29/05/2005
NEWS STORY
After an action-filled European Grand Prix, David Coulthard finished in fourth position today. Starting from 12th on the grid, the 13 time Grand Prix winner capitalised on a first-corner incident, when Mark Webber retired after entering the turn with too much speed. Moving up to fourth overall, David demonstrated competitive pace and led the race for two laps, before a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pit lane dropped him back to fifth. The result claimed five more points for the team and increased its 2005 total to 19, after seven races. Tonio Liuzzi made an excellent start from 14th on the grid and charged through the field to provisionally hold sixth overall. He delivered some impressive lap times, before crossing the line in ninth position, narrowly missing out on a points finish.
David Coulthard: I was very happy with the start of the race. I'd said to the team beforehand that I was planning to stay on the inside on the first corner, as we've seen incidents there in previous years. We had a very good first sector and were competitive. I was disappointed that I made a mistake trying to get out in front of the Minardi in the pit lane. I came off the speed limiter fractionally early and picked up a penalty, which cost us a podium. But, we've got to be satisfied with what we've done here today and I'm happy with the result.
Tonio Liuzzi: I had some understeer from the beginning of the race, meaning I couldn't push as hard as I'd have liked. Some cars got past me and it was difficult to match their speed, which was a bit disappointing. I'd like to have scored some points here but, overall the team's had a good day, so I'm happy.
Christian Horner, Sporting Director: It was a fantastic race for us. We capitalised on the first lap incident on the first corner and David had the pace today. He was doing very good times and set a string of fastest overall laps towards the end of the race. It was a shame that the Minardi pulled out right in front of him in the pit lane, which distracted him and caused him to release the speed limiter button fractionally early. But, it's another fourth place for the team and a podium cannot be that far away. Tonio also did a good job and missed out on scoring a point, principally due to traffic on his out lap.
Günther Steiner, Technical Director: We had a little bit of luck at the start of the race, but all credit to David and Tonio. They both did a good job and kept out of trouble. I think it's a great result for the team. We had no technical problems with the cars and the drivers did they best they could.” Dave Prigg, Cosworth: “An unexpected, but fantastic result for David, although unfortunate he just missed out on a podium finish. It was an exciting race that saw a Cosworth powered car lead for the first time this season. Both engines did their job faultlessly once again and will continue onto Montreal, the final event for the TJ 10 series engine prior to the introduction of a significant performance upgrade at Indianapolis.