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2006 Canada GP
Team Quotes - Sunday 25 June
Fernando Alonso took his sixth win of the 2006 season, and the fourteenth of his career, this afternoon with a controlled drive to victory at the Canadian Grand Prix. The Spaniard had never previously scored a podium finish at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, and was determined to add some silverware to his collection at this race. He did so in consummate style, making a perfect getaway from pole position, defending his lead robustly against Kimi Raikkonen's pressure during the opening laps, and then building a crucial gap during the second stint that gave him the safety margin he needed for the final part of the race. Ultimately, this was nullified by a safety car ten laps from the finish, but the Spaniard had enough in hand to maintain a comfortable lead over Michael Schumacher to the flag. "Todo es perfecto" was his comment into the radio on his slowing-down lap – an assessment it is hard to argue with, as he took his points total to 84 from a possible 90 in the first half of the season.
Giancarlo Fisichella had a more incident-filled afternoon. The Italian jumped the start from second position on the grid and although he ultimately lost a position on the opening lap, was penalised with a drive-through penalty. This dropped him to fifth, after which he had a race on two fronts: trying to close the gap to Michael Schumacher ahead, while protecting his position from Felipe Massa behind. While he was unable to catch the German, Fisco finished well ahead of the second Ferrari to further extend Renault's lead in the constructors' championship. The team now has a total of 121 points, with a 34 point lead.
The Renault F1 Team was also proud to score Michelin's 100th victory in Formula 1 this afternoon. The tyres showed they had a perfect blend of first lap performance and racing consistency, standing up to a demanding circuit and hot conditions. Michelin's 100th win also comes on the eve of the 100th anniversary of Renault and Michelin's win in the first ever Grand Prix in history, which began on 26 June 1906 in Le Mans, France.
Flavio Briatore, Managing Director: This was another good race for the team, but not an easy one. The team managed it well and Fernando did too. It is always a hard race here with the brakes and tyres, so I am really pleased for Fernando to take his first win at this circuit. Giancarlo made a mistake at the start, and one mistake is enough to make it a very difficult afternoon when the competition is so close. Even so, he got the car home in the points and beat Massa. The important thing today was out-scoring Ferrari, and we can go to Indy feeling very confident. Everybody really wants to put on a good show there and repair the damage from last year.
Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering: What a tough race that was! It was certainly the hardest of the year for the first two stints, and a lot of things could have happened this afternoon. Fernando was under severe pressure from Kimi until the second stops, when McLaren seemed to bring him in a little early. That actually made our life quite a lot easier, and we then controlled the race to the finish. Giancarlo's race was compromised by his jump start. He was in a recovery situation from then on, and made the most of it to finish fourth. Conditions were very tricky this afternoon, but we should also thank Michelin for providing a fantastic tyre. Temperatures hit 48°C and the strategy called for long stints. In spite of this, they showed excellent consistency to go with the stunning one-lap performance from yesterday. It was appropriate that, for their hundredth F1 victory, they should once again provide us with a perfect tyre.
Team McLaren Mercedes driver Kimi Raikkonen finished today's 70-laps Canadian Grand Prix in third position. Kimi was on a two-stop strategy and pitted on laps 25 (12.6 seconds) and 53 (14.6 seconds) – both stops taking longer than planned due to a dragging clutch. Until the penultimate lap Kimi was second but whilst pushing hard to catch eventual race winner Fernando Alonso he made a mistake at the hairpin. Kimi set the fastest time of the race on lap 21 with 1:15.841. Team mate Juan Pablo Montoya failed to finish the race when he was forced to retire at the end of lap 12 after his car touched one of the walls as he was fighting to make up the positions he lost following an incident with Nico Rosberg on lap two. The incident with Rosberg caused the Mercedes-Benz Safety Car to be deployed and Juan Pablo went into the pits to change the nose of his car (26.4 seconds). Following today's result Kimi remains third in the Drivers' World Championship with 39 points and Juan Pablo is sixth with 26 points. Team McLaren Mercedes stays third in the Constructors' ranking with 65 points.
Ron Dennis: "The earlier stops of the Renaults show that our qualifying and race competitiveness have clearly improved. We lost second place after Kimi made a small mistake when pushing to catch Fernando. However we are about winning and these things happen when you are pushing. There were some problems with the clutch in both of Kimi's stops which cost us time, but I think we have demonstrated that we are competitive and can challenge for victories. Juan Pablo didn't get the opportunity to show his potential due to the incident with Rosberg. The entire team is now looking forward to the race next weekend in USA where we want to continue working hard to win."
Norbert Haug: "The race result doesn't reflect our speed which looked competitive today. Unfortunately Kimi lost time during his pit stops due to a clutch problem which we will certainly have under control at the next race. However on the track he performed well and posted the fastest lap of the race. Kimi was pushing to have a go on Fernando after the Safety Car, but ran wide and lost second place on the penultimate lap. Juan Pablo had a good start but lost his chances for a result already on the second lap after the incident with Nico Rosberg. The upside of this weekend was our speed, the downside was that we could not make more out of it – next weekend we have another possibility."
Jean Todt: We leave Montreal with the same result we got in Silverstone a fortnight ago; that's to say a second place with Michael and a fifth for Felipe. We expected a tough, closely fought race and that's what we got. These twelve points can be looked at in two ways: negatively when you think that the gap in the two classifications has got bigger; positively if you consider where we started from on the grid and how things went at the start. The Canadian Grand Prix marks the end of the first half of the season. We are second in both championships, but a long way back, especially when one takes into account the consistency in results terms and the performance level of our main rivals. But this does not mean we are throwing in the towel: not us, nor our friends at Bridgestone.
Ross Brawn: Overall, this weekend we were simply not quick enough to overtake our main rivals. We have to make an extra effort to close the gap that separates us from them. The final safety car helped us, allowing Michael to make up a further place and limit the damage in the classification. It was a shame Michael had to spend so many laps behind Trulli. It was frustrating as our driver could run at a much higher pace, as we saw when he was able to push with a clear track ahead of him. The Bridgestone tyres worked well during the race, which is what we'd expected. As the saying goes, "never give up",” and we will stick to that saying!
Panasonic Toyota Racing will leave Montreal with three points after a spirited race from Jarno Trulli at today's Canadian Grand Prix. On a sweltering day at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Jarno started in 4th place on the grid and ran as high as third for the first stint of the race. The Italian eventually came home in 6th place for his first points finish of 2006. It was a more difficult afternoon's work for Ralf Schumacher. The German started in 14th place and struggled for grip for much of the afternoon before the team retired his car shortly before the end. Toyota will now begin the journey south to Indianapolis for next weekend's US Grand Prix.
Tsutomu Tomita – Team Principal: "We're delighted that Jarno has finally scored his first points of the year after narrowly missing out so often. P6 was our true place today because there were no retirements at all from the top cars so we again confirmed that we have the fourth best car on the grid. Jarno's strong start was very good news for us because we've lost places off the line in recent races. But the race still wasn't easy because we had an engine misfire and it also required some careful management of the tyres. We were expecting some graining and we had adapted our strategy to cope with that. Unfortunately by the second safety car he was already a lap back so he could not attack the cars in front. Ralf had a very different race and he struggled with a lack of grip throughout as did many cars in the heat today. We tried to help his situation but in the end we decided it was better to retire the car. We have to keep developing the aerodynamics, suspension and engine as we push to get closer to the very front."
Sam Michael, Technical Director, WilliamsF1: "It was obviously a disappointing race and the tyre Williams chose here was not suitable and we suffered large degradation. Because of this it proved to be a difficult race for Mark, while Nico had a coming together with another car at the start of the race, which he will have to look at. Looking forward to next weekend, there is no reason why we can't return competitively for Indianapolis with a better tyre."
Sean O'Mahony, Principal Engineer - F1 Race Engineering, Cosworth Ltd: "We didn't encounter any engine issues with Mark today. We will need to inspect the engine from Nico's car carefully to assess if there was any damage from the crash. We hope that both engines will stay in for Indianapolis next week which brings a fresh challenge as it has the longest straight of the year."
The Honda Racing F1 Team's Jenson Button ended today's Canadian Grand Prix just outside the points after crossing the line in 9th position. It was a long and frustrating race for Jenson, who battled with low grip and understeer from start to finish. He put up a valiant fight to try to get the car home in the points, but he was unable to sustain a competitive pace and eventually lost 8th position in the closing stages.
Team-mate Rubens Barrichello's race was brought to a premature conclusion on lap 12 when he felt the engine of his RA106 suddenly tighten and lose power. Investigations by the team into the cause of the problem continue.
Gil de Ferran, Sporting Director: "It is fair to say that this was a very disappointing day for us. Rubens' engine tightened which led to his retirement and we are still investigating the cause of the problem. Jenson did well at the beginning but struggled with his car throughout the race, eventually dropping back to 9th."
Christian Horner: We had to change David's engine this morning, meaning he was relegated to the back of the grid. To get a point from there is an excellent effort. He drove a good race this afternoon and made a strong move on Jenson to take the final points position. It was a good reward for him after an afternoon's hard work. Christian lost some places at the start, but then got into a reasonable race pace. Unfortunately, he ran wide due to a first gear issue at the hairpin on to the marbles towards the end of the race and lost a couple of places. But, one point out of today is a positive result for the team.
With Nick Heidfeld finishing seventh in the Canadian Grand Prix, the BMW Sauber F1 Team collected two more championship points. Jacques Villeneuve in 8th was on course for one point, but then with 10 laps to go at his home race he slid into the wall.
Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director): From 11th and 13th on the grid both our drivers made their way into the points during the race. Both cars ran trouble-free, and we had the right strategy. It was a pity Jacques went off towards the end and lost a well deserved point. But we will be able to draw a positive conclusion from this. We finished in the points again and we maintained fifth in the constructors' championship.
Willy Rampf (Technical Director Chassis): Being seventh and ninth at the end of the first lap from 11th and 13th on the grid confirmed the good starting performance of both our cars and drivers. Our strategy was to stay out as long as possible and we were able to match the speed of the rest of the group we were racing with. Felipe Massa was in front of us on a one stop strategy, and due to this we lost time to Jarno Trulli. Nick drove a good race and finished seventh. Jacques became a victim of the track conditions. But we strengthened our fifth in the championship.
A first-lap collision between Tiago Monteiro and Christijan Albers capped off a disappointing weekend for MF1 Racing at the Canadian Grand Prix.
The incident, which took place at the hairpin at the end of the back straight, involved Monteiro hitting the back of his teammate's car, effectively ending both drivers' races. Albers' M16 was too damaged to continue and abandoned by the side of the track. And although Monteiro was able to nurse his vehicle back to the pits for a new front wing, he immediately found himself a lap down and struggled with poor handling for the remainder of the race, eventually finishing 4 laps down in 14th position.
The team hopes for better fortune next weekend as it packs up and heads to the U.S. for Round 10 of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Colin Kolles, Managing Director: "It was not a very enjoyable race for us, because it was finished before the end of the first lap. So, unfortunately, we just had to endure the rest of it and do our best to bring the remaining car home. As far as we're concerned, the shunt was a racing incident and we've already dealt with it and put it behind us. Now, we must concentrate on doing a better job in Indianapolis."
James Key, Technical Director: "A very disappointing afternoon, to be sure. We had an unfortunate shunt at the beginning of the race, which didn't really allow us to continue with any sort of competitive pace or challenge for position, as Tiago's car was very damaged and lost a lot of downforce as a result. We had him on a long strategy to try to take advantage of safety cars or improving track conditions, but being down a lap right at the start made that impossible. We need to sort out a number of issues for Indianapolis, because these types of incidents really don't do us any favours."
Franz Tost: Unfortunately, we lost out on the possibility of a good result with Tonio, who was hit by Webber, moving him to the back after an extra pit stop. After that, there was no chance of us getting any points. Scott drove a good race, but in the end it was not enough to get ahead of Coulthard or Button. For us, tenth place is nevertheless a good result. We are still aiming for our first point. The Indy circuit will not really do us any favours, but you never know, it could work out quite well.
It was a disappointing end to the Canadian Grand Prix weekend for the Super Aguri Team. SAF1 Team driver Franck Montagny suffered an engine failure on lap two whilst team-mate Takuma Sato drove a fantastic race ahead of the Midland F1 car of Monteiro and would have come home in 14th position had he not clipped the wall at turn nine on the final race lap.
Aguri Suzuki, Team Principal: It was a very tough race and showed that any small mistake can mean the end of your race at this circuit. I feel very sorry for Franck as he has worked hard all weekend. Taku had a great race and was pushing constantly to keep ahead of Monteiro, so it is a shame that he did not cross the finish line. Our car performance is very low and it is very difficult to drive so although it is not a great result for the team, I am happy that the drivers and the mechanics did a great job together over the weekend.
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