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2009 ING Belgian Grand Prix

Team Quotes - Sunday 30 August

McLaren
Martin Whitmarsh, Team principal, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes: "Heikki drove very strongly from 15th on the grid to sixth at the finish, optimising a one-stop strategy that necessitated comparatively heavy fuel loads, and nursing his tyres judiciously all afternoon. Lewis was tapped by another car at La Source, and was then slammed into the wall at Les Combes by yet another. But that's racing.

"On behalf of all at Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, I'd like to offer congratulations to Kimi Raikkonen and Ferrari on the occasion of their first win of the season, and also to Giancarlo Fisichella and Force India on a sensational second place - a refreshing result that is very healthy for Formula 1 in that it demonstrates that the smaller teams are capable of turning the tables on the bigger teams from time to time.

"Returning to the subject of our team, we'd hoped to be leaving Spa with more than three world championship points - but the reality is that, although our car has been much improved recently, it still isn't as fast as the quickest cars. But we'll analyse that, and we'll work on it, and we'll hope to do better at Monza in two weeks' time."

Norbert Haug, Vice-president, Mercedes-Benz Motorsport: "Both Lewis and Heikki lost places at the start, Lewis was hit in the first corner and then taken out in the third one in Les Combes. So Heikki's sixth place is the best we could get today and this is not too bad as Heikki started from 15th.

"Congratulations to Kimi - it must be a big relief for him having achieved his first win for 25 races and compliments to Ferrari for their first victory this season. Well done to Giancarlo for second place and to McLaren-Mercedes' customer team Force India, who showed today, from the start to the finish, that they were a real match for the winner."

Ferrari
First win of the season for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, courtesy of Kimi Raikkonen. This is the Finn's eighteenth career victory, the fourth at this track. For Ferrari, it is win number 210 from 788 Grands Prix starts, the sixteenth at this race. Luca Badoer finished in fourteenth place.

Stefano Domenicali: We are very happy with this win, which is a reward for all the hard work that the entire team has done during such a difficult and at the same time, dramatic season. I wish to dedicate it first and foremost to President Montezemolo, who celebrates his birthday tomorrow. I don't think he could have asked for a better present. Thanks go to our partners, first and foremost Philip Morris and Shell, who have always stood shoulder to shoulder with us, as have our fans, with their unfailing support. A thought also goes to Felipe who kept in touch from Miami, where tomorrow he undergoes a medical check. Kimi drove an amazing race today: we knew the first lap would be decisive and so it proved. He drove impeccably all race long and the team was at its very best during the two pit stops. In the last four races, we have always got one driver onto the podium and we have picked up a fair haul of points at the highest level, even in unusual circumstances. Today, Luca did the best he could and this win also reflects his contribution within the team: now we will take a few days to evaluate his immediate future, also based on what Felipe's recovery time might be. Now we look to Monza, our home race, where we will do all in our power to continue down this road, even if we know it will be very difficult.

Chris Dyer: A fantastic result for the team and for Kimi. After qualifying, we knew that we could have a good race if we got a good start. Kimi was fantastic, both on the first lap and then at the restart after the race was neutralised and he managed to take the lead. Fisichella was always right behind him and congratulations also to him for his performance. He and Kimi always pitted together and our guys managed on both occasions to send our driver out on track ahead of his closest rival. In the middle stint, we used the harder tyre but, with hindsight, we might have done better to pick the softer one: not only could we not open the gap over Giancarlo but we then had Vettel closing us down. Fortunately, at the second stop, the positions remained unchanged and Kimi did a good job of managing the situation in the closing laps. Today, the F60 was not the best car, but the team work and the talent of the driver produced the win and that's what counts.

BMW Sauber
The BMW Sauber F1 Team walks away from Spa with a further nine championship points in its pocket. This is exactly the total the team has collected in all the previous eleven races this year. While Robert Kubica improved from fifth on the grid to fourth in the Belgian Grand Prix, his team mate, Nick Heidfeld, was not so happy as he started third and finished fifth in the race. The team had the pace to record the second and third fastest laps in the race.

Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director): "After our best qualifying this was also the best race result of the season. With fourth and fifth we were the only team that managed to get both cars into the top eight, and we scored nine championship points. Nick lost the chance of a podium position on the thrilling first lap. Robert damaged his front wing right at the beginning, but was able to continue. A big compliment to the whole team for this strong performance."

Willy Rampf (Head of Engineering): "We were all very excited before the start because we expected some action. And this happened exactly as expected. Unfortunately, Nick lost the advantage of his strong starting position in the chicane after the Kemmel straight. After this incident he was able to maintain a very good pace and he finally clinched fifth. Robert had contact with another car right at the beginning and lost part of his front wing. We checked the aero data and decided it would not make sense to bring him into the pits, which turned out to be the right decision. Today's result is the reward for all our hard work during recent weeks."

Renault
It was a frustrating afternoon for the ING Renault F1 Team as both Fernando Alonso and Romain Grosjean retired from the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps. The team's attention now turns to the Italian Grand Prix at Monza in two weeks time.

Flavio Briatore, Managing Director: "Today we took the decision of retiring Fernando's car although he was very competitive in the first part of the race. It's frustrating also that Romain's race came to an end so quickly. Let's turn the page and move on and concentrate on Monza in two weeks time."

Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering: "Romain's race was unfortunately very short as he was hit by Button on the first lap, which is a pity because this race would have been a valuable part of his learning experience. Fernando's race was ultimately ended by damage sustained also on the first lap. This resulted in a problem at the pit stop and for safety reasons we decided to retire the car."

Remi Taffin, Head of Engine Operations: "Unfortunately for us the weekend has ended in disappointment. On the engine side the weekend has gone very well and we haven't encountered any problems. We always come to Spa well prepared as it is a circuit that presents a lot of challenges. It is the type of track that we simulated over the winter on the test banks and we proved that we had done a good job. Therefore we can now face Monza with the same engines that have performed perfectly here."

Toyota
Panasonic Toyota Racing's bid for a return to the podium in the Belgium Grand Prix came unstuck at the first corner of the race at Spa-Francorchamps today. After a brilliant qualifying, Jarno Trulli lined up second with Timo Glock seventh and the team was a genuine contender for honours. But as Jarno exited the first corner, his front wing was damaged in contact with the rear of Nick Heidfeld's car, forcing him to pit for a replacement. Timo, who also started on the medium compound Bridgestone Potenza tyre, made up places and ended the first lap fourth, with the safety car on track following a midfield accident. The safety car closed up the field and meant Jarno rejoined at the back while Timo kept up the fight in the top six. He changed to soft tyres at his first pit stop but lost time when the team had to switch to the back-up fuel rig and rejoined facing a battle for points. Jarno made his second stop to also take on soft tyres but a lap later his race ended early due to a brake problem. After his final pit stop, for more soft rubber, Timo rejoined in a battle for points but ultimately missed out.

Tadashi Yamashina - Team Principal: "Unfortunately we couldn't make the most of the car today, despite having such a promising grid position. I am sorry for our supporters because everyone was expecting a much better result. Jarno's race was decided on the first lap and Timo had a problem with the fuel rig which prevented him scoring points. So it was a very frustrating day for us, particularly because the car is competitive and we achieved our target of a significant improvement in qualifying. We will work at the factory to solve the fuel rig issue and get more out of the car for the Italian Grand Prix."

Toro Rosso
Franz Tost: Jaime's race was over at the second corner due to a collision with Hamilton. Sebastien had a good start, lying eleventh on lap 2 and had a good first stint. In the second part of the race, he got stuck behind Kovalainen and we decided to bring him in early for the second stop, but by then the race had got away from us. It proves yet again that it's important to qualify well to get a good race result.

Red Bull
Christian Horner, Team Principal: A very strong race by Sebastian today. As soon as he got into clear air, he used the advantage that he had in the middle sector and really closed the gap to the leaders during the second and third stints. Third was a good result for him. Mark had a good start and a good first lap and was unlucky with his drive-through penalty – it was obviously marginal – and he was unlucky to miss out on the final point. Overall we've slightly reduced the gap in the Constructors' Championship and we've reduced the gap in the Drivers' Championship, so a reasonable weekend. Congratulations to Ferrari and also to Force India on a great drive by Fisichella.

Fabrice Lom, Renault, Principal Engineer Track Support: A difficult race. We started quite far down the grid, but both drivers had good starts. Sebastian made up some places and was very quick in the second-half of the race, getting the fastest lap time. He ended third, which was good, even if it was lower than we expected coming here. For Mark, his race was over with the drive-through penalty, which was unfortunate. We are happy to have made it through this race which is hard on the engines, but we still have five more races to go, so we can't be happy until the last one is complete. Monza will be tough again.

WilliamsF1

Force India
Giancarlo Fisichella has finished a nail-biting Belgian Grand Prix in second position - just one second from first place - marking the Force India Formula One Team's first-ever World Championship points. The eight points now bring Force India to ninth position in the constructors' championship and Giancarlo to 14th in the drivers'.

Giancarlo started from pole position, making an excellent start to lead the field through the first hairpin turn and round the first lap. An accident further down the field called for a safety car to be deployed and, despite strong defence on the restart he was unable to hold off the KERS-equipped Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen. Giancarlo then matched Kimi's lap times lap after lap until they pitted on exactly the same lap (lap 14). Rejoining just metres from Kimi, Giancarlo continued to shadow the Ferrari until his second stop, which again came on the same lap (lap 31). Giancarlo was generally quicker than the Ferrari but Kimi's use of KERS kept him ahead, leaving Giancarlo just 0.939secs away from scoring an unprecedented win.

Adrian Sutil had started from 11th position but was unfortunately a victim of a start line accident that cost him his front wing. The German was forced to pit and rejoined far down the field. A strategy adjustment to a one-stopper gave him opportunity to move to 9th position, pulling off some spectacular overtaking maneouvres in the process. He again finished a strong race within sight of the points in 11th position.

Dr Vijay Mallya, chairman and team principal: What a result. I am so proud of this race, which will ultimately go down in the history books as India's first-ever World Championship points. It's been a fantastic Saturday, fantastic race and to get our first podium and championship points is just unbelievable. We've worked so very hard to get this with a solid plan of upgrades coming through on the factory. Giancarlo drove a truly outstanding race. We can all be so proud of the entire effort.

Brawn GP
An eventful Belgian Grand Prix for Brawn GP saw Rubens Barrichello finish in seventh position at the end of the 44-lap race to score two points for the team's championship challenge, with team-mate Jenson Button retiring from the race on the first lap.

Rubens had a slow getaway from fourth place on the grid due to a clutch problem which dropped him back into the field. The team therefore took advantage of the safety car on the first lap to bring Rubens into the pits and change his strategy. He then drove a determined race to charge through the field and be challenging Heikki Kovalainen for sixth position before an oil leak just two laps from the end put paid to his battle, requiring Rubens to back off and manage the pace to guide the car home.

Jenson had a good start progressing up to 11th position before the rear wheel of his car was struck from behind by Romain Grosjean at turn five on the first lap, an incident which took out four cars and brought out the safety car, ending Jenson's race.

Ross Brawn: "It was a very disappointing race for us today when there was potential for more. Rubens' car went into anti-stall at the start which left him stranded on the grid which was very frustrating for the whole team. It was a technical problem on the car and we have to get on top of that quickly as it has caught us out too many times this season. When the safety car came out, we took advantage to switch Rubens onto what was effectively a one-stop strategy and he drove extremely well from there. His car had an oil leak with two laps to go therefore we asked him to back off from chasing Heikki Kovalainen and manage the car to the end of the race. Jenson had a really good start from 14th and gained a few places before he was hit from behind at turn five which ended his race. There are important lessons which we can take from this weekend and some hard work to be done back at the factory before the final five races of the season."

Bridgestone
Kimi Raikkonen used a soft - medium - soft tyre strategy to score his first race win of the season after a thrilling and tactical Belgian Grand Prix at Spa Francorchamps.

Raikkonen finished less than a second ahead of pole-sitter Giancarlo Fisichella who achieved Force India's best ever result with second, using a soft-soft-medium tyre strategy. Sebastian Vettel used a medium-medium-soft tyre strategy to finish third.

Hiroshi Yasukawa - Director of Bridgestone Motorsport: "Congratulations to Kimi Raikkonen and Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro for taking their first win of the year. Congratulations also to Giancarlo Fisichella and Force India for their fine second place. Today we saw a very exciting race, where Bridgestone's tyres provided a vital ingredient. This is the home race for Bridgestone Europe, which is based in Brussels, so it is very good to have such a fine display from this wonderful sport for us here at the track, and for so many television viewers around the world."

Hirohide Hamashima - Bridgestone Director of Motorsport Tyre Development: "This has been a very interesting weekend from a tyre perspective, and this has provided a very exciting race. The medium and soft Bridgestone tyres were quite evenly matched for overall performance, and each podium finisher used a different strategy to achieve their result. Which tyre was best for which team depended on car characteristics, set-up and driver preference so we saw a good range of strategy choices. We did see some very small blisters today for the first time this season, so we can say that the tyres were worked hard at this track. We will use the same tyre allocation at Monza, so it will be interesting to see how the teams translate what they have learnt here to the next race."

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