had a good pace advantage and he made the most of this to score his eighth grand prix win. Congratulations to Nelson Piquet for his performance, he demonstrated good maturity and also the durability and consistency of our tyres by only making one stop to take second. We saw many different strategies throughout the field and this was a vital ingredient to a thrilling race.
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