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Team Quotes - Sunday 28 May

SEASON INFORMATION
13/01/2018

2017 Grand Prix de Monaco

Team Quotes - Sunday 28 May

Mercedes GP

Valtteri came home in P4, behind Daniel Ricciardo, but ahead of Max Verstappen, after an intense battle with the Red Bulls in Monte Carlo. Lewis battled from P13 on the grid to claim seventh at the chequered flag.

Sebastian Vettel (129pt) leads the Drivers' Championship by 25 points from Lewis (104pt) in P2. Scuderia Ferrari (196pt) lead the Silver Arrows (179pt) by 17 points in the Constructors' Championship.

Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport: Ferrari dominated the race today and first of all we must congratulate them for that performance. But our job is to analyse what happened to us this weekend and then to understand it. Today was a day of damage limitation and the drivers did that as well as they possibly could have done. Valtteri drove a controlled and consistent race. He was unfortunate to lose P3 at the pit stops but, with two cars, Red Bull had the chance to pincer him and they made that work. We successfully covered Verstappen but then Riccardo was able to unleash some lap times that we just couldn't match. As for Lewis, he did a great job to take every opportunity that came his way and climb to P7, which was the maximum of our expectations for him today. There were also glimpses of competitive lap times during the later part of the race on the super soft tyre. But the reality is that we were in and out of the working window of the tyres this weekend and that made our performance too inconsistent overall. We have limited the damage and need to work hard to understand our weakness and come back much stronger in Montreal in two weeks' time.

James Allison, Technical Director: Both drivers did their utmost today to gather as many valuable points as possible for the championship ahead. But it is clear that this weekend we didn't give them the equipment necessary to do better. This has been a tough week for us and we now need to go back to the factory and make sure we do everything in our power to ensure it remains our weakest result of the year - and that we can return to form in Canada.

Red Bull

Christian Horner, Team Principal: "A very strong drive by Daniel Ricciardo in the grand prix, after feeling slightly frustrated yesterday things went his way today, getting on to the podium in third place. But what really made the race for him were his laps in free air around the pit stop. We'd elected to try for the undercut on (Valtteri) Bottas with Max and we were within a whisper of achieving that, which Valtterri covered. And that in turn gave Daniel free air which he used to great effect, and that was where he obtained the podium finish. Even after surviving a brush with the wall at the re-start after the safety car, he achieved everything possible today. To get both cars to the finish and a podium on merit is a very satisfactory result here in Monaco. The cars took another step forward here in Monaco and we thank the team at ExxonMobil for bringing an engine oil upgrade here for us, another incremental gain in performance, and we now look forward to Montreal. Our congratulations are with Ferrari on winning this grand prix again after 16 years."

Ferrari

Maurizio Arrivabene: Today's one-two is a great result for the entire team, on a track that highlights the qualities of the car and the person driving it. Both our drivers performed like champions. Starting from pole, Kimi led the race up until his pit stop, which took place on the planned lap. Seb stayed out for a few more laps to cover Ricciardo. Vettel's times were exceptional on Ultrasofts that had done a lot of laps, which confirms the quality of the Pirelli product. As for Kimi, unfortunately he lost a bit too much time behind a backmarker. The most important aspect of today is that all the hard work carried out by the guys at the track was rewarded, as was the fact that our car was so well conceived back in Maranello. Now, it's already time for us to think of the forthcoming Grand Prix in Canada.

Mattia Binotto: Today's result was built on the front row we secured yesterday in qualifying. It shows that the SF70H was well suited to all the conditions we encountered over the weekend at a circuit that requires maximum aerodynamic downforce. But in fact, we can claim that, so far, our car has behaved very well on all types of track. Now we look ahead, one step at a time, aware of the importance of upcoming developments.

Force India

Sahara Force India was out of luck in Monaco as both Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon missed out on extending their run of points finishes.

Robert Fernley: "A day of unrealised potential on both sides of the garage. Sergio's contact with Sainz on lap one proved very costly with the early pit stop to change the nose. For Esteban, it was always going to be difficult to battle through from P15 on the grid, but the race was coming to us until he picked up a puncture. It cost Esteban a handful of points and that was a real shame. So it was one of those days when things didn't go our way - as can often be the case in Monaco. We will dust ourselves down and look to come back strongly in Montreal in two weeks' time."

WilliamsF1

Felipe Massa finished the Monaco Grand Prix ninth, whilst Lance Stroll was forced to retire due to high temperatures in the front left brake system. Both drivers began the 78-lap race on ultrasoft tyres, before switching to the supersofts. A safety car following a dramatic crash between Jenson Button and Pascal Wehrlein allowed Felipe to pit for a second time, onto used ultrasofts to the end of the race.

Lance also made a second stop, after further safety car time due to incidents from Marcus Ericsson and Stoffel Vandoorne, for a new set of ultrasofts.

Felipe benefitted from an incident between Danil Kvyat and Sergio Perez late in the race to secure a points-scoring finish for the team in ninth.

Williams retain sixth position in the Constructors' Championship, whilst Felipe remains ninth in the Drivers' Championship.

Paddy Lowe, Chief Technical Officer: It was always going to be a difficult race starting from 14th and 17th. We planned to deploy our strategy tactically and take advantage of safety cars if there was an opportunity to make up positions. As is usually the case in Monaco, it was an eventful race in the end. Felipe was able to benefit from this as he managed to secure two points for the team. Lance drove a solid race but, unfortunately, we had to retire him on lap 72 due to a problem with his left front brake system, which appears to have been caused by debris being picked up that blocked the cooling system. Overall, we're happy to have collected some points, but our car wasn't quick enough today. We'll learn from this to ensure we come back stronger next time.

McLaren

Today's Monaco Grand Prix was a disappointing and unsuccessful race for McLaren Honda.

Stoffel Vandoorne ran as high as seventh during the flurry of mid-race pit-stops, and looked well positioned to bring home a point while running in 10th in the closing laps. Unfortunately, he was caught out at the end of a late-race Safety Car period: with cold tyres and brakes, he understeered into the tyre-wall at Ste Devote, retiring on lap 66.

Stoffel's one-off team-mate Jenson Button was always going to be playing a weakened hand this afternoon. Consigned to the back of the grid, following a power unit component change, the team's strategists decided to box him on lap one and allow him to run an alternative strategy in clear air.

But that call was immediately stymied by Sauber's decision to box Pascal Wehrlein on the same lap. Notwithstanding the five-second penalty awarded to Wehrlein for an unsafe pit-stop release, the first-lap strategy call would define the rest of Jenson's afternoon.

With no easy route past the Sauber, the team again adjusted the strategy on the fly, pitting Jenson for a set of Options at half distance. He caught the German and attempted to pass him on the inside at Portier. The pair collided heavily - Wehrlein's car ending up sideways in the tyre-wall, and Jenson's parked at the end of the harbor-front escape road with a broken left-front corner.

As one race ends, so another begins, and we now turn our attentions towards Indianapolis, where Fernando Alonso will be racing in today's Indy 500.

Eric Boullier: "Sometimes you visit the Monte-Carlo casino and hit the jackpot; other times you walk away empty-handed. For us, this was just one of those unfortunate days when the luck didn't go our way.

"We always knew that Jenson would start the race on the back-foot, but it was unfortunate that our attempts to run him in clean air came to nothing after Sauber attempted the very same strategy. It was cruel luck for Jenson that, despite the unsafe release of Wehrlein's car, the penalty did nothing to tip the odds in Jenson's favour. The collision was just one of those things, but I'm pleased that both drivers were able to walk away.

"With our focus now turned solely towards Stoffel, we looked set for a decent result. He'd been running on the fringes of the top 10 for the whole race, and his pace on the Option was very promising. Following a switch to the Prime, he still looked set for a points finish, but, on cold tyres and with cold brakes, he understeered into the tyre wall at Turn One when the race restarted after the Safety Car.

"Still, there are positives: I think it's fair to say that Stoffel has really taken a step forward this weekend, both in terms of his driving and his confidence level with the car; and Jenson showed us all that he is still a great champion and a fantastic ambassador for the sport of Formula 1.

"Finally, to Fernando and our friends and colleagues racing at the Indy 500, I say bonne chance."

Yusuke Hasegawa: "Today's race ended in disappointment, missing out on a potential first point of the season for the team.

"Although Stoffel had to start from 12th, we knew he was competitive this weekend. In fact, he moved up to 10th after his pit-stop with his brilliant performance and a good strategy from the team. I think the performance he showed today was very encouraging and therefore it's regrettable that he had to end the race having such an unfortunate accident and no points to his name.

"Jenson's race also had potential, but at Monaco it is notoriously difficult to overtake and he was unable to really push. The accident he had was disappointing; however, he brought great enthusiasm and a cheerful personality with him this weekend, and I think all the members of the team enjoyed racing with him.

"Next up is Montreal, but of course even before then we will be glued to our TV screens to watch Fernando's Indy 500 challenge."

Toro Rosso

Franz Tost (Team Principal): "We had a very competitive package from the very start of the race weekend here in Monaco and our drivers have been showing a very good pace since Thursday. On Saturday, Carlos did a very strong qualifying, finishing in P6. Daniil, on the other hand, was a bit unlucky because of the yellow flag caused by Vandoorne's crash - this happened during Daniil's fastest lap and therefore he had to slow down and qualified only P11. In the end, he started the race from P9 because both McLarens got a penalty. Unfortunately, his start was not the best, losing two positions to Hulkenberg and Magnussen. Later on, he had a competitive race and whenever he was in free air he did very competitive lap times. Unfortunately, his race was over because of a crash with Perez, which was, in my opinion, the Force India driver's fault because you cannot overtake in that part of the track. Regarding Carlos, he did a fantastic job. He had a great start, defended his position well and performed a very competitive race. He resisted well against the pressure from Hamilton, without making any mistakes, and he definitely deserves this sixth place finish! The team is still in fifth position in the Constructors' Championship by scoring another eight points here - we have now a total of 29 and are nine ahead of Williams. This is very positive and I'd like to thank everyone - the engineers for setting the cars up well and the mechanics for more fast and precise pit-stops! We will now focus our attention to the next race in Canada... Let's see what we are capable of there."

Haas

On a track where passing comes at a premium and qualifying takes on added significance, Haas F1 Team drivers Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen scored the American outfit's first double-points result in the 75th Monaco Grand Prix Sunday at Circuit de Monaco. The duo finished eighth and 10th, respectively, in the sixth round of the 2017 FIA Formula One World Championship after earning strong starting spots in qualifying Saturday.

Grosjean began the 78-lap race around the historic 3.337-kilometer (2.074-mile), 19-turn street course from eighth in the 20-car field while Magnussen was 11th. These up-front starting spots earned Saturday set the stage for Sunday's milestone performance, as the track's incredibly tight layout, which has remained relatively unchanged since 1929, makes overtaking nearly impossible.

The usually chaotic start was relatively calm by Formula One standards and Grosjean held onto his well-earned eighth-place position. Magnussen, meanwhile, outdueled the Renault of Nico Hulkenberg and the Toro Rosso of Daniil Kvyat to pick up ninth. And when seventh-place Force India driver Sergio Perez pitted for a new front wing on lap 16, Grosjean inherited seventh and Magnussen moved up to eighth.

Both Haas F1 Team pilots were on a one-stop strategy, and each began the race on Pirelli P Zero purple ultrasoft tires. Despite these tires being the softest and, theoretically, having the shortest lifespan of any tire in Pirelli's lineup, teams were able to put an inordinate number of laps on the ultrasofts.

For Haas F1 Team strategists, the time to pit would be determined by a combination of tire wear and where its drivers were on the racetrack in relation to other teams. Ideally, Grosjean and Magnussen would have enough of a gap between their rivals to enter and exit the pits without losing position.

Magnussen was first into the pits on lap 37 and Grosjean made his stop on lap 40. Both took on Red supersoft tires, per the regulations stating that a minimum of two tire compounds must be used during the race.

The stops slightly jumbled the running order, with Grosjean emerging in ninth and Magnussen in 10th at lap 42. The always-quick Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton jumped up to sixth during this time, as he still hadn't made his obligatory stop after starting the race an uncharacteristic 13th.

Misfortune struck Magnussen on lap 42 as a left-rear tire puncture sent him back to the pits for an unscheduled stop. He returned to the race on the preferred ultrasoft tire, but was mired back in 13th.

Grosjean, meanwhile, moved up to eighth on lap 43 when Stoffel Vandoorne pitted his McLaren.

After adversity bit Magnussen, he began to benefit from the attrition of others. It began on lap 60 when Pascal Wehrlein's Sauber was overturned at the entry to Portier (turn eight) just ahead of the tunnel after contact with the McLaren of Jenson Button. This resulted in a full-course yellow which bunched up the field.

Racing resumed on lap 66 and immediately 10th-place Vandoorne went wide at Sainte Devote (turn one), hitting the barrier and ending his race. This allowed Magnussen to move up to 12th.

Then on lap 72, Perez made an aggressive move on Kvyat at Rascasse (turn 18). The two collided, with Kvyat's day coming to an end and Perez forced to make and unscheduled pit stop for a flat tire. This encounter boosted Magnussen to 10th and back into the points.

For the remaining six laps, Grosjean maintained eighth and Magnussen held onto 10th. It was Grosjean's third point-paying finish of the season and Magnussen's second. The double-points finish came in just Haas F1 Team's 27th race, as the team debuted at last year's season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

Haas F1 Team is now seventh in the constructors standings, tied with the factory Renault team with 14 points apiece. Sixth-place Williams is just six points ahead and eighth-place Sauber is 10 points back. Grosjean and Magnussen are 12th and 13th, respectively, in the driver standings. Grosjean has nine points and Magnussen has five.

Winning the Monaco Grand Prix was four-time Formula One champion Sebastian Vettel. It was the 45th career Formula One victory for the Scuderia Ferrari driver, his third of the season and his second at Monaco. Vettel's margin of victory was 3.145 seconds over teammate Kimi Räikkönen and it significantly bolstered his lead in the championship standings. Vettel came into Monaco with a six-point lead over Hamilton and leaves with a 25-point margin.

The Monaco win was Scuderia Ferrari's first at Monaco since 2001 and it allowed the iconic marque to overtake Mercedes in the constructors standings. Scuderia Ferrari now leads Mercedes by 17 points with 14 races remaining.

Guenther Steiner: "A first time with two cars in the points is something we wanted to achieve this year. We achieved it in race six. We wanted it before then, but race six is not too bad. Like I said after qualifying, everybody did a good job. We fell out of the points and we got back in after the puncture, so I think we can be pretty happy and content with what we did here. Everybody executed. We never lost our cool. We always stayed on top of it. We got unlucky, but then we got lucky again at the end, so we're fine. We're maturing. It takes time to mature and I think, now, we see some results. There will still be ups and downs, but we're always making steps. Sometimes you don't see them because we're not in the points, so nobody realizes, but the team has not just made a magic step today. We've made improvements over the last six months."

Renault

The Force was strong for Renault Sport Formula One Team's Jolyon Palmer in today's Grand Prix de Monaco with a season-best eleventh position the result after 78 laps around the most iconic circuit in the Formula 1 galaxy.

Jolyon started from P16 and drove a mature race to finish just 1.3 seconds away from the points. Nico Hulkenberg was curtailed in his quest to storm up the order due to a gearbox issue on lap 16. Nico had been running in the top ten prior to his retirement. After today's race, Renault Sport Formula One Team retain seventh position in the Constructors' Championship. Today also saw 40th anniversary celebrations in conjunction with Star Wars, with special guests and branding to celebrate the release of Star Wars: A New Hope and Renault's Formula 1 debut with the RS01 in 1977.

Nico started the race from P10 on new Ultrasoft Pirelli tyres, retiring on track because of a gearbox issue on lap 16. Jolyon started the race from P16 on a new set of Ultrasoft tyres, pitting on lap 42 for a new set of Supersoft tyres.

Cyril Abiteboul, Managing Director: "Generally speaking it was a disappointing weekend at the end of this Monaco Grand Prix where we really wanted to continue our strong run of progression in the Championship. The team did a lot of work on Friday that allowed us to address a challenging situation after Thursday practice and to assure two respectable positons on the grid. Our analysis showed there was a risk with Nico's gearbox, but we chose to keep it in the car to avoid a penalty if we made a change. To score points at our current level, you have to take risks. That is motor racing and today it didn't pay off. It is frustrating because Nico had good pace. Joylon drove a good race and made no mistakes, which is good for his confidence. Now this confidence should see him qualify better in order to be in a position to score points on Sunday."

Sauber

For the Sauber F1 Team it was an unfortunate Monaco Grand Prix with relief at the end – Pascal Wehrlein went sideways into the barriers in lap 58 after Jenson Button was trying to overtake him in Turn 8. As a precaution, the German was taken to the medical centre, but was luckily uninjured. Marcus Ericsson did not finish the race either; the Swede also went into the barriers in lap 64 after having issues with the brake and tyre temperatures behind the safety car.

Monisha Kaltenborn, Team Principal: "A very disappointing weekend. Since the practice sessions we had difficulties getting the tyres to work and were not able to technically resolve the issues. If the pace is not there, no strategy can help. Neverthessless, we are glad that nothing serious happened to Pascal. For Marcus it is also a pity that he was not able to finish the race."

Pirelli

Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel won the Monaco Grand Prix with a one-stop ultrasoft-supersoft strategy as expected, after running a longer first stint than his team mate Kimi Raikkonen at a quicker pace, who qualified on pole and finished second.

The same 'overcut' strategy was also used by Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo to make up two places from his grid position and claim a podium finish. McLaren's Jenson Button and Sauber's Pascal Wehrlein instead tried an early stop in the hope of gaining track position.

Most drivers adopted a one-stop tactic, although some tried an alternative approach. During the safety car period with about 15 laps to go, Red Bull's Max Verstappen took on a final set of ultrasofts in an attempt to get past the Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas.

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton started from 13th on the grid and completed a long opening stint on the ultrasoft before ending up in a points-scoring seventh. A couple of punctures were noted during the race, because of a problem with the track at the exit of Turn 1 towards the end of the grand prix.

Leaving aside the safety car period, this was one of the fastest grands prix in Monaco ever held, with the fastest race lap set by Force India's Sergio Perez being more than three seconds faster than the 2016 equivalent (which was already beaten on lap two today).

Mario Isola: "Although it was always clear that a one-stop strategy would be optimal, there was a very wide range of possibilities as to when the drivers could stop, clearly seen throughout the race. As expected, wear and degradation were low, which allowed for long stints even on the ultrasoft, even though track temperatures were quite high for Monaco. Congratulations to Ferrari for sealing a historic one-two at this very special circuit."

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