2011 Grand Prix of Europe
Driver Quotes - Sunday 26 June
Sebastian Vettel:
From the outside, I'm not sure if it seemed that much was happening in the race, but I enjoy it so much when it's between you and the car on every single lap. Of course, I had pressure from behind, especially as the strategy was a little bit different with Mark and Fernando - sometimes they were pitting earlier and sometimes later. I had a gap before the first pit-stop, but I came out very close to them, so again I had to push hard while judging the tyres and trying to imagine what the end of the stint might be like. You are trying to foresee the strategy, so every single lap it's between you and the car. I enjoy this track a lot, last year I had a very smooth weekend here and again this year too. It's fantastic, the team has done a phenomenal job preparing the car. Even though we come here every year and think it may be tricky for us, as there are no real fast corners, we managed to come here and have a faultless weekend. I'm obviously very happy with the result.
Mark Webber:
I think we should have finished second today. It was a good race with Fernando, I think it was my best race of the year to be honest until the last pit stop. It was quite close with all three of us (Fernando, Mark and Seb), obviously we were trying to go as fast as possible and manage the tyres at the same time. I was very happy with how the race was going until the last stop and it was my fault basically. I was worried about Fernando getting the undercut and it was not really known how the medium tyre would behave on the out lap, but it was a risk I decided to take. I lost out to Fernando, he drove a good race. We had a gearbox problem at the end, so we backed right off, but we had a massive gap to McLaren, so we could cruise to the end and look after the gearbox.
Lewis Hamilton:
"I got a poor start and lost out to both Ferraris. "After that, it was a long race - the team asked me to stay out for as long as I could, and I was pushing all the way, but I struggled with oversteer and to be honest didn't feel totally comfortable with the tyres.
"To be able to finish fourth is still a good result though - and 12 points is a decent haul after the last two races - so I can't really complain. However, in terms of performance, we weren't as quick today as we've been in the last three races.
"But I want to say a big thank-you to the team for some amazing pitstops today - we've really made some positive improvements in that area and it's really appreciated. So, thanks again, guys."
Jenson Button:
"I got a reasonable start, but the field bunched up into Turn Two and I was stuck on the outside, where I lost out to Nico [Rosberg]. I didn't have enough straightline speed to be able to overtake him easily, but I braked really late and got him into Turn Two, which I don't think he was expecting. That was the highlight of the race for me.
"I had decent race pace after that, and I pushed the Option tyres for as long as I could. Then halfway through the race I lost KERS Hybrid, which hurt me not only on corner exits but also under braking. So it wasn't a fun race, all told - but, given the way the car felt, it's a pleasant surprise to finish only eight seconds behind one of the Ferraris. "Nevertheless, we've got a bit of work to do before Silverstone."
Fernando Alonso:
I was determined to get on the podium. In my trophy collection, the only ones now missing are from the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and, naturally, India. I hope I can complete the collection by the end of the year! I was really pleased to taste champagne again, especially in front of this lovely crowd in Valencia, an amazing city where there is a great passion for racing. This result means a lot to me. It's hard to see the grandstands when you are driving, but I could feel there was great enthusiasm when I passed Webber. This is a positive result for the whole team, as it confirms we are working in the right direction. Today, the first hundred metres were not that great but I knew that starting on the dirty side would cost me something: then I was lucky enough to find there was still a gap on the outside and I managed to make up one place on my grid position. It was important to shake off the McLarens immediately, as they were slower than us today, which meant we concentrated on Webber and reached our objective. Then, when I was sure he was behind me, we tried to think about Vettel: you never know what can happen in Formula 1. The strategy paid off and sticking mainly with the Softs was the right choice. The Red Bulls are still significantly superior, but it was equally significant to stay close and stop them getting a one-two. We must continue like this, race after race. We know that, at Silverstone, it will be very tough because it is one of the tracks which best suits their car.
Felipe Massa:
It was a good race spent constantly fighting other drivers. I tried to get the most out of the Option tyres because we reckoned that with the Prime, our pace was not at its best. It was a shame about the problem at my second pit stop, when I lost those four or five seconds which cost me the chance of fighting Hamilton for fourth place. I think that, from what have seen in performance terms, today we should have got both our cars ahead of the McLarens, and we only half succeeded in that. I got a very good start, passing Hamilton and Fernando. Then, I also tried to attack Webber, but he closed the door on me and we almost touched, so Fernando got the chance to go round the outside and pass me back. I had a few problems with my second set of soft tyres, but with the next one, which was even more worn at the beginning, things went much better. In the end, even the Mediums were not so bad and I was able to do competitive times with them. Now we come to the Silverstone weekend. We will see if we will manage to confirm the progress that we have seen in the last three races. Also important will be what tyre choice Pirelli makes: clearly if they go for the Medium/Hard combination, it will be more difficult for us.
Michael Schumacher:
"Not a very satisfying race for me today. The outcome was decided after lap 15 when I slid into Petrov and lost the points I could perhaps have achieved. Our race pace should have allowed me to finish more or less where I started, but that is only speculation after the incident. I saw Petrov quite late, even though I was aware that he was coming, and tried to brake as late as possible and go round the corner with him. But when I wanted to draw back, I locked the front wheel and slipped into him, which was clearly my mistake. From then onwards, the race was done and I just had to drive the car over the finish line. We will now look ahead to Silverstone which is one of our home races."
Nico Rosberg:
"I'm happy with my seventh place today as that is the maximum that we could have achieved and we got everything out of the car. It was great to overtake Jenson at the start, and we made the right strategy choice to go for three stops. The introduction of DRS was a positive for the race here in Valencia, and we saw some nice overtaking moves. Now we need to keep pushing for our two home races to close the gap to the fastest teams. I'm sure the whole team will work very hard before Silverstone, and I look forward to racing in front of so many people from the team and their families."
Nick Heidfeld:
"What cost us a little bit today was our starts. I lost a position to Adrian (Sutil) and then had to fight hard not to lose more. I finished more or less where I had been for the majority of the race (behind Sutil). I managed to overtake him once but then he used DRS to get past me and unfortunately I was not able to attack any harder to get by him. It's still another point gained for the team, but I did not expect to finish behind one Force India and one Toro Rosso. Overall this weekend, we pushed hard but it just has not been possible to get the pace out of the car that we wanted at this track. We will remain optimistic, though because Silverstone is a track with a lot of high speed corners, and our car performs well in these conditions. We will also see how the new regulations affect our car, but I think it will have a positive impact for our team."
Vitaly Petrov:
"Of course I am disappointed with today's race. I was very surprised that the tyres did not last very well for us, as some of our competitors were able to do a two-stop race whereas we needed three. We know that our car's pace was not fantastic here and the race has strongly highlighted that we have work to do because we should finishing easily in the top ten. The incident with Schumacher did not cause a puncture. He seemed to exit the pits very quickly and did not seem to be able to stop his car coming into the first corner. Luckily, I saw him in my mirror but there was still some contact. We need to sit down now and carefully analyse where and why we are losing pace so we can have a better race at Silverstone."
Rubens Barrichello:
We did not have the car underneath us today. I really pushed myself to the limit though and I'm happy with what I delivered. The team have worked hard to bring lots of upgrades to the car so I'm sorry that we didn't do better. I do think that we should be pleased that we beat some better cars today.
Pastor Maldonado:
We had a slow start so I lost positions off the line. I then couldn't make the Prime tyre work for me in the first stint so I had to come in early to change them. The early stop forced us onto a three stop strategy. It was too difficult to make it work from where we were in the field though and I couldn't recover. We'll now move on to Silverstone where I will keep fighting to get some points.
Adrian Sutil:
"To finish ninth feels great and I'm pleased that we've managed to get the maximum from the car through the whole weekend. I made a good start: jumping ahead of Heidfeld and was then able to keep up with Schumacher in the first stint. I pushed hard but there was no opportunity to get by him. In the middle of the race I had some clear track, good race pace and we were up to P8. After the final stop, I came out behind Alguersuari, who was doing a two-stop race. I tried all I could to overtake him, but the DRS zone did not make overtaking very easy and I had to settle for P9. The car felt really nice to drive today and I'm really happy for the whole team with this result."
Paul di Resta:
"I'm not sure that we got the strategy quite right today. There were a couple of laps in the first stint where my tyres had gone off and we didn't stop early enough. We made up for that during the second stop, when I jumped Heidfeld and Barrichello, but I lost out again at my final stop. It's tough when the tyres go off because it costs you around two and a half seconds per lap, which is a lot when the fight in the middle of the pack is so close. Even without those issues it would have been tough to score points today because overtaking was more difficult that I thought it would be, even with the DRS zone. So it hasn't been the best of weekends, but I'll put that behind me and look forward to my home race at Silverstone."
Sergio Perez:
"In the beginning I had a very difficult time with the harder tyres, but also with the softer ones I had a lack of grip and later in the race I lost a lot of time due to blue flags. It was not an easy Grand Prix for a comeback and I'm happy I was able to race again. I gave a hundred percent, but I'm afraid this was the maximum we could get today. However, we will analyse how we can improve for the future, and I'm sure Silverstone will be better."
Sebastian Buemi:
"First of all, congratulations to Jaime who drove a very good race to bring home some valuable points for the team. I had a very good start, passing quite a few people and running at a strong pace in the early stages. However, as soon as I had degradation from my tyres, my lap times slowed and I was no longer able to pass other cars. Now, immediately after the race, I'm not sure why I was not quick enough, as after the first stint I could no longer match my team-mate's times, so we will have to look at the data. So, I am a bit disappointed, but we can sort it out and be ready to try again at Silverstone in two weeks time."
Jaime Alguersuari:
"I am very happy with this result, especially after I only qualified in eighteenth place. It definitely paid off to concentrate on race set-up. This was a fantastic race and I want to thank my mechanics who worked so hard after the problems we had with my car on Friday during Free Practice. So this result is a reward I am happy to give them. Even though I still struggle to get the best out of the tyres in qualifying, I feel I now have a much better understanding of how to use them in the race and that's definitely the best way round as the points are only given out after the race! We were able to run at a consistent pace all afternoon, which was the key to this result and it's the first time this season that I have had this feeling from the car and I am happy about that. Apart from working well with the tyres, I think the updates the team brought here were also a contributing factor, as they worked well and that partly explains why my pace was really good."
Heikki Kovalainen:
"For me that was a very good race. I'm happy that we seem to have regained the early season form after Monaco and Canada where I wasn't really feeling too comfortable in the car. Today the conditions were pretty hot out there but I felt good all afternoon - I've prepared myself physically for this sort of heat so it wasn't hard at all to push right to the end. I didn't have any issues and after we went to the three stop strategy I was able to keep up a good pace after each stop. We know where we have to improve the car to keep taking the fight to the teams ahead, and that will come in time, but this is a long-term plan and we are definitely on the right course."
Jarno Trulli:
"That was a good race for me. We tried a couple of different strategies to cover all our options and even though my second set was gone by the end I definitely enjoyed myself out there. This was always going to be a track where we knew we would have to keep pushing to get anything out of it, but it's satisfying for the team to get both cars to the end and be well clear of the cars behind us."
Narain Karthikeyan:
"As expected, the car was quite difficult to drive in the race because of the heat; the rear tyres were degrading a lot and we had the same braking problems as the whole weekend. At the beginning I was trying to keep with the pack, with Liuzzi and D'Ambrosio, but after seven laps I locked the front and after that I had a lonely race. I finished the race but there aren't many positives I can take away from it. Obviously our performance wasn't the best but the local support has been great and we were hoping for more here".
Tonio Liuzzi:
"It was a really difficult race for us because we were struggling with the rear tyres. We knew since Friday that it would be difficult because we were overheating the rear and this was wearing the tyres out even more and that is why we were forced to do a three stop strategy and, unfortunately, were unable to cope with the Virgins. In the first two stints we were fighting with them but then, because we stopped one more time than them, we were struggling to fight with them.
"We need to fight hard if we want to keep up with the pace of our competitors, we need to improve and work hard day and night. It's a shame because we were in front of our crowd, they have been fantastic with us but we need to push for the rest of the season.
"The weekend was really tough but beautiful because Valencia has been a fantastic city that has welcomed us really well. We had a beautiful week, it's a shame because we wanted to achieve a better result but now we are fighting for the future".
Timo Glock:
"Quite a positive weekend for us I think. Everything ran smoothly and I had no real problems during the three days. In the race itself I had a very good opening lap and I overtook both the Lotus cars and a Toro Rosso, although he got right back past me straight away. Once the DRS was enabled I couldn't keep Heikki and Jarno behind me and after that I just ran my own race. I was quite comfortable being able to run at a good pace although at the end we had a bit of a fuel pick-up problem and I had to save fuel. But in general I'm very happy with the weekend and I've retained my lap record here. It's a bit of a shame to have a good race and still finish 21st where you started, but with nobody having technical issues or first lap incidents, that's all you can do."
Jerome d'Ambrosio:
"I'm obviously much happier with today's race than with yesterday's qualifying result. Even though I lost quite a lot of time in the first stint when I was held up by Liuzzi, I had a good second stint and all this is great experience for me. The main thing for me right now is to improve on my Saturday performance, but overall I'm happy with my weekend and to have finished another race."
