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2005 San Marino GP
Team Quotes - Sunday 24 April
Jean Todt: It was a thrilling race. It is clear we cannot be completely happy, given that Rubens was unable to finish the race because of an electrical problem, the cause of which we still have to identify. Michael had an exceptional race, starting thirteenth and finishing within a hair's breadth of the winner, who had a great race. I am happy for the team, for Michael, for Bridgestone and for Shell, with whom we have just renewed our agreement to the end of 2010. It was an important weekend on the contract front for the Scuderia, as we also signed an agreement to supply Red Bull Racing with our engines for the next two years. We like to respond with our actions and today's performance is our answer to those who thought we would not be more competitive again. We know that championship titles are obtained by winning races and that is what we will be trying to do in the next round in Barcelona.
Ross Brawn: This was a magnificent race for Ferrari and a magnificent race for Formula 1. It was frustrating that Michael got held up for half the race, but once we had the space in front of us, you could see what the car could do and what Michael and the tyres can do. It was fantastic, even though a win would have been an even bigger boost for the team. But the luck will come our way and maybe in the next race we can get on with the job of winning. It was a great shame for Rubens as we did not get to see his potential as he looked in good shape too. We think it was an electrical problem, but we need to investigate.
Lucky Strike BAR Honda were back on the podium this afternoon after Jenson Button delivered the team's first top three finish of the 2005 season. He ended the San Marino Grand Prix in 3rd place, despite holding 2nd for much of the thrilling 62-lap race. An equally outstanding performance from team-mate Takuma Sato ensured the team achieved its objective of a strong two-car points finish. He ended the race in 5th position from 6th on the grid.
Today's result finally opens the team's points accounts in both the Constructors' and Drivers' Championships and is a fitting tribute to a colossal effort by everyone at BAR Honda and tyre partner Michelin over the past few weeks.
Gil de Ferran, Sporting Director: "I am delighted with the results of this weekend. Personally, it has been a fairytale since this is my first race with BAR Honda. In a way I am not surprised with Jenson and Taku's performance; over the last few weeks that I've been with the team I was able to witness first-hand the incredible and relentless effort of the whole organisation towards turning our fortunes around - something everyone achieved with full marks. Certainly our success in Imola gives us confidence not only for a good showing in Barcelona, but also in our ability to continue to improve as the season goes on. Many congratulations should also be given to both drivers for doing such a fantastic job all race long. I can't wait to get to Barcelona!"
Nick Fry, Chief Executive Officer: "An excellent team performance which rewards a huge amount of work by BAR Honda and Michelin since the last race. We ran all weekend with good speed and reliability, and both drivers put in excellent performances. I am confident that the team has both the skills and resources to perform at an even higher level in the next few races. This is just the springboard we needed."
Shuhei Nakamoto, Engineering Director, Honda Racing Development: "We have obviously had a very good day today. Both cars finished without any problems and we have been able to fully exploit the speed of the car. This is the start of our challenge this year - we have a lot more work to do to achieve our target of race wins."
The Mild Seven Renault F1 Team took its fourth consecutive win in the San Marino Grand Prix this afternoon at Imola. Starting from second position, Fernando Alonso took an impressive win, his third consecutive victory of the season, under intense pressure from Michael Schumacher during the final laps. He further consolidated his lead in the World Championship, and now sits atop the standings with 36 points. Giancarlo Fisichella retired after just five laps after spinning at turn two, following a currently unspecified technical problem.
The RS25 V10 fitted to Fernando Alonso's car also became the first engine in the modern era of Formula 1 to win two consecutive races. The victory was the 101st for a Renault engine in Formula 1, and the 21st for a Renault chassis.
Flavio Briatore, Managing Director: I am very happy for the team and Fernando. He did an incredible job today, and the way he held off Michael in the last ten laps was incredible. I think this was a great race for Formula 1 and congratulations to Ferrari for their performance today. For me, this was a great afternoon for Renault and Fernando, but also for our sport. I would also like to thank Louis Schweitzer: this is the last F1 victory before he leaves his position as President of Renault, and we are proud to offer it to him.
Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering: It was fantastic to see two drivers of the calibre of Fernando and Michael fighting for the victory until the last corner. Michael's pace this afternoon was amazing, and Ferrari are certainly back. Fernando nevertheless coped with it, and dominated and controlled the race in difficult circumstances. As we have seen before from him this season, it was the drive of a future champion.
We are all very sorry for Giancarlo. All we know at this stage is that his accident appears to have been a car problem, but we will not know what happened until we investigate further.
Michelin also provided us with a strong balance of tyre performance between qualifying and the race. While obviously we now face a very strong challenge from our competitors, Michelin have done a very good job in responding to the challenge so far this season, and we look forward to an equally exciting race in Spain.
Both BMW WilliamsF1 Team cars reached the chequered flag at the end of today's race with both Mark Webber and Nick Heidfeld finishing just out of the points.
Sam Michael (Technical Director WilliamsF1): It is obviously both a disappointing result and day overall. We had a poor start and we spent the whole race in traffic. Clearly we have to improve this for the future. That said, the car's competitiveness was not as bad as it might have appeared due to the traffic but it's certainly not where we expected to be. We had no mechanical problems at all.
Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director): Congratulations to Michael Schumacher for an extraordinary race, even though Fernando Alonso won in the end. For us, on the other hand, after a reasonable qualifying it was a disappointing race outcome. Both the drivers were held up in traffic for most of the race, but at no time were they in a position to get to the top. We had no technical problems and reliability was there, simply not the speed.
West McLaren Mercedes driver Alex Wurz finished today's 62-lap San Marino Grand Prix in fourth place. Team mate Kimi Raikkonen retired from first place on lap eight as a result of a CV joint failure in the driveshaft. Alex was on a two stop strategy, stopping on lap 25 (9.148 seconds) and lap 47 (7.547 seconds). Kimi is ninth in the 2005 Drivers' World Championship with seven points, whilst Alex is 13th with five. Juan Pablo Montoya and Pedro de la Rosa are eighth and 14th respectively. West McLaren Mercedes is third in the Constructors' Championship with 24 points.
Ron Dennis: "Of course we are very disappointed with the outcome of the race. Kimi was doing a fantastic job and had already pulled out a healthy lead over Fernando Alonso until a CV joint failed in the driveshaft. Alex's fourth place was well deserved and again reflected the professional approach he has taken to the weekend as a whole. Apologies again to Kimi"
Norbert Haug: "It's a pity that Kimi retired in the lead with a driveshaft failure, sorry Kimi. He did everything right starting from pole position and pulling away from the field after a perfect start. We had the right strategy, which would have given Kimi even more of an advantage. This is our first failure to lead to retirement this year, and the team will sort that out. Alex did a good job and was among the fastest of the Michelin runners. We will stay focused and work hard to further improve."
Sauber drivers Jacques Villeneuve and Felipe Massa finished sixth and 12th respectively in today's San Marino Grand Prix in Imola.
Peter Sauber (Team Principal): "After qualifying we realised that we had made a significant step, but it was bigger than we expected. During the race I was even more surprised what we were seeing. Jacques was able to keep a strong pace and I am particularly happy for him after three difficult races that he should be able to savour this success. It was clear that Felipe would have a difficult time starting a fuel-heavy car 18th as it is so hard to overtake here, and that must have been frustrating for him. But overall I am very happy that the car is at a competitive level now. Thanks again to our technical crew in Hinwil."
Christian Horner, Sporting Director: Obviously 11th and 13th is pretty disappointing after three consecutive point-scoring races. Tonio drove an excellent race on his grand prix debut. He was consistent throughout and made a very solid start to his F1 career. David had a couple of knocks from Massa and I think this damaged his car slightly. From a reliability point of view we're ok, but we need to take a step forward in performance. We hope to see that at the forthcoming test in Jerez.
Günther Steiner, Technical Director: I am not that happy with how we performed in the race today. But the car was reliable and didn't have any problems. In comparison with qualifying I think this is the best we could have achieved.
David Prigg, Cosworth: Once more Cosworth has succeeded in powering Red Bull to a double race finish, which successfully completes the second event mileage on both David's and Tonio's engines. David's engine has accumulated more than 1200km and with a completely problem-free weekend, again demonstrates Cosworth's ability to provide a reliable and competitive product.
Panasonic Toyota Racing kept up its points-scoring start to the season at today's San Marino Grand Prix as Jarno Trulli claimed a hard-fought 7th place and Ralf Schumacher finished 8th. The team could not quite repeat the podium heroics of the last two races, but it remains in second place in the constructors' championship with 28 points.
After two successive podiums, Jarno Trulli kept up his scoring run at the San Marino Grand Prix. The Italian moved up to 3rd early on before struggling with oversteer late on. After battling hard for 62 laps he still brought the car home in 7th. The extra two points mean he is still in an impressive second in the drivers' championship with 18 points.
Ralf Schumacher made up for losing ground at the start with a fine drive to pick up a solitary point for 8th place, finishing a fraction of a second behind Jarno. He now stands 5th in the championship with 10 points.
After 7th and 8th places in the San Marino Grand Prix, the three points have maintained Panasonic Toyota Racing's strong start to the year. Such a strong performance at one of the team's worst circuits means that Toyota can look to build on that success throughout the season.
Tsutomu Tomita – Team Principal: "We always knew this would be one of the worst circuits of the year for us, so the team did an excellent job to finish with two cars in the points. Jarno had a very difficult race, struggling with oversteer and lack of traction, so he did well to hold his position as well as he did during the pitstops. Ralf had a poor start which compromised his race and meant he was always in traffic. But he also did a good job and excellent pitstop work from the team meant he was able to get past both Williams cars at the second stop. I'd also like to congratulate Luca Marmorini and his engine team for getting both engines to the finish again after a tough race in Bahrain. Overall, to come away with second place in the championship without losing too much ground to the teams behind us is a good result. Now we must work hard to build on this performance over the next few races."
After Jordan Grand Prix drivers Narain Karthikeyan and Tiago Monteiro finished today's second qualifying for the San Marino Grand Prix 17th and 18th respectively, the team had the satisfaction to finish the race in 14th and 15th positions. Both drivers made a solid start and then had relatively uneventful races until 11 laps to the end when Monteiro suffered a puncture caused by picked-up debris, which damage his right rear wheel. This is again a positive result for Jordan Grand Prix to bring both cars to the chequered flag and the team is now looking forward to the next opportunity with the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona.
Trevor Carlin: We had quite a good race, where we showed a very good pace with Tiago and especially Narain hanging on to the Red Bull cars and Felipe Massa. Narain made a small mistake in the pit stop, which unfortunately did not allow us to take advantage of our speed. However, we are very pleased and encouraged the pace we had during the race.
Minardi F1 Team drivers Christijan Albers and Patrick Friesacher may have retired from today's San Marino Grand Prix, but the Faenza squad was able to take heart from the fact it had debuted its new Minardi Cosworth PS05 and taken away a great deal of useful data from the weekend. Both cars were forced into retirement as the result of gearbox-related problems, Friesacher coasting down the pit lane on lap nine with what turned out to be a broken clutch shaft, and Albers running well until lap 20, when a serious fluid leak was discovered during the first scheduled pit stop and the team had no choice but to retire the car in order to avoid damage to the new gearbox The outcome of today's race was scant reward for the monumental effort put in by team personnel over recent weeks to ensure a pair of Minardi Cosworth PS05s were able to compete in this weekend's race, but all concerned could take heart from the progress that has been made in a very short time and the potential that clearly exists for the future.
Paul Stoddart, Team Principal, Minardi Cosworth: Despite a valiant effort by the drivers and the whole team, it wasn't really a surprise that reliability stopped both Minardis in today's race, as one has to consider that this is the first serious outing for the PS05. Both failures were gearbox-related, and hopefully, this week's Mugello test will give the team the opportunity to perfect certain aspects of the car. On a positive note, though, we believe the overall potential of the new package, especially of the Cosworth TJ2005 engine, bodes very well for the future.
Michael Schumacher drove a superb race today in his Bridgestone equipped Ferrari F2005 to clinch second place - his first podium of the season. He now lies equal third in the drivers' championship behind Fernando Alonso and Jarno Trulli. The reigning World Champion had a rocky start to his day, however, after running wide in the final sector of his qualifying lap this morning, pushing him down to fourteenth in the combined qualifying standings. But the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro driver made short work of the rest of the field in the race, hounding down his competitors one by one as he consistently ran two seconds a lap quicker than his rivals. Being held up by Button, he pulled off one of the best overtaking manoeuvres of the race taking the Englishman for second place at the chicane. After that, it was game on as he chased and diced with race leader, Alonso, all the way to the chequered flag, setting the fastest lap of the race in the process. Teammate Rubens Barrichello unfortunately had another dose of bad luck with the Brazilian retiring after 18 laps with a suspected electrical problem. Jordan's Narain Karthikeyan and Tiago Monteiro, meanwhile, both finished the San Marino Grand, giving them more valuable race experience. Sadly for Minardi, neither car finished but the team will be pleased to have finally debuted their new challenger.
Hisao Suganuma – Technical Manager – Bridgestone Motorsport: I was very impressed with Michael's race today. We had rain this morning but it didn't change the track conditions considerably for the race and he was clearly the quickest driver out there today. His second stint was particularly impressive when he was lapping two seconds a lap quicker than his rivals. I am only sorry that Rubens wasn't able to finish the race. However, our tyre performance here this weekend is undoubtedly an improvement on the previous races. It was a shame that Michael wasn't quite able to snatch the lead but from a tyre point of view I think it fair to say that the Bridgestone was the better tyre today. Having checked the tyres after the race I was also pleased with their appearance. Having said that, we are not getting carried away. We know we still have to keep pushing and working on improvements. It was good to see both Jordans finish the race today but I am sorry to see that the Minardis didn't complete the race. But, we are sure that as they develop their new car, race finishes will come.
Ross Brawn – Technical Director – Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro: That was a magnificent race: magnificent for Ferrari and for Formula One. It was frustrating being held up for half the race but once we had some space we could see what the car, Michael and Bridgestone's tyres could do. Coming from 13th on the grid was fantastic and showed what the whole package could do. It was fantastic even though a win would have been a bigger boost for the team! It was a great shame for Rubens as we never got to see his potential as he was looking good. We think he had some sort of electrical problem which we'll have to sort out. This is a great car and we are going to have different challenges at different circuits but the Bridgestone tyres today were fantastic and we just have to make sure they work properly at all the circuits. But we've done enough to give the team and all our partners a boost.
Fernando Alonso (Renault/Michelin) extended his world championship advantage with a thrilling victory in the fourth race of the season at Imola, San Marino. The Spaniard started second and inherited the lead when early pace-setter – and pole position qualifier – Kimi Räikkönen (Team McLaren Mercedes/Michelin) dropped out early on with a broken driveshaft. After shrugging off the threat of Jenson Button (B·A·R-Honda/Michelin), Alonso emerged ahead after the final round of pit stops and fended off the growing threat of defending champion Michael Schumacher (Ferrari).
For Michelin, the result marked the 79th victory of the company's F1 career and its fifth in succession.
Michaël Schumacher recovered from 13th on the grid – after running off the track during qualifying – to slice past Button and launch a late bid for victory. He shadowed Alonso's every move for the final 12 laps and was never more than 0.3 seconds from his prey. The Spaniard didn't put a foot wrong, however, and held on to win by just 0.215s. It was his third consecutive F1 success and the fourth of his career.
"It was fantastic to witness such an exciting race. It was a great thrill to contribute this extraordinary battle, which will have focused the eyes of the world on F1. Our partners did a great job, too. Michelin's tyres stood up extremely well, given the fierce pressure that Fernando was under." said Patrick Faure, Chairman and CEO, Mild Seven Renault F1 Team.
Button (B·A·R-Honda) was third and his first podium finish of the season ended a points drought stretching back to Japan last October. Today's result finally opens the team's points accounts in both Constructors' and drivers' Championships and is a fitting tribute to a colossal effort by everyone.
"An excellent team performance which rewards a huge amount of work by B-A-R-Honda and Michelin since the last race." explained Nick Fry, Chief executive Officer.
Standing in for the injured Juan Pablo Montoya, Alexander Wurz (Team McLaren Mercedes) finished fourth in his first grand prix start since Malaysia 2000. He finished well clear of Takuma Sato (B·A·R-Honda) and Jacques Villeneuve (Sauber-Petronas), whose sixth place marked his first points finish since he returned to F1.
Toyota team-mates Jarno Trulli and Ralf Schumacher initially completed the points finishers, but Schumacher was given a 25-second penalty for a pit stop infringement. He retains his eighth place, however, pending an appeal. Trulli ran as high as fourth in the early stages, but he lost ground during each of his scheduled pit stops and slipped down the order.
Of the other Michelin drivers, Williams-BMW team-mates Nick Heidfeld and Mark Webber were ninth and 10th. Webber shadowed Trulli in the early stages, but he, too, lost time during the pit stops – and a trip across the kerbs further hampered his cause. Newcomer Vitantonio Liuzzi (Red Bull Racing) had an encouraging maiden grand prix. The Italian finished 11th, almost half a minute clear of team-mate David Coulthard, and set seventh fastest lap.
Felipe Massa (Sauber-Petronas/Michelin) split the two Red Bulls at the end. The Brazilian originally qualified eighth, but lost 10 places on the grid for an unscheduled engine change and was left lagging at the start because his car was still in neutral. He clashed twice with Coulthard during his recovery drive – and one incident forced him to bring forward one of his scheduled stops, in order to fit a replacement front wing.
Schumacher was the only non-Michelin runner in the top eight. Räikkönen and Giancarlo Fisichella (Renault) were the only Michelin drivers not to finish. The Italian retired after sliding off the road on lap six.
Pierre Dupasquier, Michelin motorsport director: "I would like to congratulate Fernando Alonso on his sterling defence in the face of intense pressure – and Renault for maintaining Michelin's unbeaten start to the season.” “It is clear, though, that the opposition has upped its game. We anticipated a close battle this weekend – and that is exactly what we got. Although the first part of the race ran pretty much to our expectations, it is clear that we lost a bit of pace during the second and third stints. We haven't yet established a definite reason, although it is clear that Imola – which has several fierce braking zones and lots of hard acceleration – places a greater load on the current-specification rear tyres than any of the three circuits on which we have previously competed this season. The rate of wear was slightly higher than expected.
"It is a pity that Kimi Räikkönen, who was not using the same tyre specification as Fernando, was forced to retire after his sparkling start. It would have been fascinating to monitor his progress."
Pat Symonds, executive director of engineering, Mild Seven Renault F1 Team: "Michelin gave us well-balanced car performance in both qualifying and the race. It is clear that we face a very strong challenge in future grands prix, but Michelin has done an excellent job so far this year and I'm looking forward to an equally challenging race in Spain."
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